Polissena Contarini Da Mula was a

Dogaressa Dogaressa ( , , ) was the official title of the wife of the Doge of Venice. The title was unique for Venice: while the head of the Republic of Genoa were also called Doge, the wives of the Doges of Genoa were not called ''Dogaressa'', nor did t ...

of Venice by marriage to the Doge

Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo (1701–1778) was doge of Venice from 1763 until his death. Political career He restricted the privileges of the clergy and, in consequence, came into bitter conflict with Pope Clement XIII. In trying to spur on the econ ...

(r. 1763-1779). She married the Doge in 1771 at a very young age, though she does not seem to have played to part of dogaressa in a ceremonial sense as much as did her predecessor Pisana Cornaro. She was, however, the center of the literary circle her consort gathered on his private country villa, where she became the object and muse of many poets. There, Carlo Gozzi prepared comic plays for the little theatre of the Palace.

References

* Staley, Edgcumbe:
The dogaressas of Venice : The wives of the doges
', London : T. W. Laurie, 1910
Louisa Lauw: The Dogaressa
{{end Dogaressas of Venice Polissena 18th-century Venetian women