Labé, Louise (c. 1524–c. 1566) French poet
The beautiful wife of a wealthy rope maker (cordier),
Louise Labé was nicknamed “La Belle Cordière.” She was
also an accomplished horsewoman, skilled in swordsman-
ship: one of the many legends attached to her alleged that
in her adventurous youth she had ridden to war disguised
as a soldier. She was a member of the group of poets, led
by Maurice SCÈVE, that flourished in her native Lyons in
the 16th century. Her poetic works, published in 1555,
comprise three elegies and 24 sonnets, which express with
intense passion and realism, inspired by personal experi-
ence, the joys and anguish of love. Also included in the
volume was the prose Débat de Folie et d’Amour. The ex-
ample Labé set to other women, encouraging them to take
an interest in learning and to publish their writings, and
her assertion that women should not be despised as com-
panions to men in both private and public spheres caused
a considerable amount of adverse comment, especially
among strict Calvinists.

La Boétie, Étienne de (1530–1563) French magistrate
and man of letters
La Boétie was born at Sarlat and became a colleague of
MONTAIGNEin the parlement of Bordeaux: their acquain-
tance developed into a close friendship that was to have
a profound influence on Montaigne’s life and works.
La Boétie is remembered for his Discours sur la servi-
tude volontaire or Contr’un (“Against One”), an anti-
monarchical treatise written in his youth and published
posthumously in 1576; his other works include trans-
lations of the historians Xenophon and Plutarch, the
Mémoire sur l’édit de janvier, demanding nonviolent
Catholic reform, and a number of sonnets stylistically in-

fluenced by RONSARD. La Boétie’s premature death, the re-

sult of a bout of dysentery, was movingly described by

Montaigne in a letter to his father, his first published

work.

Lafreri, Antonio (Antoine Lafréry) (1512–1577)

French-born Italian engraver and publisher

Born in Orgelet, Lafreri settled in Rome as an engraver

(1544), but by 1553 had moved into publishing. A partic-

ularly sumptuous production was his Speculum Romanae

magnificentiae (1575), but he was also known for his out-

put of prints by Marcantonio RAIMONDI. Lafreri had the

idea of binding sheet maps by various cartographers into

a single volume according to the individual customer’s re-

quirements; these compilations, of which no two are ex-

actly the same, are known generically as Lafreri atlases,

although other publishers in Rome and Venice were natu-

rally quick to take up this profitable scheme. Lafreri’s own

imprint occurs on a number of such atlases issued be-

tween 1556 and 1572, the later ones under the title of Tav-

ole moderne di geografia.

Laib, Konrad (fl. c. 1431–1460) German painter

Laib was born in Swabia and is recorded as working in

Nördlingen in 1431; he moved to Salzburg around 1440.

An early German proponent of the realistic style, he es-

tablished this style in Salzburg. His realism is apparent in

his depiction of the folds of fabric and reflections in pol-

ished metal, and particularly in his portraiture and inter-

est in facial expression. His ability to portray individuals

is seen, for example, in his portrait of Emperor Sigismund

(c. 1437) and in the crowds of figures in his altar panels

(e.g. the Viennese Crucifixion of 1449).

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