Colonna, a celebrated Roman family, which took its name from a village among the Alban Hills, 12 miles ESE. of Rome, and which, from its numerous castles, vast estates, and crowds of clients, enjoyed a powerful influence from the 11th to the 16th century. From it have sprung a pope (Martin V., q.v.), several cardinals, generals, statesmen, and noted scholars, and VITTORIA COLONNA, the most celebrated poetess of Italy. She was the daughter of Fabrizio Colonna, Constable of Naples, at whose estate of Marino she was born in 1490. When four years old, she was betrothed to a boy of the same age, Ferrante d'Avalos, son of the Marchese de Pescara; at seventeen they were married. After her husband's death in the battle of Pavia (1525), Vittoria Colonna found her chief consolation in solitude and the cultivation of her poetical genius. During seven years of her widowhood she resided alternately at Naples and Ischia, and then removed to the convent of Orvieto, afterwards to that of Viterbo. In her later years she left the convent, and resided in Rome, where she died in February 1547. She was the loved friend of Michael Angelo, admired by Ariosto (see canto xxxvii. of the Orlando), and the intimate associate of the reforming party at the papal court. Her poems belong chiefly to the period following her husband's death, and are remarkable for truth of sentiment and enlightened piety. They were first published at Parma in 1538; the most perfect edition is that of Ercole Visconti (Rom. 1840). See Mrs H. Roscoe's Vittoria Colonna, her Life and Poems (Lond. 1868), and a study by the Hon. Alethea Lawley (1888).
The family is still distinguished in Italy, three of its four lines being princely. The Colonna palace, situated at the base of the Quirinal (Rome), is celebrated for its splendid gallery and treasures of art.