Nella Donati (possibly also known as Giovanna or Giovannella) was a medieval noblewoman from Florence, Italy. She is primarily known because of Dante Alighieri's treatment of her relationship to her husband, Forese Donati, in the Divine Comedy and in a series of poems Dante exchanged with Forese.

Nella is associated with the Frescobaldi family. She was married to Forese Donati and they had one daughter named Ghita. In 1296, Forese died in Florence, and Nella became a widow. She has been described to be young at Forese's death. She is not known to have ever remarried. Nella is also associated with the Ghibellines, according to Dante's writings.

A key to understanding the literary reception of Nella Donati is through Dante's tenzone with Forese. This tenzone is composed of sonnets that Dante used to comment on Forese. In this tenzone, Dante uses a negative tone to address Forese and Nella. Interpretations focus on the importance of the fact that most of his tenzone poems were written in Florence, which emphasizes how much he connects Nella and her husband to the city. Dante describes Nella by her unattractive and loud cough. He represents her as a cold and harsh woman, no matter the weather. He insults Nella but attributes her poor behavior to Forese's effects on her.

The underlying message in his tenzone is that Forese's sexual inadequacies have left Nella lonely and frigid. According to Dante, Forese cannot sexually please Nella or provide her more than one child. Not only does Forese have trouble properly satisfying his wife, but Dante also critiques him for his self-serving economic motives. His gluttony furthers Nella's critical appearance here as she cannot afford proper care for herself, so she is prone to sickness. Dante hints at this by mentioning her insufficient bedsheets (copertoio in Italian). Her agonizing cough is a product of their lacking sex life as well as the money that Forese has wasted.

Dante also uses Nella to emphasize Forese's immoral bloodline. One line includes an exclamation from Nella's mother in which she laments the disgust she has for Forese. Here we find that Forese not only squandered his own money but that he has also spent all of Nella's dowry. In Dante's sonnet, Nella's mother is upset at his rash behavior and exclaims that Nella could have been married off to a rivaling political faction. According to her mother, Nella almost married a member of the Guidi family, an ancient and prominent Florentine clan, which her family turned down for Forese. Her regret relays to Dante's audience how despicably Forese handles his money and uses it to shame his class status. Dante even mentions that the Donati family was so notorious for stealing money that Florentines feared using money around them. This heavy emphasis on Nella's unfulfilling marriage highlights that Forese's title is deteriorating further.

The tenzone is acknowledged to paint a picture of an ever-cold wife who is both luckless and possibly unfaithful. Some interpret the description of bedsheets as an accusation of Nella being an adulteress. Dante also points out her Ghibelline ties and makes this yet another point for Forese to distrust her. However, interpretations do not see these comments as attacks on Nella, instead, they are seen as indirect critiques of Forese.

Some interpretations draw from the similarities of Dante's opinion on Nella and his overarching view of Florence. To Dante, both are neglected female entities who fall to the greed of others. In this evaluation, Dante uses Nella to expand his commentary on Florence at the time of upheaval. The tenzone itself is seen as a masculine charged attempt for superiority over Florence, in which Dante uses Nella to insult Forese's authority on the subject.

Nella appears in a conversation between Dante and Forese Donati in Canto 23 of Purgatorio in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. She is mentioned after Dante learns that his gluttonous friend Forese has somehow advanced very far in Purgatory. Dante is surprised at this and asks how he could be so high up in Purgatory, as he has only recently died. Forese explains to him that he was only able to get so far because of his righteous wife, Nella. Here we learn that she has been weeping and praying for Forese, and that these good works helped him move through Purgatory much more quickly than he could have alone. Since she has kept his name alive on earth, and prayed to God for him so often, he has spent less than four years in the lower levels of Purgatory. Now he is at the Terrace of Gluttony.