Had Giulio Strozzi not recognized Barbara as his daughter, she might have led an entirely different life. Like so many other illegitimate children, she could have grown up within one of Venice’s charitable institutions. This chapter explores the path not taken – the kind of opportunities available to musically talented girls who were not accepted by their family but instead abandoned at the foundling home called the Ospedale della Pietà. Documentation regarding the Ospedale’s musicians reveals the influences of governing patrician men and surrounding social conditions on these orphaned women’s musical activities. Despite strict regulation of women’s public performance, these nonelite female musicians developed successful lifelong musical careers and their own financial autonomy, somewhat comparable to Barbara Strozzi’s, by means of their musical skills, public popularity, and the resultant patronage.