A small pamphlet printed in Brescia in 1538, authored by Pietro da Lucca but incorrectly attributed to Cherubino da Spoleto, offers advice for widows on how to lead a spiritual life. Surviving in a single copy in the Biblioteca Universitaria in Padua, the pamphlet contains twenty-four sheets of dense type on cheap paper in ottavo. Put together by the pamphlet seller active in the Veneto known as Ippolito Ferrarese, the work offers notably pragmatic advice on how to live a good Christian life. The pamphlet urges its reader to keep only virtuous company, to adopt modesty in dress and to practise generosity to the poor. It also includes a strongly apotropaic element, in a final section containing a long prayer and accompanying rubric: ‘whoever says this prayer of Saint Augustine kneeling with a blessed candle in his hand for a period of forty days will receive all legitimate graces from the Virgin Mary. And he will do this for the health of his soul’. The prayer and rubric indicate that the pamphlet sought to engage, alongside more standard devotional readers, individuals whose desire for texts was closely related to their perceived protective and intercessory qualities.

Ippolito Ferrarese's pamphlet acts as a useful starting point for the following discussion because of the notable fact that it was dedicated to Vittoria Colonna. Colonna's name is included prominently on the title page: ‘To the most Illustrious Lady Vittoria[,] esteemed Marchioness of Pescara’ (All’Ilustre S. Vittoria digniss. Marchesa di Pescara). In addition, a dedicatory letter inside the work alludes to a personal relationship between the aristocratic poet and the ‘pedlar’ (cerretano), Ippolito Ferrarese. Ippolito mentions ‘the many wonderful favours’ done on his behalf by Colonna.