Leonora), a celebrated singer and composer, was born at Naples, but spent the greatest part of her life at Rome. She was daughter of Adriana Baroni of Mantua, baronets of Pian-caretta; a lady also distinguished for her musical talents, and for her beauty nicknamed the fair. Leonora had less beauty than her mother; but excelled her in her profound skill in music, the fineness of her voice, and the charmingness of her manner. She is said by Mr Bayle to have been one of the finest fingers in the world. She was, as well as her mother, celebrated by the wits, who strove to excel each other in recording her praises; and in 1630 there was published, at Bracciano, a collection of Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and French poems made upon her, under this title, Applausi Poetici alle Glorie della Signora Leonora Baroni. Among the Latin poems of Milton are no fewer than three entitled 'Ad Leonoram Romae canentem,' wherein this lady is celebrated for her singing, with an allusion to her mother's exquisite performance on the lute. A fine eulogium on this accomplished woman is contained in a discourse on the Music of the Italians, printed with the life of Malherbe, and some other treatises at Paris, 1672, in 12mo. This discourse was composed by Mr Maugars, prior of St Peter de Mae, the king's interpreter of the English language, and besides so famous a performer on the viol, that the king of Spain and several other sovereign princes of Europe desired to hear him. The character given by this person of Leonora Baroni is as follows: "She is endowed with fine parts; she has a very good judgment to distinguish good from bad music; she understands it perfectly well; and even composes, which makes her absolute mistress of what she sings, and gives her the most exact pronunciation and expression of the sense of her words. She does not pretend to beauty, neither is she disagreeable, or a coquet. She sings with a bold and generous modesty, and an agreeable gravity; her voice reaches a large compass of notes, and is exact, loud, and harmonious; she softens and raises it without straining or making grimaces. Her raptures and sighs are not lascivious; her looks have nothing impudent, nor does she transgress a virgin modesty in her gestures. In passing from one key to another, she shews sometimes the divisions of the enharmonic and chromatic kind with so much art and sweetness, that every body is ravished with that fine and difficult method of singing. She has no need of any person to assist her with a theorbo or viol, one of which is necessary to make her singing complete; for she plays perfectly well herself on both these instruments. In short, I have had the good fortune to hear her sing several times above 30 different airs, with second and third stanzas composed by herself. I must not forget to tell you, that one day she did me the particular favour to sing with her mother and her sister. Her mother played upon the lute, her sister upon the harp, and herself upon the theorbo. This concert, composed of three fine voices, and of three different instruments, so powerfully transported my senses, and threw me into such raptures, that I forgot my mortality, and thought myself already among the angels enjoying the felicity of the blest."