Career
Even though Barbara was regarded as plain, several proposals had been made for her hand, due to her connections with the Austrian and Spanish courts. lieutenant was a happy marriage but it remained childless. Torquato Tasso who, in 1565, had been called to the court of Ferrara, dedicated some sonnets to her.
In 1570 and 1571, after an earthquake, using her own income she supported young girls without parents.
She founded the Conservatore delle orfane di Santa Barbara which was very much appreciated by the population of Ferrara. Having been sickly since 1566, she died, aged thirty-three, of tuberculosis on 19 September 1572.