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 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DG 540.8.I74A24 
 
 V.1 
 
 Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua, 
 
 3 1924 028 281 396 
 
I Cornell University 
 J Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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ISABELLA D'ESTE 
 

ISABELLA D'ESTE 
 
 MARCHIONESS OF MANTUA 
 
 1474-1539 
 A STUDY OF THE RENAISSANCE 
 
 BY JULIA CARTWRIGHT (Mrs. ADY) 
 
 •) 
 
 AUTHOR OF "BEATRICE D'ESTE," "THE PAINTERS 
 OF FLORENCE," "MADAME," ETC. 
 
 " La prima donna del mondo." 
 
 NiCCOLO DA CORREGGIO. 
 
 " D'opere illustri e di bei studi arnica, 
 CK io non so ben se piii leggiadra e bella. 
 Mi debba dire, piu saggia e pudica 
 Liberate e magnanima Isabella," 
 
 Ariosto. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. I 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 
 1903 
 
S ''f 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 7-/ 
 
 
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 V 
 
 . 1 
 
 ^oLU^Otf 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The life of Isabella d'Este has never yet been written. 
 After four hundred years, the greatest lady of the 
 Renaissance stUl awaits her biographer. An unkind 
 fate has pursued all the scholars, whether French, 
 German, or Italian, who have hitherto attempted the 
 task. Their labours have been hindered and inter- 
 rupted, or their lives prematurely cut short by death. 
 More than fifty years ago an interesting study on the 
 famous Marchesa, from the pen of a Mantuan scholar, 
 Carlo d'Arco, was published in the Archivio Storico 
 Italiano (1845), based upon documents preserved in 
 the Gonzaga Archives. In 1867, a distinguished 
 Frenchman, M. Armand Baschet, wrote a remark- 
 able essay on Isabella d'Este's relations with the 
 great Venetian printer, Aldo Manuzio, but died 
 before he could execute his intention of publishing 
 a life of this princess. A mass of documents, which 
 he had copied from the Mantuan Archives, remained 
 in the hands of the late M. Charles Yriarte, who 
 wrote several interesting chapters on Isabella d'Este's 
 relations with the great painters of her age, in the 
 Gazette des Beaux Arts, and was preparing a fuUer 
 and more complete work on the subject when he 
 died. M. Firmin Didot, Dr. Janitschek, Dr. Reumont, 
 and Ferdinand Gregorovius have all in turn given 
 us sketches of Isabella in their historical works, while 
 deploring the absence of any biography which should 
 do full justice to so attractive and important a figure. 
 
vi J^Kll^JbAUl!^ 
 
 Meanwhile, Italian students have not been idle. 
 Twenty years ago a learned Mantuan ecclesiastic, 
 Canonico Willelmo BraghiroUi, made a careful study 
 of Isabella's correspondence with Giovanni Bellini 
 and Perugino, and published many of the letters 
 relating to these artists. But he too died before his 
 time, leaving her hfe stiU unwritten. Other well- 
 known scholars, Ferrato, Bertolotti, Campori, Signor 
 Vittore Cian, and Cavaliere Stefano Davari, the pre- 
 sent Director of the Archivio Gonzaga, have turned 
 their attention to different aspects of the theme, and 
 have published studies on the Gonzaga princes, or on 
 the scholars and artists attached to their court. Above 
 all. Dr. Alessandro Luzio, the present Keeper of the 
 State Archives of Mantua, and his former colleague, 
 Signor Ridolfo Renier, have devoted years of patient 
 and untiring labour to the examination of the vast 
 mass of Isabella d'Este's correspondence, amounting 
 to upwards of two thousand letters, which had been 
 fortunately preserved. During the last fifteen years 
 these indefatigable workers have published a whole 
 series of valuable articles and pamphlets containing 
 the results of their researches, as well as one small 
 volume, in which the intercourse between the courts 
 of Mantua and Urbino, in the hfetime of Isabella 
 and her sister-in-law, Ehsabetta Gonzaga, is fully 
 described. In an essay which Signor Renier contri- 
 buted to the Italia, fifteen years ago, he informed his 
 readers that he and Dr. Luzio would shortly pubhsh 
 a monograph on the great Marchesa, but these dis- 
 tinguished scholars have as yet been unable to fulfil 
 their promise, and the appearance of this important 
 and long-expected work is still delayed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the following study, without pretend- 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 ing to be an exhaustive biography, may interest those 
 of our readers who are already famihar with Isabella 
 through the Life of her sister, Beatrice d'Este.^ The 
 history of these two princesses was closely inter- 
 woven during the early days of their wedded life, 
 and Isabella's visits to Milan, and her correspondence 
 with Lodovico Sforza and his young wife naturally 
 filled a large share of her time and thoughts. But 
 these six brilliant years which made up the whole of 
 Beatrice's married life formed only a brief episode 
 in Isabella's long and eventful career. During the 
 next forty years she played an important part in the 
 history of her times, and made the little court of 
 Mantua famous in the eyes of the whole civilised 
 world. Her close relationship with the reigning 
 families of Milan and Naples, of Ferrara and Urbino, 
 and constant intercourse with Popes and monarchs 
 made her position one of peculiar importance, while 
 the wisdom and sagacity which she showed in poli- 
 tical affairs commanded universal respect. Both 
 during the lifetime of her husband and son she 
 was repeatedly called upon to administer the gov- 
 ernment of the state, and showed a coolness and 
 dexterity in the conduct of the most difficult 
 negotiations that would have excited the admiration 
 of Machiavelli himself By her skilful diplomacy 
 this able woman saved the little state of Mantua 
 from falling a prey to the ambitious designs of Csesar 
 Borgia, or the vengeance of two powerful French 
 monarchs, Louis XII. and Francis I. At the 
 same time she helped her brother, Duke Alfonso of 
 Ferrara, to resist the furious assaults of Julius II. 
 
 1 Beatrice d'Este^ Duchess of Milan, by Julia Cartwright. 
 (Dent & Co., 1899.) 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 and the tortuous policy of Leo X., and to preserve 
 his duchy in the face of the most prolonged and 
 determined opposition. Isabella lived to see the 
 fulfilment of her fondest wish, when, in 1531, the 
 newly-crowned Emperor, Charles V., visited Mantua 
 and raised her eldest son to the rank of Duke, while 
 Pope Clement VII. bestowed a Cardinal's hat on her 
 second son Ercole. 
 
 But it is above all as a patron of art and letters 
 that Isabella d'Este will be remembered. In this 
 respect she deserves a place with the most enhght- 
 ened princes of the Renaissance, with Lorenzo dei 
 Medici and Lodovico Sforza. A true child of her 
 age, Isabella combined a passionate love of beauty 
 and the most profound reverence for antiquity with 
 the finest critical taste. Her studios and viUas 
 were adorned with the best paintings and statues by 
 the first masters of the day, and with the rarest 
 antiques from the Eternal City and the Isles of 
 Greece. Her book-shelves contained the daintiest 
 editions of classical works printed at the Aldine 
 Press, and the newest poems and romances by living 
 writers. Viols and organs of exquisite shape and 
 tone, lutes of inlaid ivory and ebony, the richest 
 brocades and rarest gems, the finest gold and silver 
 work, the choicest majohca and most delicately 
 tinted Murano glass found a place in her camerim. 
 But everything that she possessed must be of the 
 best, and she was satisfied with nothing short of 
 perfection. Even Mantegna and Perugino some- 
 times failed to please her, and Aldo's books were 
 returned to be more carefully revised and printed. 
 To attain these objects Isabella spared neither time 
 nor trouble. She wrote endless letters, and gave the 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 artists in her employment the most elaborate and 
 minute instructions. Braghirolli counted as many 
 as forty letters on the subject of a single picture 
 painted by Giovanni Bellini, and no less than fifty- 
 three on a painting entrusted to Perugino. Especial 
 attention has been devoted to this portion of Isabella's 
 correspondence in the present work. The vast num- 
 ber of letters which passed between her and the chief 
 artists of the day have hitherto lain buried in foreign 
 archives or hidden in pamphlets and periodicals, many 
 of them already out of print. All these have been 
 carefuUy collected, and are for the first time brought 
 together here. 
 
 If Isabella was a fastidious and at times a 
 severe critic, she was also a generous and kindly 
 patron, prompt to recognise true merit and stimulate 
 creative effort, and ever ready to befriend struggling 
 artists. And poets and painters alike gave her freely 
 of their best. Castiglione and Niccolo da Correggio, 
 Bembo and Bibbiena, were among her constant 
 correspondents. Aldo Manuzio printed Virgils and 
 Petrarchs for her use, Lorenzo da Pavia made her 
 musical instruments of unrivalled beauty and sweet- 
 ness. The works of Mantegna and Costa, of Giovanni 
 Bellini and Michelangelo, of Perugino and Correggio, 
 adorned her rooms. Giovanni Santi, Andrea Man- 
 tegna, Francesco Francia, and Lorenzo Costa all 
 in turn painted portraits of her, which have alas! 
 perished. But her beautiful features still live in 
 Leonardo's perfect drawing, in Cristoforo's medal, 
 and in Titian's great picture at Vienna, Nor were 
 poets and prose-writers remiss in paying her their 
 homage. Paolo Giovio addressed her as the rarest of 
 women ; Bembo and Trissino celebrated her charms 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 and virtues in their sonnets and canzoni. Castiglione 
 gave her a high place in his courtly record, Ariosto 
 paid her a magnificent tribute in his "Orlando," 
 while endless were the songs and lays which minor 
 bards offered at the shrine of this peerless Marchesa, 
 whom they justly called the foremost lady in the 
 world — " la prima donna del mondor — " Isabella 
 d'Este," writes Jacopo Caviceo, " at the sound of 
 whose name all the Muses rise and do reverence." 
 
 In her aims and aspirations Isabella was a typical 
 child of the Renaissance, and her thoughts and actions 
 faithfully reflected the best traditions of the age. 
 Her own conduct was blameless. As a wife and 
 mother, as a daughter and sister, she was beyond 
 reproach. But her judgments conformed to the 
 standard of her own times, and her diplomacy fol- 
 lowed the principles of Machiavelli and of Marino 
 Sanuto. She had a strong sense of family aiFections, 
 and would have risked her life for the sake of ad- 
 vancing the interests of her husband and children 
 or brothers, but she did not hesitate to ask Cassar 
 Borgia for the statues of which he had robbed her 
 brother-in-law, and danced merrily at the ball given ' 
 by Louis XII. while her old friend and kinsman 
 Duke Lodovico languished in the dungeons of 
 Loches. Like others of her age, she knew no 
 regrets and felt no remorse, but lived wholly in the 
 present, throwing herself with all the might of her 
 strong vitality into the business or enjoyment of the 
 hour, forgetful of the past and careless of the future. 
 
 Fortunate in the time of her birth and in the cir- 
 cumstances of her life, Isabella was above all fortunate 
 in this, that she saw the finest works of the Renais- 
 sance in the prime of their beauty. She knew 
 
PREFACE xi 
 
 Venice and Milan in their most triumphant hour, 
 when the glowing hues of Titian and Giorgione's 
 frescoes, of Leonardo and Gian Bellini's paintings, 
 were fresh upon the walls. She visited the famous 
 palace of Urbino in the days of the good Duke 
 Guidobaldo, when young Raphael was painting his 
 first pictures, and Bembo and Castiglione sat at the 
 feet of the gentle Duchess Elisabetta. She came 
 to Florence when Leonardo and Michelangelo were 
 working side by side at their cartoons in the 
 Council Hall, and she was the guest of Leo X., and 
 saw the wonders of the Sistina and of Raphael's 
 Stanze, before the fair halls of the Vatican had been 
 defaced by barbarian invaders. 
 
 Many and sad were the changes that she witnessed 
 in the course of her long life. She saw the first 
 " invasion of the stranger, and all Italy in flame and 
 fire," as her own Ferrara poet sang in words of 
 passionate lament. She saw Naples torn from the 
 house of Aragon, the fair Milanese, where the Moro 
 and Beatrice had reigned in their pride, lost in a 
 single day. She saw Urbino conquered twice over 
 and her own kith and kin driven into exile, first by 
 the treacherous Borgia, then by a Medici Pope, 
 who was bound to the reigning house by the closest 
 ties of friendship and gratitude. And in 1527, she 
 was herself an unwilling witness of the nameless 
 horrors that attended the siege and sack of Rome. 
 Three years later, she was present at the Emperor 
 Charles V.'s coronation at Bologna, and took an 
 active part in the splendid ceremonies that marked 
 the loss of Italian independence and the close of 
 this great period. But to the last Isabella retained 
 the same dehght in beauty, the same keen sense of 
 
xii PREFACE 
 
 enjoyment. She advanced in years without ever 
 growing old, and in the last months of her life, one 
 of the foremost scholars of the age, Cardinal Bembo, 
 pronounced her to be the wisest and most fortunate 
 of women. The treasures of art and learning which 
 she had collected were sold by her descendants to 
 foreign princes or destroyed when the Germans 
 sacked Mantua ninety years after her death, and the 
 ruin of her favourite palaces and villas was completed 
 by the French invaders of 1797, who did not even 
 spare the tomb which held her ashes. But Isabella 
 herself will be long remembered as the fairest and 
 most perfect flower of womanhood which blossomed 
 under the sunny skies of Virgil's land, in the 
 immortal days of the Italian Renaissance. 
 
 JULIA CARTWRIGHT. 
 
 I add a list of the chief authorities on the life 
 and times of Isabella d'Este : — 
 
 ITALIAN. 
 
 Notizie di Isabella Esteuse. Carlo d'Arco (Archivio Storico 
 
 Italiano, Appendice. Tom. ii.). 1845. 
 Deir Arte e degli Artefici di Mantova. Carlo d'Arco. 2 torn. 1857. 
 Discorso intomo le Belle Lettere e le Arte Mantovani. Abate 
 
 Bettinelli. 1774. 
 Cronaca di Mantova. A. Schivenoglia. 1445-1484. MuUer. 
 
 Raccolta. 1857. 
 Storia di Mantova. Mario Equicola. I6l0. 
 De Mulieribus. Mario Equicola. 
 
 Storia eeclesiastica di Mantova. Donesmondi. I6l3-l6l6. 
 Diario Ferrarese. Italicarum Rerum Scriptores. xxiv. L. A. 
 
 Muratori. 1750. 
 Storia di Ferrara. A. Frizzi. Tom. iv., v. 1791. 
 Compendio della Storia di Mantova. Volta. 1807-1838. 
 Lettere inedite di Artisti cavate dall' Archivio Gonzaga. W, 
 
 BraghiroUi. 1878. 
 
PREFACE xiii 
 
 Isabella d'Este e Giovanni Bellini. W. Braghirolli (Archivio 
 
 Veneto, xiii.). Mantova. 1877. 
 Notizie inedite di P. Vannucchi. W. Braghirolli. Perugia. 1874. 
 Tiziano alia Corte dei Gonzaghi. W. Braghirolli. 1881. 
 Notizie e Documenti intorno al ritratto di Leon X. W. Braghirolli 
 
 e C. d'Arco (Archivio Storico Italiano, vii.). 1868. 
 Lettere inedite di donne Mantovane del secolo XV. P. Ferrato. 1878. 
 Alcune lettere di Principesse di Casa Gonzaga. P. Ferrato. Imola. 
 
 1879- 
 Mantova e Urbino. Isabella d'Este ed Elisabetta Gonzaga. Nar- 
 
 razione storica documentata di A. Luzio e R. Renier. 1893. 
 
 I Precettori d'Isabella d'Este. A. Luzio. 1887. 
 Federico Gonzaga, Ostaggio alia Corte di Giulio II. 1887. 
 Delle Relazioni d'Isabella d'Este. — Gonzaga con Lodovico e 
 
 Beatrice Sforza. Luzio e Renier (Archivio Storico LombardOj 
 
 xvii.). Milano. 1890. 
 Isabella e la Corte Sforzesca. Luzio (Archivio Storico Lombard©, 
 
 xxviii.). Milano. 1901. 
 Francesco Gonzaga alia battaglia di Fornovo (Archivio Storico 
 
 Italiano, Serie V., v. vi.). Luzio e Renier. Firenze. 1890. 
 Gara di viaggio fra due celebri dame del Rinascimento. Luzio e 
 
 Renier. Alessandria. 1890. 
 Isabella d'Este. Rivista Italia, i. R. Renier. Roma. 1888. 
 Niccolo da Correggio. Luzio e Renier (Giornale Storico della 
 
 Letteratura Italiana, torn. xxi. e xxii.). Torino. 1893. 
 BufFoni, nani e schiavi dei Gonzaga ai tempi d'Isabella d'Este. 
 
 Luzio e Renier (Nuova Antologia). Roma. I89I. 
 
 II Lusso d'Isabella d'Este. Luzio (Nuova Antologia). Roma. 1896. 
 Lettere inedite di Fra Sabba da Castiglione. Luzio (Archivio 
 
 Storico Lombardo, xiii.). Milano. 1886. 
 
 Vittoria Colonna. Luzio (Rivista Storica Mantovana, i.). Man- 
 tova. 1885. 
 
 II Palazzo di Mantova. Stefano Davari (Archivio Storico ,Lom- 
 bardo, xxii.). 1895. 
 
 La Musica in Mantova. Stetano Davari (Rivista Storica Manto- 
 vana, i.). 1885. 
 
 Le Arte Minori alia Corte di Mantova. A. Bertolotti (Archivio 
 Storico Lombardo, v.). 
 
 Artisti in relazione coi Gonzaga. A. Bertolotti. Modena. 1885. 
 
 II Palazzo del T6. G. B. Intra (Archivio Storico Lombardo, xiv.). 
 1887. 
 
 Notizie intorno alio studio publico in Mantova. S. Davari. 1876. 
 
xiv PREFACE 
 
 II Matrimonio di Dorotea Gonzaga. S. Davari. 
 
 II Matrimonio di Federico Gonzaga(Areh. Storico Lombard©). 1 887. 
 
 Lorenzo Gusnasco. Dr. Carlo dell' Acqua. Milano. 1886. 
 
 G. C. Romano. A. Venturi (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888, 
 
 Lorenzo Costa. A. Venturi (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888, 
 
 Notizie da Raffaelle e Giovanni Santi. G. Campori. Modena. 1870, 
 
 La Coltura e le Relazioni Letterarie di Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, 
 
 Luzio e Renier (Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana, 
 
 xxxiii.). Torino. 1899-1901. 
 Pietro Bembo. V. Cian (Giornale Storico di Letteratura Italiana, 
 
 ix.). Torino. 1887. 
 Un decennio nella vita di P. Bembo. V. Cian. 1885. 
 Nuovi Documenti su Pietro Pomponazzi. V. Cian. Venezia. 1887. 
 Ercole Gonzaga a Bologna. Luzio (Giornale Storico della Let- 
 teratura Italiana, viii.). Torino. 1886. 
 La Madonna della Vittoria del Mantegna. Luzio (Emporium, x.). 
 
 Bergamo. 1899. 
 La Chiesa e la Madonna della Vittoria. Portioli. 1883. 
 I Ritrattid'Isabella d'Este. Luzio (Emporiumjxi.). Bergamo. 1900. 
 Viaggio d'Isabella d'Este sul Lago di Garda. A. Pedrazzoli 
 
 (Archivio Storico Lomibardo, xxii.). 1890. 
 Carteggio inedito d'Artisti. Gaye, torn. ii. e iii. Firenze. 1837. 
 La Vita di Benvenuto Cellini. 
 Le Vite dei piu Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori ed Architettori, scritte 
 
 da Giorgo Vasari con nuove annotazioni di Gaetano Milanesi. 
 
 Firenze. 1878. 
 Leonardo da Vinci. Edmondo Solmi. Firenze. 1900. 
 Leonardo da Vinci. Luzio (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888. 
 Lettere di Pietro Bembo. Verona. 1743. 
 Deir Imprese. Paolo Giovio. 1555. 
 
 Lettere di Baldassarre Castiglione. Edizione Serassi. 1769. 
 Lettere diplomatiche di Castiglione. Ed. Contini. Padova. 1875. 
 Delleesenzionidellafamigliadi Castiglione. Codde. Mantova. 1780. 
 Notizie biografiche intorno al Conte Baldassarre Castiglione. 
 
 Martinati, 1890. 
 Un Giudizio di lesa romanit4. D. Gnoli. Roma. 1891. 
 Renata di Francia. B. Fontana. Roma. 1889. 
 Gian Giacomo Trissino. B. Morsolin. Vicenza. 1894. 
 Francesco Chiericati. B. Morsolin. Vicenza. 1873. 
 Opere del Trissino. Ed. Maffei. Verona. 1729. 
 Origini del Teatro Italiano. Alessandro d'Ancona. 2 tom. Torino. 
 
 1891. 
 
PREFACE XV 
 
 Cesare Borgia. Ed. Alvisi. Imola. 1878. 
 
 Vittoria Colonna. A. Reumont. Torino. 1883. 
 
 Veronica Gambara. Rime e lettere raccolte. F. Rizzardi. Brescia. 
 
 1759. 
 Lettere inedite di V. Gambara. R. Renier (Giornale Storico della 
 
 Letteratura Italiana, xiv.). Torino. 1 889. 
 Vita di Luigi Gonzaga Rodomonte. Aff6. Parma. 1780. 
 Storia di Gazolo. Bergamaski. Casalmaggiore. 1883. 
 Famiglie celebri Italiane. P. Litt4. 8 tom. Milano. 1819-1858. 
 Storia d' Italia. Fr. Guicciardini. Firenze. 1822. 
 Opere Inedite. Fr. Guicciardini. 10 tom. Firenze. 1857-1867. 
 Vita di Vittorino da Feltre. Rosmini. 1845. 
 
 DispacciGiustiniani, 1502-1505. Ed. Villari. S tom. Firenze. 1876. 
 Fonti italiane per lo scoperto del Nuovo Mondo. W. Berghet. 
 
 Roma. 1892, 
 Lettere storiche, 1509-1528. Luigi da Porto. Firenze. 1857. 
 Storia dei Conti e Duchi da Urbino. J. Ugolini. Firenze. 1859. 
 Sacco di Roma. Narrazioni di Contemporanei. Ed. Milanesi. 
 
 Firenze. 1867. 
 Delia venuta e dimora in Bologna del S. Pontefice Clemente VII., 
 
 per la Coronazione di Carlo V. Imperatore. G.Giordano. 1842. 
 
 I Diarii di Marino Sanuto, I496-I535. Stefano Berghet. Venezia. 
 
 1885-1900. 58 tom. 
 Le Novelle del Bandello. Ed. Busdrago. Lucca. 1554. 
 
 II Cortigiano di B. Castiglione, annotato da V. Cian. Firenze. 1894. 
 Caterina Sforza. P. D. Pasolini. 3 tom. Rome, 1893. 
 
 FRENCH. 
 
 Les Relations de Leonardo da Vinci avec Isabelle d'Este. Charles 
 
 Yriarte (Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1888. 
 Isabelle d'Este et les Artistes de son temps. Charles Yriarte 
 
 (Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1895 et 1896. 
 Andrea Mantegna. Charles Yriarte. Paris. I9OI. 
 Aide Manuce et I'Hellenisme 4 Venise. Ambroise Firmin Didot. 
 
 Paris. 1875. 
 Aide Manuce. Lettres et Documents. Armand Baschet. Venise. 
 
 1867. 
 Recherches des Documents dans les Archives de Mantoue. Armand 
 
 Baschet (Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1866. 
 Documents inedits tires des Archives de Mantoue. Armand 
 
 Baschet (Archivio Storico Italiano, iii.). 1886. 
 
xvi PREFACE 
 
 Les Medailleurs Italians des quinzidme et seizi^me si^cles, 
 
 Armand. Paris. 1883-1887. 
 Leonardo da Vinci. Eugfene Muntz. Paris. 1898. 
 Histoire de I'Art pendant la Renaissance. Italie. Paris. Eugfene 
 
 Miintz. Tom. ii. 1891. 
 L'Art ferrarais 4 I'epoque des Princes d'Este. Gustave Gruyer. 
 
 Paris. 1877. 2 tomes. 
 Louis XIL et L. Sforza. Louis Pelissier. 1498-1500. 
 Les Amies de Ludovic Sforza (Revue historique). L. Pelissier. 1891. 
 Cesar Borgia, sa vie, sa captivitCj sa mort. C. Yriarte. Paris. 1887. 
 Au tour des Borgias. C. Yriarte. Paris. 1891. 
 
 GERMAN. 
 Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, Bande vii. und viii, 
 
 F. Gregorovius. Stuttgart. 1880. 
 Geschichte der Stadt Rom. A. Reumont. Leipzig. 1872. 
 Geschichte der Papste. Dr. Ludwig Pastor. English edition, 6 
 
 vols. 1888. 
 Andrea Mantegna. Paul Kristeller. English edition by S. A. 
 
 Strong. 1901. 
 Barbara von Brandenburg (" HohenzoUern Jahrbuch," 1897). 
 
 Paul Kristeller. 1901. 
 Barbara von HohenzoUern, Markgrafin von Mantua. B. Hofmann, 
 
 Anspach. 1881. 
 Lucrezia Borgia. F. Gregorovius. Stuttgart. 1875. 
 Papst Julius n. 1878. 
 
 Kunst und Kiinstler. Dohme. Leipzig. 1878, &c. 
 Die Gesellschaft der Renaissance in Italien und die Kunst. H. 
 
 Janitschek. Stuttgart. 1879- 
 Der Cultur der Renaissance in Italien. J. Burckhardt. Basel. 1 860. 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino. Dennistoun. 3 vols. 1851. 
 
 Life and Works of Raphael. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. 1882, 
 
 Life and Works of Titian. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. 1881. 
 
 The Renaissance in Italy. J. A. Symonds. 1886. 
 
 History of the Papacy. Dr. Creighton. 1897. 
 
 II Principe, by N. Machiavelli. Ed. by L. Burd, with an introduc- 
 tion by Lord Acton. Oxford, 1891. 
 
 The Cambridge Modern History. Ed. by A. W. Ward, G. W. 
 Prothero and Stanley Leathes. Vol. I. The Renaissance. 
 1902. 
 
 The Emperor Charles V. By Edward Armstrong. 1902. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 1474—1490 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Birth of Isabella d'Este — Her betrothal to Francesco 
 Gonzaga — Visit of the Mantuan envoy to Ferrara — 
 Her letters to the Marquis — Mantegna's Madonna — 
 EUsabetta Gonzaga visits Ferrara — Personal charms of 
 Isabella — Her education and teachers — Classical studies 
 and love of music — Cultured tastes of her parents — 
 Music and art at their court — Cosimo Tura and Ercole 
 Roberti — Marriage of Isabella — Her reception at 
 ■Mantua ....... 1-18 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 1328—1478 
 
 The court of Mantua and house of Gonzaga — Gianfran- 
 cesco II., the first Marquis — Vittorino da Feltre and 
 the Casa Zoiosa — Ceciha Gonzaga — Reign of Lodovico 
 Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg — Their patronage 
 of art and learning — Marriage of Federico to Margaret 
 of Bavaria — Betrothal of Dorotea Gonzaga to Galeazzo 
 Sforza — Frescoes of the Camera degli Sposi . . 19-36 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 1478—1490 
 
 Reign of Federico Gonzaga — Death of his wife and mother — 
 His love for his daughters — Visit of Lorenzo dei 
 Medici — Accession of Francesco Gonzaga — His charac- 
 ter and warlike tastes — Betrothal of Elisabetta Gonzaga 
 to Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino — His visit to Mantua 
 — Marriage of Elisabetta — Her return to Mantua for 
 VOL. I "" 6 
 
xviii CONTENTS 
 
 PAO£ 
 
 Francesco's wedding — Her friendship with Isabella 
 d'Este — Excursion to the Lago di Garda — Visits to 
 Ferrara .....•• 37-53 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 1490—1493 
 
 Marriage of Beatrice d'Este to Lodovico Sforza — Isabella's 
 preparations for the wedding — Journey to Pavia and 
 Milan — Marriage of Alfonso d'Este to Anna Sforza — 
 F6tes at Ferrara — Correspondence of Isabella with 
 Lodovico and Beatrice Sforza — Isabella administers 
 affairs of State — Galeotto's dyke — Visits to Ferrara, 
 Milan, and Genoa — The Duchess of Urbino comes to 
 Mantua — Isabella's affection for Ehsabetta . . 54-69 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 1491—1493 
 
 Correspondence of Isabella with her family and friends; 
 with merchants and jewellers — Her intellectual in- 
 terests — Love of French romances and classical 
 authors — Greek and Hebrew translations and de- 
 votional works — Fra Mariano and Savonarola — 
 Antonio Tebaldeo — Isabella's friendships — Niccolo da 
 Correggio — Sonnets and eclogues composed for her — 
 Her love of music — Songs and favourite instruments — 
 Atalante Migliorotti's lyre — Isabella's camerino in the 
 Castello — Liombeni decorates her studiolo — Mantegna 
 returns from Rome — Paints Isabella's portrait — 
 Giovanni Santi at Mantua . . . . 70-93 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 1493—1494 
 
 Discovery of the New World— The news reaches Mantua — 
 Birth of the Moro's son — Isabella's journey to Ferrara 
 and Venice — Reception by the Doge and Signory — 
 Her relations with Gentile Belhni — Return to Mantua 
 Francesco Gonzaga at Venice — Death of Duchess 
 
CONTENTS xix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Leonora — Birth of Leonora Gonzaga — Departure of 
 the Duke and Duchess of Urbino — Decorations of 
 Marmirolo and Gonzaga . . . 94-107 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 1494—1495 
 
 Journey of Isabella to Loreto and Urbino — Letters from 
 Gubbio and Urbino — Charles VIII. enters Italy — The 
 Marquis of Mantua refuses his offers — Visit of Isabella 
 to Milan — Conquest of Naples by the French — League 
 against France — Francesco Gonzaga, captain of the 
 armies of the League — Isabella governs Mantua — 
 Battle of the Taro — Heroism of Francesco Gonzaga — 
 Rejoicings at Venice and Mantua — The Jew Daniele 
 Norsa and Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria . 108-127 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 1496—1497 
 
 Campaign of Naples — Ferrante recovers his kingdom — 
 Francesco Gonzaga commands the Venetian army — 
 Isabella governs Mantua — Her correspondence and 
 friendship with Lorenzo da Pavia — Birth of her second 
 daughter — Illness of the Marquis — His return to 
 Mantua, and visit to Venice — Death of Ferrante of 
 Naples, of Gilbert de Montpensier, and Beatrice 
 d'Este — Francesco Gonzaga deprived of the office of 
 captain-general of the Venetian armies — Death of 
 Anna Sforza ..... 128-144 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 14,98—1499 
 
 Intrigues of Francesco Gonzaga with Venice and Milan — 
 Isabella seeks to reconcile him with Lodovico Sforza — 
 The Marquis goes to Milan and is appointed captain- 
 general of the League — Visit of the Duke of Milan 
 to Mantua — Correspondence of Isabella with Lodovico 
 — Conquest of Milan by the French and flight of the 
 
XX CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Duke — Louis XII. enters Milan — Isabella pays court 
 to the French — Receives the Milanese exiles — The 
 Moro's return and his final surrender at Novara 145-156 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 1497—1500 
 
 Isabella's literary and artistic interests — Foundation of the 
 Studio of the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia — Mantegna's 
 paintings for the Grotta — Cristoforo Romano comes to 
 Mantua — Works for the studio — His medal of Isabella 
 — Correspondence with Niccolo da Correggio — Leon- 
 ardo da Vinci visits Mantua — Draws Isabella's portrait 
 — Shows it to Lorenzo da Pavia at Venice — Isabella 
 intends to raise a monument to Virgil — JHer letter to 
 Jacopo d'Atri ..... 157-176 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 1500—1502 
 
 Birth of Isabella's son Federico — Caesar Borgia his god- 
 father — Relations of the Gonzagas with him — Elisabetta 
 of Urbino goes to Rome — Letters of Sigismondo 
 Cantelmo — Comedies at Ferrara and Mantua — Treaty 
 of Granada and partition of Naples — Caesar Borgia con- 
 quers Romagna — Abdication and exile of Federico, 
 King of Naples — Betrothal of Alfonso d'Este to 
 Lucrezia Borgia — Preparations for the marriage in 
 Rome — II Prete's letters to Isabella — Wedding of 
 Lucrezia and her journey to Ferrara . . 177-197 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 1502 
 
 Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia's marriage festivities — 
 Reception of the bride at Ferrara — Isabella's letters 
 to her husband — Comedies, balls, and fetes — The 
 ambassadors' gifts — Isabella entertains the French 
 ambassador — Her interview with the Venetian envoys 
 — Return to Mantua — Lucrezia Borgia's life at Ferrara 
 — Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis . 198-216 
 
CONTENTS xxi 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 1502 
 
 Isabella's visit to Venice — Her letters to the Marquis — 
 Courtesy of the Doge and Signory — Her income and 
 expenditure — Proposed marriage between Federico 
 Gonzaga and Caesar Borgia's daughter — Elisabetta of 
 Urbino goes with Isabella to Porto — Casar Borgia 
 seizes Urbino— Flight of Duke Guidobaldo to Mantua 
 
 — Isabella asks for the Venus and Cupid of Urbino 
 
 Caesar Borgia sends them to Mantua — Michel Angelo's 
 Cupid sold to Charles I. and brought to England 217-234 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 1502—1503 
 
 Louis XII. at Milan — He receives the exiled princes and 
 the Marquis of Mantua — Caesar Borgia arrives at Milan 
 and concludes an agreement with the king — Isabella's 
 warnings to her husband — The Duke and Duchess of 
 Urbino forced to leave Mantua and take shelter at 
 Venice — Francesco Gonzaga goes to France — Isabella 
 governs Mantua — Her negotiations with Borgia re- 
 garding her son's marriage — Caesar's campaign in 
 Romagna — Treacherous murder of Vitellozza and his 
 companions — Isabella sends Valentino a present of 
 masks — Death of the Pope and sudden revolution in 
 Rome — Return of Duke Guidobaldo to Urbino — Elec- 
 tion of Pope Pius III. .... 235-257 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 1503—1505 
 
 Death of Pius III. — Election of Julius II. — Return of 
 Elisabetta to Urbino — Caesar Borgia sent to Spain, and 
 his capture — Birth of Isabella's daughter Ippolita — 
 Francesco Gonzaga resigns his command of the French 
 
xxii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 armies — Returns to Mantua — The French lose Naples — 
 Comedies at Urbino, Mantua, and Ferrara — Death of 
 Duke Ercole— Quarrels and plots of the Este brothers 
 ■ — Marriage of Francesco Maria della Rovere and 
 Leonora Gonzaga — Sigismondo Gonzaga raised to the 
 Cardinalate— Letters of Emilia Pia— Castiglione and 
 Bembo — Death of Suor Osanna — A Dominican vicar- 
 general — Birth of Isabella's son Ercole. . 258-277 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 1505—1507 
 
 Isabella's visit to Florence — Mario Equicola's treatise, Nee 
 spe nee metu — Ravages of the plague at Mantua — Isa- 
 bella retires to Sacchetta with her family — Francesco 
 Gonzaga joins Pope Julius II. at Perugia — Conducts 
 the papal army against Bologna — Flight of the 
 BentivogU — Entry of the Pope — Letters of Isabella — 
 Frisio sends her antiques from Bologna — Birth of 
 Isabella's son Ferrante — Visit of Ariosto to Mantua — 
 Favour shown him by Isabella— Ariosto pays her a 
 splendid tribute in his Orlando Furioso . . 278-294 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 1507—1508 
 
 Louis XII. invites Francesco Gonzaga to help him in the 
 siege of Genoa — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Fetes in 
 the Castello — Isabella's correspondence with Elisabetta 
 Gonzaga — Her intended journey to France — Death 
 and funeral of the Duke of Urbino — Visit of Duke 
 Francesco Maria to Mantua — Birth of Isabella's 
 youngest daughter — Murder of Ercole Strozzi, and 
 death of Niccolo da Correggio — Rivalry of Isabella 
 and Lucrezia Borgia .... 295-316 
 
CONTENTS xxiii 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 1500—1506 
 
 PAQG 
 
 Isabella's relations with painters during the early years 
 of the sixteenth century — Her letters to Leonardo da 
 Vinci — Correspondence with Fra Pietro da Novellara, 
 Angelo del Tovaglia, Manfredi, and Amadori — She 
 asks Perugino for a painting for her studio — Descrip- 
 tion of the Triumph of Chastity composed by Paride 
 da Ceresara — Perugino's delays — Correspondence with 
 Malatesta, Tovagha, &c. ... 317-340 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 1501—1507 
 Isabella asks Giovanni Bellini for a picture — Her corre- 
 spondence with Lorenzo da Pavia and Michele Vianello 
 — The subject changed to a Nativity — Delays of the 
 painter — Isabella calls in Alvise Marcello — Asks for 
 her money to be returned — The picture is completed 
 and sent to Mantua in 1504 — Isabella's negotiations 
 with Giovanni Bellini through Pietro Bembo for 
 another picture, which is never painted . 341-361 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 1504—1512 
 Mantegna's last works for Isabella d'Este — Illness and 
 debts — He appeals to Isabella for help, and sells her 
 his antique bust of Faustina — Calandra's description of 
 his Comus — Death of Mantegna and tribute of Lorenzo 
 da Pavia — Pictures in Andrea's workshop — The Comus 
 finished by Lorenzo Costa — Letters of Antonio 
 Galeazzo Bentivoglio to Isabella — The Triumph of 
 Poetry or Court of Isabella — Costa's portrait of the 
 Marchesa — Francia paints the portrait of her son 
 Federico and her own — Correspondence on the sub- 
 ject with Casio and Lucrezia Bentivoglio — Death of 
 Giorgione 362-392 
 
 Genealogical Tables .... 393 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Isabella D'Este Frontispiece 
 
 From the Charcoal Drawing by LEONARDO DA VlNCI, 
 in the Louvre {Photogravure) 
 
 LoDovico GoNZAGA AND His SoNS . . . To facc page 36 
 By Andeea Mantbgna 
 
 PoNTE San Giorgio, Castello e Duomo, Man- 
 
 TOVA ....... „ 70 
 
 The Death of the Virgin, with Mantua in 
 
 THE Background ..... « 90 
 
 By Andeea Mantegna 
 
 The Madonna della Vittoria, with the Kneeling 
 
 Figure of the Marquis Francesco . . „ 126 
 
 By Andrea Mantegna, 1495, in the Louvre 
 {Photogravure) 
 
 Parnassus ........ „ 158 
 
 From the Picture hy ANDREA MANTEGNA, in the 
 Louvre {Photogravure) 
 
 The Portrait Medal of Isabella D'Este , . „ 170 
 
 By Ceistoforo Eomano, from the Impression set in 
 Jewels, now in the Imperial Museum, Vienna 
 ( Photogravure) 
 
 La Beata Osanna ...... „ 276 
 
 By F. BONSIGNOEI 
 
 Castello di Mantova ..... „ 362 
 
ISABELLA D'ESTE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 1474—1490 
 
 Birth of Isabella d'Este — Her betrothal to Francesco Gonzaga 
 
 Visit of the Mantuan envoy to Ferrara — Her letters to the 
 Marquis — Mantegna's Madonna — Elisabetta Gonzaga visits 
 Ferrara — Personal charms of Isabella — Her education and 
 teachers— Classical studies and love of music — Cultured tastes 
 of her parents— Music and art at their court — Cosimo Tura 
 and Ercole Roberti — Marriage of Isabella — Her reception at 
 Mantua. 
 
 " On the 18th of May 1474 a daughter was born to 
 Madonna Leonora and Duke Ercole, and she was 
 given the name of Isabella, and baptized by the 
 Bishop of Cyprus, the Venetian Ambassador in 
 Ferrara." ^ 
 
 So a contemporary Ferrara diarist, whose chronicle 
 was pubhshed by Muratori, records the birth of Duke 
 Ercole's elder daughter, Isabella d'Este. The event 
 took place in the ancient palace on the Cathedral 
 square which had been the home of the Este 
 princes long before Bartolino da Novara reared the 
 massive waUs and crenellated towers of the Castello 
 Rosso at the close of the fourteenth century. There 
 Giotto and Petrarch had both been entertained as 
 the guests of princes who, even in those early days, 
 
 1 Muratori, Italicarum Rerum Scriptores, vol. xxiv. p. 250. 
 VOL. I. A 
 
2 ERC01.E JJ Jj:bT±. 
 
 showed the love of art and letters that distinguished 
 this illustrious race. There PisaneUo and Piero della 
 Francesca painted at the Court of Duke Ercole's 
 elder brothers, Leonello and Borso, and the Venetian 
 master, Jacopo Bellini, introduced the picturesque 
 loggia of the old palace in the background of his 
 drawing of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. 
 Duke Ercole added the grand marble staircase of 
 the inner court, and the great haU where Ariosto's 
 comedies were performed, which was burnt down 
 just before the poet's death. 
 
 Three passions, says Frizzi, the historian of 
 Ferrara,^ ruled the Duke's heart, the love of building, 
 of the theatre, and of travel. All three were inherited, 
 in no small measure, by his daughter Isabella. But 
 the execution of Ercole's favourite plans was hindered 
 during the early part of his reign by frequent wars 
 and pohtical troubles. One night, when Isabella was 
 only two years old, and her brother Alfonso was 
 stUl an infant, the Duke's nephew, Niccolo d'Este, 
 suddenly attacked the palace at the head of a band of 
 armed conspirators, and Duchess Leonora and her 
 three children had barely time to escape by the covered 
 way into the Castello ; and before she was eight the 
 Venetian armies invaded her father's dominions, and 
 planted the Lion of St. Mark in the park of his viUa 
 at Belfiore, while the Duke himself lay at the point 
 of death in the Castello. All these dangers, how- 
 ever, were safely overcome by the valour and skilful 
 diplomacy of the Duke, loyally supported by his 
 brave wife and faithful subjects, and the treaty 
 concluded at Bagnolo in 1484 was followed by a long 
 period of peace and prosperity. 
 
 1 Storia di Ferrara, vol. iv. 
 
BETROTHAL OF ISABELLA 3 
 
 Meanwhile, Isabella grew up under her good 
 mother's watchful eyes. When, in the summer of 
 1477, Leonora took her young family to visit her 
 old father. King Ferrante, at Naples, her three-year- 
 old daughter was already a fascinating child, and 
 her uncle Federico, afterwards King of Naples, was 
 heard to say that if she were not his niece he would 
 hke to make her his bride I At the old king's urgent 
 request, the Duchess consented to leave her younger 
 daughter Beatrice at her grandfather's court for the 
 next eight years, but brought Isabella back with her 
 to Ferrara. Three years afterwards the child-princess 
 was betrothed to young Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga, 
 the eldest son of Federico, Marquis of Mantua. 
 
 The two houses were already closely connected, 
 both by friendship and marriage. Leonello, the 
 accomphshed Duke, whose hooked nose and low 
 forehead are familiar to us in Pisanello's medals and 
 portraits, had married Federico 's aunt, Margherita 
 Gonzaga, and his own sister Lucia had been the wife 
 of Margherita's brother. Carlo Gonzaga. Margherita, 
 whose charming portrait, with its background of 
 columbines and butterflies, painted by PisaneUo at 
 the time of her wedding, is stUl preserved in the 
 Louvre, died in July 1439, only four years after her 
 marriage. But her brother, the Marquis Lodovico, 
 had proved a loyal friend to Duke Ercole, and had 
 refused to support his nephew Niccolo in his plot to 
 seize the Duchess and her children. His son and 
 successor, Federico, showed the same cordial feehng 
 for his neighbour, and paid several visits to Ferrara. 
 Early in April 1480, he sent his trusted servant, 
 Beltramino Cusatro, to propose a marriage between 
 his eldest son, a boy of fourteen, and the Duke's little 
 
4 CHILDHOOD OF ISAJ3ii:i^i.A 
 
 daughter, Isabella, now a child of five years. Ercole, 
 who had good reason to fear the enmity of Venice, 
 and was the more anxious to strengthen his aUiance 
 with this near neighbour, gladly accepted his pro- 
 posals, and as soon as prehminary matters had been 
 arranged with the envoy, the Duke sent for his httle 
 daughter. 
 
 " Madonna Isabella," wrote Cusatro to his master, 
 " was then led in to see me, and I questioned her on 
 many subjects, to all of which she replied with rare 
 good sense and quickness. Her answers seemed 
 truly miraculous in a child of six, and although I 
 had already heard much of her singular intelligence, 
 I could never have imagined such a thing to be 
 possible." 
 
 A few days afterwards the envoy sent a portrait 
 of the youthful princess by Cosimo Tura, the Duke's 
 court-painter, to Mantua, with the following note: 
 " I send the portrait of Madonna Isabella, so that 
 Your Highness and Don Francesco may see her 
 face, but I can assure you that her marvellous 
 knowledge and intelUgence are far more worthy of 
 admiration." 
 
 The excellent impression which the httle bride 
 made upon Cusatro was confirmed by another Man- 
 tuan envoy, who informed the Marquis that he had 
 seen Madonna Isabella dance with her master Messer 
 Ambrogio, a Jew in the Duke of Urbino's service, 
 and that the grace and elegance of- her movements 
 were amazing in one of her tender age.^ 
 
 On the Feast of St. George, always a great 
 day at the Court of Ferrara, another envoy arrived 
 from Duchess Bona of Milan, and her brother- 
 
 1 A. Luzio, / Preceitori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 12. 
 
LETTERS TO FRANCESCO 5 
 
 in-law, the Regent Lodovico Sforza, asking for 
 Madonna Isabella's hand on behalf of the said Signor 
 Lodovico. Since, however, his elder daughter was 
 already betrothed, the Duke offered to give Lodovico 
 the hand of his younger daughter, Beatrice, with 
 the consent of her grandfather, the King of Naples, 
 who warmly approved of the Milanese alliance. So 
 on the 28th of May, the betrothal of the Duke's 
 two daughters was publicly proclaimed on the Piazza 
 in front of the CasteUo. 
 
 In the following spring, the Marquis of Mantua 
 brought his son Francesco to spend the Feast of St. 
 George at Ferrara, and make acquaintance with his 
 bride and her family. The Mantuan chronicler, 
 Schivenogha, relates how on this occasion the Mar- 
 quis and his suite of six hundred followers sailed 
 down the Po in four bucentaurs, how Duke Ercole, 
 in his anxiety to do his guests honour, fed the whole 
 party on lamb and veal and similar delicacies during 
 the four days which they spent in Ferrara, and how 
 his master's famous Barbary horses won the race, and 
 carried back the polio of cloth of gold in triumph to 
 Mantua. After this first meeting with her future 
 husband, Isabella frequently exchanged letters with 
 Francesco, who sent her presents and verses written 
 in her honour by the poets at his court. Some of 
 these formal little notes, in Isabella's own hand- 
 writing, are stiU preserved. Dr. Luzio teUs us, in the 
 Gonzaga Archives. On the 22nd of May 1483, the 
 httle princess writes from Modena, where the Duke's 
 children had been sent for safety during the war with 
 Venice, thanking Francesco for his inquiries after her 
 health. " Although when your letters and presents 
 reached me I was iU, their arrival has made me 
 
6 LEONORA'S MADONNA 
 
 suddenly well. But when I heard that if I were 
 still suffering from illness Your Highness thought 
 of coming to Modena, to see me, I almost wished 
 myself ill again, if only to have the pleasure of 
 seeing you."^ 
 
 A year later the Marquis Federico died, and Isabella 
 wrote to condole with Francesco on his father's death, 
 begging him to dry his tears and take comfort for her 
 sake. The new Marquis from the first showed him- 
 self an ardent lover, and neglected no opportunity of 
 paying attention to his bride's family. Hearing that 
 the Duchess of Ferrara was anxious to possess a cer- 
 tain Madonna by the hand of Andrea Mantegna, the 
 loyal servant and court-painter of the Gonzagas, he 
 wrote to that master on the 6th of November 1485, 
 enclosing Leonora's letter, and begging him to comply 
 with her request. 
 
 " Carissime noster. Our most illustrious Madonna 
 the Duchess of Ferrara, as you will see by the letters 
 which we enclose in order that you may the better 
 understand her wishes, is very anxious to have a 
 certain picture by your hand. We trust that you 
 wiU satisfy this lady, and use the utmost diligence to 
 finish the said picture, and beg of you to put forth 
 all your powers, as we feel sure you wiU do, and that 
 as quickly as possible, since we are most desirous to 
 gratify the said illustrious Madonna." Goito, Nov. 6, 
 1485. 
 
 On the same day Francesco wrote to his future 
 mother-in-law : — 
 
 " Hearing that Your Excellency desires to have a 
 picture of the Madonna with some other figures that 
 is stiU unfinished by the hand of Andrea Mantegna, 
 
 ^ A. Luzio, I Precettori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 13. 
 
ANDREA MANTEGNA 7 
 
 I have told him to finish it with the utmost care, and 
 hope to bring it with me, when I come, as I hope, 
 before long, to visit Your Illustrious Highness. 
 If not, I wiU send it you, as it is my greatest 
 pleasure to be able to do anything for you. To 
 whom I commend myself, praying that you may 
 fare well." 
 
 A week later, the impatient young Prince wrote 
 again to Mantegna on the subject : — 
 
 " Carissime noster. We wrote before to beg you to 
 finish a picture of the Madonna with other figures, 
 at the prayer of that illustrious Madonna the Duchess 
 of Ferrara, but do not know if you have yet put 
 your hand to the work, so now we repeat that you 
 must finish it as quickly as possible, seeing that we 
 greatly desire this thing, in order to be able to satisfy 
 the wish of the said lady as soon as possible." Goito, 
 Nov. 14, 1485. 
 
 Again on the 12th December he returned to the 
 charge : — 
 
 " We must remind you to lose no time in finishing 
 the picture which you have begun, and which we 
 wish to give the Duchess of Ferrara, and hope you 
 wUl use such dihgence that we may be able to pre- 
 sent it to her this Christmas, and we wiU take -care 
 that you are well rewarded, and that your labour is 
 not thrown away." 
 
 Mantegna did not fail to obey his young lord's 
 command, and on the 15th Francesco wrote as 
 follows : — 
 
 " We are sure that in finishing this picture you 
 wiU use such diligence as wUl do you honour, and 
 that it wiU bring you no small glory. And as 
 Lodovico of Bologna is going to Venice, you had 
 
8 ELISABETTA GONZAGA 
 
 better see him about that varnish, if you have not 
 already spoken to him, that he may bring or send 
 you some without delay." ^ 
 
 Leonora on her part wrote to express her joy not 
 only at the prospect of receiving Messer Andrea's 
 Madonna, but of seeing Francesco himself, and the 
 young Marquis met with a cordial welcome when 
 he reached Ferrara with his precious picture. Man- 
 tegna's Madonna was given a place among Leonora's 
 choicest treasures, and is mentioned in the inventory 
 of her pictures, taken after her death, as " a painting 
 on panel of Our Lady and her Son with seraphim, 
 by the hand of Mantegna." The picture now hangs 
 in the Brera, and its smiling cherub faces and glowing 
 tints are almost as fresh and fair as on the day on 
 which they left Andrea's workshop. 
 
 It is uncertain if Leonora herself brought her 
 daughter to visit her affianced husband at Mantua, 
 and there saw Mantegna at work on the great series 
 of Triumphs which he was painting for the Marquis, 
 but we know that, in February 1488, Francesco's 
 sister Ehsabetta visited Ferrara on her way to cele- 
 brate her marriage at Urbino, and received the rite 
 of confirmation from the Bishop of Ferrara in the 
 chapel of the ducal palace in the presence of the 
 Duke and Duchess and their family. There Isabella 
 met the sister-in-law who was to become her dearest 
 and closest friend, and the warm welcome which the 
 motherless young Princess received from the kind 
 Duchess Leonora, and the sisterly affection of the 
 Marchesana, were a great consolation to her in the 
 grief which she felt at parting from her brothers 
 
 1 Archivio Gonzaga, Copialettera, 126, quoted in Andrea Man- 
 tegna, by Paul Kristeller, App., p. 482. 
 
ISABELLA'S EDUCATION 9 
 
 and sister and leaving the happy home of her child- 
 hood.^ 
 
 By this time Isabella herself had reached the age 
 of fourteen, and was growing up a beautiful and 
 accompUshed maiden. She inherited her mother's 
 regular features, but, unlike her sister Beatrice, had 
 the fair hair and white skin which we see in Titian's 
 portrait at Vienna. According to Mario Equicola, 
 who spent many years in the Marchesa's service, her 
 eyes were black and sparkling, her hair yellow, and 
 her complexion one of dazzling briUiancy. Trissino, 
 the great Vicenza humanist, in his Ritratti, describes 
 the ripphng golden hair that flowed in thick masses 
 over her shoulders, recaUing Petrarch's hues, " Una 
 donna piil bella assai che'l sole ; " and teUs us that, 
 although only of middle height, she was remarkable 
 for the dignity of her carriage and stately grace of 
 her head and neck. But, as the Mantuan envoy told 
 his master, her gifts of mind were stiU more striking 
 than those of her person. Like other princesses of 
 the day, Isabella received a classical education, and 
 in after years acquired the reputation of speaking 
 the Latin tongue better than any woman of her age. 
 Battista Guarino, a son of the famous Verona scholar 
 who taught her uncle Duke LeoneUo, and lectured 
 in the University to the most distinguished students 
 in Italy, was her first teacher, and during the famine 
 of 1482 begged the Marquis of Mantua for a grant 
 of wheat, in order that he might the better instruct 
 Donna Isabella, "who is now," he adds, "thank 
 God, in perfect health, and learns with a marvellous 
 facihty far beyond her years." Guarino was suc- 
 ceeded by another tutor, Jacopo GaUino, who became 
 
 1 A. Luzio e E, Renierj Maniova e Urhino, p. l6. 
 
10 HER LOVE OF MUSIC 
 
 fondly attached to his clever pupil, and often re- 
 minded the Marchesana in later years of the happy 
 days when they studied the grammar of Chrysolaraa 
 together, and she repeated the Eclogues of Virgil 
 and the Epistles of Cicero by heart, or construed 
 the iEneid with such rare grace and fluency. At 
 the same time the more womanly arts were not 
 neglected in Isabella's education. She learnt to 
 dance, as we have ah-eady seen, from her baby- 
 hood, and two bone needles and one gold needle, 
 for Madonna Isabella's embroidery, are found among 
 the entries in the household accounts of the ducal 
 family.^ At an early age she showed signs of the 
 musical tastes for which she was afterwards dis- 
 tinguished, and which she shared with the other 
 members of her (race/) Duke LeoneUo played the 
 guitar, and her own brother Alfonso was an excel- 
 lent viohnist and frequently took part in pubUc 
 performances. Duchess Leonora played the harp, 
 and both her daughters learnt the lute and clari- 
 chord. As a child, Isabella studied music under 
 Don Giovanni Martino, a German priest who had 
 been brought from Constance to train the singers 
 of the ducal chapel. After her marriage she had 
 many masters, and often said laughingly that she 
 was but a poor pupil, who did her teachers little 
 credit.^ But she had a beautiful voice, and accom- 
 panied herself on the lute with exquisite skiU; and 
 the favoured guests who were privileged to hear her 
 sing and play aU went away charmed. Many were 
 
 ^ Registro de Mandati, c. 48, quoted by Luzio and Renier in 
 Giorn. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xxxvii. p. 2. 
 
 2 S. Davari, Musica in Mantova, Rivista Stor. Mants., i. 61; 
 Bertolotti, Musica alia Corte dei Gonzaga. 
 
SCHOLARS AT FERRARA 11 
 
 the lines from Virgil and the sonnets of Petrarch 
 which Niccolo da Correggio or Pietro Bembo set to 
 music for her benefit, and Trissino declares that the 
 sweetness of her voice lured the Sirens from their 
 rocks, and charmed the wUd beasts and stones with 
 the magic of Orpheus. 
 
 But the atmosphere of culture and refinement in 
 which Isabella grew up helped to develop her powers 
 more than the teaching of any masters. Under the 
 rule of three accomphshed Dukes, Ferrara had become 
 a centre of art and learning. The foremost scholars and 
 the best poets were attracted to a court where Matteo 
 Boiardo wrote his Orlando Innamorato, and Francesco 
 BeUo, the blind improvisatore, charmed all men by 
 his poetic recitations. Above aU, Isabella had the 
 example of her own parents before her eyes. Duke 
 Ercole's youth had been spent at the court of Naples, 
 where he was sent after his father's death, and early 
 acquired distinction as a vahant soldier. But one 
 day, during a serious attack of illness, he happened to 
 read a translation of Quintus Curtius, which interested 
 him so deeply that from that time he devoted aU his 
 leisure hours to classical studies. When Lodovico 
 Sforza asked him for the loan of his translation of 
 DionySius Cassius he replied that he could not part 
 with the manuscript, which he read almost every day, 
 bufwould^have it copied for his son-in-law. Plutarch 
 and Xenophon, Euripides and Seneca were among 
 his favourite authors, and the comedies of Plautus 
 and Terence were translated into Italian verse and 
 acted at Ferrara under his direction. He added 
 largely to the ducal hbrary founded by his brother 
 Leonello and kept a careful register of all the books 
 which his friends borrowed. His wife Leonora had 
 
12 PAINTERS AT THE COURT 
 
 a private collection of her own favourite authors, 
 which included many Italian versions of French and 
 Breton romances, of Spanish tales such as // Career 
 (T Amove, which she brought with her from Naples, 
 and of Pliny's "Letters" and Caesar's "Commentaries," 
 as well as the Fioretti of St. Francis and the De Con- 
 solatione of Boethius. 
 
 From her birth, Isabella was surrounded by the 
 finest works of art. The walls of her mother's rooms 
 were covered with paintings by the best Flemish and 
 ItaUan masters ; a crucifix by Jacopo Bellini hung 
 over her father's writing desk. The frescoes of 
 PisaneUo and Piero deUa Francesca, the medals of 
 Sperandio, the richest tapestries and the finest 
 majolica from Faenza and Urbino adorned the 
 palaces and viUas of Ferrara. Much of Isabella's 
 childhood was spent in her father's favourite country 
 house, the Schifanoia or Sans Souci of the Este 
 princes, which the Ferrarese master Cosimo Tura 
 and his followers had decorated with a famous series 
 of hunting and pastoral subjects. And during these 
 years architects and painters were continually at 
 work both in the Castello and in the beautiful villa 
 of Belriguardo on the banks of the Po, which was 
 said to contain as many rooms as days in the year. 
 The chapel was decorated with frescoes by Cosimo 
 Tura, who also, in his capacity of court-painter, 
 executed the portraits of Isabella and Beatrice for 
 their affianced husbands. When, in 1487, Cosimo 
 became too old and infirm for his work, another 
 excellent Ferrara painter, Ercole Roberti, originally 
 the son of a porter in the Castello, took his place 
 and was employed to decorate the new haUs which the 
 Duke had lately built at Belriguardo. A new chapel 
 
MARB-IAGE OF LUCREZIA 13 
 
 was also added to the Castello, and amongst the 
 works of art which adorned its walls was a stucco 
 group by a Ferrara sculptor representing the Duchess 
 with her daughter Isabella kneeling on a brocade 
 cushion at her feet.^ 
 
 Thus, from early youth, Isabella not only learnt 
 how to appreciate the finest art, but to see the en- 
 hghtened patronage which her parents bestowed alike 
 on native and foreign masters. She heard her father 
 discuss with keen interest the latest plans for the 
 decoration of viUas and churches, and watched Italian 
 and Spanish embroiderers at work under her mother's 
 superintendence. She saw Duke Ercole's Italian 
 version of the Mencechmi, and her cousin Niccolo da 
 Correggio's pastoral romance of Cefalo acted on a 
 stage fitted up in the old Palazzo della Ragione. 
 She met the most brilliant men and women of the 
 day at her father's table, and heard the best con- 
 versation and the most refined criticism from their 
 lips. And she grew up a charming and graceful 
 maiden, adored by her parents and teachers and 
 beloved by all around her. 
 
 In 1487,. the Duke's illegitimate daughter Lucrezia 
 was married to Count Annibale, a son of Giovanni 
 BentivogUo, lord of Bologna, and Francia, the famous 
 goldsmith of that city, who often worked for Leonora, 
 was employed to design the gold and silver credenza 
 or dinner-service used on this occasion, with lamps 
 encrusted with flowers and fohage, and goblets 
 studded with precious gems. The marriage of 
 Isabella, who was three years younger than her 
 half-sister, was delayed for a time. The Duke and 
 
 1 Gustave Gruyer, L'Art Ferrarais a I'epoque des Princes d'Este, 
 vol. ii. p. 136. 
 
14 ISABELLA'S TROUSSEAU 
 
 Duchess were reluctant to part from their beloved 
 child, and wished the wedding of their two daughters 
 to take place at the same time. But Lodovico Sforza 
 showed little inchnation to fix the date of his 
 marriage, while Francesco Gonzaga pressed his suit 
 eagerly, and Leonora finally agreed that Isabella's 
 wedding should take place in the spring of 1490, 
 before she had completed her sixteenth year. Great 
 preparations were made both at Mantua and Ferrara 
 for the coming event. AU through the year painters, 
 carvers, and goldsmiths were engaged in preparing 
 the bride's trousseau, under her mother's watchful 
 eye. Early in 1489 ^ Ercole Roberti was sent to 
 Venice, to buy gold-leaf and ultramarine for the 
 decoration of the wedding chests. On his return 
 he painted thirteen cassoni, for which he employed 
 eleven thousand gold leaves, and designed the nuptial 
 bed, as weU as a magnificent chariot and gilded 
 bucentaur which the Duke presented to his daughter. 
 The tapestries and hangings for her rooms were 
 made in Venice, seals and buttons and silver boxes 
 for her use were engraved by Ferrarese artists, and 
 a portable silver altar, richly chased and embossed, 
 together with ornaments and office-books to match, 
 were ordered from the skilled Milanese goldsmith 
 Fra Rocco. The girdle or majestate, worn by royal 
 brides and elaborately worked in gold and silver, was 
 also ordered from Fra Rocco, who devoted many 
 months to the task, and received 600 ducats from 
 the Duke. No less than 2000 ducats were paid 
 him for a similar belt which he made the next year 
 for Beatrice, and which is described by contemporaries 
 as a stiU greater marvel of workmanship. Isabella's 
 
 1 Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 153. 
 
HER MARRIAGE 15 
 
 dowry had been fixed at 25,000 ducats, while her 
 trousseau was valued at 2000 ducats, and the jewels 
 and other costly objects given her by the Duke 
 were held to be worth another 3000, so that the 
 whole of her marriage portion and outfit did not 
 exceed 30,000 ducats, a modest fortune compared 
 to her mother's dowry of 80,000 ducats and the 
 150,000 ducats that were settled on her sister-in-law 
 Anna Sforza. 
 
 The wedding was celebrated at Ferrara on the 
 11th of February 1490, and after the ceremony in 
 the ducal chapel, the bride rode through the streets 
 of the city in her fine new chariot draped with cloth 
 of gold, with the Duke of Urbino on horseback on 
 her right and the Ambassador of Naples on her 
 left. The banquet which followed was one of 
 the most sumptuous ever held in the CasteUo 
 of Ferrara. The walls of the Sala Grande were 
 hung with the Arras tapestries brought from Naples 
 by Duchess Leonora, including the " Queen of 
 Sheba's Visit to Solomon," and six pieces known as 
 " La PastoureUe," worked by hand in gold and silver 
 and coloured silks of exquisite dehcacy. These 
 priceless hangings originally came to Naples with 
 Queen Joan, and it was said that Flemish workers 
 had been employed upon them during more than 
 a _ hundred years. The Este princes held the 
 tapestries among their choicest possessions and only 
 used them on great occasions ; and in after years 
 they excited the admiration of the Emperor Charles 
 V. when he visited Reggio as the guest of Alfonso 
 d'Este, and insisted "on examining each piece sepa- 
 rately by torchhght. The magnificent dinner-service 
 used at Isabella's wedding had been made in Venice 
 
16 ENTRY INTO MANTUA 
 
 by a renowned goldsmith, Giorgio da Ragusa, from 
 Cosimo Tura's designs. Crystal flagons and dishes 
 of gold and enamel were supported by griffins and 
 satyrs, dolphins and satyrs, the handles of golden 
 bowls and cornucopias laden with fruit were adorned 
 with genii or the eagles of the house of Este, while 
 two hundred and fifty Httle banners, painted by 
 Ferrara artists with the Este and Gonzaga arms, 
 adorned the temples and pyramids of gilt and 
 coloured sugar that were a triumph of the con- 
 fectioner's art.-^ 
 
 On the following day the wedding party set out 
 in the richly carved and gilded bucentaur, attended 
 by four galleys and fifty boats, for Mantua, and 
 sailed up the Po. The bride was accompanied by 
 her parents, with their three young sons, Alfonso, 
 Ferrante, and the future Cardinal Ippolito, as well 
 as by her cousins, Alberto d'Este, Niccolo and Borso 
 da Correggio, and a hundred chosen courtiers, who 
 escorted her to the gates of Mantua. On the 15th 
 of February she made her triumphal entry into 
 the city, riding between the Marquis and the Duke 
 of Urbino, and followed by the Ambassadors of 
 France, Naples, Milan, Venice, Florence, Genoa, 
 Pisa, and other Itahan States. The loyal citizens 
 of Mantua hailed their young Marchesana with 
 enthusiasm, and it is said that as many as 17,000 
 spectators were assembled in the town that day. 
 The streets were hung with brocades and garlands 
 of flowers. At the Porta PradeUa a choir of white- 
 robed children welcomed the bride with songs and 
 recitations. At the Ponte S. Jacopo, on the Piazza 
 in front of Alberti's church of S, Andrea, at the 
 
 1 Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 83. 
 
WEDDING FESTIVITIES 17 
 
 gates of the park, and on the drawbridge of the 
 Castello, pageants and musical entertainments were 
 prepared in her honour. At one point the seven 
 planets and nine ranks of angehc orders welcomed 
 her coming, and a fair boy with angel wings recited 
 an epithalamium composed for the occasion at the 
 foot of the grand staircase of the Castello di Corte. 
 There Elisabetta Gonzaga received the bride, and 
 the princely guests sat down to a banquet in the 
 state rooms, while the immense crowds assembled 
 on the Piazza outside were feasted at the pubhc 
 expense, and the fountains and cisterns ran with 
 wine. The Marquis had borrowed large stores of 
 gold and silver plate, of carpets and hangings from 
 all his friends and kinsfolk. Giovanni Bentivoglio, 
 Marco Pio of Carpi, the Gonzagas of Bozzolo, and 
 many of Isabella's relatives had placed their treasures 
 at his disposal for the occasion, and his brother-in- 
 law, Duke Guidobaldo, had lent him the famous 
 tapestries of the Trojan war, which were the glory 
 of the palace of Urbino. The festivities were pro- 
 longed until the last day of the carnival. Tourna- 
 ments and dances and torchUght processions fol- 
 lowed each other in rapid succession, and each day 
 a fresh banquet was spread on tables in the Piazza, 
 and confetti, representing cities, castles, churches, 
 and animals in endless variety, were distributed to 
 the dehghted populace.^ 
 
 Only one thing was wanting to complete the 
 splendour of the festival. This was the presence of 
 Andrea Mantegna, the great master who had spent 
 thirty years in the service of the Gonzagas, and 
 whose genius was so highly esteemed by the young 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notisie d' Isabella Estense, p. 31. 
 VOL. I. B 
 
18 MANTEGNA'S ABSENCE 
 
 Marquis. In June 1488, Francesco had given him 
 leave to go to Rome, at the earnest request of Pope 
 Innocent VIII., who employed him to paint his new 
 chapel of the Belvedere. The artist, however, was 
 not happy at the Vatican, and complained bitterly in 
 his letters to the Marquis of the irregular payments 
 and indifferent treatment which he received from the 
 Pope, declaring that he was a child of the house of 
 Gonzaga, and wished to live and die in their service. 
 He was uneasy too about his unfinished Triumphs 
 in the Castello of Mantua, and begged the Marquis 
 to see that the rain did not come in through the 
 windows and damage these canvases, which were his 
 best and most perfect works. Francesco replied in a 
 friendly letter, assuring him that his Triumphs were 
 perfectly safe, and wrote again at Christmas 1489, 
 begging the painter to return as soon as possible, 
 since his help was indispensable in preparing the 
 pageants and decorations for the wedding. But the 
 messenger who brought the letter found Andrea ill 
 in bed and the Pope's frescoes unfinished, and the 
 Marquis was forced to celebrate his marriage without 
 the presence of his favourite painter. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 1328—1478 
 
 The court of Mantua and house of Gonzaga — Gianfrancesco II., 
 the first Marquis — Vittorino da Feltre and the Casa Zoiosa — 
 Cecilia Gonzaga — Reign of Lodovico Gonzaga and Barbara of 
 Brandenburg — Their patronage of art and learning — Marri- 
 age of Federico to Margaret of Bavaria — Betrothal of Dorotea 
 Gonzaga to Galeazzo Sforza- — Frescoes of the Camera degli 
 Sposi. 
 
 Mantua, which now became the home of Isabella 
 d'Este, was a comparatively small city. The popu- 
 lation only numbered 28,000, and the domains of the 
 Marquis Francesco were both poorer and smaller than 
 the Duchy of Ferrara. But under the rule of the 
 Gonzaga family this little state had already acquired 
 an important position in North Italy. Since the hard- 
 fought day in 1328, when Lodovico Gonzaga defeated 
 the rival family of the Buonacolsi, and was chosen cap- 
 tain of the people, and afterwards appointed Vicar- 
 General by the Emperor, Mantua had rapidly increased 
 in power and prosperity. His successors not only won 
 the love of their subjects by their wise and paternal 
 government, but by their hereditary valour and 
 skilful diplomacy succeeded in maintaining their 
 independence against their two powerful neighbours, 
 Venice and Milan, There was less splendour and 
 luxury at the court of Mantua than at Ferrara, but 
 the Gonzagas showed as genuine a love of art and 
 learning as the princes of the house of Este. 
 Gianfrancesco I., the fourth prince of his race to bear 
 
20 THE GONZAGA PRINCES 
 
 sway in Mantua, employed Bartolino da Novara, the 
 architect of the Castello Rosso of Ferrara, to build 
 the strong Castello, with the four massive towers at 
 each angle, overlooking the lakes formed by the 
 waters of the Mincio, on the east side of the city. 
 He also rebuilt the old bridge of San Giorgio, which 
 crosses the Lago di Mezzo opposite the CasteUo, and 
 the fine Lombard-Gothic Duomo on the neighbour- 
 ing Piazza di San Pietro, which Giuho Romano 
 transformed into a late Renaissance building in the 
 reign of Isabella d'Este's grandson. The same 
 prince paid a visit to the south of France in 1389, 
 and during his residence in that country added sixty- 
 seven French books to his library, which at his death 
 numbered 400 volumes.^ 
 
 Gianfrancesco II., who succeeded his father in 
 1407, was raised to the dignity of Marquis when the 
 Emperor Sigismund visited Mantua in 1433. This 
 wise and enlightened prince strengthened the fortifi- 
 cations of the city, drained the neighbouring marshes, 
 and did his best to encourage agriculture, and the 
 manufacture of cloth, which remained the staple 
 industry of Mantua until the sack of 1630. Like 
 most of the Gonzaga princes, he served the rival 
 States of Venice and Milan alternately, but was a 
 liberal patron of learning, and attracted the best 
 foreign artists to his court. BruneUesco came to 
 Mantua twice, in 1432 and in 1436, to give him advice 
 as to the construction of dykes. Alberti, the dis- 
 tinguished architect, dedicated his "Treatise on 
 Painting " to him, and even that greedy and querulous 
 humanist, Filelfo, extolled him as the most generous 
 of patrons. His excellent wife, Paola Malatesta, 
 
 1 W. Braghirolli in Romania, ] 880. 
 
VITTORINO DA FELTRE 21 
 
 shared his cultured tastes, and trained her numerous 
 sons and daughters in habits of virtue and piety. To 
 her even more than to her husband was due the 
 choice of Vittorino da Feltre as tutor to the Gon- 
 zaga princes. This remarkable man became renowned 
 among living scholars, not only for his knowledge of 
 Greek, but for the high ideal of education which he 
 held up before the age. In his eyes there was no 
 loftier mission than that of the schoolmaster, and aU 
 his powers were devoted to this high caUing. The 
 Casa Zoiosa or Maison Joyeuse, where he settled in 
 1425, at Gianfrancesco's invitation, close to the 
 CasteUo, soon became famous throughout Italy. 
 Here, in these fair halls, on the banks of the lake, 
 adorned with frescoes and surrounded with avenues 
 of plane trees and acacias, the high-born youths and 
 maidens in Vittorino's charge received that complete 
 training of body and mind which he held to be the 
 best preparation for hfe. He began by making a 
 few necessary reforms. His pupils' superfluous ser- 
 vants were dismissed, the use of gold and silver plate 
 and of highly spiced dishes at their table was pro- 
 hibited, and simple but abundant fare was provided. 
 All swearing and bad language was forbidden, lying 
 was treated as the blackest of crimes, good manners 
 were especially encouraged, and Church festivals and 
 fasts were strictly observed, since in Vittorino's eyes 
 true learning was inseparable from virtue and re- 
 ligion. His course of instruction included Latin and 
 Greek, mathematics, grammar, logic, philosophy, 
 music, singing and dancing, and the hours of 
 study were pleasantly varied by games at palla in the 
 meadows along the Mincio, and shooting, swimming, 
 and fencing matches, as well as occasional fishing and 
 
22 THE CASA ZOIOSA 
 
 hunting expeditions. He began by reading carefully 
 chosen selections from Virgil and Cicero, Homer and 
 Demosthenes aloud to his scholars, explaining the 
 meaning as he went along, and made them learn these 
 passages by heart as the best way of forming their 
 style. Afterwards he laid down a few simple rules for 
 their guidance in composition, teUing them to be sure, 
 first of all, that they had something to say, and then 
 to see that they said it frankly and simply, avoiding 
 the subtleties of the schools. " I want to teach my 
 pupils how to think," he said, "not to split hairs." 
 Vittorino himself always paid special attention to 
 backward pupils, and received many poor scholars 
 who could not afford to pay the usual fees, teaching 
 them, as he said, " for the love of God." On summer 
 days he often took his scholars to a small country 
 house on the height of Andes or Pietola, the birth- 
 place of Virgil, which was the only property that he 
 ever acquired, and told them stories of Perseus and 
 Hercules, while they rested on the grass after their 
 games ; and once or twice in the season more distant 
 expeditions were made to the shores of the Lake of 
 Garda or the Alps of Tyrol.^ 
 
 Soon the fame of Vittorino's gymnasium brought 
 him pupils from all parts of Italy. One of these 
 was Federico di Montefeltro, the great and good 
 Duke of Urbino, who placed his beloved teacher's 
 portrait in his palace, with the following inscrip- 
 tion : "In honour of his saintly master Vittorino da 
 Feltre, who by word and example instructed him in 
 all human excellence, Federico has set this here." 
 Lodovico Gonzaga, the eldest of Gianfrancesco's 
 
 1 Vittorino da Feltre, Prendilacqua ; Benoit, Vittorin de Feltre; 
 S. Paglia in Archivio Storico Lombardo, xi. 150. 
 
CECILIA GONZAGA 23 
 
 sons, retained the deepest respect for his master all 
 through his life, and after he succeeded his father as 
 Marquis, would never sit down in his old teacher's 
 presence. His brothers Gianlucido and Alessandro, 
 who were cut off from public Mfe by a spinal disease 
 which they inherited from their mother Paola, found 
 their best consolation in hterary pursuits, and Gian- 
 lucido is said to have known the whole of Virgil 
 by heart. Their sister Margherita charmed her 
 cultured husband, Duke LeoneUo d'Este, by the 
 elegance of her Latin letters, and he wrote to teU 
 her how much he rejoiced to think that she enjoyed 
 the advantage of Vittorino's instruction, being per- 
 suaded that for " virtue, learning, and a rare and 
 excellent way of teaching good manners," this master 
 surpassed all others. But the most accomplished 
 of Vittorino's pupils was the Marquis's youngest 
 daughter, CeciUa Gonzaga. At eight years she read 
 the works of Chrysostom, and amazed learned visitors 
 to Casa Zoiosa by the ease with which she recited 
 Latin verse. As she grew up her charms and sweet- 
 ness of nature captivated young and old, but trouble 
 arose when her hand was sought by Odd' Antonio di 
 Montefeltro, the elder brother of Federico, who, un- 
 hke him, was a prince of notoriously bad character. 
 In vain Cecilia pleaded her wish to take the veil and 
 devote herself to a life of contemplation, and the 
 papal protonotary Gregorio Correr, who, as Abbot 
 of S. Zeno of Verona, employed Mantegna to paint 
 his noble triptych in that church, dedicated to her 
 his treatise De Fugiendo Scecuh. Her father was 
 bent on the marriage, and punished Ceciha with 
 blows and imprisonment. At length Paola's tears 
 and Vittorino's remonstrances brought the Marquis 
 
24 BARBARA VON BRANDENBURG 
 
 to a better mind, and with his sanction Cecilia 
 entered the convent of Corpus Domini, a community 
 of Poor Clares founded by her mother, who came to 
 end her own days there, after Gianfrancesco's death in 
 1444. When Pisanello visited Mantua three years 
 afterwards, he designed the beautiful medal inscribed 
 with the words Cecilia Virgo, showing on one side 
 a profile portrait of her deUcate and refined features, 
 and on the other her seated figure, with the crescent 
 moon and unicorn as emblems of her maidenhood. 
 Four years after this she died, before she was quite 
 twenty-five.^ 
 
 Vittorino's good offices were exerted on behalf of 
 another of his pupUs, Lodovico Gonzaga, who in a fit 
 of anger at seeing his younger brother Carlo pre- 
 ferred to him, fled to the camp of FiUppo Visconti, 
 Duke of Milan, and took up arms against his father. 
 Gianfrancesco vowed that he would disinherit this 
 undutiful son, and it was only at the end of three 
 years, in deference to Paola and Vittorino's entreaties, 
 that he consented to a reconciliation and pubhcly re- 
 cognised Lodovico as his heir. MeanwhUe the young 
 prince's little German bride, Barbara von Branden- 
 burg, was growing up in his mother's charge, and 
 profiting by Vittorino's instructions. The marriage 
 had been arranged by the Emperor Sigismund when 
 he visited Mantua in 1433, and that autumn an 
 escort of 200 Mantuan courtiers was sent to Augs- 
 burg to bring back the ten-year-old princess, with a 
 golden chariot drawn by four horses, and a robe of 
 gold brocade so stiff and splendid that the German 
 ladies exclaimed " it stood up of itself ! " Soon after 
 Lodovico's return, in 1440, the marriage was solem- 
 
 1 Paglia, op. cit. ; Pastor, " History of the Popes," i. 46. 
 
LITERARY TASTES OF LODOVICO 25 
 
 nised, and Barbara proved the best of wives and 
 mothers and the most admirable helpmeet to her 
 husband during the thirty-four years of his long 
 reign.^ 
 
 Amidst the cares of state and perils of war, 
 Lodovico did not forget the lessons which he had 
 learnt in the Casa Zoiosa, and whUe, as captain of 
 the Florentine and Milanese armies, he proved his 
 valour on many a hard-fought field, he ruled his 
 people wisely and well, and showed a zeal for 
 learning and an enlightened love of art worthy of 
 Vittorino's scholar. Mindful of the happy days 
 when he and his comrades played together in the 
 fields of Pietola, he collected all the manuscripts of 
 VirgU that he could obtain, and Platina, whom he 
 employed to revise the text, wrote a poem called 
 "The Dream of the Marquis," in which Virgil 
 returns from the Elysian fields and begs Lodovico 
 to complete his great work and purge his text from 
 the errors of the copyists. Petrarch and Dante were 
 as dear to him as the classical poets. He employed 
 artists to Uluminate the ^neid and Divina Corn- 
 media, and a richly illustrated MS. of the Filocolo 
 of Boccaccio from his collection, bearing the black 
 eagles and lions of the Gonzagas, is now preserved in 
 the Bodleian Library at Oxford. One autumn, when 
 he was taking the baths at Petriolo, he begged his wife 
 to send him his St. Augustine, Quintus Curtius and 
 Lucan, which had been left behind at Mantua. 
 Another time he borrowed Borso d'Este's precious 
 Codex of Phny, while his wife begged the Duke to 
 lend her S. Caterina of Siena's prayers. Lodovico 
 
 1 B. Hoffmann, Barbara von Hohensollem Markgrafin von Mantua; 
 P. Kristeller in Hohensollem Jahrbuch, 1899, P- QG, &c. 
 
26 ART AT HIS COURT 
 
 was also much interested in natural history, and 
 made a valuable collection of books with illustrations 
 of birds and animals. Under his patronage a printing- 
 press was set up in Mantua, and Boccaccio's De- 
 camerone was the first book published there in 1473. 
 The decoration of his capital was another object 
 to which this admirable prince devoted his best 
 attention. At his invitation Alberti paid repeated 
 visits to Mantua, and designed the chapel of the 
 Incoronata in the Duomo, and the churches of S. 
 Sebastian and S. Andrea. This last church, which 
 was founded in 1472, to receive the sacred blood said 
 to have been brought to Mantua by the centurion 
 Longinus, was justly admired as one of the earliest 
 and most successful examples of ecclesiastical archi- 
 tecture in the classical style. Alberti's designs were 
 mostly carried out by Luca Fancelli, another Tuscan 
 architect, who entered Lodovico's service in 1450, 
 and built or improved the beautiful ducal viUas at 
 Goito, Cavriana, Gonzaga, and Revere, which are so 
 often mentioned in Isabella d'Este's letters. The 
 best sculptors and painters were employed by 
 Lodovico to decorate these sumptuous country 
 houses. Pisanello adorned a hall in the Castello 
 with frescoes, and remained at Mantua until he 
 received an imperious summons from Leonello 
 d'Este, threatening him with the forfeiture of all 
 his property in Ferrara if he did not return imme- 
 diately. DonateUo spent nearly two years at Mantua, 
 where he executed the noble bronze bust of Lodovico, 
 now at Berhn, and began the Area of St. Anselm in 
 the Duomo. The Marquis often employed the great ■ 
 Florentine sculptor to send him antiques, but com- 
 plained bitterly how difficult it was to induce him to 
 
ANDREA MANTEGNA 27 
 
 finish anything. He was more fortunate with Man- 
 tegna, who, after repeated and urgent invitations, 
 at length came to Mantua in the summer of 1459, 
 and remained there untU his death, half-a-century 
 later. 
 
 That love of antiquity with which Vittorino had 
 inspired him in early youth, and which he admired 
 in Alberti's architectural designs, first led him to 
 appreciate the genius of this great Paduan master, 
 who was animated with the true classical spirit. He 
 treated Andrea with unalterable kindness, gave him 
 a hberal salary of fifteen ducats a month, with 
 supphes of com, wood, wine, and lodgings for his 
 family, and bore patiently with the irritable master's 
 frequent complaints against the tailor who had spoilt 
 his new coat, or the neighbour who had robbed his 
 orchard of five hundred quinces. And when in the 
 last years of his reign the treasury was exhausted 
 by a long war, and the plague was raging in Mantua, 
 the good Marquis rephed to Andrea's bitter re- 
 proaches in the following noble and kindly letter: 
 
 " Andrea," he wrote from Goito, " we have re- 
 ceived a letter from you which it reaUy seems to us 
 that you need not have written, since we perfectly 
 remember the promises we made when you entered 
 our service, neither, as it seems to us, have we 
 failed to keep these promises or to do our utmost 
 for you. But you cannot take from us what we 
 have not got, and you yourself have seen that, when 
 we have had the means, we have never failed to do 
 aU in our power for you and our other servants, 
 and that gladly and with good wiU. It is true that, 
 since we have not received our usual revenues during 
 the last few months, we have been obliged to defer 
 
28 VIRTUES OF BARBARA 
 
 certain payments, such as this which is due to you, 
 but we are seeking by every means in our power to 
 raise money to meet our obhgations, even if we are 
 forced to mortgage our own property, since all our 
 jewels are already pawned, and you need not fear 
 but that before long, your debt will be paid gladly 
 and readily."^ 
 
 In the government of his people and in the ad- 
 ministration of his affairs Lodovico was ably assisted 
 by his excellent wife Barbara, the HohenzoUern 
 princess who, leaving her own land at so early an 
 age, brought the sohd and domestic virtues of the 
 Teutonic race to blend with the refined tastes of 
 the Gonzagas. A prudent housewife and devoted 
 mother, she watched over the education of her chil- 
 dren with unwearied care. When Platina, who be- 
 came her son Federico's tutor, after the death of 
 Vittorino in 1446, was sent on a journey to Greece, 
 she looked out at once for another master, saying it was 
 a pity the boy should waste his time ; and when his 
 successor, Filelfo, complained that Federico was lazy 
 and indifferent, and had no real love of books, she 
 counselled patience, and remarked that he would 
 probably develop later. Under her vigilant eye no 
 foolish luxury or wasteful expenditure was allowed. 
 A refined simplicity marked the daily life of the court, 
 and display was reserved for state occasions. At 
 the same time Barbara took a lively interest in the 
 welfare of her husband's subjects. She encouraged 
 the cloth manufacture by her example and influence, 
 and large quantities of this fabric were yearly ex- 
 ported to Germany. When her sister, Queen Doro- 
 
 1 Archivio Go?i3aga, lib. 86, quoted by A. Baschet, Gazette des 
 Beaux Arts, 1866. 
 
COUNCIL OF MANTUA 29 
 
 thea of Denmark, visited Mantua in 1475, a great fair 
 was held in her honour, and as many as 5000 pieces 
 of cloth were offered for sale. 
 
 Barbara's love for her adopted country did not 
 weaken the ties which bound her to her old German 
 home. She kept up an active correspondence with 
 her kinsfolk beyond the Alps, and entertained her 
 father the Elector John and her uncle the Margrave 
 Albert of Brandenburg repeatedly at Mantua. Her 
 third and favourite son, the tall and handsome Gian- 
 francesco, was sent to be educated under the Mar- 
 grave's eye at Anspach, while Rodolfo, her fourth 
 son, the gallant soldier who afterwards fell at Fornovo, 
 completed his knightly training at the court of Charles 
 the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. But the proudest day 
 of Barbara's hfe was that of the opening of the Gene- 
 ral Council which Pope Pius II. summoned to meet 
 at Mantua in 1459. It was Albert of Brandenburg 
 who, at Barbara's suggestion, had advised the Pope 
 to choose Mantua for the meeting of this Council, 
 which was to restore peace to Christendom and pro- 
 claim a crusade against the Turk. Only England, 
 distracted by the Wars of the Hoses, and Scotland, 
 " buried in the far northern seas," sent no answer to 
 the Pope's appeal. Princes and ambassadors arrived 
 from all parts of Italy and Germany. Pius II. 
 and his eight Cardinals, Francesco Sforza, Duke of 
 Milan, Albert of Brandenburg, and Duke Sigismund 
 of Austria were among the guests who were enter- 
 tained in the CasteUo. The Pope, who spent four 
 months at Mantua, was greatly^^ impressed by the 
 noble character of the Marchioness, whom he de- 
 scribed in one of his letters as " distinguished among 
 aU other matrons of the age by her shining graces of 
 
30 A BAVARIAN BRIDE 
 
 body and mind." Two years afterwards, he gratified 
 Barbara's fondest wish by bestowing a Cardinal's hat 
 on her second son Francesco, a boy of seventeen, 
 who was still studying at the University of Pavia. 
 Her maternal pride was equally pleased when, in 
 1462, the Emperor Frederick II. arranged a mar- 
 riage for her eldest son Federico with Margaret, 
 daughter of Duke Sigismund of Bavaria. But the 
 bad manners and rude habits of the German envoys, 
 who came to Mantua to draw up the marriage con- 
 tract, shocked the Italians, who declared that they 
 behaved hke cooks and scuUions ; and Federico, who 
 is said to have been in love with another maiden, 
 fled to Naples rather than marry this foreign bride. 
 For several months nothing was heard of him, but 
 at last he was discovered by King Ferrante, living in 
 a destitute condition under an assumed name in the 
 poor quarters of the city, and some time passed 
 before his mother could induce him to return home 
 and crave his father's forgiveness. In March 1463, 
 Gianfrancesco and Rodolfo Gonzaga were sent to 
 bring home the bride, who entered Mantua in state 
 on the 7th of June. The chronicler Schivenogha, 
 who was Federico's secretary, evidently shared his 
 master's dislike for the Germans, and describes the 
 bride as short of stature, blonde and plump, and 
 unable to speak a word of Itahan ; while her atten- 
 dants were clad in coarse red clothes of ugly shape 
 and colour. " As to their customs and manners," he 
 adds significantly, " I will say nothing." i Margaret 
 herself, however, soon learnt to appreciate the refine- 
 ment of Italian manners, and when some years later 
 she paid a visit to her old home took a troop of 
 
 ^ A. Schivenoglia, Cronaca di Mantova, 1445-1484. 
 
DEFORMITY OF THE GONZAGAS 31 
 
 richly attired singers and minstrels with her to 
 Bavaria. We hear httle else of Federico's bride, 
 who had neither the vigorous character of the 
 Marchesa Barbara nor the beauty and charm which 
 made Isabella d'Este famous. But she was a good 
 wife and mother, and her placid, gentle face, framed 
 in a quaintly peaked, pearl-trimmed cap, bearing the 
 Greek motto Amomos — spotless — may stiU be seen 
 carved in low rehef on a block of Carrara marble 
 which once adorned the portals of the Gonzaga 
 viUa at Revere, and is now in the Academy of 
 Mantua. 
 
 A worse trouble befeU Lodovico and Barbara in 
 the terrible affliction of their two elder daughters, 
 Susanna and Dorotea, both of whom inherited the 
 deformity which afflicted Paola Malatesta in her 
 latter years. When Susanna, who had been be- 
 trothed as a chUd to Galeazzo Maria, the eldest son 
 of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, grew up hunch- 
 backed, her younger sister's, name was substituted in 
 the marriage contract. But soon it became rumoured 
 abroad that Dorotea, although a fair and attractive 
 maiden, had one shoulder higher than the other, and 
 before the wedding took place, the Duke demanded 
 a medical certificate of her state of health. Rather 
 than comply with this insulting condition, Lodovico 
 broke off the negotiations and resigned his own 
 appointment as captain of the Milanese forces. Both 
 Galeazzo, who seems to have been really attached 
 to his affianced bride, and his mother. Duchess 
 Bianca, who was a personal friend of Barbara, 
 endeavoured to reopen communications. But the 
 Marquis dechned aU further correspondence on the 
 subject, and in May 1465, refused the Duke's in vita- 
 
32 DOROTEA MEETS GALEAZZO 
 
 tion to attend the wedding of his daughter Ippolita 
 with the King of Naples's son, Alfonso, Duke of 
 Calabria. When, however, the newly wedded pair 
 were on their way to Naples, the Marquis and his 
 family met them at Reggio, and Dorotea saw her 
 old lover again. The minute directions which Bar- 
 bara gave her son Federico on this occasion prove 
 that she had not yet abandoned all hopes of the 
 marriage. 
 
 " We do not yet know," she wrote on the 14th of 
 June, " whether Signor Galeazzo will be present, but 
 if he should come to Reggio, I think it well to warn 
 you how to behave. First of all, as soon as you see 
 the Milanese party approach, you and your wife must 
 dismount and advance to meet them with out- 
 stretched hands and courteous reverence. Be care- 
 ful not to bend your knee before them, but salute 
 the illustrious Duke and Duchess, and shake hands 
 with Filippo and Lodovico, and also with Galeazzo, 
 if he is present and offers to shake hands. Dorotea 
 must also give him her hand and curtsey to him, but 
 if he does not come forward let her not move a step. 
 Then we will take the Duchess up in our chariot, 
 and you must all three of you pay her reverence, 
 Dorotea must either wear her camora of black and 
 silver brocade, or her crimson or gold-embroidered 
 one, whichever of the three she chooses. Your wife 
 may shake hands with the princes or not, as she 
 pleases, for in her condition whatever she does will 
 be excused. But I hope you will take a Uttle 
 trouble in the matter, and explain all this clearly to 
 Dorotea, and see that she makes no mistake. If w 
 could be present at the interview, I would not 
 trouble you, but I fear our chariot may be delayed 
 
LODOVICO'S DAUGHTERS 33 
 
 and we may arrive too late to receive the Milanese 
 princes." ^ 
 
 The meeting passed off happily, and Barbara 
 wrote to her absent son, Cardinal Francesco, saying 
 that Dorotea had played her part well, and that 
 Galeazzo had treated her with marked attention. 
 Early in the next year the Duke of Milan died, and 
 Galeazzo's first act was to renew his suit. Already 
 the prehminaries of the contract were drawn up, 
 when Dorotea fell suddenly iU of fever, and died in 
 a few days. Ill-natured persons said that the new 
 Duke had poisoned his bride to be rid of the bargain, 
 but Galeazzo himself expressed the deepest grief, 
 and after his marriage to Bona of Savoy brought his 
 wife to stay at Mantua. 
 
 Two of Lodovico's remaining daughters married 
 German princes, one of whom, the Count von Gortz, 
 treated his wife so badly that she came back to 
 Mantua a year after her marriage, while the other, 
 Barbara, became, in 1474, the spouse of Count Eber- 
 hard von Wiirtemberg, the founder of the University 
 of Tiibingen. 
 
 Fortunately aU Lodovico's sons grew up tall and 
 strong. Three of them were vahant soldiers, who dis- 
 tinguished themselves in the service of the Pope and 
 the King of Naples, while the youngest, Lodovico, 
 born in 1458, became Bishop of Mantua, and his 
 brother. Cardinal Francesco, rose to still higher dis- 
 tinction in the Church. This young ecclesiastic was 
 a refined connoisseur, and early showed his passion 
 for music and antiques. When, after his appoint- 
 
 1 Stefano Davari, // Matrimonio di Dorotea Gonzaga ; Paul Kris- 
 teller, Barbara von Brandenburg, Hohenzollern Jahrbuch, vol. iii. 
 p. 66, &c. 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
34 CARDINAL FRANCESCO 
 
 merit as papal legate in 1472, he stayed at the baths 
 of Porretta, in the Apennines, on his return from 
 Rome, to recruit his health, he sent his father the 
 following letter, begging that the painter Mantegna 
 and the musician Malagista might be sent to keep 
 him company : — 
 
 "Most honoured and illustrious Father, — I hope 
 to arrive at Bologna on the 5th or 6th of August, but 
 shall not stay there more than two or three days, and 
 intend to go on to the baths, where I beg Your 
 Highness to be pleased to order Andrea Mantegna 
 and Malagista to stay with me, in order that I may 
 have some distraction and amusement to enable me 
 to avoid sleep, as is necessary for my cure. It wUl 
 be a great pleasure to show Andrea my cameos and 
 bronzes, and other fine antiques, which we can ex- 
 amine and discuss together, and Malagista's playing 
 and singing will make it easier for me to keep awake. 
 So I beg you to let me have these two for my com- 
 panions. After taking the baths, I wiU return to 
 Bologna for eight or ten days, and then come to 
 spend all October with Your Excellency at Mantua. 
 ... I am able, thank God, to ride again since I left 
 the bad air of Rome, and am already much better. — 
 Your most devoted son, Francesco Gonzaga, Car- 
 dinal and legate." ' Foligno, 18th July 1472. 
 
 Both artists were sent to join Francesco at 
 Bologna, and on Sunday, the 24th of August, the 
 young Cardinal-legate made his solemn entry into 
 Mantua, bringing in his train the distinguished archi- 
 tect Leo Battista Alberti, and the young Florentine 
 poet Angelo Poliziano, whose famous drama of 
 
 1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by A. Baschetj Gazette des Beaux 
 Arts, vol. xx.j 1866. 
 
SALA DEGLI SPOSI 35 
 
 " Orfeo," composed by him in three days, was acted 
 for the first time on this occasion. The event was 
 commemorated by Mantegna in a still more splendid 
 form in the frescoes of the Camera degli Sposi, which 
 were completed in 1474, as recorded in the proud 
 inscription placed by the painter on a tablet, held by 
 winged boys, over the door: "To the illustrious 
 Lodovico II., Marquis of Mantua, most excellent 
 prince, in the faith invincible, and his illustrious 
 wife, Barbara, the incomparable glory of women. 
 Their Andrea Mantegna of Padua has completed 
 this humble work to their honour. 1474." 
 
 Here, in the Marquis's own nuptial chamber, in 
 the corner tower of the Castello, the great master has 
 left us a hving record of the Gonzaga family. The 
 painter's genius has transformed this small room in 
 the heart of the grim old fortress into a fairy bower, 
 decorated with garlands and tapestries, where sportive 
 loves play on a marble parapet under the blue sky. 
 On one wall the reception of a foreign ambassador, 
 probably the envoy sent by the Duke of Wiirtem- 
 berg to ask for the hand of Lodovico's daughter 
 Barbara, is represented. A secretary is seen handing 
 the letter to the good prince, who, with his wife at 
 his side, is seated in true patriarchal fashion under an 
 open loggia on the garden terrace, surrounded by his 
 children and grandchildren, his courtiers and pet 
 dwarfs. His eldest son, Federico, advances to re- 
 ceive the German ambassador, while the bride-elect, 
 standing behind her mother's chair, turns her eyes 
 with eager gaze in the same direction. On the op- 
 posite waU of the nuptial chamber, a second fresco 
 commemorates the arrival of the young Cardinal and 
 his suite of servants on his return from Rome. The 
 
36 MANTEGNA'S FRESCOES 
 
 Marquis goes out to welcome him, with his sons, 
 Federico and Gianfrancesco, and his two Uttle grand- 
 sons, Francesco, afterwards the husband of Isabella 
 d'Este, and Sigismondo, the future Cardinal. In 
 both of these family groups the striking personality 
 of the different personages has been clearly brought 
 out by the painter. We see the gallant bearing of 
 the soldier-sons, the culture and wisdom of the man 
 of the world mingled with the sober gravity of the 
 ecclesiastic in the sleek face and portly figure of the 
 young Cardinal, while aU the strength and goodness 
 of Barbara's character lives in the sensible German 
 face that looks out from under the quaint square 
 head-dress, and in the grave, black eyes that are fixed 
 on her lord's face, and seem to express her readiness 
 to help him with her sympathy and advice. The 
 sunny landscape, with the Pantheon and Coliseum 
 among the seven hills, recalls the Eternal City from 
 which Francesco had lately returned, and if the 
 medallions of Ceesars and myths of Hercules and 
 Orpheus are emblems of Lodovico's taste for classical 
 history and love of music, the peacock on the balus- 
 trade, the tame Hon crouching at his feet, and the 
 favourite greyhound asleep under his chair, remind 
 us of his interest in birds and animals. 
 
 Thus, in these noble frescoes which still hght up 
 the old walls of the Castello with colour and bright- 
 ness, the great master has not only left us a faithful 
 picture of Lodovico and his family, but has enabled 
 us to reaUse the strong German sense of family 
 affection and home life, combined with the splendour 
 and culture of an Itahan court, which Isabella found 
 at Mantua when she became the wife of Francesco 
 Gonzaga, 
 
PhotOy Aiiderson 
 
 LODOVICO GONZAGA AND HIS SONS 
 
 By Andrea Mantegna 
 
 {Sala degli Sposi. Mantua) 
 
 To face p. 36, TJoL i 
 
CHAPTER HI 
 
 1478—1490 
 
 Reign of Federico Gonzaga — Death of his wife and mother — His 
 love for his daughters — Visit of Lorenzo dei Medici — 
 Accession of Francesco Gonzaga — His character and warlike 
 tastes — Betrothal of Elisabetta Gonzaga to Guidobaldo, Duke 
 of Urbino — His visit to Mantua — Marriage of Elisabetta — 
 Her return to Mantua for Francesco's wedding — Her friend- 
 ship with Isabella d'Este — Excursion to the Lago di Garda — 
 Visits to Ferrara. 
 
 LoDOVico Gonzaga died at the age of sixty-four 
 on the 12th of June 1478, at his villa of Goito, less 
 than a month after writing his kind and dignified 
 reply to Mantegna's remonstrances, whUe the plague 
 was still raging at Mantua. On his deathbed he was 
 induced by his wife, whose affection for her younger 
 children overcame her natural wisdom, to divide his 
 State, and leave her favourite son, Gianfrancesco, 
 the principality of Bozzolo and Sabbioneta, while 
 Castighone was bequeathed to Rodolfo Gonzaga and 
 Gazzuolo to Bishop Lodovico. This division not 
 only weakened the State, but led to serious family 
 dissensions in the future. During Barbara's life- 
 time, however, all went well. Her eldest son, the 
 new Marquis, Federico, consoled his widowed mother's 
 grief, and treated her with the greatest respect, tell- 
 ing her, in true humanist fashion, that she had lost 
 a lord whom she was bound to obey and kept a son 
 whose duty it was to obey her. A year afterwards 
 his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, died, leaving a young 
 
 37 
 
38 DEATH OF BARBARA 
 
 family of five children, who were tenderly cared for 
 by their grandmother. But on the 10th of Novem- 
 ber 1481, Barbara herself died at the age of fifty- 
 eight, deeply lamented by all her children. Fra 
 Bernardino da Feltre, the eloquent Franciscan friar, 
 pronounced her funeral oration, and Matteo Bossi, 
 the learned Abbot of Fiesole, addressed a Latin 
 epistle of condolence to Cardinal Gonzaga on the 
 death of this admirable lady. She was buried by her 
 husband's side in front of the Area di S. Anselmo in 
 the Duomo, and her sons desired Luca FanceUi to 
 raise a splendid monument over her grave. But the 
 Cardinal died in 1483, and although Bishop Lodovico 
 intended to carry out his scheme, it seems doubtful 
 if the tomb was ever erected. 
 
 Before the good Marchesa died she had the joy 
 of seeing her granddaughter, Chiara — born in July 
 1464 — married to the King of France's cousin Gilbert, 
 Due de Montpensier, and her eldest grandson Fran- 
 cesco, who was two years younger, betrothed to 
 Isabella d'Este, with whose mother Leonora she had 
 long been on friendly terms. Federico himself was 
 an affectionate father, and took great interest in his 
 two younger daughters, Elisabetta, whose delicate 
 health made her an object of especial anxiety, and 
 Maddalena, who was only seven years old when her 
 mother died. On the 14th of August 1481, Violante 
 de' Preti, the faithful governess in whose charge the 
 young princesses were spending the summer at the 
 ducal villa of Porto, wrote the following report to the 
 Marquis, who was frequently absent from Mantua 
 during the long war with Venice : — 
 
 " Most illustrious Prince and excellent Lord,— 
 You will be glad to hear that both your illustrious 
 
FEDERICO'S DAUGHTERS 39 
 
 daughters are well and happy and very obedient, 
 so that it is a real pleasure to see them busy with 
 their books and embroidery. They are very easy to 
 manage, and they enjoy riding their new pony, one 
 on the saddle, the other on piUion. They ride all 
 about the park, but always attended by servants on 
 horseback, and we follow in the chariot. They are 
 quite delighted with this pony, and Your Excellency 
 could not have made them any present which gave 
 them greater pleasure. I hope, my dear lord, by the 
 grace of God, to be able to give you good news every 
 day, in order that Your Highness may rest satisfied, 
 to whose favour I commend myself. — Your devoted 
 servant, Violante de' Preti."^ 
 
 On February 23, 1483, the little princesses received 
 a visit from no less a personage than Lorenzo dei 
 Medici, who spent a night at Mantua on his way to 
 attend a conference at Cremona, where a new league 
 was formed against Venice, and sent word to 
 Violante's pupils by their dancing master that they 
 might expect him after dinner. In her next letter to 
 the Marquis, Violante describes how the little girls 
 came to meet the Magnifico Lorenzo, and led him 
 into their rooms, and how he sat down between them 
 and talked for some time, and told them, when he 
 took his leave, that their father was rich in fair 
 children. The next day their brother, Francesco 
 Gonzaga, who entertained this distinguished guest 
 in his father's absence, wrote and informed the 
 Marquis how he had accompanied the Magnifico 
 Lorenzo on foot to mass at S. Francesco, and how 
 he went on from the church to the house of Andrea 
 Mantegna, "where he greatly admired some of 
 
 1 A. Luzio e R. Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 6. 
 
40 ANDREA MANTEGNA 
 
 Messer Andrea's paintings, as well as certain heads 
 in high relief and other antiques in which he seemed 
 to take great delight." ^ 
 
 Federico himseK treated Mantegna with great 
 kindness, and wrote affectionately to him when he 
 was ill in October 1478, telling him to try and get 
 rid of the fever as soon as he could, but not to trouble 
 his head about the work at present. He employed 
 Andrea to decorate his new viUa of Marmirolo, and 
 when in 1484 the Prefect of Rome, Giovanni deUa 
 Rovere, a brother-in-law of Duke Guidobaldo of 
 Urbino, begged Bishop Lodovico Gonzaga for a 
 picture by Mantegna, that prelate replied that the 
 painter was unable to comply with his request, since 
 his time was entirely engaged in painting a hall in 
 one of the Mantuan palaces. And when Andrea 
 declined to copy a drawing sent him by Bona, Duchess ' 
 of Milan, who begged that he would " reduce it to a 
 more elegant form," the Marquis excused his some- 
 what blunt refusal, saying that "these excellent 
 masters are often somewhat fantastic in humour, and 
 that we must be content to take what they choose 
 to give us."^ Federico intended at one time to make 
 considerable additions to the Castello, and wrote to 
 ask his father's old friend Federico di Montefeltro 
 for a plan of his famous palace of Urbino, but 
 the execution of this project and many others 
 was hindered by the constant wars which ex- 
 hausted his treasury. His old tutor Filelfo often 
 reproached him with his parsimony, saying that the 
 Marquis had never forgiven him for complaining to 
 
 1 Archivio Gonsaga, quoted by A. Baschet, Gazette des Beaux 
 Arts, 1866. 
 
 2 Archivio Gonsaga, lib. xcix., quoted by A. Baschet, &c. 
 
FRANCESCO GONZAGA 41 
 
 his parents of his indolence when he was a boy, but 
 Federico appointed one of the querulous old scholar's 
 twenty-four children to be his son's tutor, while 
 Colombino of Verona, the commentator of Dante, 
 instructed his two httle daughters. After his visit 
 to Ferrara in 1482, he begged Duke Ercole to send 
 him L'Asino d'Oro, an Itahan version of Apuleius's 
 poem, and gave Isabella's tutor Battista Guarino a 
 grant of wheat during the famine which prevailed 
 in that city. But when, in 1483, the said Guarino 
 applied for the post of tutor to his sons, the Marquis 
 rephed that this was impossible, since in the first 
 place he could not alFord to pay him a salary, and 
 in the second place his sons did not require a teacher. 
 Francesco, he explained, was already seventeen and 
 his o'WTi master, while Sigismondo, a boy of fourteen, 
 was studying at the University of Pavia, and Gio- 
 vanni, being only nine, was too young to need a 
 tutor. A year afterwards Federico died, and was 
 succeeded by his eldest son, Francesco, the affianced 
 husband of Isabella d'Este. 
 
 Although small of stature, the young Marquis 
 was vigorous and athletic, and from early boyhood 
 showed greater inclination for manly sports and 
 exercises than for study. One of his first tutors 
 complained that he would never sit still and that it 
 was very difficult to induce him to fix his attention 
 on his book. Throughout his hfe he retained these 
 characteristics. He was passionately fond of hunting, 
 kept hundreds of dogs, and was especially proud of 
 his famous breed of Barbary horses, which carried off" 
 prizes at aU the races for which they were entered, and 
 were sent by their owner as presents to Kings and 
 Emperors. A brave soldier and shrewd politician. 
 
42 THE TRIUMPHS 
 
 with the help of his clever wife he raised Mantua to 
 the foremost rank among the smaller Italian states, 
 and although he inherited little of his grandfather's 
 and uncle's taste for letters, he was fully alive to the 
 lustre and renown which his court and person derived 
 from great artistic achievements, and became a liberal 
 patron of scholars and painters. He was naturally 
 fond of luxurious and splendid surroundings, and 
 employed Mantegna soon after his accession to paint 
 his great series of Triumphs for a haU in the Castello. 
 As a chUd he had learnt to revere the genius of the 
 great master who had worked for three successive 
 generations of his house, and when he sent him to 
 Rome in 1488, told Innocent VIII. that Andrea 
 was "a most excellent painter, who had no equal 
 in the present age." His own letters to Mantegna 
 during this prolonged absence show the most friendly 
 regard, and are a proof of the famiUar and intimate 
 relations that existed between the painter and the 
 members of the Gonzaga family. 
 
 Another pleasant feature of Francesco's character 
 was his affection for his Httle sisters. In August 
 1486, he arranged two excellent marriages for these 
 young princesses. Elisabetta was betrothed to 
 Guidobaldo, the son and successor of Duke Federico 
 of Urbino, while Maddalena became the affianced 
 bride of Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro and cousin 
 of the reigning Duke of Milan. The young Duke 
 of Urbino visited Mantua on this occasion, and 
 Silvestro Calandra, the court chamberlain, wrote on 
 the 26th of August to the absent Marquis : " To-day 
 this illustrious Duke went in a boat for his pleasure 
 after dinner on the lake, but, being little used to the 
 water, felt unwell and landed at the gate of the 
 
ELISABETTA'S WEDDING 43 
 
 Corte to see the Triumphs of Cassar, which Man- 
 
 tegna is painting, which pleased him greatly, and 
 
 then passed by the Via Coperta into the Castello." ^ 
 
 That Christmas Chiara Gonzaga, the young Duchess 
 
 of Montpensier, came to visit Mantua for the first 
 
 time since her marriage five years before, and the 
 
 three sisters prepared a " beautiful festa " for their 
 
 brother's entertainment, and were sorely disappointed 
 
 when three days before the feast they heard* that 
 
 he had been obhged to put off his visit. " Illustrious 
 
 Prince and dearest brother," they wrote in a joint 
 
 epistle, "we three sisters, with some other gentle 
 
 ladies, had prepared a most beautiful entertainment 
 
 for Your Excellency, since we made sure that we 
 
 should enjoy your presence at this solemn festival. 
 
 But now that we hear our hopes were vain we are 
 
 grievously disappointed, and feel very unhappy, and 
 
 can enjoy no mirth or pleasure without you, and 
 
 indeed it seems to be a thousand years since we have 
 
 seen you. So now we pray you earnestly, by that 
 
 gentle and brotherly love you bear us, to come and 
 
 console us in the New Year and taste the pleasures 
 
 that we have prepared for you in our festa, which 
 
 will certainly gratify you and give us the greatest 
 
 possible deUght. — Your sisters and servants, Chiara, 
 
 Elisabetta and Maddalena Gonzaga."^ 
 
 In February 1488, Elisabetta set out on her 
 journey to Urbino, and after experiencing terrible 
 weather on the Po, enjoyed a brief rest at Ferrara, 
 as the guest of the hospitable Duke and Duchess. 
 But hardly had the wedding party left Ferrara than 
 the tempest began again. At Ravenna, where the 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 9- 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 8. 
 
44 COURT OF URBINO 
 
 Podesta gave them lodgings, the rain came through 
 the roof in such torrents that it was almost impossible 
 for the princess to find a dry place in her bed, and 
 as they rode on through the Apennines, the roads 
 were so bad and the rivers so much swoUen that 
 the attendants often had to carry Elisabetta and 
 her horse bodily in their arms. "If it had not 
 been for their devotion," she wrote to her brother, 
 " I should certainly not have reached Urbino alive." '^ 
 After this perilous journey, in what Francesco's sec- 
 retary Capilupo calls " the most detestable weather 
 ever known for weddings," Elisabetta found a splen- 
 did reception awaiting her at Urbino. The Duke's 
 loyal subjects poured out of the city gates, troops 
 of white-robed children waving laurel boughs came 
 down the hillside to welcome her with shouts of 
 joy, and the splendours of the wonderful palace on 
 the heights, with its gorgeous tapestries and treasures 
 of gold and silver, consoled the Mantuan courtiers 
 for the perils and sufferings of the way. The young 
 Duke Guidobaldo was a very handsome and courteous 
 prince, exactly the same age as his wife and skilled in 
 all knightly exercises, although even at this early age 
 he suffered cruelly from gout. From the first he 
 showed himself a devoted husband, while Elisabetta's 
 charm and goodness soon won all hearts in her new 
 home. But the happiness and splendour of her 
 present surroundings could not make her forget the 
 old home to which she was so fondly attached, and 
 she wept bitterly when her brother Giovanni and 
 the Mantuan escort took their departure. " I was 
 very unhappy at parting from Messer Giovanni," she 
 wrote to the Marquis, " and feel that I am abandoned 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 27. 
 
ELISABETTA'S ILL-HEALTH 45 
 
 by all my own family." But in August she had the 
 joy of seeing Francesco, who paid his sister a flying 
 visit, and showed his affection for her by frequent 
 presents of fish, fruit, and game, as well as antiques 
 and horses for his brother-in-law's acceptance. In 
 1489, the young Marquis was appointed captain- 
 general of the Venetian armies, a post which he held 
 with distinction during the next nine years, and 
 which occupied his time fully. A few months later, 
 in October, Elisabetta and her husband were present 
 at her sister Maddalena's marriage to Giovanni 
 Sforza at Pesaro. But her health, which was never 
 strong, gave way under the strain of these prolonged 
 festivities, and she fell seriously ill in November. 
 
 " We found Madonna, your sister," wrote Fran- 
 cesco's secretary Capilupo, who accompanied the 
 Mantuan doctor sent by the Marquis to Urbino, 
 " looking very thin and pale, with none of the bright 
 and healthy colour that she used to have in her 
 cheeks. ... It is true there is a grace and gentleness 
 about her which is that of a creature angelic rather 
 than human, and although she will not allow us to 
 say she is thin, and keeps up bravely, her limbs betray 
 her weakness. She is up and dressed all day, but 
 confesses that she is obliged to sit down when she 
 has walked once or twice across the room." ^ The air 
 of Urbino was pronounced to be too keen for the 
 delicate young Duchess in winter, and as soon as she 
 was fit to travel she came to Mantua for change, and 
 remained there for her brother's wedding. She it 
 was, we have already seen, who greeted the youthful 
 bride on the threshold of the Castello di Corte, and 
 whose gentle face and winning smile was the first 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantcma e Urbino, p. 50. 
 
46 THE MARQUIS FRANCESCO 
 
 sight that met Isabella's eyes as she passed into 
 her new home. A Mantuan chronicler, probably 
 Amedei/ who was present at the Marquis Francesco's 
 wedding, describes Isabella as the most fascinating 
 child in the world, and the bridegroom as a youth of 
 majestic bearing, with broad forehead, keen eyes, and 
 thick locks. To j udge from contemporary portraits, 
 Francesco's appearance could hardly have been called 
 prepossessing. The terra-cotta bust preserved in the 
 Museum at Mantua, and the two portraits by Man- 
 tegna, the one painted when he was a boy of eight in 
 the Camera degli Sposi, the other representing him 
 twenty years later kneeling before the Virgin of 
 Victory, all show us the same swarthy complexion, 
 irregular features, and dark bushy locks. He had 
 neither the good looks of his uncles nor the dignity 
 of his father, and his short, stunted figure gives the 
 impression that he had narrowly escaped inheriting 
 the deformity which afflicted the former generation 
 of Gonzagas. But he was young and vigorous, full 
 of courage and activity, and as impetuous in love as 
 he was in war. And he was naturally enough deeply 
 enamoured of his fair young wife. Isabella on her 
 part was fondly attached to her husband, and proud 
 of his valour and unrivalled skill as a bold rider and 
 fearless j ouster. Both in character and intellect he 
 was greatly her inferior, but even when in later years 
 estrangements arose between the husband and wife, 
 Isabella resolutely shut her eyes to his open acts of 
 unfaithfulness, while Francesco placed the most 
 absolute confidence in his wife and to the last 
 retained the deepest admiration for her great 
 qualities. 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notisie d' Isabella d'Este. 
 
ANTONIA DEL BALZO 47 
 
 In these early days no shadow dimmed the bright 
 prospects of the young Marchesana. Her joyous 
 nature, her youth and beauty, brought sunshine into 
 the old Castello on the Mantuan lakes, and she was 
 soon as much adored in her new home as she had been 
 in her father's home. Her ready tact and good sense 
 helped to aUay the dissensions which had arisen be- 
 tween the young Marquis and his uncles. Bishop 
 Lodovico in particular had incurred his nephew's dis- 
 pleasure after his elder brother's death by his efforts 
 to obtain the Cardinal's hat which Francesco wished 
 to secure for his brother Sigismondo, and held a rival 
 court of his own at Gazzuolo. But soon after Isabella's 
 marriage the Bishop sent to Venice for a costly jewel 
 which he offered her as a wedding present, and the 
 young Marchesana always kept up a friendly inter- 
 course with him and his brother Gianfrancesco, the 
 lord of Bozzolo. This gallant soldier served King 
 Ferrante of Naples for many years, and, during his 
 residence in Southern Italy, married Antonia del 
 Balzo, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of 
 Pirro, Prince of Altamura, the representative of 
 the old Proven9al family of Des Baux, who had fol- 
 lowed Charles of Anjou to Naples, and bore the star 
 in their coat-of-arms in proud token of their descent 
 from Balthasar, one of the Three Kings.^ The Gonza- 
 gas of Bozzolo shared Isabella's love of romances and 
 plays, and she constantly exchanged books with them 
 or assisted at the dramatic performances in which 
 they took deUght. At her request Francesco Bello, 
 the blind improvisatore of Ferrara, who had settled 
 at the court of Bozzolo, came to Mantua on a visit ; but 
 Gianfrancesco, who suffered from increasing infirmities 
 
 1 V. Rossi, Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xiii. 
 
48 FRIENDSHIP OF ISABELLA 
 
 and became prematurely old during the last years of 
 his life, entreated her to send him back soon, since 
 the poet's recitations were one of the few pleasures 
 that he was still able to enjoy. Antonia remained 
 one of Isabella's intimate friends to the end of her 
 long life, and in August 1492, when the Marchesana 
 passed through the town of Canneto in their dominions 
 on her way to Milan, she wrote back to tell her hus- 
 band how Madame Antonia had come out to meet her 
 with her two beautiful daughters. " Messer Andrea 
 Mantegna," she exclaimed, "could not paint fairer 
 maidens ! " ^ 
 
 With the more immediate members of her hus- 
 band's family Isabella soon became a great favourite. 
 Both her brother-in-law, Monsignore il protonotario, 
 as Sigismondo was styled, and the young Giovanni, a 
 merry lad of sixteen, were from the first her devoted 
 slaves. Giovanni especially took part in all Isa- 
 bella's amusements, and kept up a lively corre- 
 spondence with her when she was absent from 
 Mantua. But, of aU her new relations, the one 
 whom Isabella admired the most and loved the best 
 was her sister-in-law, Elisabetta. From the day when 
 the young Marchesana arrived at Mantua, a fast 
 friendship sprang up between these two princesses, 
 which was destined to prove as enduring as it was 
 deep and strong. " There is no one I love like you," 
 she wrote to Elisabetta in the ardour of her affection, 
 " excepting my only sister, the Duchess of Bari "— 
 Beatrice d'Este. And through all the changes and 
 turmoil of the coming years, through the political 
 troubles and fears and plots which tore Italy in 
 twain and divided households against each other, 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Archivio Storico Lombardo, vol. xvii. p. 344. 
 
AND ELISABETTA 49 
 
 Isabella's friendship for her beloved sister-in-law 
 never altered. 
 
 The two princesses had much in common. Both 
 of them took especial delight in music and singing. 
 Both were studious in their tastes, and showed the 
 same kindly interest in painters and scholars. Isabella 
 was more than three years younger than the Duchess, 
 who had reached the age of nineteen at the time of 
 her brother's wedding. She was more brilliant and 
 witty, quicker at gay repartee and merry jokes. And 
 she was also more talented and many-sided in her 
 tastes. In future years she took an active part in 
 politics, showed herscK a skilful and able diplomatist, 
 and was a match for Caesar Borgia himself. Ehsa- 
 betta was graver and more thoughtful. She had 
 neither the physical strength nor the striking beauty 
 and high spirits of Isabella. But her sweetness and 
 goodness inspired those who knew her best with 
 absolute devotion. She was adored, not only by 
 her husband and brothers, but by the most brilliant 
 cavaliers and distinguished men of letters of the age, 
 by Baldassarre Castiglione and Pietro Bembo. 
 
 On this occasion Elisabetta remained at Mantua, 
 by her sister-in-law's especial wish, till June. Dur- 
 ing the frequent journeys of the Marquis to Venice, 
 the two princesses were inseparable companions. To- 
 gether they sang French songs and read the latest 
 romances, or played scartino, their favourite game at 
 cards, in the pleasant rooms which Francesco had 
 prepared for his bride on the first floor of the Castello, 
 near the Sala degh Sposi. Together they rode and 
 walked in the park and boated on the crystal waters 
 of the lake, or took excursions to the neighbouring 
 villas of Porto and Marmirolo. By the middle of 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
50 THE LAGO DI GARDA 
 
 March, the Duchess's health was sufficiently improved 
 to venture on a longer trip, and on the 15th, Isabella 
 wrote to her absent lord : " To-day, after dinner, with 
 Your Highness's kind permission, the Duchess of 
 Urbino and I are going to supper at Goito, and to- 
 morrow to Cavriana, where the wife of Signor Fra- 
 cassa (Gasparo San Severino) will meet us, and on 
 Thursday we are going on the lake of Garda, accord- 
 ing to Your Highness's orders, and I have let the 
 Rector of Verona know, so that we may find a barge at 
 Sermione." A few days later she wrote from Cavriana 
 to inform her husband of the success of their expedi- 
 tion. " The Duchess of Urbino and I, together v^ith 
 Signor Fracassa's wife, went on Thursday to dine 
 at Desenzano and to supper at TuscuUano, where we 
 spent the night, and greatly enjoyed the sight of this 
 Riviera. On Friday we returned by boat to Ser- 
 mione, and rode here on horseback. Wherever we 
 went we were warmly welcomed and treated with the 
 greatest attention, most of all by the captain of the 
 lake, who gave us fish and other things, and by the 
 people of Salo, who sent us a fine present. To-morrow 
 we go to Goito, and on Tuesday back to Mantua."^ 
 So for the first time Isabella saw the lovely shores of 
 Garda and the lemon groves of Salo, and lingered in 
 the classic gardens of Sermione, charmed with the 
 delights of that fair paradise which she was often to 
 visit in years to come. "These Madonnas," wrote 
 one of the gentlemen-in-waiting, Stefano Sicco, from 
 Cavriana on the 20th, "have been indefatigable in 
 making excursions by boat and on horseback, and 
 have seen aU the gardens on the lake with the 
 greatest delight. The inhabitants have vied with 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 54. 
 
LETTERS FROM FERRARA 51 
 
 each other in doing them honour, and one Fermo 
 of Caravazo caused his garden to be stripped for the 
 Marchesana and her party and loaded them with 
 lemons and pomegranates."^ 
 
 Meanwhile the blank which Isabella's departure 
 had left at Ferrara made itself daily felt. Her old 
 tutor Jacopo GaUino wrote that he could not keep 
 back his tears when he thought of those happy days 
 when she read Virgil at his side, and repeated the 
 Eclogues in her clear voice. At Isabella's request 
 he sent her old Latin books to Mantua that she 
 might pursue her studies and sometimes remember 
 her poor old tutor. Another servant, Brandehsio 
 Trotti, describes in his letters how he wanders, from 
 room to room, through the desolate chambers where 
 her angelic face once smiled upon him, recalling 
 each word and act, and saying to himself: "There 
 my divine lady lived — here she spoke those sweet, 
 thoughtful words." " In the whole palace," wrote 
 Leonora's chamberlain, Bernardino dei Prosperi, 
 " there is not a single courtier or serving woman 
 who does not feel widowed without Your Highness. 
 Even the tricks and jests of the dwarfs and clowns 
 fail to make us laugh." Most of aU to be pitied 
 was the poor Duchess, who would not even allow 
 the little window-shutters of Isabella's apartment 
 to be opened, saying that she had not the heart to 
 visit those empty rooms, knowing how great was 
 the blank that she would find there. 
 
 Isabella, to do her justice, did not forget her 
 old friends. She wrote kind letters to her old tutors, 
 Battista Guarino and Jacopo GaUino, and sent them 
 presents of black damask and velvet in gratitude 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urhino, pp. 54-56. 
 
52 DEATH OF MADDALENA 
 
 for their past services. She even remembered the 
 clown Fritella, and sent a ducat and three yards of 
 tan-coloured satin to this pet dwarf, who remained 
 deeply attached to the young Marchesana, and 
 whose blotted, ill-spelt letters are still preserved in 
 the Gonzaga archives/ Early in April the Marquis 
 took her back to Ferrara for a short visit, and in 
 July, after the Duchess of Urbino had left Mantua, 
 she returned to spend another fortnight with her 
 parents. The sudden death of Maddalena Gonzaga, 
 the young wife of Giovanni Sforza, on the 8th of 
 August, within a year of her marriage, was a great 
 shock to all her family, and Isabella grieved most 
 of all for the sake of Elisabetta, whose health was 
 severely affected by this unexpected sorrow. Isa- 
 bella herself was suffering from a slight attack of 
 fever at the time, and Beatrice dei Contrari, the 
 faithful Ferrara lady whom Leonora had solemnly 
 charged to watch over her young mistress's welfare, 
 would not allow the sad news to be told her for 
 some days, " knowing her cordial affection for Ma- 
 donna Maddalena, and fearing," as she wrote to the 
 Marquis, " lest we should add iU to ill." ^ A month 
 later the Marchesana and her ladies took another 
 excursion to the shores of Garda, and wrote to teU 
 Elisabetta how much she missed her in these fair 
 regions and how ardently she wished for her to 
 enjoy the good fish and the delights of the arch- 
 priest's garden at TuscuUano. After her return 
 to Mantua, she received a visit from her brothers 
 Alfonso and Ferrante, and intended to accompany 
 them to Ferrara, as her mother was suffering from 
 
 1 A. Luzio, / Precettofi d' Isabella d'Este, pp. 13, 17. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 55. 
 
ISABELLA AT FERRARA 53 
 
 fever, but in deference to Francesco's wish put off 
 the visit till November. On arriving at Ferrara, 
 Isabella found the Duchess engaged in active 
 preparations for Beatrice's wedding, which was to 
 take place at Pavia in January, but amid the stir 
 and excitement around her she managed to write 
 the following affectionate little note to her hus- 
 band : — 
 
 " My dearest lord, — If I have not written before, 
 it is not that you have not been continually in my 
 heart, but that I had simply not a moment to 
 spare as long as the Milanese ambassador was here. 
 Now I must do my duty and tell you that I can 
 have no pleasure when I am away from Your 
 Highi^ess, whom I love more than my own life. — 
 One who loves Your Highness more than herself, 
 Isabella da Este da Gonzaga." Ferrara, 
 November 25, 1490. 
 
 On the 28th Francesco replied to this loving little 
 note in similar terms : — 
 
 " Since you feel that you cannot be happy away 
 from me any longer, which is only natural, con- 
 sidering the immense love which we both feel for 
 each other, it seems to me that, now you have 
 satisfied your illustrious father and mother's wishes, as 
 well as your own affection for your family, you might 
 return home for our own happiness, and so I shall 
 look forward to your arrival with impatience." 
 
 And on the same day Beatrice dei Contrari wrote 
 to the Marquis : — 
 
 " My illustrious lady is as beautiful, well and gay 
 as possible, and wants nothing but the presence of 
 Your Excellency to make her perfectly happy." ^ 
 
 1 Luzio e Render in Archivio Storico Lomhardo, vol. xvii. p. 81. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 1490—1493 
 
 Marriage of Beatrice d'Este to Lodovico Sforza — Isabella's pre- 
 parations for the wedding — Journey to Pavia and Milan — 
 Marriage of Alfonso d'Este to Anna Sforza — F^tes at Ferrara 
 — Correspondence of Isabella with Lodovico and Beatrice 
 Sforza — Isabella administers aifairs of State — Galeotto's 
 dyke — Visits to Ferrara^ Milan, and Genoa — The Duchess of 
 Urbino comes to Mantua — Isabella's affection for Elisabetta, 
 
 The next few weeks after Isabella's return were 
 spent in preparations for her journey to Milan. 
 She had gladly accepted the courteous invitation sent 
 her by Lodovico Sforza to accompany her mother 
 and sister to the wedding, although her husband 
 thought it best to decline for his part, fearing to 
 offend the Signory of Venice, who looked with sus- 
 picion on this alliance between the Sforzas and Estes. 
 The young Marchioness was determined to make a 
 brave show on this occasion, and all the merchants in 
 Venice and Ferrara were required to ransack their 
 stores and supply her with furs, brocades, and jewels. 
 Zorzo Brognolo, the Gonzagas' trusted agent in 
 Venice, was desired to search all the shops in Venice 
 for eighty of the very finest sables to make a sbernia 
 or mantle. " Try to find one skin with the head of 
 the animal," Isabella adds, " to make a muff, which I 
 can carry in my hand. Never mind if it costs as 
 much as ten ducats ; I will give the money gladly as 
 long as it is really a fine fur. You must also buy 
 eight yards of the best crimson satin which you can 
 
MARRIAGE OF BEATRICE 55 
 
 find in Venice to line the said shernia, and for God's 
 sake use all your accustomed diligence, for nothing, I 
 assure you, will give me greater pleasure." ^ A few 
 days later she entreats Giacomo Trotti, the Duke of 
 Ferrara's ambassador at Milan, to send her two skins of 
 Spanish cat, the best and finest that are to be found 
 in that city, to trim this sumptuous mantle ; and in 
 January 1491, when she had already started on her 
 journey, she writes to Genoa and orders another 
 shernia of costly brocade to be sent by express 
 courier to await her arrival at Pavia. 
 
 The cruel hardships to which the Marchioness 
 and her ladies were exposed during their journey in 
 barges up the Po, the actual cold and hunger which 
 they suffered, are vividly described in Beatrice dei 
 Contrari's letters to the Marquis, while Isabella her- 
 self has left a lively narrative of the brilliant festivities 
 with which the Moro's wedding was celebrated in her 
 letters to her young brother-in-law Giovanni Gon- 
 zaga.^ The young princess threw herself with ardent 
 enthusiasm into the pleasures of the hour, and the 
 friendship which she formed on this occasion with 
 her new brother-in-law Lodovico Sforza was destined 
 to prove an important factor in North Italian poKtics. 
 
 The espousals of her brother Alfonso with Anna 
 Sforza, niece of Lodovico and sister of the reigning 
 Duke of MUan, Giangaleazzo, were solemnised in the 
 ducal chapel at Milan on the 23rd of January, but 
 the final nuptial benediction was deferred for the 
 present, and, on the 1st of February, the bridal pair 
 
 1 Luzio in Ntiova Antologia, 1896, p. 455. 
 
 2 For details of the wedding and the later visits of Isabella to 
 Milan, as well as the correspondence between the sisters, &c., see 
 my work on " Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan," chaps, v. and vi. 
 (Dent & Co., 1899). 
 
56 ISABELLA VISITS THE CERTOSA 
 
 set out on the return journey to Ferrara, accompanied 
 by Duchess Leonora, Isabella, and their respective 
 suites, and escorted by 200 Milanese knights and 
 nobles. On their way to Pavia the distinguished 
 travellers paid a visit to the famous Certosa, which 
 the Dukes of Milan justly counted one of the ifinest 
 jewels in their crown, and which both Isabella and 
 her mother had expressed their wish to see. At 
 first the Prior raised objections, and told the 
 Regent that no women might be admitted into the 
 convent precincts without a dispensation from the 
 Pope. But Lodovico overruled his scruples, saying 
 that he would take the responsibility upon himself, 
 and gave peremptory orders that church and convent 
 should be thrown open on this occasion, and that 
 the Duchess and her party should be feasted with 
 " an abundance of lampreys " and other delicacies. 
 After this no further objection was raised by the 
 Prior, and the archives of the Certosa record how, 
 on the 6th of February 1491, "there came to this 
 monastery the wife of the Duke of Ferrara, with the 
 Marchioness of Mantua and the brother and sister of 
 the Duke of Milan, together with a suite of 400 
 horses and 800 persons, and the expense of supplying 
 them with confectionery, fish and Malvasia wine 
 amounted to 400 lire." ^ 
 
 That winter was exceptionally severe ; the streets 
 of Milan and the park of Pavia lay deep in snow, and 
 when the wedding party reached Ferrara the Po was 
 stiU frozen over and hundreds of workmen were em- 
 ployed to break the ice and make a passage for the 
 bucentaur. On the 12th of February, the bride 
 entered the city on horseback, escorted by the Duke 
 
 1 Carlo Magenta, I Visconii e Sforza nel Castello di Pavia. 
 
ALFONSO D'ESTE'S WEDDING 57 
 
 and Alfonso, and followed by the Marquis and 
 Marchioness of Mantua, Annibale Bentivoglio and 
 his wife, Lucrezia d'Este, Ercole's learned sister 
 Bianca d'Este, with her husband Galeotto della 
 Mirandola, and the Ambassadors of Milan, Venice, 
 and Naples. Four triumphal arches, adorned with 
 mythological groups, had been erected along the 
 route by the ducal architect Biagio Rosetti, the 
 builder of the Campanile of the Duomo and of the 
 famous Palazzo Diamante. The Sun-god was seen 
 driving his chariot on the arch opposite the 
 Schifanoia palace, Cupid rode in his car drawn by 
 doves in front of the Franciscan church, the Great 
 Twin Brethren with their prancing steeds were repre- 
 sented on the arch before the Duomo, while aU the 
 chief gods of Olympus welcomed the bridal pair at 
 the gates of the CasteUo. Here Leonora received 
 the bride, and the nuptial blessing was pronounced 
 by the Archbishop in the ducal chapel, while the 
 German Kapellmeister, Don Giovanni Martini, played 
 exquisite organ melodies, and the choir boys sang 
 their sweetest strains. This was followed by a 
 banquet and a representation of the Menoechmi with 
 scenery painted for the occasion by a Ferrara master, 
 Niccolo del Cogo, and a ball in which the Marquis of 
 Mantua danced with the bride and Alfonso with the 
 Marchioness. Later in the evening Isabella and 
 Anna Sforza danced country dances together amidst 
 the applause of the assembled company, after which 
 the bride was escorted to her chamber by her family 
 and courtiers, with lighted torches and much noisy 
 merriment.^ 
 
 The concourse of guests assembled at Ferrara 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., vol. xvii. p. 9Q. 
 
58 ISABELLA GOVERNS MANTUA 
 
 on this occasion was enormous. The Venetian Am- 
 bassadors, Zaccaria Barbaro and Francesco Capello, 
 brought as many as 150 persons in their suite, and 
 the Duke's steward records that upwards of 45,000 
 pounds of meat were consumed at court during the 
 week.-^ 
 
 On the 17th of February, Isabella wrote a de- 
 tailed account of these festivities to her sister 
 Beatrice, whose absence from Ferrara at this eventful 
 time was the only thing she regretted, and promised 
 to keep her better supphed with letters now that the 
 fetes were over and she was quietly at home again. 
 Lodovico, in his anxiety to gratify his sister-in-law, 
 agreed to send a weekly courier to Mantua, and 
 seldom failed to write himself, while Beatrice's 
 Ferrarese ladies-in-waiting, Teodora degli Angeh and 
 Polissena d'Este, kept Isabella well informed of all 
 that happened at the court of Milan. Both the Duke 
 and Duchess of Bari were exceedingly anxious that 
 Isabella should join their hunting parties at Pavia 
 and Vigevano that summer, but the Marchesa was 
 unable to leave home, since her husband visited 
 Bologna in June for his brother Giovanni's wedding 
 to Laura Bentivoglio and afterwards went on to see 
 his sister at Urbino. Money was short at Mantua, 
 and Isabella could iU afford the expense of another 
 journey to her sister's brilliant court. So she 
 reluctantly declined her pressing invitations, and 
 like a good wife devoted herself to the management 
 of her lord's public and private affairs. 
 
 The long letters which Isabella addressed to 
 Francesco in his absence show how seriously she 
 applied herself to pubhc business and how anxiously 
 
 1 Muratori, R. I. S., vol. xxiv. 
 
GALEOTTO'S DYKE 59 
 
 she considered the good of his subjects. She often 
 consulted her father and her brother-in-law Lodovico 
 Sforza, on questions which concerned them as neigh- 
 bouring Powers. That summer she was much 
 troubled about a certain dyke which her uncle 
 Galeotto della Mirandola had constructed in his 
 dominions whereby the waters of the river Secchia 
 were diverted from Mantuan territory, and many far- 
 mers and peasants were threatened with ruin. In 
 August, the Marchesa addressed an urgent entreaty 
 to Lodovico, complaining that Galeotto had not only 
 refused to attend to her request, but that, when she 
 proposed to refer the question to the Regent of Milan, 
 he had actually boasted that the Moro was far more 
 friendly to him than to the Gonzagas, " although," she 
 added indignantly, " our two houses are not only 
 connected by ties of blood and marriage, but united 
 by the closest friendship, and all the world knows the 
 great kindness and paternal affection which you have 
 shown to my lord and in a stiU higher degree to 
 myself, so that Messer Galeotto need not presume to 
 think himself more highly favoured than we are." 
 
 Galeotto however remained obdurate, and Duke 
 Ercole at his daughter's request sent a shrewd lawyer, 
 Pellegrino Prisciani, to examine the case and give 
 her the benefit of his advice. In a letter dated the 
 13th of September, viritten from her favourite viUa 
 of Porto, she gives her father an amusing account of 
 Messer Pellegrino's visit, and describes how the advo- 
 cate listened attentively while she laid the case before 
 him and took down notes of aU that she said, after 
 which he went on to Mirandola to hear Galeotto's 
 defence and report both sides of the question. 
 
 " Messer Pellegrino," she writes in her Uvely style, 
 
60 A PEDANTIC LAWYER 
 
 "began by making me a long exordium which to 
 my mind altogether surpassed the speech which he 
 addressed to you. For in haranguing Your Excel- 
 lency he only quoted Pliny, whereas in speaking to 
 me he quoted Ptolemy, Vitruvius, Homer, Horace, 
 as weU as an innumerable quantity of other authors 
 about whom I knew as little of the one as of the 
 other ! One thing however really pleases me. It is 
 that after seeing and examining all these plans I have 
 begun to learn something about architecture, so that 
 in future when you tell me about your buildings I 
 shall be able to understand your explanations better." 
 And in a postscript she adds : " M. PeUegrino 
 departed yesterday, so well primed with our argu- 
 ments regarding the dyke of Secchia that I cannot 
 imagine how Messer Galeotto will be able to answer 
 him, unless, as is generally the case, he persists in 
 denying the truth ! " ^ Unfortunately we do not 
 learn the result of the lawyer's mission, but as we 
 hear no more on the subject can only conclude that 
 the Prince of Mirandola was brought to reason and 
 that the fair Marchesa won her case. 
 
 In November, Isabella spent some weeks at 
 Ferrara, and while she was there heard to her sur- 
 prise that her husband had suddenly gone to Milan. 
 
 " My dearest lord," she wrote to him on the 4th 
 of December, " I hear that you are gone to Milan 
 and am vexed not to have known of this before your 
 departure, as I would have left aU the pleasures 
 which I am enjoying here in the company of my 
 father and mother, and would have come to Mantua 
 at once to see Your Highness. But, as I did not 
 know this in time, I send these few lines by a courier 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Giorn. St. d. Lett. It., 1900. 
 
ISABELLA GOES TO MILAN 61 
 
 on horseback to satisfy my anxiety as to your welfare, 
 begging you to commend me to Signor Lodovico 
 and the Duchess. — From her who longs to see Your 
 Highness, Isabella d' Este, with her own hand." 
 
 Francesco explained in a letter from Milan that 
 he had informed his wife of his intended journey in a 
 note which never reached her. Now he told her of 
 the kindly reception which he had received from 
 Lodovico and Beatrice, and of the honours and atten- 
 tions with which he was loaded, " all of which," wrote 
 Isabella in reply, " gave me incredible consolation, 
 and were no less delightful to me than if I had 
 been there in person." ^ 
 
 It was only in the following summer that Isabella 
 herself was able to accept the Moro's repeated in- 
 vitations and pay her long-deferred visit to Milan. 
 A series of fetes and dramatic representations were 
 to be given at Pavia in honour of Duke Ercole, and 
 Francesco Gonzaga wrote from Venice urging his 
 wife to accompany her father. This, Isabella de- 
 clared, was absolutely impossible. " I have received 
 your letter," she wrote on the 25th of July, " and 
 understand that you wish me to go to Milan. 
 Certainly that is my own wish also, especially since 
 I hear the idea gives you pleasure, which is my 
 sole object in life, so that now I should go there with 
 the greatest good-will. But it is quite impossible 
 that I should accompany my father, or even start 
 soon after him, as I have not the means. Half of 
 my household are ill, and I must wait till they have 
 recovered, and Your Highness can choose the gentle- 
 men who are to accompany me. Meanwhile I will 
 arrange my affairs so as to be ready to start as soon 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. Si. Lomb., vol. xvii. p. Il6. 
 
62 HER JOURNEY 
 
 as possible. But, of course, if Your Highness thinks 
 differently, I will set out to-morrow, even if I have 
 to travel alone and in my chemise. If, however, you 
 are agreeable, I will write to Signor Lodovico and 
 accept his invitation, and wiU let him know the date 
 of my departure later on." 
 
 The proud young princess had certainly no in- 
 tention of appearing at the splendid court of Milan 
 " in her chemise," as she described it. During the 
 next few days letters were written and couriers were 
 sent flying in all directions to order new clothes and 
 jewels, not only for herself, but for the members of 
 her suite. " Since we have to go to Milan in the 
 middle of this month," the Marchioness wrote to her 
 old servant, Brandelisio Trotti, at Ferrara, "I am 
 anxious that the necklace of a hundred links should 
 be finished by then, and I beg and implore you by the 
 love you bear me to see it is ready in time. And 
 since I am anxious that the few persons who accom- 
 pany me should be honourably adorned with chains, 
 I should be very glad if you would kindly lend your 
 son Negro one of your own, as you did at my wed- 
 ding." At length aU the final preparations were made, 
 and Isabella set out on her journey on the 10th of 
 August. But half-way to Pavia she suddenly found 
 that her best hat and jewelled plume had been for- 
 gotten, and sent back the key of her black chest with 
 orders to one of her servants to send it post haste.' 
 
 The visit proved a great success, and Isabella's 
 letters to her husband dwell with delight on the 
 brilUant round of entertainments, hunting parties, 
 and theatricals provided for her amusement, on the 
 afFectionate kindness of Lodovico and Beatrice, and 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, pp. 348-350. 
 
THE COURT OF MILAN 63 
 
 the enthusiastic welcome given her by the people of 
 Milan and Pavia. Political events also occupy a 
 prominent place in her correspondence at this time. 
 Alexander Borgia had just been elected Pope in 
 great measure owing to the powerful support of 
 Lodovico's brother, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and 
 Isabella faithfully reports the latest news from Rome 
 and the satisfaction of the Moro at the elevation of 
 this Pontiff, who was to become ere long his most 
 bitter enemy. But, in the midst of all these pleasures 
 and distractions, Isabella often sighed for her hus- 
 band's presence. " I wiU not deny," she wrote 
 affectionately to him, "that I am enjoying the 
 greatest pleasures ; but, when I think how far off I 
 am from Your Excellency, I feel they are not half as 
 delightful as they would be if you were here." The 
 Marquis, however, was engaged in attending the 
 public races at Brescia, Siena, Lucca, and other 
 cities, and gladly gave his wife leave to visit Genoa 
 before her return home. New and warmer clothes 
 were necessary for this expedition now the summer 
 was over, and Isabella wrote to her chamberlain, 
 Alberto da Bologna, desiring him to have a new 
 grey satin camora, with black velvet sleeves, made 
 for her without delay.^ Some misunderstanding, 
 however, arose on the subject, for a week after- 
 wards Isabella wrote again, this time in very im- 
 perious fashion, telling Alberto that he must have 
 lost, not only his memory, but his brain and 
 eyesight by the fall of which he complained, and 
 repeating her orders with greater minuteness than 
 before. But no sooner had she sent this letter than 
 she repented of her hasty temper, and with her usual 
 
 I'Luzio e Renier, Nuova Antologia, I896, p. 451. 
 
64 ISABELLA AT GENOA 
 
 kindness she wrote another note, assuring her old 
 servant that she had only been joking ! On the 1st 
 of October, the Marchioness went to Genoa, attended 
 by two of Lodovico's favourite courtiers, Girolamo 
 Tuttavilla and the Marchesino Stanga, and was 
 received by the governor, Adorno, who rode out to 
 meet her with an escort of Genoese nobles, mounted 
 on richly draped mules, " which made a fine show." 
 But, as Isabella herself tells us, the splendour of her 
 reception was marred by a curious incident which is 
 highly characteristic of the times. " At six o'clock," 
 she writes, " we entered Genoa, amid the noise of 
 guns and trumpets, and I was conducted to the house 
 of Messer Cristoforo Spinola, where the governor's 
 wife and sister-in-law and other noble ladies were 
 waiting to receive me. Before I had time to dis- 
 mount, a crowd of workmen gathered round me, and 
 seized my mule, according to their custom here. 
 They snatched the bridle and tore the trappings 
 to pieces, although the governor interfered, and I 
 willingly gave it up to them. I was never so much 
 frightened in my life, and was really afraid of some 
 accident, but fortunately I did not lose my head. 
 At length I was released from their hands, leaving 
 my steed, a mule which Signor Lodovico had lent 
 me, to be their prey. I must redeem it at a fair 
 price, and shall have to buy a new set of trappings ! " ' 
 Isabella was summoned back to Milan by her 
 sister's sudden illness, and as soon as she could leave 
 Beatrice hastened home. Francesco was growing 
 impatient at her prolonged absence, and wrote urgent 
 letters desiring her to return, as his presence was re- 
 quired in another part of his dominions, and he had sent 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, p. 359. 
 
ISABELLA'S CLASSICAL STUDIES 65 
 
 Giovanni to Rome to congratulate the new Pope on 
 his accession. Unluckily, Beatrice dei Contrari fell 
 dangerously HI on the return journey, and during some 
 weeks Isabella was very anxious about this favourite 
 companion. When she went to Ferrara in the end 
 of November, she begged Beatrice to send her daily 
 reports of her condition, " for, loving you as I do," she 
 wrote, " I long to hear every hour how you are." 
 Happily the lively maid-of-honour's high spirits did 
 not desert her, and she wrote amusing letters to 
 Isabella, telling her how the Marquis had paid her a 
 visit and spent two hours in her company, lamenting 
 his wife's absence. " After discussing all manner of 
 subjects," adds the writer, "he ended by saying that he 
 should have to take me for his wife in your absence, 
 to which I replied that I feared he would have a bad 
 bargain, since Your Illustrious Highness is young and 
 beautiful, and I am old and ugly and nothing but a 
 bag of bones ! " ^ 
 
 The Marchesa however could not leave her mother, 
 who had been in bad health aU the summer, and 
 remained at Ferrara until the end of the year, when 
 Leonora set out for Milan and Isabella accompanied 
 her to the borders of the Mantuan territory. Here 
 the mother and daughter parted. The Duchess went 
 on to Milan, where she was present at the birth of 
 Beatrice's first-born son, while Isabella returned home 
 to devote herself to her studies, and make up for 
 lost time, as she told her mother, by fresh zeal and 
 assiduity. 
 
 In spite of the manifold occupations and distrac- 
 tions of the last two years, the young Marchesa 
 had by no means given up her classical studies. 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 360. 
 VOL. I. ^ 
 
66 HER TUTORS 
 
 In a Latin letter which she addressed to her old 
 teacher Guarino, in January 1492, she deplores the 
 cares of state which interfere with her good inten- 
 tions, and at the same time teUs him that it is quite 
 unnecessary to commend his daughter to her notice, 
 since she already loves the girl both for her own sake 
 and that of her father. A few months later she began 
 to read Latin again with a new tutor, and in another 
 letter Guarino exhorts her to persevere in the acqui- 
 sition of that learning which cannot fail to bring 
 her fame, since a truly cultured woman is as rare as a 
 phoenix. For a time the Mantuan scholar Sigismondo 
 Golfo helped the Marchesa in her studies, and sent 
 her long letters retailing the court gossip, when she 
 was at Milan or Ferrara. Since, however, she was no 
 longer as familiar with Latin as she had been in her 
 girlhood, she begged him to write to her in Italian for 
 the present, in spite of the humanist's protests at this 
 unworthy practice. By the end of the year, however, 
 Golfo left Mantua, and in his stead Guarino sent 
 Isabella one of his best scholars, Niccolo Panizzato, 
 whom Leonora had chosen to accompany her son 
 Ferrante on a journey to Hungary, and who was now 
 a public lecturer in the University of Ferrara. The 
 Marchioness agreed to give him the modest salary of 
 three ducats a month and to provide for his family, and 
 desired Niccolo to come to Mantua by the first boat 
 that was available after the carnival ffites were over, 
 in order that she might lose no time in setting to 
 work. But hardly had the new teacher set foot in 
 Mantua, than Isabella sent him back to resume his 
 work at Ferrara, saying that her time was too fuUy 
 occupied for her to resume her studies. Both the 
 youth himself and Isabella's old master were bitterly 
 
LETTERS TO ELISABETTA 67 
 
 disappointed. " It is really a thousand pities," wrote 
 Guarino, " both for the sake of the poor young man 
 and for ourselves, who hoped to have a Madonna of 
 our own who would become honoured as a tenth 
 muse." ^ But the true reason for this sudden change 
 of mind was the news which Isabella had just 
 received that her beloved sister-in-law EUsabetta was 
 on her way to Mantua. During the last year the 
 Duchess of Urbino's presence had been anxiously 
 expected at her brother's court. But her coming had 
 been repeatedly delayed by protracted iUness, and 
 Isabella's letters show how bitterly she had been 
 disappointed in her hopes of once more welcoming 
 this dear companion. When a year before Elisa- 
 betta, instead of coming to Mantua, had been ordered 
 to take the baths of Viterbo, the Marquis sent his 
 sister's old friend, the Castellan Silvestro Calandra, to 
 cheer her solitude, with the following letter, which 
 does justice both to the warmth of Isabella's heart 
 and the excellence of her sense : — 
 
 " By the love I bear you, my dearest sister, I 
 must say this one thing, that I hope the first bath 
 you take will be a steadfast resolve to avoid all 
 unwholesome things and live on those which give 
 health and strength. Above all, I hope you will force 
 yourself to take regular exercise on foot and horse- 
 back, and to join in pleasant conversation, in order 
 to drive away melancholy and grief, whether they 
 arise from mental or bodily causes. And you will, 
 I hope, also resolve to think of nothing but of your 
 health in the first place, and of your own honour 
 and comfort in the second place, because in this 
 fickle world we can do nothing else, and those who 
 
 1 Luzio, / Preceitori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 25. 
 
68 THE DUCHESS OF URBINO 
 
 do not know how to spend their time profitably, 
 allow their lives to slip away with much sorrow and 
 little praise. I have said all this, not because Your 
 Highness, being most wise yourself, does not know 
 all this far better than I do, but only in the hope 
 that, being aware of my practice, you may the more 
 willingly consent to live and take recreation as I do, 
 and as the Castellan will be able to inform you. 
 And my husband is well content that he should 
 remain with Your Highness until you leave the baths 
 and as long afterwards as you choose, always on the 
 understanding that you will soon come to Mantua, 
 since otherwise he will not only recall the Castellan, 
 but will, if possible, renounce all his love and connec- 
 tion with you ! " 
 
 Calandra himself was given a letter couched in the 
 same terms, giving him leave to remain with the 
 Duchess as long as she persevered in her intention 
 of coming to Mantua. " If, however, the Duchess 
 changes her mind," wrote the imperious young 
 Marchesa, " not only are you to return at once, but 
 you are also to assure her that neither you, nor any 
 one else, will be sent to her from us, and that the 
 tender love we bear her wUl undergo a complete 
 change." 
 
 But, although Elisabetta returned from Viterbo in 
 somewhat better health, fresh causes arose to delay 
 her visit to Mantua. First Guidobaldo fell ill, then 
 he took his wife with him to Rome, after which she 
 had a fresh attack of her old gastric complaint. 
 When, in January 1493, Isabella heard that, instead 
 of coming to Mantua, the Duchess had been sent to 
 take the baths of Porretta, she began to despair of 
 ever seeing her again, and wrote saying that nothing 
 
COMES TO MANTUA 69 
 
 could give her pleasure this carnival, since all the fine 
 plans which she had made for their mutual amuse- 
 ment were blown to the winds ! " And the time 
 which I hoped to spend in joyful intercourse to- 
 gether 1 will now pass in dreary solitude, sitting alone 
 in my studio lamenting your illness and praying God 
 soon to restore you to health, so that if our desires 
 may not be granted this carnival, they may at least 
 be satisfied before the end of Lent." 
 
 This last wish was happily fulfilled. On the 9th 
 of March the Duchess started for Mantua, and 
 Isabella sent the poet Picenardi with his lyre, in the 
 bucentaur which went out to meet her, in order that 
 he might beguile the journey with music and song. 
 The Marchesa herself and the chief citizens went 
 to meet Elisabetta at Revere, and brought her back 
 to Mantua amidst universal rejoicing. " And I really 
 think," wrote Isabella to her mother a few days later, 
 " that she is already beginning to feel the good effects 
 of her native air and of the caresses with which I 
 load her all day." ^ 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 58-62. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 1491—1493 
 
 Correspondence of Isabella with her family and friends ; with 
 merchants and jewellers — Her intellectual interests — Love of 
 French romances and classical authors — Greek and Hebrew 
 translations and devotional works — Fra Mariano and 
 Savonarola — Antonio Tebaldeo — Isabella's friendships — 
 Niccolo da Correggio — Sonnets and eclogues composed for 
 her — Her love of music — Songs and favourite instruments 
 — Atalante Migliorotti's lyre — Isabella's camerino in the 
 Castello — Liombeni decorates her studiolo — Mantegna 
 returns from Rome — Paints Isabella's portrait — Giovanni 
 Santi at Mantua. 
 
 Nothing is more remarkable in the history of 
 Isabella than the vast correspondence which she 
 carried on with the most different personages on the 
 greatest variety of subjects. Her appetite for news 
 was insatiable, her curiosity boundless. There was 
 nothing which did not excite her interest, from the 
 most important affairs of state down to the newest 
 fashion in dress or jewellery, from the most recent 
 discoveries in the New World or the last cantos of 
 Ariosto's "Orlando" to the purchase of a carved 
 turquoise or a Persian kitten. And she entered into 
 the smallest details on these subjects with the same 
 keen zest, and gave her orders with the same clearness 
 and minuteness, whether the defence of the State or 
 the painting of an illuminated missal were in question. 
 The correspondence which she kept up with her 
 relatives alone during these first years after her mar- 
 riage must have occupied many hours. She wrote 
 
 70 
 
^ 
 
CORRESPONDENCE OF ISABELLA 71 
 
 weekly letters to her mother at Ferrara, to her sister 
 
 Beatrice and Lodovico Sforza at Milan, to Elisabetta 
 
 Gonzaga at Urbino, and corresponded frequently 
 
 with her half-sister Lucrezia Bentivoglio and her 
 
 husband, as well as with her own brothers. Alfonso 
 
 d'Este, her eldest brother, was deeply attached to this 
 
 sister, who was only two years older than himself, 
 
 and who shared his literary and artistic tastes. One 
 
 day in the autumn of 1490, after paying Isabella a 
 
 visit at Mantua, he sent her a long description of a 
 
 tournament at Bologna, in which his brother-in-law 
 
 Annibale Bentivoglio appeared in the guise of 
 
 Fortune and Count Niccolo Rangone figured as 
 
 Wisdom. Both princes were attended by pages in 
 
 French, German, Hungarian and Moorish costumes, 
 
 and recited allegorical verses and broke lances after 
 
 the approved fashion of the day. "I cannot tell 
 
 you," writes the enthusiastic boy, "how gallantly 
 
 Messer Annibale bore himself, but I felt sorry for 
 
 Count Niccolo when his horse stumbled and fell." 
 
 A few months later he vsTote to tell his sister that 
 
 a new island had been discovered on the coast of 
 
 Guinea, and sent her draAvings of the strange race 
 
 of men who dwelt there and of their horses and 
 
 clothes, as well as of the trees and products of the 
 
 country. 
 
 The choice of new robes and jewels, of furs and 
 camoras naturally took up a large part of Isabella's 
 time and thoughts in these early days. She was in 
 constant communication with merchants and gold- 
 smiths, with embroiderers and engravers of gems. 
 Countless were the orders for rings, seals, diamond 
 rosettes and arrows, rubies, emeralds, and enamels 
 which she sent to her agents at Ferrara and Venice. 
 
72 ORDERS FOR JEWELS 
 
 One day she must have a cross of diamonds and pearls 
 as a gift for her favourite maid-of-honour Brogna, the 
 next she sends to Genoa for a choice selection of 
 corals and turquoises. When she hears that her 
 father has a rosary of black amber beads and gold 
 and enamelled roses, she desires a Ferrara jeweller 
 to make her one like it without delay, and when 
 her sister Beatrice wears a jewelled belt brought 
 from France, made in imitation of a cordone di S. 
 Francesco, she writes to ask for the pattern in order 
 that she may copy it. / The following letter to her 
 father's agent, Ziliolo, who was starting on a journey 
 to France in April 1491, is a characteristic specimen 
 of the commissions which she gave her servants and 
 of her eagerness to see her wishes gratified. 
 
 " I send you a hundred ducats," she says, " and 
 wish you to understand that you are not to return 
 the money if any of it is left, after buying the things 
 which I want, but are to spend it in buying some 
 gold chain or anything else that is new and elegant. 
 And if more is required, spend that too, for I had 
 rather be in your debt so long as you bring me the 
 latest novelties. But these are the kind of things 
 that I wish to have — engraved amethysts, rosaries 
 of black amber and gold, blue cloth for a camora, 
 black cloth for a mantle, such as shall be without 
 a rival in the world, even if it costs ten ducats a 
 yard ; as long as it is of real excellence, never mind ! 
 If it is only as good as those which I see other 
 people wear, I had rather be without it ! " She 
 goes on to ask Ziliolo not to forget to bring back 
 some of the finest tela di Eensa — the linen made 
 at Rheims, which was in great request at Italian 
 courts, and ends by begging him to lose no chance 
 
GOLD AND SILVER WORK 73 
 
 of hunting out some rare and elegant trifles for 
 her use.^ 
 
 The commissions with which Zorzo Brognolo, the 
 Mantuan envoy at Venice, was charged, were still 
 more varied. Silks and velvets of Oriental manu- 
 facture, brocades patterned over with leopards and 
 doves and eagles, perfumes, Murano glass, silver and 
 niello work, very fine Rheims linen for the Marquis's 
 shirts, even finer and more delicate than the pattern 
 which she encloses — these are some of the things 
 which he must procure without a moment's delay. 
 Often, indeed, faithful Zorzo found it no easy task to 
 satisfy the demands of his impatient young mistress. 
 Skilled goldsmiths and engravers were slow to move 
 and apt to put off commissions and linger over the 
 work in a way that was very trying to Isabella's 
 patience. " If the bracelets we ordered months ago 
 are not here till the summer is over and we no longer 
 wear our arms bare, they will be of no use," she writes 
 on one occasion when the Jewish goldsmith, Ercole 
 Fedeli of Ferrara, had failed to execute her order 
 punctually. Another time the same artist kept her 
 waiting four years for a pair of silver bracelets, and 
 would, she declared, never have finished them in 
 her lifetime if Duke Alfonso had not thrown him 
 into the Castello dungeon ! But the work when it 
 came was so exquisitely finished that Isabella had 
 to forgive him and own that no other goldsmith 
 in the world was his equal. / And certainly the 
 scabbard which Ercole worked in niello for Cassar 
 Borgia, now in South Kensington Museum, and the 
 sword of state which he made for the Marquis 
 
 1 // Lusso di Isabella d'Este, A. Luzio in Nuova Antologia, 1896, 
 p. 453. 
 
74 ENGRAVED GEMS 
 
 Francesco, now in the Louvre, deserve the high 
 praise which the Marchioness bestowed upon his 
 work. It was the same with Anichino, another 
 Ferrarese jeweller, who spent most of his time in 
 Venice and engraved gems in the most perfect style. 
 "Fortunate are those," sang a contemporary poet, 
 " who are endowed with the genius of Anichino, for 
 over them Time and Death have no power." " I will 
 not fail," wrote Zorzo Brognolo to his mistress in 1492, 
 " to urge Anichino to serve Your Highness quickly, 
 but he is a very capricious and eccentric man, and it 
 is necessary to hold him tight if you mean to get 
 work out of him I " As usual Isabella had to bide 
 the artist's pleasure and wait many weary months 
 before her turquoise was returned engraved with a 
 Victory. But when it came it was so beautifully 
 worked that she forgot her displeasure and sent 
 Anichino another gem to be engraved with a figure 
 of Orpheus, telling him with many flattering words 
 that he might be as slow as he hked, as long as the 
 work came so near to antique art. This time, however, 
 she owned to Brognolo that she was not altogether 
 satisfied, but did not dare tell the artist her opinion 
 for fear of exciting his wrath. " I know," she adds, 
 "the man is the best master in Italy, but unfor- 
 tunately he is not always in the right mood." ^ 
 
 This fiine taste and quickness to recognise true 
 excellence naturally attracted the best artists into 
 Isabella's service. She might be hasty and im- 
 petuous in her orders; she often grumbled at the 
 cost of pictures and gems, tried to beat down the 
 price, and was undoubtedly difficult to please, but 
 
 1 Grayer, L'Art Ferrarais d I'epoque des Princes d'Este, vol. i. 
 pp. 575, 714, &c. 
 
HER NEED OF MONEY 75 
 
 she was always ready to recognise good work and 
 to give the artist warm praise. Naturally, how- 
 ever, want of money often interfered with the 
 gratification of her wishes, and she was compelled 
 to return precious stones and finely carved gems 
 because, as she told the goldsmiths sorrowfully, 
 they were too dear. For the state of Mantua was 
 small and its revenues could not compare with those 
 of Milan or Ferrara. "Would to God!" Isabella 
 exclaimed when her brother-in-law Lodovico Sforza 
 displayed his treasures before her dazzled eyes — 
 " Would to God that we who spend money so gladly 
 had half as much ! " As it was, she often spent 
 more than she could afford, and owed large sums 
 to Taddeo and Piero Albano, the Venetian bankers, 
 who generally advanced money both to the Mar- 
 chesa and her husband. Often too she was forced 
 to pledge her jewels and even her costly robes to 
 raise money for political objects, to help Francesco 
 in his wars or buy a cardinal's hat for his brother. 
 The Mantuan agent Antonio Salimbeni wrote to 
 her from Venice in 1494, begging that she would 
 send him some money without delay, since he had all 
 the merchants in the city on his shoulders, and could 
 only give them good words, and hope that Her 
 Excellency would soon come to the rescue. But 
 Isabella was no spendthrift, and although she might 
 occasionally be led into extravagance, showed herself 
 to be as practical in the management of her fortune 
 as in everything else. When, in 1491, one of 
 her husband's estates was seized by the Venetian 
 merchant Pagano, Isabella hastened to redeem the 
 land, paying down 2000 ducats and begging the Doge 
 to be her security for the rest. Pagano began by rais- 
 
76 FRENCH ROMANCES 
 
 ing objections, and evidently looked with some distrust 
 on the Marchesa's proposals, upon which Isabella lost 
 no time in paying down the money, saying proudly 
 to Brognolo : " He might have trusted us, for, as you 
 know, we would rather die than break our word." 
 
 But the raising of loans, and the purchase of 
 rare gems and costly brocades, of elegant trifles and 
 ornaments for her camerini were by no means the 
 only commissions which Brognolo had to execute for 
 his young mistress. From the first, intellectual 
 interests played a large part in Isabella's life at 
 Mantua. AU through the summer of 1491, she 
 was engaged in an active controversy with the 
 Moro's son-in-law Galeazzo di San Severino, on 
 the respective merits of the Paladins Rinaldo and 
 Orlando, and entered into the lists with her wonted 
 spirit and gaiety. On the one hand, she asked her 
 old friend, Matteo Boiardo, to send her the latter part 
 of his Orlando Innamorato, as yet in manuscript ; on 
 the other, she wrote to Brognolo on the 17th of 
 September : " We wish you to ask all the booksellers 
 in Venice for a list of aU the Italian books in prose or 
 verse containing battle stories and fables of heroes in 
 modern and ancient times, more especially those 
 which relate to the Paladins of France, and send 
 them to us as soon as possible."^ Zorzo executed 
 this commission with the utmost despatch, and on 
 the 24th, sent her a list of works, containing, amongst 
 others, a Life of Julius Caesar, the romances of 
 Boccaccio, Piccinino, Fierabraccio, and several trans- 
 lations from the French. Many other French and 
 Breton romances, tales of the San Graal, of King 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, 1899, p- 8- See also 
 " Beatrice d'Este," p. 68, &c. 
 
CLASSICAL AUTHORS 77 
 
 Arthur and his Round Table, of Lancelot, Tristan, 
 Amadys, AstoLfo, Morgante Maggiore and Rinaldo 
 di Montalbano, belonged to Isabella's library, and 
 are mentioned in the inventory which was drawn 
 up at Mantua in 1542, three years after her 
 death. Her Gonzaga cousins at Gazzuolo shared 
 this taste for French romances which Isabella had 
 brought from the court of the Estes, and many 
 years afterwards, when Gianfrancesco's widow, 
 Antonia del Balzo, was growing old, she begged 
 the Marchesa to lend her the "History of King 
 Arthur and the Round Table " and that of Gode- 
 froi de Bouillon. "Now that I am often ill and 
 unable to go out much, I like to have books read 
 aloud to me," she writes, " and find that this passes 
 the time pleasantly, especially when the story is 
 quite new to me." Isabella sent the books without 
 delay, and Antonia gratefully acknowledged the 
 parcel, saying that the French romances were read 
 to her while she was at work every day, and that her 
 brother-in-law Monsignore Lodovico was especially 
 glad to see them, since a youth in his household was 
 writing a book on Orlando, and hoped to find some 
 new incident or idea in them.^ 
 
 But, dear as mediaeval romances were to Isabella's 
 heart, classical authors were dearer still. The great 
 Venetian Aldo Manuzio had not yet printed those 
 choice editions which gave her so much delight in 
 later years, but even in these early days her library 
 contained a large proportion of Latin authors, includ- 
 ing the works of Virgil and Horace, of Livy and 
 PHny, and the plays of Seneca, of Plautus and 
 Terence. She never mastered the Greek language, 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., pp. 8, 9, 12. 
 
78 LOVE OF RARE BOOKS 
 
 but read the works of Greek writers in Latin or 
 Italian versions, and employed Demetrius Moschus 
 to translate the Lives of Plutarch and the Icones 
 of Philostratus, which as a treatise on painting 
 was of especial interest to herself and her contem- 
 poraries. In 1498, she was seized with a wish to read 
 Herodotus, and borrowed an Italian translation from 
 her cousin Alberto d'Este, which she kept over a year, 
 giving as an excuse for her delay in returning the 
 volume, that it was such a big one and that she had 
 not yet finished it. With the true spirit of the biblio- 
 phile, Isabella loved to add rare works to her library, 
 even when she could not read them, and was especially 
 proud of a Greek Eustathius, which Pope Clement 
 VII. was glad to borrow, and which she once lent 
 as a great favour to her cousin, Ceesar of Aragon, 
 begging him not to allow too many persons to see 
 the precious volume, lest its reputation should be 
 diminished I Even Hebrew literature occupied her 
 attention, and she employed a learned Jew to translate 
 the Psalms from the original, in order to satisfy her- 
 self that the text was correct. An illustrated Bible 
 was one of the first books which she desired Brognolo 
 to procure for her when she came to Mantua, and 
 some years later she paid Taddeo Albano fifty ducats 
 for an illuminated copy of the Seven Penitential 
 Psalms bound in a richly chased gold and silver 
 cover. A copy of St. Jerome's Epistles, which she 
 had borrowed from her old tutor Battista Guarino, 
 interested her so much that she caused the work 
 to be printed at Mantua in 1497.^ Even at this 
 early age the youthful Marchesa was fond of reading 
 the Fathers and of hearing sermons. Some of the 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., pp. 21-23. 
 
SUOR OSANNA 79 
 
 most learned and eloquent friars of the day — the 
 General of the Carmelites, Fra Pietro da Novellara ; 
 the Mantuan Carmelite Battista Spagnoli, Padre 
 Francesco Silvestro of Ferrara, afterwards General of 
 the Dominican Order — were numbered among her 
 friends and correspondents. 
 
 Her relations with the Dominican nun, Osanna 
 dei Andreasi, were still more intimate. This devout 
 lady, a kinswoman of the Gonzagas, was regarded 
 by Francesco and all his family as the protectress of 
 Mantua, whose prayers they sought in time of war 
 and plague. She was a wise and noble woman, 
 whom the learned Francesco Silvestro held in high 
 esteem, , and as she was supposed to have received 
 the stigmata and to be endowed with prophetic 
 gifts, her fame extended far and wide. Beatrice 
 d'Este - induced her to visit Milan, where she was 
 received as an angel of light, and the Queen of 
 France, Anne of Brittany, asked her prayers that she 
 might bear a son. Isabella was deeply attached to 
 the B^ata Osanna, to whom she turned in all her 
 troubles, and after her death, in 1505, raised a splendid 
 tomb over her ashes and offered a silver head at her 
 shrine.' On one occasion the Marchesa believed the 
 good nun's prayers had saved her from a dangerous 
 illness, while on another they brought her instant 
 relief from a violent headache.^ And in an altar-piece 
 of the Vision of the Beata Osanna, painted by Bon- 
 signori, now in the Academy at Mantua, the portrait 
 of Isabella is introduced kneeling with three of her 
 ladies at the saint's feet.^ 
 
 1 Donesmondi, Storia ecclesiastica di Mantova, ii. 90. 
 
 2 Mr. Berenson first drew my attention to this portrait, which 
 strongly resembles Leonardo's drawing of Isabella. 
 
80 INTEREST IN SAVONAROLA 
 
 In 1492, Fra Mariano da Genazzano, the cultured 
 and popular Augustinian, whose polished oratory 
 at one time made him the rival of Savonarola in 
 Florence, preached a course of Lent sermons at Man- 
 tua, which pleased Isabella so much that she insisted 
 on keeping him at her court for Easter. On his 
 return to Ferrara, the friar told Duchess Leonora 
 how deeply he had been impressed with her 
 daughter's intelligence and devotion. " Indeed," 
 wrote the gratified mother, "he praised you so 
 much that he almost made me believe you are 
 really aU that he said, and this would give me 
 the greatest pleasure in the world." ^ At the 
 same time, like all the Este princes, Isabella never 
 ceased to follow the career of Fra Mariano's rival 
 with the deepest interest. A volume of Savonarola's 
 sermons was in her library, and six months after his 
 death, she sent to Ferrara for a copy of the Miserere, 
 a commentary on the Fifty -first Psalm, which he 
 had written in prison before his execution. " I send 
 you the Miserere of Savonarola," wrote her brother 
 Alfonso on the 30th of October, "which I have 
 had copied by your wish, and which you will find 
 a worthy and devout book."^ For the great friar 
 of San Marco was a citizen of Ferrara, and neither 
 Ercole d'Este nor his children ever forgot that his 
 grandfather, Michele Savonarola, had held the post of 
 physician to the ducal family. But wide and varied 
 as was Isabella's interest in all forms of literature, 
 the study of poetry remained her favourite pursuit. 
 She was as indefatigable in her endeavours to obtain 
 the productions of living bards as those of dead 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, p. 62. 
 
 2 Bihliqfilo, i. 26. 
 
ISABELLA'S VERSES 81 
 
 authors, and her correspondence in these early years 
 is as much concerned with sonnets and cauzoni as 
 with jewels and fine clothes. Antonio Tebaldeo, the 
 young poet who had already acquired considerable 
 reputation at the courts of Ferrara and Bologna, was 
 constantly sending her his strambotti and capitoli, and 
 the insatiable Marchesa was always begging for more. 
 
 "Find out Messer Tebaldeo," she writes in 
 December 1491, to Giacomo Trotti, her father's 
 envoy at Milan, "and beg him to send twenty or 
 twenty-five of the finest sonnets as well as two or 
 three capitoli which would give us the greatest possible 
 pleasure." Sometimes she herself tried to express her 
 thoughts in verse, and in one of his letters Tebaldeo 
 speaks with high praise of a certain strambotto of her 
 composition on the autumn trees which have lost their 
 leaves, and thanks heaven that one of his disciples 
 has attained an excellence to which he could never 
 aspire, prophesying that she will go far in this direc- 
 tion, and achieve miracles in poetry. Isabella, however, 
 took these flattering words for what they were worth, 
 and although she occasionally wrote verses in private, 
 steadily refused to aUow her productions to be 
 handed round among her courtiers, saying that such 
 attempts were more likely to bring her ridicule than 
 fame.^ 
 
 But among all courtly poets of her circle the one 
 whom she admired the most was her kinsman 
 Niccolo da Correggio. From her earliest childhood 
 she remembered him as the handsomest and most 
 accomplished cavalier at the court of Ferrara, dis- 
 tinguished aUke by his prowess in war and tourna- 
 
 1 S. Davari, La Musica in Mantova, in Riv. St. Mant., i. 54 ; and 
 A. LuziOj / Precettori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 53. 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
82 NICCOLO DA CORREGGIU 
 
 ments, and by his polished courtesy and rare gift 
 of poetic invention. His fame was celebrated by 
 the most illustrious poets and writers of the age. 
 Ariosto and Sabba da Castiglione sang his praises in 
 the next century. Sperandio struck a noble medal 
 in his honour, and Isabella herself spoke of him after 
 his death as the most perfect courtier and finished 
 poet in all Italy. The son of Duke Ercole's sister, 
 that fair Beatrice who was known as the Queen 
 of Feasts, and of a prince of the reigning house of 
 Correggio, who died before his son's birth in 1450, 
 Niccolo grew up at his uncle's court at Ferrara, and 
 was held in high favour by the Duke and all his 
 family. He had been sent to escort Leonora of 
 Aragon to Ferrara on her wedding journey, and had 
 accompanied her when she returned to Naples with 
 her children in 1477. He served with distinction in 
 the wars against Venice, and was taken prisoner and 
 kept in captivity for nearly a year, to the great 
 distress of the Duchess, who entered warmly into 
 the grief of his mother and of his wife, Cassandra, 
 a daughter of the famous captain, Bartolommeo 
 CoUeoni. 
 
 In 1487, Niccolo's pastoral play of " Cefalo " was 
 performed at Ferrara, and his eclogues and sonnets 
 were in the hands of all lovers of poetry. Isabella 
 frequently alludes to the choice copy of his poems, 
 in white damask embroidered with diamonds, which 
 he had presented to her father, and her own library 
 contained several volumes of his works. A copy of 
 his romances was bound in red velvet, while his 
 eclogues and another book called // Giardino were 
 bound in black leather enriched with gold and 
 silver clasps. Niccolo had been present at Isa- 
 
HIS DEVOTION TO ISABELLA 83 
 
 bella's wedding, and again at that of Beatrice at 
 Milan, where, although past forty years of age, he 
 was pronounced by general consent to be the most 
 splendid figure in all that brilliant company.^ After 
 this, the influence of his mother, who had married the 
 Moro's half-brother Tristan Sforza, and the marked 
 favour shown him by Lodovico, induced him to settle 
 at Milan, where he played a leading part in court 
 and carnival festivities during Beatrice's lifetime. 
 But, although he rarely visited Mantua, he stiU 
 remained deeply attached to Isabella, whose devoted 
 slave he professed himself and with whom he kept 
 up an animated correspondence. He addresses her 
 habitually as Madonna unica viia, his beloved patrona 
 and signotia, and speaks of her in his letters to others 
 as la mia Illustrissima Isabella. And on one memor- 
 able occasion, when a discussion arose at the Moro's 
 palace of Vigevano on the illustrious women of the 
 day, Niccolo da Correggio ventured to speak of the 
 Marchesa as the first lady in the world — la prima 
 donna del mondo.^ 
 
 In February 1491, Niccolo was present at the 
 fetes held at Ferrara in honour of Alfonso d'Este and 
 Anna Sforza's marriage, and on this occasion showed 
 Isabella a complete collection of his works in manu- 
 script, with a dedicatory epistle to herself, destined to 
 be pubhshed at some future date. At the same time 
 he promised her a new poem of his own composition, 
 as well as a translation of one of Virgil's eclogues. 
 In the course of that spring he was sent by Lodo- 
 vico on a mission to France, and before his departure, 
 
 ' T. ChalcuSj Residua, p. 95. 
 
 2 Luzio, Niccolo da Correggio, in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, vol. xxi. 
 pp. 239-241. 
 
84 HER ADMIRATION FOR HIS POEMS 
 
 wrote to the Marchesa assuring her of his devotion 
 and offering to execute any commission for her 
 in Paris. On his return, Isabella lost no time in 
 reminding him of his promise, and ended her letter 
 with these characteristic words : " Since I am of 
 an essentially greedy and impatient nature, I hold 
 those things the most dear, which I can obtain the 
 soonest." But the young princess had to restrain 
 her impatience, and it was not until the close of the 
 year that she received the fable of Psyche — a short 
 poem in ottava rima, with an elaborate dedication 
 which is still preserved in a few rare editions. 
 Meanwhile rumours of Niccolo's new fable had 
 reached Mantua, and a Milanese poet wrote to tell 
 one of Isabella's favourite courtiers, Jacopo dAtri, 
 Count of Pianella, that he would soon see the Psyche 
 composed for his illustrious Madonna. "It is 
 finished," he goes on to say, " and will, I feel sure, 
 please you, but on your honour I beg you not to say 
 a word to any one, as the author does not wish 
 the report to precede the presentation of his poem." ^ 
 Isabella was anxious that her accomplished kinsman 
 should spend the next carnival at Mantua, but 
 he was detained at Milan, to organise the festi- 
 vities at the Moro's court, and she did not see 
 him until she went to Pavia and Milan that 
 summer. Early in 1493, Niccolo sent her a copy of 
 the Rime composed by his friend Gasparo Visconti, 
 one of the sweetest singers of Beatrice's court, 
 but the Marchesa received the gift coldly, remark- 
 ing that she should have much preferred to have 
 the poems before they were printed, and begging 
 Niccolo to send her anything new of his own, " for 
 
 1 Luzio, op. cit, p. 250. 
 
A SILVER LYRE 85 
 
 without flattery I may say that your verses please 
 me better than any other poems of the present 
 day."^ 
 
 But Isabella did not only turn to Niccolo da 
 Correggio for verses and eclogues. She consulted 
 him on many subjects and asked him to gratify 
 many different fancies. When they met at Milan 
 in the autumn of 1492, he invented a new design 
 of cunningly interlaced links with which she pro- 
 posed to adorn her next camora. This was the 
 famous fantasia del vinci, which her sister Beatrice 
 borrowed with her permission, and wore, worked 
 in massive gold, on a purple robe, at the wedding 
 of Bianca Sforza and the Emperor Maximilian.^ 
 And when the Duchess of Urbino was spend- 
 ing the following summer at Mantua, and the two 
 young princesses constantly sang and played to- 
 gether, Isabella, seized with a wish to learn some 
 new instrument, wrote to beg Niccolo for the 
 loan of a wonderful silver lyre which had been 
 lately made for him by the renowned Florentine, 
 Atalante Migliorotti. As usual, this courteous 
 gentleman expressed his eagerness to comply with 
 her request, and wrote, from Correggio, saying that 
 his silver lyre should be sent to her as soon as he 
 returned to Ferrara. " If you had not asked for 
 Atalante's lyre," he remarks, " I would have sent 
 you a smaller one, better fitted for a beginner, but 
 since you wish for this one, I hope the name of 
 Atalante and the memory of the giver will dispose 
 you to learn the art with the greater readiness and 
 affection." He goes on to explain the meaning of 
 
 1 Davari, Riv. St. Mant, i. p. 54. 
 
 2 « Beatrice d'Este," p. 208, &c. 
 
86 ATALANTE MIGLIOROTTI 
 
 a new cantata entitled " Mopsa and Daphne," 
 which had been performed at Milan last carnival, 
 and which he is now sending her, but if she 
 does not like it, promises to let her have another 
 and a more attractive one, adding that she has only 
 to ask, for he wiU be never weary of doing her 
 service.^ 
 
 The lute, as we know, was Isabella's favourite 
 instrument, on which she accompanied herself with 
 rare skill and charm. A few months after her 
 marriage her father allowed his favourite musician, 
 the Constance organist Giovanni Martini, to pay 
 a visit to Mantua and give her singing lessons. 
 After his return to Ferrara the German priest sent 
 his pupil a book of songs, begging her to remember 
 his directions and practise them daily. At the 
 same time Duke Ercole sent Isabella his own book 
 of songs, in order that she might transcribe her 
 favourite melodies, begging her not to keep it too 
 long, but return it as soon as possible. In 1491, 
 another Ferrarese musician, Girolamo da Sestola, 
 came to Mantua to give her singing lessons, and 
 after his return to Ferrara, remained one of her 
 most constant correspondents. Now, however, a 
 sudden fancy to learn other instruments seems to 
 have seized her, and this same summer she wrote 
 to the great musician Atalante himself, begging him 
 to send her a silver citarra or lute, with as many 
 strings as he chooses, but which shall be a "fair 
 and gallant thing to see." Atalante, it appears, 
 had visited Mantua in 1491, at the pressing en- 
 treaty of the Marquis, to take the leading part in 
 a performance of Polizianio's " Orfeo," which took 
 
 ^ Luzio, op. cit., p. 243. 
 
ISABELLA'S ROOMS 87 
 
 place at Marmirolo. In 1494, the Marchesa gave 
 the Florentine musician a special token of favour 
 by standing sponsor to his new-born child, who was 
 held at the font by the Ferrarese envoy Manfredi, 
 and named after her.^ 
 
 The decoration of her rooms in the Castello 
 was another subject which occupied much of the 
 young Marchesa's thoughts at this time. Since the 
 death of the Marchesa Barbara, ten years before, 
 there had been no lady to reign over the court 
 of Mantua, and Isabella may well have longed to 
 bring some of the grace and beauty of her mother's 
 camerini to brighten her new home in the grim 
 old Castello di Corte. The apartments which she 
 occupied during the greater part of her married 
 Ufe, were on the Piano Nobile of the Tower, close 
 to the Camera Dipinta, as the nuptial chamber 
 decorated with Andrea's frescoes was commonly 
 called. These rooms looked over the waters of the 
 lake and the long bridge of San Giorgio, and a 
 staircase in the corner close to the Sala degli 
 Sposi, led to her husband's apartments on the 
 ground floor. Unfortunately these camerini, which 
 Isabella occupied for more than thirty years, have 
 undergone many alterations, and were mostly 
 stripped of their decorations under the Austrian 
 rule, when the Castello was inhabited by soldiers 
 for a hundred and fifty years. But one little 
 room looking towards the lake, in the corner 
 of the Castello, near the Palazzina or annexe 
 added on by Isabella's son, Federico, at the time of 
 his own marriage, still retains traces of the original 
 
 ' D'Ancona, Origini del Teatro Italiano, vol. ii. ; and Davari, 
 op. cit. 
 
88 DECORATION OF HER STUDIO 
 
 decorations planned by the young Marchesa. Here 
 we still find remains of gilding and ultramarine on 
 the barrel- vaulted ceiling, and recognise the Gonzaga 
 devices carved on the frieze of delicately inlaid wood- 
 work. Here too, finely wrought in gold on an azure 
 ground, are the musical notes and rests which were 
 Isabella's favourite emblem, the impresa or device 
 which she loved to wear on her embroidered robes, 
 and the playing cards tied in packs together with 
 the mystic numbers to which Paolo Giovio and other 
 contemporaries allude. This charmingly decorated 
 little room was, there can be little doubt, the 
 studiolo which is so often mentioned in Isabella's 
 letters, the peaceful retreat where she and Ehsabetta 
 Gonzaga spent their happiest days, surrounded by 
 the books and pictures, the cameos and musical 
 instruments which they loved. 
 
 At her first coming to Mantua, Isabella brought 
 a whole train of artists, but most of these soon 
 returned to Ferrara, and the court-painter, Ercole 
 Roberti, suffered so much from sea-sickness on the 
 journey up the Po, and was so much exhausted 
 with his labours before the wedding, that he left 
 suddenly, without even bidding the Marchesa fare- 
 well.^ A Mantuan painter, Luca Liombeni, was 
 the artist whom she entrusted with the decoration 
 of her studiolo, as we learn from an imperious 
 letter which she addressed to him from Ferrara, on 
 the 6th November 1491. 
 
 " Since we have learnt, by experience," wrote 
 the impatient young princess, " that you are as 
 slow in finishing your work as you are in everything 
 else, we send this to remind you that for once you 
 
 ' Gruyer, op. cii., ii. 154. 
 
THE PAINTER LIOMBENI 89 
 
 must change your nature, and that if our studioh 
 is not finished on our return, we intend to put you 
 into the dungeon of the Castello. And this, we 
 assure you, is no jest on our part." 
 
 Upon this the terrified painter offered the 
 humblest apologies to his mistress, who replied on 
 the 12th of November : — 
 
 " In answer to your letter, we are glad to hear that 
 you are doing your utmost to finish our studioh, so 
 as not to be sent to prison. We enclose a list of the 
 devices which we wish to have painted on the frieze, 
 and hope that you will arrange them as you think 
 best, and make them appear as beautiful and elegant 
 as possible. You can paint whatever you like inside 
 the cupboards, as long as it is not anything ugly, 
 because if it is, you will have to paint it all over again 
 at your own expense, and be sent to pass the winter 
 in the dungeon, where you can, if you like, spend a 
 night for your pleasure now, to see if the accom- 
 modation there is to your taste ! Perhaps this may 
 make you more anxious to please us in future. On 
 our part, we will not let you want for money, and 
 have told Cusatro to give you all the gold that you 
 require." ^ 
 
 Meanwhile Mantegna had returned from Rome 
 in September 1491, after two years' absence from 
 Mantua. He brought with him a letter from 
 Isabella's old tutor, Battista Guarino, whom he 
 had formerly known at Verona, begging the Mar- 
 chesa to look graciously on this master, whose 
 excellent genius was indeed too weU known to need 
 any recommendation, and assuring her that he was 
 as charming by nature as he was gifted in his art, 
 
 1 Luzio, I Precettori, Sec, pp. 18, 19. 
 
90 MANTEGNA'S RETURN 
 
 " Egli h tutto gentile" ^ This description, it must be 
 owned, hardly agrees with all that we hear of Andrea's 
 irritable and suspicious temper. But from the first, 
 Isabella appreciated his rare talent and proved a kind 
 patron and faithful friend to the great master. The 
 whole of the next year was devoted to his unfinished 
 Triumphs, and by a decree of February 1492, the 
 Marquis bestowed a fresh gift of land upon the 
 painter, " as a reward for the admirable works which 
 he formerly painted in the Chapel and Camera of our 
 Castello, and which in the Triumph of Caesar he is 
 now painting for us, in pictures which seem almost to 
 live and breathe."^ The works in the Chapel here 
 mentioned were in all probabihty the noble Triptych 
 now in the Uffizi, containing the Adoration, Circum- 
 cision, and Ascension, and the small altar-piece of the 
 Death of the Virgin, with the view of the lake and 
 bridge of S. Giorgio as seen from the Castello. This 
 last-named picture came to England in 1627, with 
 the chief treasures of the Gonzaga gallery, and is 
 described in Van der Doort's catalogue of Charles 
 the First's pictures as " a Mttle piece of Andrea 
 Montania, being the dying of Our Lady, the 
 Apostles standing about with white candles lighted 
 in their hands ; and in the landskip where the 
 town of Mantua is painted is the water-lake, 
 where a bridge is over the said water towards 
 the town. In a little ebony wooden frame." This 
 precious little painting, on which Isabella's eyes 
 must often have rested and which bore the words 
 " Mantua piece " in the King's own writing, was 
 
 1 W. BraghiroUi, in Giom. di Erud. Art., i. p. 202. 
 
 2 Archivio Gonzaga, Libra dei Decreti, 24, fol. 56, quoted by 
 Kristeller, op. cit., App. p. 486. 
 
Photo, Hauser &■ Menet, Madrid 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN 
 
 By Andrea Mantegna 
 
 [Madrid] 
 
 To/ace p. 90, vol. i 
 
HIS PORTRAIT OF ISABELLA 91 
 
 bought at the sale of his pictures after his execu- 
 tion by the Spanish Ambassador Cardenas, and 
 now hangs in the Prado at Madrid. 
 
 By the end of 1492, the Triumphs were finally 
 completed, and Andrea was at length able to 
 execute a commission for Isabella. This was a 
 portrait of herself which she wished to send to 
 Isabella del Balzo, Countess of Acerra, the younger 
 sister of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga's wife, Antonia 
 del Balzo, who was apparently one of her intimate 
 friends. 
 
 In January 1493, Isabella d'Este wrote the 
 following letter to Jacopo d'Atri, her lord's envoy 
 at Naples : — 
 
 " In order to satisfy the most illustrious Madonna, 
 the Countess of Acerra, whom we love tenderly, we 
 have arranged to have our portrait taken by Andrea 
 Mantegna, and will ask him to send it to you in 
 order that you may present it to her before you 
 leave, and we hope that you will bring back the 
 portrait of the said Countess, since she has asked for 
 ours." 
 
 Jacopo dAtri returned to Mantua in April with 
 a drawing of the Countess, which Isabella acknow- 
 ledged gratefully in the following letter : — 
 
 " The sight of your picture gave us the liveliest 
 joy, since you are as dear to us as our only sister 
 Beatrice. If Our Lord God would only grant that 
 we might see you once more and embrace you, it 
 would make us happier than anything in the world. 
 This feehng prompted our urgent desire to possess 
 your portrait and thus in some measure satisfy the 
 longing of our heart. Now that we have your image 
 both on paper and in wax, we shall hold it very dear 
 
92 GIOVANNI SANTI 
 
 and often look at it, although, from what Jacopo 
 says and from our own recollection, neither portrait 
 resembles you very much. But we know how 
 difficult it is to find painters who take good like- 
 nesses from life, and shall try to supply the artist's 
 deficiencies with the help of the information given 
 us by Margherita, Jacopo, and others who have lately 
 seen you, so that we may not be deceived in our idea 
 of you. We thank you exceedingly for your kind- 
 ness, and beg you to keep the promise made us 
 through Jacopo, that you will send us another on 
 panel, and we wiU do the same in compliance with 
 your request. We do not say that you will see a 
 beautiful picture, but at least you will have in your 
 house a portrait of one who is your most loving 
 sister." 
 
 But when, a fortnight later, Andrea's portrait was 
 finished, it failed to satisfy Isabella's critical taste. 
 
 " We are much vexed," she writes on the 20th of 
 April, " that we are unable to send you our portrait, 
 because the painter has done it so badly that it does 
 not resemble us in the very least. But we have 
 sent for a foreign artist who has the reputation of 
 taking excellent likenesses, and as soon as it is ready 
 we wiU send it to Your Highness, who wiU not forget 
 that we are altogether devoted to you." 
 
 The foreign master was Giovanni Santi, the father 
 of Raphael, who had been evidently recommended to 
 Isabella by her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Urbino. 
 Ehsabetta sent him without delay, and he spent some 
 time at Mantua that summer painting a series of family 
 portraits— probably for the decoration of some hall in 
 one of the Gonzaga villas — and began a picture of 
 Isabella. Unluckily, before it was finished^he fell ill 
 
AT MANTUA 93 
 
 of fever, and was compelled to return to the healthier 
 climate of Urbino. Some months passed before Isa- 
 bella was able to inform her friend that the portrait 
 was ready, and would be sent to her straight from 
 Urbino. 
 
 " Most illustrious Madonna and dearest sister, in 
 order to satisfy Your Highness — not because our 
 countenance is so beautiful that it deserves to be 
 painted — we send you, by Simone da Canossa, cham- 
 berlain to the illustrious Duke of Calabria, a panel 
 portrait by the hand of Zohan de Sancte, painter to 
 the Duchess of Urbino, who is said to make good 
 likenesses, although from what we hear it seems that 
 this one might resemble us more."^ 
 
 This Contessa dAcerra, to whom Isabella was 
 so fondly attached, became the second wife of her 
 uncle Federico, the last king of the house of Aragon 
 who reigned over Naples. After that monarch died 
 in France, his widow came back to Italy with her 
 daughters and ended her days at the court of his 
 nephew, Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. 
 
 1 A. LuziOj I Ritratti d' Isabella d'Este in Emporium, 1900, p. 347. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 1493— 1494 
 
 Discovery of the New World — The news reaches Mantua — Birth 
 
 of the Moro's son — Isabella's journey to Ferrara and Venice 
 
 Reception by the Doge and Signory — Her relations with 
 Gentile Bellini — Return to Mantua — Francesco Gonzaga at 
 Venice — Death of Duchess Leonora — Birth of Leonora 
 Gonzaga — -Departure of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino 
 — Decorations of Marmirolo and Gonzaga. 
 
 While the young Gonzaga princesses were spending 
 the spring days together, singing Petrarch and Virgil 
 to the lute, or playing their favourite game of scar- 
 tino, great events were happening in the outer world. 
 On the 15th of March Columbus landed at Palos 
 on his return from his first voyage, and told the 
 wondering Spaniards of the New World which had 
 been discovered beyond the seas. Soon the news 
 reached the little blue and gold studiolo looking 
 over the Mantuan lakes, and we can picture to our- 
 selves the breathless excitement with which Isabella 
 and her sister-in-law read the marvellous traveller's 
 tales that came from Spain. On the 22nd of April, 
 Luca Fancelli, the old architect who had spent his 
 last forty years in the service of the Gonzagas, wrote 
 from Florence to tell his lord and master. Marquis 
 Francesco, these wonderful things. 
 
 " Your Highness," he says, " may have heard that 
 we have had letters here teUing us that the King of 
 Spain sent some ships over the seas, which, after a 
 
 94 
 
VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 95 
 
 voyage of thirty-six days, discovered certain islands, 
 amongst others a very big one lying east, with broad 
 rivers and terrible mountains, and a very fertile land, 
 inhabited by handsome men and women, who go 
 naked or only wear a cotton leaf round the waist. 
 This country abounds in gold, and the people are 
 very courteous and liberal of their property, and 
 there are quantities of palms of more than six dif- 
 ferent kinds, and some wonderfully taU trees. There 
 are other islands, five of which have been given 
 names, and one which is nearly as large as Italy. 
 And the rivers there run with gold, and there is 
 plenty of copper but no iron, and many other won- 
 ders, and you can neither see the Arctic nor the 
 Antarctic poles." 
 
 Further particulars came from two of Francesco's 
 servants, Giovanni dei Bardi and Giambattista Strozzi, 
 who had been sent to buy horses in Spain, and who 
 now wrote from Cadiz, saying : "A Savona sailor 
 named Columbus has landed here, bringing 30,000 
 ducats in gold, as well as pepper and other spices, 
 and parrots as big as falcons and as red as pheasants. 
 They found trees bearing fine wool, and others which 
 produce wax and linen fibres, and men like Tartars, 
 tall and active, with long hair falling over their 
 shoulders. They eat human flesh, and fatten men as 
 we do capons, and are called cannibals. ... It is 
 certain that these sailors have brought back a great 
 quantity of gold, sandal-wood, and spices, and what 
 1 myself have seen — sixty parrots of variegated 
 colours, eight of them as big as falcons — as well 
 as twelve Indians, who have been sent to the King. 
 And in that land they found great forests in which 
 the trees grow so thickly you could hardly see the 
 
96 THE INDIANS IN Sl'AlW 
 
 sky, and if some men had not climbed to the top of 
 the trees they would never have got out again, and 
 many other things of which I have not time to tell." 
 
 A few months later, Isabella herself received the 
 following letter from a Cremona scholar at Ferrara 
 named Ponzone : " I hear that a man named Colum- 
 bus lately discovered an island for the King of Spain, 
 on which are men of our height but of copper-coloured 
 skin, with noses like apes. The chiefs wear a plate 
 of gold in their nostrils which covers the mouth, the 
 women have faces as big as wheels, and all go naked, 
 men and women ahke. Twelve men and four women 
 have been brought back to the King of Spain, but they 
 are so weakly that two of them fell ill of some sickness 
 which the doctors do not understand, and they had no 
 pulse and are dead. The others have been clothed, 
 and if they see any one who is richly clad they stroke 
 him with their hands and kiss his hands to show how 
 much they admire him. They seem intelligent, and are 
 very tame and gentle. No one can understand their 
 language. They eat of everything at table, but are 
 not given wine. In their own country they eat the 
 roots of trees and some big kind of nut which is like 
 pepper but yields good food, and on this they live."^ 
 
 Meanwhile affairs nearer home claimed Isabella's 
 attention. Her mother's ladies wrote long letters 
 from Milan giving full particulars of the birth of 
 Beatrice's son, and of the splendid festivities and 
 rejoicings with which this event had been hailed. 
 Isabella's warm heart glowed with affection when she 
 heard of the belh puttino, and she told her sister how 
 she longed to hold the babe in her arms and cover 
 
 ' G. Berghet, Fonti Ital. per la Storia delta Scoperta del Nuovo 
 Mondo, pp. 165, I69. 
 
ISABELLA'S JOURNEY TO VENICE 97 
 
 him with kisses, but she was, not unnaturally, 
 inclined to wish for the same blessing herself, and to 
 envy Beatrice's prosperity. When Francesco Gon- 
 zaga, on his return from Venice in April, brought 
 his wife an invitation from the Doge to attend the 
 Ascension-tide festivities in that city and witness the 
 yearly ceremony of the espousals of Venice with the 
 sea, Isabella accepted the offer joyfully. But when, 
 a few days later, she heard from her mother that 
 Lodovico and his wife were coming to Ferrara in 
 May, and that Beatrice was to accompany Duchess 
 Leonora to ^'"enice, she told her husband that nothing 
 would induce her to visit ^''enice at the same time. 
 And since it was impossible to vie with the splendour 
 of her sister's train, she begged to be allowed to 
 appear without ceremony before the Doge as his 
 humble servant and daughter. Fortunately the 
 Moro's journey was delayed, and Isabella left Mantua 
 early in May and travelled by boat to Ferrara. On 
 her arrival she sent an affectionate note to her 
 sister-in-law Elisabetta, from whom she had parted 
 with much regret. 
 
 " When I found myself alone in the boat, without 
 your sweet company, I felt so forlorn I hardly knew 
 what I wanted or where I was. To add to my 
 comfort, the wind and tide were against us all the 
 way, and I often wished myself back in your room 
 playing at scartino ! " ^ 
 
 On the same day Elisabetta wrote saying that 
 the weather had been so bad since the Marchesa's 
 departure that she had never left her room, and 
 complaining that she only felt half-ahve now that 
 
 1 Copialettera d' Isabella, lib. iii., quoted by Luzio, Mantova 
 e Urbino, p. 63. 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
98 HER RECEPTION 
 
 she was deprived of her sister's charming conver- 
 sation,^ After assisting at the wedding of Guide, 
 the son of the accomphshed poet Tito Strozzi, and at 
 a dramatic representation in honour of the occasion, 
 which afforded her great dehght, Isabella continued 
 her journey, accompanied by her brother-in-law, the 
 papal protonotary, Sigismondo, and reached Chioggia 
 on the 13th of May. Here she was lodged in the 
 palace of the Podesta, and sumptuously entertained at 
 the Signory's expense. After supper three 'S^enetian 
 patricians who had been present at her wedding— 
 Zorzo Pisano, Zaccaria Contarini, and Francesco 
 Capello — waited on her to bid her welcome in 
 the Doge's name, and escorted her to the palace 
 near San Trovaso occupied by her husband as 
 captain of the Republic's armies. Early the next 
 morning Isabella entered the port of Venice, passing 
 between the forts of Malamocco so quietly that she 
 hardly saw them, and was received at Santa Croce by 
 the Doge and Signory, together with the ambassadors 
 of Naples, Milan, and Ferrara.^ The scene that 
 followed is best described in her own words. 
 
 " Here I landed and met the Prince and ambas- 
 sadors coming out of the church, and kissed His 
 Serene Highness's hand and exchanged courteous 
 greeting, after which he led me to his bucentaur, 
 which was loaded with gentlemen and ladies. There 
 were ninety-three of these last, aU richly attired and 
 glittering with jewels, and I am sure that not one 
 among them had less than 6000 ducats worth of 
 precious stones upon her person. I sat on the 
 
 1 P. Ferrato, Leltere inedite di Donne Mantovane del Secolo, xv. 
 p. 56. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 366-372. 
 
ISABELLA VISITS THE DOGE 99 
 
 Prince's right, and so, talking of many things, we 
 rowed up the Canal Grande to the sound of bells, 
 trumpets, and guns, accompanied by such a crowd of 
 boats and people that it was impossible to count 
 them. I cannot teU you, my dear lord, what lov- 
 ing attention and great honour are paid me here. 
 The very stones of Venice seem to rejoice and be 
 glad of my coming, and all for the love which they 
 bear Your Excellency. Not only my own expenses, 
 but those of my whole suite, are liberally defrayed, 
 and two gentlemen have been deputed to provide for 
 us. . . . To-morrow the Doge and Signory are to 
 give me an audience, and I wiU reply as you desired 
 to the best of my ability. I do not describe the 
 beauties of this place as you have been here so often, 
 and will only say that it seems to me, as it does to 
 you, the finest city which I have ever seen." 
 
 The next day forty gentlemen escorted the Mar- 
 chesa to the Sala del CoUegio, and the Doge, taking 
 her by the hand, placed her on a seat on the tribunal 
 on his right hand, while Sigismondo Gonzaga sat on 
 his left. Then, rising and bowing with charming 
 grace towards the Doge, Isabella expressed her joy at 
 being allowed to assure His Serenity of her reverence 
 and loyalty for him and this illustrious Signory under 
 whose shadow and protection her lord wished to live 
 and die, and begged to commend the Marquis, his 
 State, and herself to their protection. The Doge 
 replied in gracious words, and invited her to attend 
 vespers in San Marco, a function which Isabella, tired 
 with the heat and length of these ceremonies, found 
 very tedious. " I know," she wrote to Francesco, 
 "that to-morrow's ceremony will be no less weari- 
 some, but I wiU bear it cheerfully for the sake of 
 
100 THE BELLINI 
 
 seeing so many fine things and doing honour to Your 
 Excellency." 
 
 The solemn espousals of Venice with the sea, and 
 the state banquet which followed, proved even more 
 fatiguing than Isabella expected. " Have pity on 
 me," she wrote that evening, " for I was never more 
 tired and bored than I am with all these ceremonies. 
 ... It seems to me a thousand years until I can get 
 back to Mantua ! For, although Venice is a glorious 
 city and has no rival, to have seen it once is quite 
 enough for me." ^ The concluding days of her visit, 
 however, were spent more pleasantly. She visited 
 Queen Caterina Cornaro in her beautiful home at 
 Murano, assisted at a sitting of the Great Council, 
 and went to the Church of S. Zaccaria to hear the 
 nuns sing. She spent one afternoon with her hus- 
 band's uncle, the Duke of Bavaria, who was staying 
 in Venice and showed her the most cordial affection ; 
 and she visited the ducal palace and saw the noble 
 frescoes which Gentile and Giovanni Belhni were 
 painting in the Council-hall. On this occasion she 
 probably made the acquaintance of the painters 
 themselves, whose sister Niccolosia was the wife of 
 Andrea Mantegna, and saw the wonderful portrait of 
 Sultan Mahomet II. which Gentile had lately brought 
 back from Constantinople. At the same time she 
 expressed a great wish to have a portrait of the Doge 
 Agostino Barbarigo upon which Gentile was engaged, 
 and, after her return to Mantua, she desired Antonio 
 Salimbeni to remind the painter of her request, and 
 to beg that he would send the Marquis plans of Cairo 
 and Venice. On the 1st of October the Mantuan 
 agent informed his lord that Gentile would gladly 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. at., p. 371. 
 
ISABELLA RETURNS TO MANTUA 101 
 
 oblige him and his illustrious lady, but three weeks 
 later he excused himself on the plea of pressing 
 engagements and begged the Marehesa to write to 
 the Doge herself on the subject. Accordingly Isa- 
 bella addressed a letter to the Doge, which was duly 
 delivered by her envoy Battista Scalona, begging him 
 to gratify her earnest desire to possess his portrait. 
 " The Most Serene Prince," wrote Scalona, " called 
 one of his secretaries and bade him give the Marehesa 
 the most gracious answer, explaining that Gentile's 
 portrait was already promised to his nephew, but that 
 he would desire the painter to have it copied for her 
 without delay." Since, however, we find no mention 
 of a picture by Gentile Bellini in Isabella's collection, 
 it is doubtful if the work was ever executed. But 
 the plan of Cairo which Gentile had promised " on 
 the faith of a cavalier " to let the Marquis have was 
 really brought to Mantua by Scalona on the 22nd of 
 December, together with an old plan of the Piazza di 
 San Marco and the ducal palace, by the hand of his 
 father, Jacopo Bellini.^ 
 
 On the 20th of May, Isabella left Venice, and 
 spent the night at Padua. After paying her vows 
 at the famous Basilica of II Santo, she went on to 
 Vicenza and Verona, where she was received with 
 great honour, and entertained at the expense of the 
 Signory. Meanwhile her return was impatiently 
 awaited by Elisabetta, who wrote charming letters 
 to her absent sister, saying how much she missed 
 her sweet companionship, greatly as she rejoiced to 
 hear of the honours which had been paid her in 
 Venice, and begging her to return quickly, lest the 
 
 1 Yriarte, Isabelle. d'Este et les Artistes de son temps ; Gazette des 
 Beaux Arts, xv. p. 216. 
 
102 THE VILLA OF PORTO 
 
 excessive heat should injure her health.^ The Mar- 
 quis was superintending the works at his favourite 
 villa of Marmirolo, and only paid his sister flying 
 visits, so that the Duchess gladly obeyed Isabella's 
 invitation to meet her at Porto, outside Mantua, 
 " where," she wrote, " we may together enjoy the 
 pure country air and teU each other all that has 
 happened since we parted," ^ 
 
 The two princesses spent the next six weeks in 
 this villa, which Francesco had lately bestowed on 
 his wife, and which she was to improve and beautify 
 so much in future years. Here they read and sang 
 together, in the terraced gardens on the Mincio, 
 and Jacopo di San Secondo, the accomplished viol- 
 player, who had been sent from Milan as a special 
 act of courtesy on Lodovico Moro's part, serenaded 
 them with exquisite music through the long summer 
 evenings. Isabella was blissful, and not even the 
 accounts which the Marquis sent from Venice 
 of the splendid fetes in honour of her mother and 
 sister could make her wish to be there. " To say 
 the truth," she wrote to Duchess Leonora, " all 
 these fetes and ceremonies are very much aUke." 
 She was better pleased to hear from her husband of 
 the excellent impression which she herself had made 
 on the Doge and Senators. Wherever he went, the 
 praises of her charms rang in his ears. Everywhere 
 he heard how honourably she had been entertained, 
 and with what infinite tact and skiU she had behaved. 
 He himself could not commend her wisdom and 
 discretion too highly, and all he now begged was that 
 his wife would take great care of her health and 
 
 * Ferrato, op. cit, p. 85. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 67. 
 
DEATH OF LEONORA 103 
 
 be of good courage for his sake. The warmth of 
 Francesco's affection for Isabella was evidently in- 
 creased, not only by gratitude for her good offices 
 with the Venetian Signory, but by the hopes of an 
 heir which she had begun to entertain. 
 
 In July, the Marchesa tore herself reluctantly 
 away from her sister-in-law to visit her mother, 
 whose health was giving her family anxiety, and 
 spent a month at Ferrara. It was the last time 
 that she ever saw the good Duchess, who died on 
 the 11th of October of a gastric fever which carried 
 her off in a few days. Francesco Gonzaga hastened 
 to Ferrara, but gave orders that the sad news should 
 be kept from the Marchesa until his return. But 
 when no letters came from the Duchess for a whole 
 week, Isabella's fears were aroused, and she heard 
 from a Milanese correspondent, " who," as Capilupi 
 wrote to the Marquis, " must have been either very 
 imprudent or still more wicked," that her beloved 
 mother had been dead three days. Happily no harm 
 was done, and after the first outburst of grief Isabella 
 showed her usual good sense and self-control. The 
 highest honours were paid to the dead Duchess both 
 at Ferrara and at Mantua. The saintly friar, Bernar- 
 dino da Feltre, preached the funeral sermon, young 
 Ariosto wrote an elegy on her death, and Latin 
 orations were pronounced by some of the most dis- 
 tinguished humanists of the day. But more touch- 
 ing than any of these pompous tributes was a letter 
 in which Battista Guarino poured out the grief of 
 his soul to his old pupil. 
 
 " If I had a hundred tongues, dearest lady," he 
 wrote, " I could not express the grief which I feel at 
 the death of our Madonna. I long to fly to you and 
 
104 BIRTH OF ISABELLA'S DAUGHTER 
 
 comfort you, but am myself in sore need of consola- 
 tion. The whole city is weeping for our dead lady, 
 and I, who received so much kindness from her, am 
 more unhappy than any one, and can only take 
 comfort in feeling that this is the will of God. 
 I am sure that none of those saints whom the 
 Church has canonised, ever made a better or more 
 devout end than she did, as you will learn from 
 a few words which I spoke over her grave, which 
 I will send you, in memory of this virtuous and 
 excellent lady. And I will see that Your Excel- 
 lency is not the last to receive a copy, for I have 
 always looked upon you as my mistress, but how 
 much more now that I have lost her who was my 
 sole hope and refuge ! Forgive me if I cannot say 
 more, but tears will not allow me to write. — Your 
 faithful servant, Battista." ^ 
 
 Fortunately for the Marchesa's happiness, she was 
 able to forget her grief in her new hopes, and on the 
 last day of the year 1492, she gave birth to her first 
 child — a daughter, in whom, as she wrote to her aunt 
 Beatrice, the wife of Matthias Corvinus, King of 
 Hungary, "the name and blessed memory of my 
 mother shall live again." Congratulations poured 
 in from all sides. Fra Mariano and the holy nun 
 Osanna sent the mother and child their blessing, and 
 the poor fool Mattello wrote in his maddest and 
 merriest mood, telhng his dear Madonna not to have a 
 thought or care in the world, now that she had given 
 birth to a lovely daughter. He proceeded to address 
 the new-born princess as Leonora zentile — Leonora 
 mia bella — Leonora mia cara, informed her that he 
 was coming from Marmirolo to her christening, and 
 
 I Luzio e Renier in Giorn, St. 4- Lett., vol. xxxv. 
 
GIOVANNI DEI MEDICI 105 
 
 ended by begging her father the Marquis for a dole 
 on this happy occasion. Isabella herself however did 
 not conceal her disappointnaent at the sex of the 
 child, as we learn from the letter which she wrote 
 to her sister on New Year's Day. " You will have 
 heard that I have a daughter and that both she and 
 I are doing well, although I am sorry not to have 
 a son. But since this is the will of God, she will be 
 dear to me." ^ The child received the names of 
 Leonora Violante Maria, and Lodovico Sforza, his 
 wife Beatrice, the Doge of Venice, and Lorenzo di 
 Pierfrancesco dei Medici were among the sponsors. 
 None of these illustrious personages, however, were 
 able to be present at the christening, but Lorenzo 
 dei Medici wrote a courteous letter to the Marquis, 
 thanking him for the honour which he had paid him 
 and congratulating him and the Marchesa on the 
 happy event. " I hope," he adds, " that this new- 
 born daughter may grow up to be a great joy to 
 you, and that God will give you sons in future." 
 Since he was unfortunately too unweU to attend the 
 christening, he promised to send his brother, Giovanni 
 dei Medici, to take his place. This prince, who 
 soon afterwards became the third husband of Cate- 
 rina Sforza, the famous Madonna of Forli, visited 
 Mantua on the 2nd of March, and was entertained 
 by Isabella, as we learn from the following note to 
 her absent lord ; — 
 
 " The Magnificent Giovanni dei Medici arrived 
 this morning in time for dinner. I have given him 
 rooms in the Corte and sent Giovanni Pietro Gonzaga 
 and Lodovico Uberti to wait on him. After dinner 
 he paid me a visit, and I entertained him and showed 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 69. 
 
106 ELISABETTA LEAVES MANTUA 
 
 him the Camera and the Triumphs and afterwards 
 took him to see our little girl." ^ 
 
 The Camera was the Sala degh Sposi, decorated 
 with Mantegna's frescoes, while his newly completed 
 Triumphs hung in a hall in that portion of the 
 CasteUo known as the Corte Vecchia, and were not 
 removed to Francesco's new palace of San Sebastiano 
 until the year 1506. 
 
 Elisabetta Gonzaga had been induced to remain 
 with Isabella for her confinement, and only returned 
 to Urbino on the 20th of January, with her husband 
 Duke Guidobaldo, who came to spend Christmas at 
 Mantua. Her departure was greatly lamented by 
 the Marchesa, who sent her a tender little note on 
 the same day, saying how sadly she missed her sweet 
 and loving conversation. " It seems strange enough," 
 she adds, " to be without you as long as I am in bed, 
 but it win be much worse when I leave the house — 
 for there is no one whom I love like you, excepting 
 my only sister, the Duchess of Bari." Her recovery, 
 however, proved rapid. A week later she rode out 
 through the town, to the joy of all the people, and 
 the next day went to pay her vows at S. Maria deUa 
 Grazie, a favourite sanctuary of the Gonzaga princes, 
 on the other side of the lakes, five miles from 
 Mantua. 
 
 Early in February, we find her enjoying hunting 
 parties and theatricals, at Marmirolo, that superb 
 country-house which Francesco Gonzaga delighted 
 to adorn. For the last three years architects and 
 artists had been busy here. Mantegna's son Fran- 
 cesco had painted a series of Triumphs on canvas, in 
 
 1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by P. Kristeller, A^idrea Mantegna, 
 App. 
 
DECORATIONS OF MARMIROLO 107 
 
 imitation of his father's great works, and both this 
 artist and the Veronese master Bonsignori, who had 
 entered the Marquis's service in 1488, were now 
 engaged in decorating certain halls with views 
 of Greek and Turkish cities. Constantinople, 
 Adrianople, Gallipoli and Rhodes were all repre- 
 sented in the Camera greca, and groups of Turkish 
 women bathing and going to mosque, as well as a 
 portrait of the Sultan's ambassador, were painted on 
 one of the walls. The plans provided by Gentile 
 Bellini were evidently destined to hang in three 
 rooms, and one hall, we are told, contained a Mappa- 
 mondo drawn in charcoal. In 1496, the Marquis 
 apphed to Giovanni Bellini for a map of Paris, and 
 the painter promised to do his best to satisfy His 
 Excellency, but said he could not vouch for its 
 correctness, since he had never been in France. 
 Francesco addressed the same request to Lorenzo dei 
 Medici when he asked him to stand godfather to his 
 infant daughter, but such a thing, it appeared, was 
 not to be found in the whole of Florence. Isabella, 
 as might be expected, shared her husband's taste for 
 topographical plans and maps. Many years after- 
 wards, she ordered copies to be made of a celestial 
 and terrestrial globe in the Vatican Library, and sent 
 to Venice for the latest plans of Constantinople and 
 Cairo. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 1494.— 1495 
 
 Journey of Isabella to Loreto and Urbino — Letters from Gubbio 
 and Urbino— Charles VIII. enters Italy — The Marquis of 
 Mantua refuses his offers — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Con- 
 quest of Naples by the French — League against France — 
 Francesco Gonzaga, captain of the armies of the League — 
 Isabella governs Mantua — Battle of the Taro — Heroism of 
 Francesco Gonzaga — Rejoicings at Venice and Mantua — The 
 Jew Daniele Norsa and Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria. 
 
 As soon as the carnival f§tes at Marmirolo were 
 ended and her infant daughter had been christened, 
 Isabella set out on a pilgrimage to Loreto, to fulfil 
 a vow which she had made to Our Lady before the 
 birth of her child. She started on the 10th of March, 
 taking with her an offering of chased gold ornaments, 
 worked by the skilful Mantuan goldsmith, Barto- 
 lommeo Meliolo, who had lately been appointed 
 Master of the Mint, and whose medals of the 
 Gonzaga princes are well known. Her original 
 intention had been to spend Holy Week at Urbino 
 with her sister-in-law, but the Duchess begged her 
 to put off her visit tiU after Easter, since it was 
 difficult to obtain sufficient supplies of fish at 
 Urbino to feed a large number of guests. So 
 after spending a few days at Ferrara and a night 
 at Ravenna, where she visited the ancient churches 
 and admired the mosaics, the Marchesa travelled 
 by Pesaro and Ancona to Loreto. Here she 
 
 108 
 
ISABELLA AT GUBBIO 109 
 
 arrived on Wednesday in Holy Week, and con- 
 fessed and communicated at the altar of the Santa 
 Casa on Maundy Thursday. In a letter to her 
 husband from Ravenna she informed him that she 
 intended to spend Easter at Gubbio, and then 
 devote one day to Assisi, and another to Perugia, 
 " both in order to see that noble city, and because, 
 if I am to hear mass and dine at Assisi, there 
 would not be time to return to Gubbio the same 
 day. From Assisi to Perugia, I hear, it is only 
 ten miles, through a most beautiful valley, and 
 twelve more from Perugia to Gubbio." ^ 
 
 But when the Marchesa reached Gubbio she 
 found the Duke and Duchess of Urbino awaiting 
 her, and was induced to spend ten days with them 
 at Gubbio, and another fortnight at Urbino. From 
 Gubbio she visited Assisi, where she saw Giotto's 
 frescoes and paid her vows at the tomb of St. Francis, 
 and Camerino, where her cousins, the Varani, gave 
 her a warm welcome, and would gladly have de- 
 tained her longer. But she was eager to return to 
 Gubbio, and was as much struck with the beauty 
 of the spot as the splendour of the ducal palace, 
 which had been the favourite abode of the last 
 Duchess, Battista Sforza, where her son Guidobaldo 
 was born, and where she herself died. " This 
 palace," she wrote on the 30th of March to her 
 husband, " is magnificently furnished, besides being 
 a noble building, and is so finely situated that I 
 do not think I have ever seen a place which pleased 
 me better. It stands on a height overlooking the 
 town and plaui, and has a delightful garden, with 
 a fountain in the centre." To-day the fair gardens 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Montova e Urbino, pp. 73, &c. 
 
110 PALACE OF URBINO 
 
 are desolate, and the sumptuous fittings of the palace 
 are gone, but a considerable portion of Duke 
 Federico's building still remains. We can look 
 down from the beautiful loggia on the view which 
 Isabella admired, and breathe the health-giving 
 breezes which Elisabetta praised in her letters. 
 
 But the famous palace of Urbino inspired the 
 young Marchesa with still greater enthusiasm. 
 " This palace," she writes to her husband, " is far 
 finer than I ever expected. Besides the natural 
 beauty of the place, it is very richly furnished with 
 tapestries, hangings, and silver plate ; and I must 
 tell you that in aU the different rooms which I 
 have occupied in this Duke's different homes, the 
 hangings have never been moved from one place to 
 another, and from the first moment when I arrived 
 at Gubbio until now, I have been entertained more 
 and more sumptuously every day : indeed I could 
 not have been more highly honoured if I had been 
 a bride ! I have repeatedly begged my hosts to 
 reduce these expenses and treat me in a more 
 familiar way, but they wiU not listen to this. This 
 is, no doubt, the doing of the Duke, who is the 
 most generous of men. He holds a fine court 
 now, and lives in royal splendour, and governs the 
 State with great wisdom and humanity, to the 
 satisfaction of all his subjects." 
 
 It was not till the 25th of April that Isabella 
 finally took leave of the Duke and Duchess, who was 
 inconsolable at parting from her dearly-loved friend, 
 and wrote the following note within the next 
 twenty-four hours : — 
 
 " Your departure made me feel not only that 
 I had lost a dear sister, but that Ufe itself had 
 
DEATH OF GIOVANNI SANTI 111 
 
 gone from me. I know not how else to soften 
 my grief, except by writing every hour to you, and 
 telling you on paper all that my lips desire to say. 
 If I could express the sorrow I feel, I believe that 
 you would come back out of compassion for me. 
 And if I did not fear to vex you, I would follow 
 you myself. But since both these things are im- 
 possible, from the respect which I owe Your High- 
 ness, aU I can do is to beg you earnestly to 
 remember me sometimes, and to know that I bear 
 you always in my heart." 
 
 The tender-hearted Duchess experienced a fresh 
 sorrow that summer in the death of her favourite 
 painter, Giovanni Santi. He had never recovered 
 from the fever which he caught at Mantua in the 
 previous autumn, and died on the 1st of August. 
 " About twenty days ago," wrote Elisabetta to her 
 sister-in-law on the 19th, "our painter, Giovanni 
 dei Sancti, passed out of this life, being in full 
 possession of his senses, and in the most excellent 
 disposition of mind. May God pardon his soul ! " 
 On hearing of Santi's death, the Marquis Francesco 
 wrote at once to ask his sister to send him the 
 portraits on tondi which he began at Mantua, and, on 
 the 13th of October, Elisabetta replied : " In answer 
 to your letter, I must tell you that Giovanni dei 
 Sancti was unable, owing to his illness at Mantua, 
 to finish the portrait of Monsignore (Sigismondo 
 Gonzaga) ; and after his return here, his illness in- 
 creased so rapidly that he could not go on with 
 mine, but if Your Excellency will send me a 
 round of the same size as the others, I wiU have 
 my portrait painted by a good artist here, and 
 send it you as soon as possible. I am well, and 
 
112 THE MARQUIS^ AND HIS DAUGHTER 
 
 have good news of my illustrious consort, from 
 whom I hear constantly." And in a postscript she 
 adds : "I have made Giovanni's assistant search 
 everywhere, but he says that he can find nothing."^ 
 Meanwhile Isabella travelled northward through 
 Romagna to Bologna, where she was hospitably 
 entertained by Annibale Bentivoglio and her sister 
 Lucrezia ; and after paying a short visit to her 
 father and brother at Ferrara, reached Mantua 
 towards the middle of May. During her absence 
 from home she received daily accounts of her 
 httle daughter's well-being from Violante de' Preti, 
 and the Marquis himself gave her constant news 
 of the child, to whom he was tenderly attached. 
 " Yesterday we went into our little daughter's 
 room," he writes in one letter to Urbino, " and 
 were glad to see her so well and hvely. We had 
 her dressed before us, as you desired, in her white 
 damask robe, which suits her charmingly, and of 
 which she was very proud. This morning we have 
 been to see her again, but finding her asleep, would 
 not wake her." ^ Neither did Francesco fail to give 
 his wife private information of the important political 
 events which had been happening at Milan <and 
 Mantua in the last few weeks. In a long letter 
 to Bologna, intended for her eyes alone, he told 
 her that Monseigneur de Migni, as he called 
 D'Aubigny, and three other French ambassadors 
 had arrived at Mantua on the 22nd of April, with 
 eighty-five horsemen, to ask a free passage through 
 his dominion for the Most Christian King's troops 
 on the way to Naples. More than this, they had 
 
 1 Campori, Notisie di Giovanni Santi, Modena, 1870. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 75-77. 
 
CHARLES VIII. IN ITALY 113 
 
 secretly invited him to enter Charles the Eighth's 
 service, offering him the title of Captain-General 
 and Grand Chamberlain. These proposals, how- 
 ever, Francesco felt compelled to refuse, since he 
 was already pledged to the Signory of Venice. In 
 the same letter he informed Isabella that he had 
 sent an envoy to visit the Grand Turk's ambassador 
 at Venice, and had heard from him that the Sultan 
 would gladly give him the relic of the Holy Shirt, 
 worn by Our Lord Christ, as well as forty good 
 horses, for which he was about to send to Con- 
 stantinople.^ 
 
 In September, the French king entered Italy, 
 and was met at Asti by Lodovico Sforza and Duke 
 Ercole of Ferrara, and sumptuously entertained at 
 Vigevano by Duchess Beatrice. Isabella herself, 
 whose sympathies, like those of all her family, were 
 strongly on the side of France, went to Parma at 
 her brother-in-law's request to see the first French 
 cavalry pass through the town, and afterwards wrote 
 to her brother Ferrante, congratulating him on his 
 triumphal entry into Florence with the king, and 
 expressing her regret that she had not witnessed 
 this splendid sight. The presence of her sister-in- 
 law, Chiara Gonzaga, who came to Mantua in 
 December, while her husband, Gilbert, Duke of 
 Montpensier, was leading the French armies against 
 Naples, helped to enhst Isabella's sympathies on 
 the same side. But before long her feelings, in 
 common with those of all true Itahans, underwent 
 a complete revulsion. 
 
 The stirring events which succeeded each other 
 that autumn at Milan and Pavia — the death of the 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. p. 391. 
 VOL. I. H 
 
114 ISABELLA AT MILAN 
 
 unhappy Duke Giangaleazzo, and the election and 
 proclamation of Lodovico in his stead — were fuUy 
 reported to Isabella by the Mantuan agent, Donate 
 de' Preti. There had of late been some coolness 
 between Francesco Gonzaga and Lodovico, who, 
 not altogether without reason, suspected his brother- 
 in-law of being in secret correspondence with his 
 enemy. King Alfonso of Naples. But cordial 
 congratulations were addressed by the Marquis to 
 the new Duke and Duchess, and in January 1495, 
 he allowed his wife to accept her sister's pressing 
 invitation to visit Milan. Here Isabella was 
 present at the birth of Beatrice's second son, 
 Francesco Sforza, on the 4th of February, and held 
 the child at the baptismal font. A succession of 
 splendid fetes were given in her honour by Niccolo 
 da Correggio and other Milanese courtiers, and her 
 letters to Francesco and Giovanni Gonzaga dwell 
 with enthusiasm on the magnificent banquets and 
 pageants, and the wonders of painting and archi- 
 tecture that were displayed before her eyes in the 
 CasteUo and city of Milan. On the other hand, 
 her secretary, Capilupi, told his master how the 
 Marchesa herself had won golden opinions on all 
 sides. " I wish," he writes on the 28th of January, 
 " that Your Excellency could have been in a corner 
 of the room when my lady received the Venetian 
 Ambassador, which she did with so much grace and 
 gallantry, and with such alacrity in responding to 
 his salutation, that he confessed himself her willing 
 slave. In the same way she charms all who come to 
 visit her, but above all, the Lord Duke, who caUs 
 her his dear daughter, and always makes her dine at 
 his table. In short, she does the greatest honour 
 
CONQUEST OF NAPL£7S^t ^^g 
 
 both to Your Excellency and herself." And Isabella 
 herself wrote to her sister-in-law, Chiara Gonzaga, 
 that she was enjoying herseK immensely, and was 
 more honoured and feted by every one than she 
 deserved. At Lodovico's urgent entreaty, her 
 husband allowed her to spend the carnival at Milan, 
 although, as he wrote, "all Mantua complains of 
 your prolonged absence." ^ 
 
 But the news of the conquest of Naples by the 
 French threw a gloom over these gay f§tes. Car- 
 nival amusements lost their brilliancy for Isabella 
 when she thought of the desolation at Naples, and 
 heard how her cousin, the young King Ferrante, and 
 her mother's kinsfolk were driven into exile ; and 
 she was heartily glad when the time came to set 
 out on her journey home. Lodovico loaded her 
 with parting gifts, and two fat oxen, together with 
 several lengths of gold brocade, exquisitely em- 
 broidered with doves, were among the presents 
 which the Marchesa took back to Mantua. Beatrice 
 was strangely moved at parting from her sister, 
 but neither of the two dreamt they would never 
 meet again, and Isabella little knew the altered 
 circumstances under which she was to see the 
 Moro's splendid home when she next came to 
 Milan. 
 
 On the 14th of March, she reached Mantua, and 
 before a month was over the new League was pro- 
 claimed between the Pope, the King of the Romans, 
 the King and Queen of Spain, Henry VII. of 
 England, the Signory of Venice, and the Duke of 
 Milan. Francesco Gonzaga was appointed captain 
 of the armies of the League, and, with twenty-five 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 620. 
 
116 b.^iS'MO^^DO'S CARDINAL ATE 
 
 thousand men under his command, prepared to cut 
 off the retreat of the French king, who, on hearing 
 of the coaUtion against him, left Naples hastily and 
 marched northwards. On the Feast of St. George, 
 Isabella paid a visit to her father at Ferrara, and 
 while she was there, received an urgent summons 
 from her lord to lend him some of her finest jewels, 
 with which to adorn his person at the fetes about to 
 be held at Milan, to celebrate the arrival of the 
 Imperial Ambassador and the investiture of Lodo- 
 vico Sforza with the ducal crown. Already, a year 
 before, when the Marchesa was at Urbino, she had, 
 at Francesco's desire, pledged many of her jewels in 
 order to raise a sum of money with which to obtain 
 his brother Sigismondo's advancement to the dignity 
 of Cardinal. " One of the greatest wishes that I 
 have in the world," she wrote, " is to see Monsignore 
 a Cardinal, so I am much pleased to hear that this 
 affair is about to be arranged. I send Alberto da 
 Bologna with the keys of my jewel boxes, that he 
 may give you whatever you wish, since I would not 
 only give my treasure, but my blood, for your 
 honour and that of your house." Now, hke a good 
 wife, she sent her most precious ornaments — her big 
 diamonds and large rubies, and her coUar of a 
 hundred links — all but her golden girdle, which had 
 been lately seen on her person at Milan, and which 
 she had now lent one of her father's courtiers to 
 wear at a masque. AU her other jewels, as she 
 gently reminded the Marquis, were in pawn at 
 Venice.^ 
 
 On her return to Mantua she took up the 
 reins of government in her lord's absence, and ad- 
 
 ^ Luzio, Lusso d' Isabella, in N. Antologia, I896. 
 
ISABELLA GOVERNS MANTUA 117 
 
 ministered affairs with a prudence and sagacity 
 which excited the wonder of grey-headed councillors. 
 On the vigil of the Ascension, while a procession 
 was passing the house of Daniele Norsa, a Jewish 
 banker who had lately settled in the Via San 
 Simone, the attention of the crowd was attracted 
 by a group of images, inscribed with profane verses, 
 which some evU-disposed person had placed on a wall 
 formerly decorated with a fresco of the Madonna. 
 The cry of blasphemy was raised, stones were thrown 
 by the mob, and the house was only saved from 
 destruction by the prompt interference of a city 
 magistrate. The poor Jew, who had previously 
 obtained the Bishop's leave to remove the painting of 
 the Madonna and had paid all the fees required, now 
 wrote to implore the protection of the Marquis, and 
 Francesco sent peremptory orders that he was not 
 to be molested. But this small disturbance was so 
 grossly exaggerated that Isabella felt it necessary to 
 write to her lord on the subject, and assure him that 
 no serious tumult had taken place in his absence. 
 " The inventors of these mahcious tales," she wrote 
 on the 30th of June, "who have not scrupled to 
 disturb your peace of mind when you are occupied 
 with the defence of Italy, showed httle regard for 
 my honour, or for those of my councillors. Let 
 Your Highness, I beg of you, keep a tranquil mind, 
 and attend wholly to miUtary aflFairs, for I intend to 
 govern the State, with the help of these magnificent 
 gentlemen and officials, in such a manner that you 
 will suffei- no wrong, and all that is possible will be 
 done for the good of your subjects. And if any one 
 should write or tell you of disorders of which you 
 have not heard from me, you may be certain that it 
 
118 BATTLE OF FORNOVO 
 
 is a lie, because, since I not only give audience to 
 officials, but aUow aU your subjects to speak to me 
 whenever they choose, no disturbance can arise 
 "without my knowledge." Three days afterwards 
 the news of the first skirmish between the two 
 armies reached Mantua, and Isabella hastened to 
 congratulate her husband on his success : — 
 
 " Most illustrious Lord, — I did not write before 
 to-day, because I had nothing to say, but now that 
 I hear of your success against the enemy, I will not 
 delay one moment to congratulate Your Highness on 
 this good news, which has given me the greatest 
 pleasure, and I hope in God that you will gain 
 further victories. I thank you more than I can say 
 for your letter, and I beg of you to take care of 
 yourself, because I am always very anxious when I 
 remember you are in the camp, even although this 
 is where you have always wished to be. I com- 
 mend myself to Your Highness a thousand, thousand 
 times. — From her who loves and longs to see Your 
 Highness, Isabella, with her own hand." ^ Mantua, 
 July 2. 
 
 With this letter Isabella sent her husband a little 
 gold cross and Agnus Dei containing a fragment of 
 the wood of the Cross, begging him to wear it round 
 his neck in order that the virtue of this relic and his 
 own devotions to the Virgin might keep him safe in 
 the hour of danger. " All the clergy in Mantua," 
 she adds, " are praying for Your Excellency, moved 
 thereto by my anxious affection." On the 5th of July, 
 the eve of the battle, the Marquis sent a short note 
 thanking his dearest wife for her letter and the httle 
 cross, which he will cherish with singular devotion, 
 
 1 Luzio in Archivio Storico Italiano, 1890. 
 
FRANCESCO'S ACCOUNT 119 
 
 but saying that he is so busy he has time neither to 
 eat nor sleep. 
 
 On the 7th, he wrote again from the victorious 
 camp of the League in the valley of the Taro, telling 
 his wife of the battle which had been fought the day 
 before, and of the heavy loss he had sustained in the 
 death of his uncle Rodolfo, and his cousin Giovanni 
 Maria, whom he loved as his own self.^ 
 
 " Yesterday's battle, as you will have heard from 
 the herald, was very fiercely contested, and we lost 
 many of our men, amongst others, Signor Rodolfo 
 and Messer Giovanni Maria; but certainly many 
 more of the enemy were slain. And what we our- 
 selves did is known to aU, so that I need not speak 
 of it here, and will only tell you that we found 
 ourselves in a position of such peril that only God 
 could dehver us. The chief cause of the disorder 
 was the disobedience of the Stradiots, who gave 
 themselves up to plunder, and in the hour of danger 
 not one of them appeared. By the grace of God we 
 and this army have been saved, but many fled with- 
 out being pursued by any one, and most of the foot- 
 soldiers, so that few of these remain. These things 
 have caused me the greatest sorrow which I have 
 ever known, and if by iU chance our enemies had 
 turned upon us, we must have been utterly destroyed. 
 Some French nobles were made prisoners by our 
 company, amongst others the Comte de Pigliano 
 and Monsieur le Batard de Bourbon. The enemies 
 departed this morning, and are gone over the hiU 
 towards Borgo San Domino and Piacenza. We will 
 watch their course and see what we have to do. If 
 others had fought as we did, the victory would have 
 
 ^ Luzio, oj). cii. 
 
120 GALLANTRY OF FRANCESCO 
 
 been complete, and not a single Frenchman would 
 have escaped. Farewell." 
 
 A sense of bitter disappointment breathes in every 
 line of this letter which the Marquis addressed to his 
 wife. In spite of their heavy losses the French army 
 had succeeded in crossing the Taro that night, and 
 early the next morning continued their retreat across 
 the Lombard plains. But, as the royal camp and 
 baggage were abandoned, the advantage remained 
 with the allies, and, before long, Francesco persuaded 
 himself that he had won a glorious victory. Of his 
 personal prowess on this occasion there could be no 
 doubt. After three horses had been killed under him, 
 he fought on foot in the thick of the mllde till his 
 sword broke in his hands. " Since the days of 
 Hector of Troy," wrote the Marchesa's faithful 
 seneschal, Alessandro da Baesso, who himself risked 
 his life to save his master, " no one ever fought 
 as he did. I believe he killed ten men with his 
 own hand. And I think you must have said some 
 psalm for him, for indeed it is a miracle that 
 he is alive and unhurt." The French king nar- 
 rowly escaped being made prisoner, and was only 
 rescued by his chamberlain, the Bastard of Bourbon, 
 who rushed to his help. This prince, a son of Jean, 
 Due de Bourbon, was himself taken prisoner, and 
 sent to Mantua, where Isabella gave him lodgings 
 in the CasteUo, and treated him with the greatest 
 courtesy until he was exchanged two months later. 
 " Madama lets the French Count want for nothing," 
 wrote Capilupi to the Marquis, and when he was 
 released, he told the Marchesa that he could not 
 sufficiently thank her for aU the kindness which he 
 had received. This very kindness, Marino Sanuto 
 
REJOICINGS AT VENICE 121 
 
 tells us, was afterwards reckoned by the jealous 
 Signory of Venice as a sign of Francesco's dangerous 
 leanings towards France.^ 
 
 Among the spoils found in the king's tent were 
 his own sword and helmet, a silver casket containing 
 the seals of state, and a precious reliquary with the 
 wood of the true Cross and a limb of St. Denis, on 
 which he set especial store. Many of these were 
 courteously returned to Charles by the Marquis, but 
 he sent one magnificent set of hangings to Mantua, 
 together with a book containing the portraits of 
 Italian beauties which had been specially executed 
 for the king, and the shattered sword with which he 
 himself had fought on the battle-field. Isabella re- 
 ceived these trophies joyfully, and gave her husband's 
 sword to Monsignore Sigismondo, who told his brother 
 that it was as sacred in his eyes as the spear of 
 Longinus, since the blood with which it was stained 
 had been shed for the deliverance of Italy.^ 
 
 Great were the rejoicings at Venice, where Fran- 
 cesco was compared to Hannibal and Scipio, and the 
 Signory not only gave him the high-sounding title of 
 Captain-general of the armies of the Republic, but 
 increased his yearly salary by 2000 ducats and be- 
 stowed a pension of another 1000 ducats on his wife. 
 The money was very acceptable to Isabella, whose 
 funds were at a low ebb, and on the 29th of July she 
 wrote to Zorzo Brognolo, begging him to pay her 
 debts to the jeweller Pagano and spend the rest in 
 buying four pieces of the finest tab\ which he could 
 find in Venice. This precious Oriental fabric, which 
 the Itahan ladies of the Renaissance valued so highly, 
 
 1 Spedisione di Carlo, viii. p. 482. 
 
 2 Luzio in Emporium, vol. x. 366. 
 
122 TABI SILK 
 
 was a species of watered silk, manufactured in a 
 quarter of Damascus, which, Mr. Guy le Strange tells 
 us, originally took its name from a Governor of Mecca 
 called Attabiyeh. The word in its different forms of 
 attab\ and tah\ passed into the Enghsh, French, and 
 Spanish languages. Tahy silks are often mentioned 
 in Enghsh records of the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries. Queen Elizabeth appeared on state 
 occasions in a dress of silver and white taby, Pepys 
 wore a false taby waistcoat, and Fanny Burney 
 affected a gown of lilac taby. Probably few of us 
 are aware that the word tabby cat is derived from the 
 name of a man who was a companion of Mahommed, 
 and Governor of Mecca in the seventh century.^ 
 
 But while poets and sonnet- writers were extoUing 
 Francesco as the deliverer of Italy, Isabella herself 
 could not conceal her anxiety for her husband's 
 safety, and she wrote to him in the camp before 
 Novara, where he was besieging the Duke of Orleans, 
 begging him to be less reckless of his hfe. " It does 
 not please me that you should always run such 
 terrible risks, and I pray and entreat you to be very 
 careful and not to expose yourself to these dangers, 
 as I am sure you discharge your office best and most 
 efficiently by giving orders to others rather than by 
 fighting yourself." In the same letter she enclosed 
 the following little note, supposed to be written by 
 her two-year-old daughter Leonora to the Marquis, 
 and signed with the words, Filia obsequentiss : adhuc 
 lactans: "To my dearest and victorious father. 
 Most illustrious and excellent Prince, in my cradle 
 where I am now lying, and when I am sucking in 
 the arms of my most illustrious and sweetest mother, 
 
 1 "Baghdad during the Abassieh Caliphate," p. 138, 
 
FRANCESCO AND CHARLES VIII. 123 
 
 or wherever I may be, I hear continually songs and 
 praises of the great deeds and splendid victory of 
 Your Highness, in defeating and driving out the 
 French, and deUvering all Italy from their barbarous 
 hands. I also hear of the great glory and honours 
 which are justly paid you by all the powers of 
 Italy." 1 
 
 Francesco himself had Uttle time to spare, and in a 
 short letter of the 28th of August he tells his wife 
 that he is continually on horseback day and night, 
 and wonders that his strength holds out, but asks 
 her to send him some playing-cards, that he may 
 occasionally distract his thoughts with a game of 
 scartivx). Besides the task of directing mUitary 
 operations, he had great difficulty in keeping peace 
 between the Itahans and Germans, who were con- 
 tinually quarrelling, and in a sudden brawl which 
 he describes to Isabella, as many as one hundred and 
 twenty men were slain. 
 
 When at length Novara surrendered and a treaty 
 of peace was concluded between the Duke of Milan 
 and the French king, Francesco Gonzaga paid a visit 
 to Charles VIII. at Vercelh, and came away much 
 pleased with the courtesy shown him and the splendid 
 horses with which the king presented him. The 
 Mantuan singers who were sent to serenade His 
 Majesty told the Marchesa how eagerly the king 
 had questioned them about her appearance and the 
 gems she wore, and how anxious he was to make the 
 acquaintance of this brilliant and fascinating lady of 
 whom he had heard so much. This exchange of 
 courtesies between the French monarch and the 
 Marquis did not altogether please the Venetian 
 
 1 Luzio in ^rcA. St. It, 1890. 
 
124 MANTEGNA PAINTS 
 
 Signory, who were indignant with the Duke of Milan 
 for concluding a separate peace with France, and who 
 already looked with suspicion on his brother-in-law. 
 But once the French army had crossed the Alps 
 they were not sorry to disband their army, and on the 
 1st of November the Marquis made his triumphal 
 entry into Mantua, where he was joyfully welcomed 
 by his wife and both his sisters, Chiara of Mont- 
 pensier and Elisabetta of Urbino, who came to spend 
 Christmas with her family. Great were the rejoicings 
 in honour of the victor's return. Sperandio, that 
 aged artist who, after a long residence at the court of 
 the Estes, had lately returned to spend his last days 
 in his native city, designed a fine medal representing 
 Francesco on horseback at Fornovo, with the proud 
 inscription : Oh. Restitutam Italice Libertatevi} But 
 a grander and more imposing memorial of Francesco 
 Gonzaga's victory had already been planned by his 
 wife and brother. In the thick of the melee at 
 Fornovo, the Marquis had implored the Blessed 
 Virgin's help, and, after the battle, he resolved to com- 
 memorate his deliverance by some noble monument. 
 Then he remembered the poor Jew, Daniele Norsa, 
 whose house in the Via San Simone had been nearly 
 wrecked by the fanaticism of the mob at Ascension- 
 tide, and in a letter addressed to his brother Sigis- 
 mondo on the last day of July, he proposed that the 
 Jew should be made to restore the figure of Our 
 Lady which he had removed from the wall, in a 
 finer and more splendid form, as an act of reparation 
 to the glorious Mother. The idea was quickly taken 
 up by the Protonotary, who suggested that an altar- 
 piece of the Madonna should be painted by Andrea 
 
 1 Al"mand, Les Medailleurs italiens. 
 
THE MADONNA BELLA VITTORIA 125 
 
 Mantegna, and that the Marquis should be repre- 
 sented kneeUng in armour, with his brothers and his 
 illustrious lady at the Virgin's feet. The Marquis 
 highly approved of this proposal, and fixed the price 
 of Mantegna's painting at 110 ducats, which the Jew 
 was required to pay down, within three days. Isa- 
 bella's own portrait, however, was not eventually in- 
 troduced in the picture. Perhaps she had no wish to 
 sit to Mantegna again, and preferred that her patron, 
 St. EUzabeth, should appear in her stead. But if, 
 as seems most probable, in the venerable saint who 
 kneels opposite the figure of the Marquis, we see the 
 Beata Osanna, that revered nun whose prayers were 
 offered day and night for the success of Francesco's 
 arms, the suggestion may well have come from the Mar- 
 chesa.^ In the same way, the figures of the heavenly 
 warriors St. George and St. Michael, and of the patron 
 saints of Mantua, Andrew and Longinus, were 
 substituted for the Gonzaga brothers. A certain 
 Era Girolamo Redini, a friar of the Eremitani order 
 who was fond of meddling in political affairs, now 
 proposed that the Jew's house should be pulled down, 
 and that a church, dedicated to the Madonna della 
 Vittoria, should be erected in its place. This scheme 
 was finally adopted. The sum of 110 ducats was 
 paid by the Jew on the 25th of August, and part of 
 the money was handed over by the Protonotary to 
 Mantegna, who was promised the remainder when 
 the work was partly executed.^ 
 
 The architect Bernardo Ghisolfo, whose name 
 appears frequently in the Gonzaga archives, set to 
 work at once, and by the following June the new 
 
 1 Cf. "Life of Mantegna/' by Miss Cruttwell, p. 9S. 
 
 2 Luzio in Emporium, vol. x. 360. 
 
126 PROCESSION IN HONOUR 
 
 chapel was ready to receive Messer Andrea's altar- 
 piece. The painter on this part worked more rapidly 
 than usual, taking pleasure in his subject and incited 
 by the prospect of the large reward that was await- 
 ing him, and on the anniversary of the battle of 
 the Taro, the great Madonna was borne in triumph 
 from Mantegna's house near San Sebastiano to the 
 new shrine on the site of the Jew's house, at the 
 other end of the town. Francesco himself was 
 absent in the kingdom of Naples at the time, but 
 the Marchesa and Sigismondo resolved to make the 
 ceremony as imposing as possible, and their letters 
 to the Marquis show that their efforts were attended 
 with complete success. On the 10th of July, 
 Isabella wrote : " The figure of Our Lady, which 
 Andrea Mantegna has painted, was carried from 
 his house in procession last Wednesday, being the 
 6th of this month, to the new chapel of S. Maria 
 della Vittoria, in commemoration of last year's 
 battle and of your gallant deeds, and greater crowds 
 assembled than I have ever seen at any procession 
 in this town. My confessor, Fra Pietro, made 
 a fine oration at high mass, and spoke in a 
 manner appropriate to the occasion, begging the 
 glorious Virgin Mary to keep Your Excellency safe 
 and bring you home victorious. Owing to my 
 present condition, I could not walk on foot in the 
 procession, but I went to the Borgo to see it pass, 
 and returned to the Castello by the new chapel, 
 which is well adorned, and the road was thronged 
 with people." ^ 
 
 Sigismondo adds a few particulars of interest. 
 
 1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by Portioli, La Ckiesa e la Madonna 
 della Vittoria in Mantova, p. 21. 
 
OF THE MADONNA 127 
 
 He describes the youths dressed up as angels and 
 apostles who sang lauds on the tribunal erected for 
 the altar-piece outside Mantegna's house, where the 
 altar-piece was first placed, and dilates on the love 
 and enthusiasm which the preacher's references to the 
 Marquis evoked, as well as on the number of wax 
 hghts, torches and other votive offerings which had 
 been already brought to the new shrine. Another 
 correspondent, the chancellor Antimaco, describes the 
 painting as a most excellent work, and says that it was 
 truly amazing to see the eagerness of the crowds 
 which pressed round to see this noble picture, and 
 that, next to the Madonna's image, the portrait of 
 their absent lord excited the greatest interest.^ 
 
 The little shrine of Our Lady of Victory is 
 standing still in a deserted byway of Mantua, but 
 Messer Andrea's Madonna, as we all know, was 
 carried off a hundred years ago, by the French 
 conquerors, and hangs to-day in the Louvre among 
 the proudest possessions of the nation whose supposed 
 defeat it was intended to commemorate. 
 
 1 Braghirolli, Giom. di Erud. Art., i, 206. 
 
CHAPTKR VIII 
 
 1496—1497 
 
 Campaign of Naples — Ferrante recovers his kingdom — Francesco 
 Gonzaga commands the Venetian army — Isabella governs 
 Mantua — Her correspondence and friendship with Lorenzo 
 da Pavia — Birth of her second daughter — Illness of the 
 Marquis — His return to Mantua^ and visit to Venice — Death 
 of Ferrante of Naples^ of Gilbert de Montpensier, and Beatrice 
 d'Este — Francesco Gonzaga deprived of the office of captain- 
 general of the Venetian armies — Death of Anna Sforza. 
 
 Early in January, the Marquis of Mantua left home 
 again to take the command of a new Venetian army 
 which the Signory sent to assist Ferrante, the young 
 king of Naples, in recovering his dominions. After 
 the retreat of Charles VIII. this gallant prince had 
 crossed over from Ischia, and. entered Naples on the 
 day after the battle of Fornovo. The people wel- 
 comed him with shouts of joy and the nobles flocked 
 to his banner, and soon Montpensier, who had been 
 left at the head of the French troops, was compelled 
 to retire into the mountains of Calabria. There he 
 carried on a war of petty skirmishes and depredations 
 against the Venetian forces under the command of 
 his brother-in-law, Francesco Gonzaga. While their 
 husbands were fighting on opposite sides, Chiara 
 Gonzaga remained at Mantua with her sister-in-law, 
 to whom she was fondly attached, and whose com- 
 pany consoled Isabella in some measure for the 
 departure of EUsabetta, who returned to Urbino in 
 
LORENZO DA PAVIA 129 
 
 February. It was a dull year for the Marehesa, and, 
 with the exception of a short visit to Ferrara in 
 January, she was too much occupied with pubhc 
 affairs to leave home. But, as usual, she made good 
 use of her time. She returned to her classical 
 studies, appUed herself to master the rules of Latin 
 grammar, and consulted the great Ferrara humanist, 
 Ercole Strozzi, as to the choice of a new tutor. 
 Much of her leisure time was devoted to music. 
 She took lessons on the lute from a new master, 
 Angelo Testagrossa, a Milanese youth who sang like 
 a seraph, and played the lyre and clavichord. On 
 her last visit to Milan she had seen and greatly 
 admired an instrument which Lorenzo Gusnasco of 
 Pavia, the famous master of organs, had made for 
 her sister Beatrice. Now she was seized with an 
 ardent desire to possess a similar one, and on the 
 12th of March 1496, she addressed the following 
 letter to Lorenzo da Pavia, whom she had often 
 met at the court of Milan, but who had lately 
 moved to Venice for the greater convenience of his 
 trade : — 
 
 " M. Lorenzo da Pavia, most excellent master, — 
 We remember that you made a most beautiful 
 and perfect clavichord for that illustrious Madonna, 
 the Duchess of Milan, our sister, when we were last 
 at Pavia, and since we ourselves now wish to have an 
 instrument of the same kind, which cannot be sur- 
 passed, we are sure that there is no one in all Italy 
 who can satisfy our wish better than you can. We 
 therefore pray you to make us a clavichord of such 
 beauty and excellence as shall be worthy of your 
 high reputation and of the trust that we repose in 
 you. The only difference that we wish to see in this 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
130 ISABELLA'S ORDEKb 
 
 instrument is that it should be easier to play, because 
 our hand is so light that we cannot play well if we 
 have to press heavily on the notes. But you, I have 
 no doubt, will understand our wishes and require- 
 ments. For the rest, make the instrument exactly as 
 you choose. And the more quickly you can serve us 
 the better shall we be pleased, and we wiU take care 
 that you shall be well rewarded, and place ourselves 
 at your service." ^ 
 
 Lorenzo hastened to reply that he would gladly 
 serve the Marchesa, but that he feared some time 
 must elapse before he was able to execute her 
 commands, since he had unfortunately promised to 
 make *a viol for the Duchess of Milan and a clavi- 
 chord for one of her courtiers, Messer Antonio 
 Visconti. Isabella, however, was not to be so easily 
 put off, and on the 19th, she wrote to the Milanese 
 nobleman, begging him to allow Lorenzo to make 
 her instrument first. 
 
 " Most honoured friend, and dear to us as a 
 brother, — We have desired M. Lorenzo da Pavia, in 
 Venice, to make us a clavichord, but hear from him 
 that he cannot undertake this until he has finished 
 a viol for our honoured sister, the Duchess of Milan, 
 and a clavichord for Your Magnificence. But as 
 we are very anxious to have our new instrument, 
 we beg you to be as good as to yield us the next 
 place after the Duchess, which would give us the 
 greatest pleasure, and if you are willing, wiU 
 you kindly write to Messer Lorenzo, giving him 
 leave to make our clavichord first ? And we shall 
 be ever ready to consult the pleasure of Your Mag- 
 nificence." 
 
 1 Lorenzo Gusnasco, Dott. Carlo dell'Acqua, p. 20. 
 
A PERFECT INSTRUMENT 131 
 
 On the same day she wrote to Zorzo Brognolo as 
 follows : — 
 
 " You may tell M. Lorenzo da Pavia that we 
 have written to M. Antonio Viseonti in terms that 
 leave us no doubt but that he will allow us to have 
 our clavichord made first, and that he can set to 
 work at once, and if he can finish it in less than the 
 three months which he named, we shall be the better 
 pleased. But if this is impossible, we are content 
 to wait, as long as he makes a most excellent 
 instrument." ^ 
 
 But Lorenzo was too fine an artist to allow 
 himself to be hurried, and he sent back word by 
 Zorzo, a month later, that he had begun the instru- 
 ment, but could not possibly finish it before three 
 months. Once more Isabella retiirned to the charge, 
 and at the end of May desired Brognolo to go and 
 see how Lorenzo was getting on, and find out if her 
 instrument seemed to be a fine one, and how soon it 
 would be ready. In reply, Zorzo wrote that the clavi- 
 chord would be most beautiful, and would be finished 
 by August. But, as usual, the finishing touches took 
 longer than the master had expected, and it was not 
 tUl Christmas Day that Messer Lorenzo arrived at 
 Mantua, bringing with him the Marchesa's clavichord, 
 which, she wrote to Zorzo, was so perfect and beauti- 
 ful a thing, it could not please her better ! Lorenzo 
 was not allowed to return to Venice without promis- 
 ing to undertake another commission for the insatiable 
 Marchesa. This was a lute, which he proposed to 
 make of inlaid ebony and ivory, " because," he writes, 
 " these two materials go well together and are beau- 
 tiful companions." On the 3rd of February 1497, he 
 
 1 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb , xvii. 637. 
 
132 LORENZO'S FRIENDS 
 
 wrote that the lute would soon be finished, and 
 entered readily into Isabella's suggestion that a star 
 should be let into the woodwork of the instrument, 
 since this was a favourite device of the Marchesa, 
 and appears on the reverse of her medal. A few 
 months later the Marchesa wrote to ask about a 
 certain lute which the singer Serafino had seen in 
 Lorenzo's shop at Venice, and begged that the in- 
 strument which he was making should be strung in 
 such a manner as to suit her voice. 
 
 Lorenzo had, it appears, met with unexpected 
 difficulties in completing his task, but, as before, he 
 entered warmly into the Marchesa's idea, and took 
 infinite pains to meet her wishes. " I cannot," he 
 wrote, " find any ebony that is black enough and fine 
 enough to suit me, and am much disappointed, 
 because I hoped to make this lute the most beautiful 
 thing in Italy and the best, both from my great desire 
 to give you pleasure, and from my natural wish to 
 make an instrument of the highest excellence." 
 Accordingly he sent to Munich for the strings of 
 the lute, as he had heard of a German master who 
 supplied the best quality, and promised to pay 
 especial attention to the shape of the instrument, 
 " because beauty of form is everything," a sentiment 
 which must have found an echo in Isabella's heart, 
 Perche nella forma sta el tuto} 
 
 This, then, was the beginning of Isabella's corre- 
 spondence with this remarkable man, who was closely 
 connected with the most cultured members of the 
 Milanese court, and belonged to a small circle of 
 highly gifted men, which included the painter, 
 Leonardo da Vinci ; the sculptor, Cristoforo Romano ; 
 
 1 Aldo Manuzio, Lettres et documents ; A. Baschet. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH ISABELLA 133 
 
 the writer and collector, Sabba da Castiglione; and 
 the great printer, Aldo Manuzio. Lorenzo da Pavia 
 was intimate with all these distinguished men. He 
 shared their love of music and of painting, their enthu- 
 siasm for the antique, their passion for all that was 
 beautiful in art and letters. His fine taste and 
 critical eye commended him in an especial manner to 
 Isabella d'Este, who found in him a kindred spirit, 
 not easily satisfied either with his own work or with 
 that of others, and aiming at nothing short of 
 perfection. During the next twenty years she 
 corresponded with him constantly, and employed 
 him not only to manufacture those wonderful organs, 
 lutes, and viols, of ebony and ivory, which were as 
 perfect in shape as in sound, but to buy pictures and 
 antiques, amber rosaries and ivory crucifixes, enamels, 
 cameos and Murano glass, and Eastern stuffs, crystal 
 mirrors and inlaid cabinets, and all the rare and 
 lovely things with which she adorned her studio. 
 And in all the delicate and difficult negotiations 
 which he conducted on her behalf with Venetian 
 merchants and artists, with the painter, Giovanni 
 Bellini, or the printer, Aldo, she found Lorenzo's 
 knowledge and advice, his tact and patience, of the 
 greatest value. 
 
 Books and music, as usual, were the chief occu- 
 pations which filled Isabella's spare time. But she 
 had more Mvolous amusements as well. Her letters 
 abound with allusions to the tricks and jests of the 
 favourite dwarfs and clowns with whom she loved 
 to be surrounded. A whole suite of apartments, 
 with low rooms and passages suited to their size, was 
 built for the court dwarfs at Mantua during her life- 
 time, and may still be seen in a wing of the Castello. 
 
134 ISABELLA'S PET DWARFS 
 
 In March 1496, just when Isabella was corresponding 
 with Lorenzo da Pavia about the clavichord, she 
 wrote to beg her father to allow the French clown, 
 Galasso, and FriteUo, the wonderful dwarf who 
 danced and sang, and turned somersaults in the air, 
 to the delight of all the Este family, to come and 
 amuse her, saying that she was as cold as ice and 
 as dull as ditch water in her husband's absence! 
 Her only pleasure, she declared in another letter, was 
 to make Mattello dictate letters to the Marquis. 
 One day she nearly died of laughing at the sight 
 of Mattello imitating a tipsy man ; another time he 
 appeared in a friar's habit, and was announced as 
 the venerable Padre Bernardino Mattello.^ When 
 Alfonso d'Este was ill and sad, in 1498, after his 
 wife's death, the Marchesa sent Mattello to amuse 
 him, and her brother wrote in return that he could 
 not express the delight which the buffoon had 
 afforded him, and that he esteemed his presence a 
 greater boon than the gift of a fine castle. Great 
 was Isabella's dismay when soon after his return to 
 Mantua, this pet dwarf fell ill and died, to the grief 
 of the whole court. She visited him repeatedly 
 during his last illness, and told her husband the jokes 
 which the poor fool made on his death-bed. " Most 
 people," wrote Francesco in reply, " can be easily 
 replaced, but Nature will never produce another 
 Mattello." // primo matto nel mondo, " the foremost 
 fool in the world," as Isabella called him, was interred 
 in S. Francesco, the favourite burial-place of the 
 Gonzaga princes. Tebaldeo wrote his epitaph, and 
 Bonsignori painted his portrait, while the bard 
 Pistoia composed an elegy, in which he says : "If 
 
 1 Luzio, Buffoni, &c., in Nuova Antologia, 1891. 
 
DOGS AND CATS 135 
 
 Mattello is in Paradise, he is making all the saints 
 and angels laugh ; if he is in hell, Cerberus will 
 forget to bark." 
 
 The same wits and poets were caUed upon to write 
 Latin epigrams and sonnets on Isabella's pet animals, 
 on the Persian cat Martino or the Cagnolino Aura. 
 The novelist Bandello tells us how the Marchesa's 
 presence was heralded by the barking of her little 
 dogs, and on one occasion she desired Brognolo to 
 send to aU the convents in Venice for Syrian and 
 Thibet cats,^ in order that she might choose the 
 finest for herself. These pet animals were buried 
 with great solemnity in the terraced gardens of the 
 Castello opposite the Corte Vecchia, and cypresses 
 and tombstones inscribed with their names marked 
 their graves. All the ladies and gentlemen of Isa- 
 bella's household were present on these occasions, 
 and her favourite dogs and cats joined in the funeral 
 procession. And it was characteristic of the age that 
 every incident, from the birth of a prince or the fall 
 of an empire, to the death of a fool or pet dog, be- 
 came an occasion for producing Latin epitaphs and 
 sonnets and elegies in the vulgar tongue. 
 
 But more serious subjects now claimed Isabella's 
 attention. On the 6th of July, when Mantegna's 
 Madonna was borne through the streets of Mantua, 
 we have seen that the Marchesa's state of health did 
 not allow her to walk in the procession, and that she 
 witnessed the ceremony from Giovanni Gonzaga's 
 house in the Borgo. A week later she gave birth to 
 a second daughter. The babe was named Margherita 
 after Francesco's mother, but her sex was a cause of 
 bitter disappointment to Isabella, who looked with 
 
 1 Luzio in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, vol. xxxiii. 45. 
 
136 BIRTH OF A DAUGHTER 
 
 envy on her sister Beatrice's two fine boys. The Mar- 
 quis was more philosophical in this instance, especially 
 when he heard that the child was much prettier than 
 Mttle Leonora and strongly resembled him. He told 
 his wife not to look so coldly on the poor babe, since 
 no doubt God would send them sons all in good 
 time, and if ever a father had reason to be satisfied 
 with his daughters, it was he. His affection for 
 Leonora never changed, and nothing pleased him 
 better than to hear that his little daughter asked 
 after her father and sent him messages. " Madonna 
 Leonora," wrote a secretary to him in Calabria, 
 " commends herself to Your Highness, and would 
 like to have a fine new doll in a silk frock to play 
 with in bed, as her old one is quite worn out." And 
 often, on his hunting expeditions nearer home, he 
 would send her a hare which his dogs had caught, and 
 teU her to eat it for dinner I ^ But Francesco never 
 saw the babe whose birth he had been the first to 
 welcome, and poor Mttle Margherita died before her 
 father's return on the 23rd of September. 
 
 The war in Calabria, as Isabella had foreseen, 
 proved a tedious and difficult enterprise, and by the 
 end of the summer both parties were heartily sick 
 of the struggle. On the 29th of July, Montpensier 
 was forced to surrender the strong city of Atella 
 after a long blockade and feU dangerously ill of fever. 
 Francesco Gonzaga, ever courteous towards his foes, 
 sent his doctor to the French camp with presents 
 of fruit and game for his brother-in-law, but the 
 Venetian Signory, Marino Sanuto teUs us, did not 
 approve of their general's action, and were dissatisfied 
 with his conduct on other grounds. However, they 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 75, 87. 
 
THE CARDINAL'S HAT 137 
 
 declined to allow him to come home on leave, and 
 supported his appUcation when he asked the Pope to 
 make his brother a Cardinal. On his way to Naples, 
 Francesco had spent a few days in Rome, to pay his 
 respects to Alexander VI., who received him with 
 marked favour and presented him with the golden 
 rose. This had encouraged him to renew his old 
 suit on behalf of Sigismondo, and the better to press 
 his claim, he wrote in August to ask his wife to 
 raise seven thousand ducats on the spot, and if 
 necessary to pledge her jewels for this purpose. 
 Isabella, who had already pawned the greater part 
 of her jewels for the same object two years before, 
 and had lately been seeking her father's help to 
 enable her to redeem them, rephed in the following 
 letter : — 
 
 " I am of course always ready to obey Your 
 Excellency's commands, but perhaps you have for- 
 gotten that most of my jewels are at present in pawn 
 at Venice, not only those which you have given me, 
 but those which I brought when I came as a bride to 
 Mantua or have bought myself since my marriage. 
 I say this, not because I wish to make any difference 
 between yours and mine, but to show you that I 
 have parted from everything and have only four 
 jewels left in the house — the large balass ruby which 
 you gave me when my first child was born, my 
 favourite big diamond, and the last ones which you 
 gave me. If I pledge these, I shall be left entirely 
 without jewels and shall be obliged to wear black, 
 because to appear in coloured silks and brocades 
 without jewels would be ridiculous. Your Excellency 
 wiU understand that I only say this out of regard for 
 your honour and mine, and for this cause I pray and 
 
138 FRANCESCO'S ILLNESS 
 
 entreat you not to rob me of these few things, since 
 I would rather give you my camora embroidered 
 with gems than be left without jewels. On this 
 account I will not send away my jewels until I have 
 received Your Excellency's reply." ^ Mantua, August 
 27, 1496. 
 
 As before, however, the negotiations regarding 
 the Cardinal's hat proved fruitless, and Isabella was 
 allowed to keep her jewels. When she wrote this 
 letter her husband was seriously ill of fever at Fondi. 
 He had been carried there on a Utter, fearing to 
 remain at Naples on account of an old prophecy that 
 he should die in that city. Here he became so 
 dangerously ill that he sent for the Venetian senator 
 Paolo CapeUo and begged him in case of his death 
 to commend his wife and little daughter to the pro- 
 tection of the Signory — "a sure sign," remarks 
 Sanuto, "that he puts greater trust in Venice than 
 in his brother-in-law of Milan, or his father-in-law of 
 Ferrara." ^ Meanwhile Montpensier was stiU lying ill 
 at Pozzuoli, and an armistice had been signed between 
 France and Venice, so that there was nothing to 
 keep the Marquis in the South, and as soon as he 
 was fit to move, he started on the journey home. 
 A few days after her infant daughter's death, Isabella 
 set out to meet her husband, accompanied by the 
 Protonotary Sigismondo. Early in October, the 
 Duchess of Urbino came to meet her at Fano, and 
 on the following day Isabella joined Francesco at 
 Ancona, and brought him home by slow stages to 
 Ravenna, and thence up the Po by water to Ferrara 
 and afterwards to Mantua. 
 
 1 Luzio, II Lusso d' Isabella d'Este, in Nuova Antologia, 1896. 
 
 2 Diarii, i. 294. 
 
DEATH OF KING FERRANTE 139 
 
 The Marquis's first duty was to report himself 
 to the Doge and Signory, and as soon as his health 
 was sufficiently restored, he went to Venice on the 
 21st of November. Here a grand reception awaited 
 him. At Chioggia he was welcomed by the Senate 
 and representatives ; at Malamocco the Signory and 
 foreign Ambassadors came out to meet him in state. 
 The great doors of St. Mark were thrown open in 
 his honour, and after mass he was conducted up the 
 Canal Grande on the bucentaur to his own house at 
 San Trovaso. On the following day he appeared 
 before the Signory, to give an account of his pro- 
 ceedings, and in the evening he attended the wedding 
 of Zuan Soranzo's daughter to Giorgio Cornaro, 
 brother of the Queen of Cyprus. Marino Sanuto, 
 who saw the Marquis on this occasion, describes him 
 as wearing a Spanish suit and short black beard, as 
 he appears in Mantegna's altar-piece, and remarks 
 that his face bore evident traces of his recent sickness. 
 
 But the sad news from Naples threw a gloom 
 over these festivities both at Venice and Mantua. On 
 their journey home the travellers heard that the young 
 King Ferrante had died after a short iUness, brought 
 on by the hardships and fatigue which he had under- 
 gone in his victorious campaign against the French. 
 Both Francesco and Isabella were much attached to 
 their brave young cousin, who had fought so gallantly 
 to recover his father's dominions. Solemn funeral 
 services were held in his house at Mantua, and 
 the Carmelite Vicar-General, Fra Pietro da Novellara, 
 preached a Latin oration in his honour. When, a 
 year afterwards, the dead king's sister, the widowed 
 Duchess Isabella of Milan, wrote to ask Francesco 
 Gonzaga for a portrait of her brother which she 
 
140 OF BEATRICE D'ESTE 
 
 heard was in his possession, the Marehesa sent her 
 word that her lord could not part with the picture, 
 which was dear to him for the love which he bore 
 to Ferrante's memory, but would have it copied for 
 her by Francesco Bonsignori. 
 
 This sad event was soon followed by the death of 
 Gilbert de Montpensier, who breathed his last at 
 Pozztioli on the 11th of November, and Isabella was 
 called upon to console his widow, Chiara Gonzaga, 
 whUe at the same time she had to condole with 
 Antonia del Balzo, on the loss of her husband Gian- 
 francesco of Bozzolo. A still more tragic event 
 darkened the Christmas festival. This was the 
 sudden death of the Marchesa's own sister, Beatrice 
 d'Este, Duchess of Milan, and wife of Lodovico 
 Sforza. The poor young princess, who was only 
 twenty-one, gave birth to a stiU-born son on the night 
 of the 2nd of January in the CasteUo of Milan, and 
 died herself an hour afterwards. The sad news, which 
 Francesco had to break to his wife, came as a terrible 
 shock to Isabella, who had lately seen her sister in 
 the bloom of youth and fulness of prosperity. At 
 first she was overwhelmed with grief, and her hus- 
 band said that he had never seen his wife so utterly 
 broken down. " I know not," she wrote to her 
 father, " how I can ever find comfort." Fortunately 
 EUsabetta of Urbino had arrived at Mantua a week 
 before, and the companionship of this beloved sister- 
 in-law was Isabella's best consolation. When the 
 Duchess returned to Urbino at the end of April, 
 both Isabella and her husband accompanied her to 
 Ferrara and spent some weeks with her father and 
 brothers. That year the Feast of St. George was 
 shorn of its usual splendour. There were no races 
 
DISMISSAL OF FRANCESCO 141 
 
 and no banquets or comedies. The people shared 
 m their prince's sorrow, and Duke Ercole presented 
 the pallium which would have been the prize of the 
 races to the church of S. Francesco.^ 
 
 On the 24th of June, the Marquis went to Venice, 
 having received orders from the Signory to prepare 
 for war. But when he reached his house in San 
 Trovaso, Zovzo Brognolo met him with the unex- 
 pected announcement of his dismissal from the post 
 of captain-general. For some time past the Signory 
 had entertained grave suspicions of Francesco's fidelity, 
 and on the day before his arrival in Venice the 
 Council of Ten finally issued a decree by which he 
 was removed from office. At first the Marquis could 
 hardly beheve in the truth of Brognolo's announce- 
 ment. He rode along the Canal Grande, Marino 
 Sanuto teUs us, " with great arrogance," and meeting 
 the Procurator of the RepubUc in the church of San 
 Giorgio Maggiore, haughtily demanded an audience 
 from the Signory. " Every one," adds the chronicler, 
 " murmured at his audacity ; but although he was 
 dismissed from his post, he was suffered to remain in 
 the city, because he was a zentiluomo of Venice, and 
 had inherited the privilege of citizenship from his 
 ancestors. And from the age of twenty-eight he had 
 been captain-general, and being also related to the 
 King of Naples and the Dukes of Milan, Ferrara, 
 and Urbino, he enjoyed the best time of any lord in 
 Italy. He had held this office for the space of eight 
 years, one month, and twenty-four days, and now he 
 says that from being the first man in Italy he has 
 rmned himself, and this is no doubt true. But the 
 Signory wiU save his salary." ^ 
 
 1 Muratori, xxiv. 340. ^ Diarii, i. 667. 
 
142 FROM THE POST OF CAPTAIN 
 
 Meanwhile Isabella, unconscious of her husband's 
 disgrace, was spending Midsummer's day at Verona, 
 where, by Francesco's wish, she had accepted an 
 invitation from the Podesta to witness the jousts 
 in honour of San Giovanni's day. The Venetian 
 Signory were aware of her presence, and had sent 
 orders that the Marchesa was to be honourably 
 entertained, and was to receive 25 ducats a day for 
 her expenses as long as she remained in Verona. 
 After her prolonged period of mourning and seclusion, 
 the young princess appeared once more in public 
 with fresh brightness and charm, and rode along the 
 lists and greeted all her friends in the most gracious 
 manner. Not a word was breathed in her presence 
 as to the Marquis's disgrace, and it was only when 
 she reached Mantua and met her husband that she 
 heard the story from his own lips. Already the bad 
 news had reached Ferrara.^ Alfonso d'Este galloped 
 to Mantua to see his sister, and Isabella went back 
 with him to take counsel with her father, while the 
 disconsolate Marquis remained at his villa of Gon- 
 zaga, declaring loudly that his disgrace was due to 
 the Duke of Milan's intrigues and Galeazzo Sanse- 
 verino's jealousy. "I hear," wrote Sanuto, "that he 
 is very gloomy and goes clad in black, and wears an 
 iron ring on his collar, which he has vowed not to 
 lay aside until he has been on a pilgrimage to Loreto. 
 And there is sorrow throughout the Mantovano, and 
 the people, who had been happy and smiling before, 
 are now sad and out of heart." ^ It was then, in token 
 of his grief and remorse, that Francesco adopted the 
 device of gold faggots in a fiery crucible, with the 
 motto, Domine probasti me et cognovisti, which figures 
 
 1 Muratori, Diario Ferrarese, xxiv. 345. ^ Diarii, i. 697. 
 
OF THE VENETIAN ARMY 143 
 
 in the pavement of Isabella's Grotta and in the frieze 
 of her camerini, and still adorns one of the vaulted 
 ceilings in his favourite palace of San Sebastiano.^ 
 
 All through the summer the Marquis made re- 
 peated efforts to recover the Signory's good graces. 
 He offered to place his wife and child as hostages in 
 their hands, and even to surrender some of his for- 
 tresses. And when he reviewed his troops on the 
 Feast of the Assumption, he told them that they 
 were kept for the use of the Signory, and threw 
 them gold when they shouted Marco ! But the 
 Signory refused to see him or even accept a pre- 
 sent from him, and were persuaded that he was 
 secretly in league with the French king. There 
 seems no doubt that Francesco had lately held 
 secret communications with the French court, and 
 in November Lodovico Sforza addressed an indignant 
 remonstrance on the subject to Isabella, telling her 
 that he held proofs of her husband's dealings with the 
 French and the Florentines in his hands, and only 
 refrained from sending them to Venice out of love 
 and regard for her. Isabella was deeply distressed at 
 this breach between her husband and brother-in-law, 
 and did her best to effect a reconciliation between 
 them, but her position was a difficult one and her 
 path was by no means strewn with roses. To add to 
 her family sorrows in this year of misfortunes, her 
 brother Alfonso's wife, Anna Sforza, died on the 
 30th of November, after giving birth to a dead child, 
 who was buried with her in the same grave. Alfonso 
 was left a childless widower, and the sudden death ol 
 this gentle young princess was a fresh cause of grief 
 to Duke Ercole and his people. A fortnight later 
 another Este princess, the once brilliant and beautiful 
 
 1 Paolo Giovio, Imprese, p. 33. 
 
144 FRANCESCO^ MISTRESS 
 
 Beatrice, died in a fit of apoplexy at Milan, and 
 Isabella addressed heart-felt condolences to her aunt's 
 son, Niccolo da Correggio, remarking sadly that at 
 least his mother had died in the natural order, and 
 that her life had not been cut short by a cruel and 
 untimely end. 
 
 Certainly Isabella had her fuU share of anxieties 
 at this time. For, as she and aU the world knew, 
 her husband was consoling himself for his reverses in 
 the company of a mistress named Teodora, who bore 
 him two daughters, and shocked public feeling by 
 appearing in splendid attire at a tournament held at 
 Brescia in honour of the Queen of Cyprus. The 
 Marquis himself was present on this occasion with 
 his brother-in-law, the young Cardinal Ippolito, while 
 his rival, the Moro's son-in-law, Galeazzo Sanseverino, 
 appeared in the lists and was not sorry to cross swords 
 with him.^ 
 
 But Isabella held her peace like a wise woman, 
 and won general admiration by her patient and 
 dignified bearing. " You are blessed beyond most 
 men," wrote the Bologna humanist Floriano DoLfo 
 to the Marquis Francesco soon after his victory at 
 Fornovo, " in having a fair, wise, and noble wife, who 
 is altogether discreet and virtuous, and has shown 
 herself a true mother of concord, ever anxious to 
 gratify your wishes, while she prudently feigns neither 
 to see nor hear those actions of yours which must be 
 hateful and injurious to her." ^ This was plain speaking, 
 but the writer had been long intimately acquainted 
 with the Marquis and his wife, and the tribute of 
 praise which he paid Isabella was well deserved. 
 
 1 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, i. 697. 
 
 ^ Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 646, 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 14.98—1499 
 
 Intrigues of Francesco Gonzaga with Venice Jand Milan — Isabella 
 seeks to reconcile him with Lodovico Sforza — The Marquis 
 goes to Milan and is appointed captain-general of the League 
 — Visit of the Duke of Milan to Mantua — Correspondence of 
 Isabella with Lodovico — Conquest of Milan by the French, 
 and flight of the Duke — Louis XII. enters Milan — Isabella 
 pays court to the French — Receives the Milanese exiles — The 
 Moro's return and his final surrender at Novara. 
 
 It is a difficult task to unravel the tangled web of 
 Italian politics at the close of the fifteenth century 
 and to foUow the Marquis Francesco's course of 
 action during the two years that elapsed betweeh 
 his dismissal by the Signory of V^enice and the faU 
 of his brother-in-law, Lodovico Sforza. His tortuous 
 policy and frequent changes of front are fully dis- 
 cussed in a learned treatise by M, Louis Pelissier/ 
 while Dr. Luzio has recently brought several fresh 
 documents on the subject to light. ^ But one thing 
 seems clear. While Francesco and his brother 
 Giovanni were inchned to join with Venice, Isabella 
 d'Este's sympathies were wholly on the side of 
 Lodovico, until it became plain that his cause was 
 irrevocably ruined. Then, hke the true "cinque- 
 centist" that she was — to borrow M. Pelissier's 
 
 1 L. PeUssier, Louis XII. et L. Sforza ; Documents pour I'histoire 
 de la domination frangaise dans le Milanais. 
 
 2 Luzio, Arch. St. Lomh., 1901. 
 
 VOL. I. '*' K 
 
146 LODOVICO SFORZA 
 
 phrase — the Marchesa apphed all her energies to win 
 the French king's favour and make Louis XII. her 
 friend.^ 
 
 During the winter and spring of 1498, her con- 
 fidential agent, Capilupi, was repeatedly sent to Milan 
 to negotiate with the Duke, and when in April a 
 new league was formed between him and the 
 Emperor Maximilian, the command of the alUed 
 forces was offered to Francesco, with a yearly salary 
 of 30,000 ducats. The Marquis went to Milan, 
 where he was splendidly entertained, and agreed to all 
 Lodovico's proposals, but he was secretly dissatisfied 
 because the Duke would not give him the title of 
 captain-general of the Milanese army, which was 
 borne by his son-in-law Galeazzo, and sent word by 
 his brother Giovanni to the Signory that he would 
 greatly prefer to return to his old allegiance.^ 
 Isabella, however, strongly advised him to accept the 
 post, saying that the salary was the important thing, 
 although the refusal of the title might be vexatious. 
 Lodovico now announced his intention of coming to 
 Mantua himself, both to show the world the con- 
 fidence which he placed in the Marquis, and to 
 thank Isabella personally for her good ojffices. Great 
 preparations were made for his reception, and the 
 Marchesa borrowed plate and tapestries from Niccolo 
 da Correggio, consulted Capilupi as to the Duke's 
 favourite dishes and wines, and was greatly exercised 
 in mind as to whether she ought to wear black and 
 drape her rooms with sable hangings, since Lodovico 
 had never laid aside his mourning since the death of 
 Beatrice. And we learn, from the following letter to 
 
 1 Les Amies de Ludovic Sforsa (Revue hisiorique, 1891). 
 
 2 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, i. 1112. 
 
VISITS MANTUA 147 
 
 Capilupi, that she gave up her own rooms in the 
 CasteUo for the use of her guest. 
 
 " Benedetto : We intend to lodge the Duke here, 
 in our rooms in the CasteUo, giving him the Camera 
 dipinta, with the ante-chamber, the Camerino of the 
 Sun" — Lodovico Gonzaga's device — "the Camera 
 of the Cassone, our own Camerino and dining-room. 
 And we mean His Excellency to occupy the Camera 
 of the Cassone himself, which we will drape with 
 black and violet hangings, as, although we hear that 
 he still wears mourning, we think this wiU look 
 rather less melancholy, and show that here at least we 
 have good reason for rejoicing on this occasion. But 
 I hope you will consult M. Antonio di Costabili " — 
 the Ferrarese envoy — " and Messer Visconti as to the 
 hangings of the other rooms, if you do not think it 
 weU to mention this to the Duke himself, and let me 
 know their opinion, as it does not seem to me con- 
 venient that our rooms should be bare even if His 
 Excellency brings his own hangings. Please also let 
 me know what wines the Duke usually drinks, and 
 what kind of clothes I had better wear, as I said 
 before." ^ Mantua, June 8, 1498. 
 
 The Duke however begged the Marchesa to please 
 herself, and expressed himself highly gratified with 
 her thoughtfulness, and when he heard that Isabella 
 had a slight attack of fever, he sent his jester Barone 
 on beforehand to amuse her with his merry tricks. 
 On the 27th of June he arrived himself, bringing 
 Isabella's brother. Cardinal Ippolito, and several 
 foreign ambassadors in his train, and accompanied 
 by a suite of a thousand persons. He spent three 
 days at Mantua, visited the principal churches and 
 
 ^ Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomh., xvii. Q56. 
 
148 INTRIGUES WITH VENICE 
 
 palaces, and admired Mantegna's glorious frescoes, 
 and the treasures of art which Isabella had collected 
 in her studio. The Marquis gave a series of tourna- 
 ments and comedies in honour of his illustrious guest, 
 but the Venetians watched these proceedings jealously 
 and Sanuto remarked that the Marchesana was evi- 
 dently anxious to draw her husband to the Duke of 
 Milan's side, and, like her father Ercole of Ferrara, was 
 all against Venice. 
 
 Still Francesco wavered, and sent messages to the 
 Signory through his brother Giovanni, who was 
 known to be attached to Venice, and whose wife, 
 Laura Bentivoglio, paid frequent visits to the con- 
 vent of S. Giorgio. On the 20th of October, he 
 came to Venice and threw himself at the Doge's feet, 
 placing his services and those of his family at his 
 disposal. But, although the Signory was ready to 
 pay him the same salary as before, they would not 
 agree to give him the title of captain-general, and he 
 left Venice in disgust. The next day news came from 
 Milan that the Marchesa had concluded an agree- 
 ment with Lodovico, and that her little daughter 
 Leonora was to be affianced to her cousin, Maxi- 
 milian, the young Count of Pavia. "Every one 
 agreed," wrote Sanuto, " that the Marquis had treated 
 our Signory very scurvily, and the Pope is said to 
 have remarked that we are well rid of a great fool." 
 
 On this occasion Isabella certainly seems to have 
 urged her husband to come to terms with Lodovico, 
 and herself took an active part in the negotiations. 
 When, early in November, the Marchesino Stanga 
 and Gaspare San Severino came to Mantua and the 
 agreement with Francesco was finally concluded, they 
 visited Isabella in the Castello, and told the Duke 
 
ISABELLA AND LODOVICO 149 
 
 that she could hardly contain her joy at seeing them. 
 Lodovico himself wrote to express his thanks for her 
 assistance, saying that the Marchesino had told him 
 how dUigently she had laboured to bring about this 
 happy result. On the 1st of January 1499, the 
 imperial envoy, Erasmo Brasca, solemnly delivered 
 the baton and standard of the King of the Romans 
 to the Marquis, in front of the church of S. Pietro. 
 Isabella witnessed the investiture from a platform 
 erected on the Piazza, and afterwards entertained 
 the ambassador at a banquet in the Castello. The 
 banner was solemnly blessed in the Cathedral and 
 borne through the city in procession, after which the 
 Marquis rode out with the ambassador to sup at his 
 villa of Goito, But it was reported at Venice that 
 the children in the street cried Marco ! Marco ! at 
 the sight of the lion on the banner, upon which the 
 German envoy looked puzzled, and the Marquis only 
 smiled and kept silence.^ 
 
 All through this last year of his reign, when 
 Lodovico's enemies were busy plotting his de- 
 struction, Isabella was in constant communication 
 with her brother-in-law. He wrote regularly, giv- 
 ing her the latest political and court news, such, 
 for instance, as that of King Charles the Eighth's 
 sudden death in April 1498, and sent her baskets of 
 peaches and barrels of sweet wine, with charming 
 little notes caUing her his dearest sister and signing 
 himself " your most affectionate brother." And she in 
 return sent him the finest trout from Garda and swans 
 from the Mantuan lakes to sail in the moat of the 
 Castello, and thanked him cordially for his gracious 
 remembrance, while Evangelista, Francesco's famous 
 
 1 Sanuto, Diarii, ii. 256. 
 
150 ISABELLA'S PORTRAIT 
 
 stud groom, tamed the Duke's horses and sent them 
 back in three days' time, fit for His Excellency to 
 ride. 
 
 One of the last letters which Isabella addressed to 
 Lodovico was a request for his permission to present 
 Giangaleazzo's widow, her cousin Isabella of Aragon, 
 with her portrait in colours. The Marchesa had 
 always shown the greatest kindness to this unfortunate 
 princess in the days of her rivalry with Beatrice, and 
 still corresponded with her frequently. In 1498, she 
 sent her a fine marble bust from Mantegna's collection, 
 which the Duchess was anxious to possess, as it was 
 supposed to resemble her, and allowed Leonardo's 
 pupil Beltraffio to copy a portrait of her late brother 
 King Ferrante II., that belonged to the Marquis. 
 Now Isabella of Aragon expressed a great wish for 
 her cousin's own portrait, and the Marchesa had it 
 painted by a Parma master, Gianfrancesco Maineri, 
 and sent to Milan by her master of the horse, Negro, 
 but prudently asked the Duke's leave before she pre- 
 sented the picture to his nephew's widow.^ " I am 
 afraid," she wrote pleasantly, " I shall weary, not only 
 Your Highness, but all Italy with the sight of my por- 
 traits, but I could not refuse Duchess Isabella's urgent 
 entreaties. I send this one, which is not really very 
 good and makes me look fatter than I am, and have 
 desired Negro to show it to Your Highness, and if 
 you approve, give it to the Duchess from me." The 
 Duke replied courteously that he admired the portrait 
 
 1 Luzio, Emporium, 1900, p. 352. This portrait may possibly 
 be the same as that in Mrs. Alfred Morrison's collection, which 
 was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1894. Whether 
 it is the work of the Parma artist or of Beltraffio, who was at 
 Mantua at the time, the portrait bears a marked likeness to 
 Leonardo's drawing of Isabella. 
 
INTRIGUES WITH FRANCE 151 
 
 and thought it very good, even if it made his sister- 
 in-law fatter than she was when he saw her last. 
 Isabella, we know, was inclined to embonpoint, and 
 Uved in constant teiTor of growing stout, as she did 
 in her later years. When she was at Pavia with 
 Beatrice in 1492, she informed her husband with 
 great satisfaction that her sister the Duchess had not 
 grown any taUer than herself, but was distinctly stouter 
 and seemed inchned to resemble her mother in this 
 respect. And in after years we find frequent allu- 
 sions to this tendency in her letters. The portrait 
 was sent to Milan in March 1499, when Lodo vice's 
 affairs were already in a critical state. A few weeks 
 earlier, in February 1499, the treaty between Venice 
 and France was signed, and the destruction of 
 Lodovico and partition of his State was finally deter- 
 mined. Isabella was spending carnival at Ferrara, 
 where her father was giving a series of Latin 
 comedies in her honour. She wrote off without a 
 moment's delay to her husband, telling him that 
 news of a treaty between the Signory and King 
 Louis of France had just reached Ferrara, and was 
 of such great importance that she must send to him 
 at once. 
 
 This seems to have decided Francesco's course of 
 action. His salary was in arrears ; the old grievance 
 against the Moro and Galeazzo rankled in his heart, 
 although he nominally retained his command, and 
 in May he made secret overtures to Louis XII., 
 placing his sword at his service. The King replied 
 graciously, and soon afterwards sent him the Order 
 of St. Michael, at the same time recommending him 
 cordially to his Venetian allies. The prospect of an 
 alliance between the Pope and Louis XII. was still 
 
152 FRANCESCO MEETS LOUIS XII 
 
 more alarming. The Pope's son Csesar Borgia had 
 been received with great favour at the French court 
 and created Duke of Valentinois, and his marriage to 
 Charlotte d'Albret took place at Blois on the 16th of 
 May. Both Francesco Gonzaga and Duke Ercole 
 began to tremble for their own safety, and instead of 
 taking up arms for the Moro, felt that the time had 
 come to defend their own States. 
 
 Meanwhile Isabella watched the course of affairs 
 with growing anxiety. She was sincerely grieved at 
 the downfall of Lodovico, who had been her true and 
 loyal friend, and thought with concern of her sister's 
 helpless children, whom she saw driven into exile. 
 But she was none the less eager to conciliate the 
 victor and save her husband and his State from ruin. 
 She sent gifts of falcons and trout to Louis XII. 
 when he was at Milan, a couple of dogs to Count 
 Egmont, and a horse to the Mar^chal de Giers, and 
 invited Monseigneur de Ligny, who was a connec- 
 tion of her family, to visit Mantua. And when, in 
 November 1499, she heard that Cardinal d'Amboise 
 expressed a great wish to have a devotional picture by 
 Mantegna, whom he held to be the first painter in 
 the world, she promptly ordered Messer Andrea to 
 paint a St. John the Baptist with the portrait and 
 arms of the French prelate, and sent the picture to 
 the Cardinal, who declared that he valued it more 
 than a gift of 2000 ducats.^ Both Duke Ercole and 
 the Marquis of Mantua hastened to meet the French 
 king when he reached Pavia, and accompanied him 
 on his triumphal entry into Milan. Young Baldassarre 
 Castiglione, the future writer of the Cortigiano, who 
 
 1 Pelissier, Les Amies de Ludovic Sforsa (Revue kistorique, 
 1891). 
 
AT MILAN 153 
 
 was in attendance on his master Francesco Gonzaga, 
 wrote home to tell his friends at Mantua how the 
 Marquis and the king had attended mass at San Am- 
 brogio, and had afterwards been out hunting together, 
 and laid stress on the great friendliness and evident 
 conformity of tastes between His Most Christian 
 Majesty and the Marquis. " So I hope," he adds, not 
 without significance, " that all will go well now." ^ 
 
 Yet Isabella's heart must have ached when she 
 heard of the havoc which the French invaders had 
 wrought in the fair halls of the Castello ; of the 
 foulness and dirt, the confusion and disorder which 
 reigned in that once beautiful palace. She must have 
 thought with a pang of the gorgeous tapestries and 
 priceless gems, antique marbles and cameos, the 
 pictures by Leonardo and the instruments by Lorenzo 
 da Pavia, of the rare manuscripts which Lodovico 
 had collected at infinite pains and cost, and of poor 
 Beatrice's rich embroideries and jewelled camoras, 
 which were now the spoil of the treacherous subjects 
 who had betrayed their prince. But she hid her grief 
 from other eyes, and showed a smiling face to the 
 world. And, with characteristic alacrity, she wrote 
 on the 13th of December 1499 to Antonio Palla- 
 vicino, who had been one of the chief traitors, begging 
 him to let her have the wonderful clavichord which 
 Lorenzo da Pavia had made for Beatrice four years 
 before. Antonio wrote back from Lodi, that he 
 would gladly execute her errand on his return to Milan, 
 and inquire what had become of the precious instru- 
 ment. More than a year elapsed before he was able 
 to gratify the Marchesa's desire, but Isabella's perse- 
 verance eventually triumphed over all difficulties, and 
 
 1 Serassi, Lettere di B. Castiglione. 
 
154 MILANESE REFUGEES 
 
 on the 31st of July 1501, she wrote joyfully to tell her 
 friend Messer Lorenzo that the beautiful clavichord 
 which he had made for her sister, the Duchess of 
 blessed memory, had been given her by Messer 
 Galeazzo Pallavicino, the husband of her cousin, 
 Elisabetta Sforza. "And I felt," she adds, "that 
 I must let you know this, feeling sure you wiU be 
 glad to hear it was in my hands, being as it is your 
 work, and so excellent an instrument that it must 
 always be very dear to me." ^ 
 
 At the same time, she showed the real warmth 
 of her heart by the tenderness with which she treated 
 the unfortunate Milanese exiles who came to seek 
 refuge at Mantua. Many of these were kinsfolk of 
 the Sforzas, or high-born ladies whom she had known 
 intimately at the Moro's court. Among them, strange 
 to say, were Lodovico's two mistresses, the accom- 
 plished Cecilia Gallerani and Lucrezia Crivelli. Isa- 
 bella entertained Cecilia courteously, and afterwards 
 recommended her to the favour of the French king, 
 as a lady of rare gifts and charm, while Lucrezia and 
 her two little sons found an asylum in the Rocca of 
 Canneto, and lived there many years under the pro- 
 tection of the Gonzagas.^ Another distinguished 
 visitor who spent some weeks at Mantua that 
 winter was the Marchesa's unfortunate cousin, Isa- 
 bella of Aragon, whose only son had been carried off 
 to France by Louis XII., and who, with her two 
 young daughters, was now on her way to Bari. 
 
 The two Sanseverino brothers, Antonio Maria, 
 with his wife Margherita Pia — an intimate friend 
 of Isabella— and the brave Captain Fracassa, also 
 
 1 Lorenzo Gusnasco, Carlo dell'Acqua, p. 20. 
 
 2 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomh., 1901, p. 154. 
 
AT MANTUA 155 
 
 sought shelter at the Gonzagas' court ; and through 
 these refugees, who were in constant correspondence 
 with the exiled Duke at Innsbruck, Isabella heard 
 of the plots that were secretly made for his restora- 
 tion. And she heard from her friends Leonardo da 
 Vinci and Luca Pacioli, the great mathematician, 
 who visited Mantua on their way to Venice, how 
 cordially the people of MUan hated the French 
 invaders, and how confidently they looked for 
 Lodovico's return. When, in the first days of 
 February, the Moro crossed the Valtelline Alps 
 and entered Milan, amidst the acclamations of his 
 subjects, it was to Isabella that his first letter from 
 his old capital was addressed. He felt confident 
 of her sympathy in his triumph, as he had been in 
 his reverses, and he fondly imagined that he could 
 depend on the support of his brother-in-law. We 
 can imagine the breathless excitement, mingled with 
 anxious fears for those she loved best, with which 
 Isabella watched the course of events during those 
 thrilling days. Her own impulse was to throw 
 herself heart and soul into the Moro's cause, and 
 she wrote not only to her brother-in-law, but to 
 Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, saying that she longed to 
 fly to MUan, and fight against the French herself. 
 The Cardinal replied, not without meaning, that her 
 husband's presence would be more useful. But 
 Francesco was too cautious a man to commit him- 
 self to so desperate a venture. He returned evasive 
 answers to his brother-in-law's passionate entreaties 
 for help, and aU he did was to send his brother 
 Giovanni with a troop of horse to join Lodovico 
 before Novara.^ By this time the Moro's doom was 
 
 1 Prato, Cronaca Milanese; Arch. St. It, iii. 244. 
 
156 FINAL RUIN OF LODOVICO 
 
 already sealed, and when, on the 10th of April, he 
 was given up to the French general Trivulzio, it was 
 Giovanni Gonzaga who rode alone, as fast as his 
 horse could bear him, to bring the news to Mantua.* 
 Then Isabella knew that Lodovico's ruin was com- 
 plete and irrevocable. All her efforts were now 
 directed to conciliate the French victors, and to 
 recover the favour of King Louis, who complained 
 of Francesco's disloyalty to his ally in sending his 
 brother to fight against him, and in receiving the 
 Sforza partisans at Mantua. She herself was openly 
 denounced by the French circles at MUan as an 
 inveterate Sforzesca, and it needed all the influence 
 of her father and brothers to prevent an open 
 breach. By the exercise of her wonted tact and 
 diplomacy the Marchesa, however, succeeded in 
 averting the threatened rupture, and both she and 
 her husband eventually regained the good graces of 
 the French monarch. 
 
 1 Muratori, xxiv. 386. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 1497—1500 
 
 Isabella's literary and artistic interests — Foundation of the Studio 
 of the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia — Mantegna's paintings for 
 the Grotta — Cristoforo Romano comes to Mantua — Works for 
 the studio — His medal of Isabella — Correspondence with 
 Niccolo da Correggio — Leonardo da Vinci visits Mantua — 
 Draws Isabella's portrait — Shows it to Lorenzo da Pavia at 
 Venice — Isabella intends to raise a monument to Virgil — Her 
 letter to Jacopo d'Atri. 
 
 During these troubled years at the close of the 
 fifteenth century, when poUtical affairs occupied so 
 large a share of Isabella's time and thoughts, and 
 private sorrows and public calamities both fell heavily 
 upon her, she lost none of her interest in art and 
 letters. On the contrary, it was just in these anxious 
 days that she was most actively engaged in corre- 
 sponding with painters and scidptors, and in securing 
 works of art for her camerini. From the first day 
 that she came to Mantua the decoration of her rooms, 
 as we have already seen, had been one of her favourite 
 amusements, and she had employed her agents in 
 Venice and Milan and Ferrara to coUect those rare 
 and precious objects with which she loved to surround 
 herself. Before long she found the little studio of the 
 Castello was unable to contain aU her treasures, and 
 about the year 1496 she obtained her husband's leave 
 to remove some of her most valued possessions to 
 another suite of rooms on the ground floor of the 
 
 167 
 
158 THE STUDIO OF THE GROTTA 
 
 Corte Vecchia. Since the erection of the Castello 
 the halls in this part of the old palace, which had 
 formerly belonged to the Bonacolsi, had been partly 
 used as public offices, while others contained Fran- 
 cesco's fine collection of armour. But the ground 
 floor remained unoccupied and afforded Isabella an 
 excellent opportunity for carrying out her plans. 
 Here then, in a hall looking out on the Piazza del 
 Pallone, she now founded her famous Studio of the 
 Grotta. An inventory, taken three years after her 
 death, gives a full list of the paintings, statues, 
 bronzes, and medals which it contained,' while a 
 poem, written by RaffaeUe Toscana in 1586, supplies 
 some interesting details regarding the place itself. 
 Quel loco che'l mondo la Grotta appella. " Here," 
 sings the poet, "are hidden the rarest treasures of 
 Italy. Here is the suite of fine rooms which the mag- 
 nanimous Isabella d'Este built and richly adorned. 
 Two of these contain works of art which fill mortals 
 with joy and wonder. They are decorated with rich 
 gilding, with exquisite designs and intricate carving. 
 Here Mantegna and other masters display their 
 genius in sublime painting." The five pictures by 
 Mantegna, Costa, and Perugino were still in the 
 Grotta in 1627, and Duke Vincenzo refused to sell 
 them to Charles I. with the rest of the Mantuan 
 collection ; but they were bought by Cardinal Riche- 
 heu immediately after the sack of the town in 1630, 
 and are now in the Louvre. The beautiful fittings of 
 the rooms, the richly carved and gilded wood-work, 
 the delicate intarsiatura, and the majolica pavement 
 were destroyed by the Austrian soldiers, who occupied 
 the palace during 150 years, and only the outer court 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 134. 
 
■■: ., •• Kj-Bi 
 
 
 
 
 ■pp •^ iS^'iA.3 
 
 Imm -^^ 
 
 
 
 *-- 
 
 1 
 
 taafc ^kmif- ''am.;, 
 
 
 
 
 1^^^^\ ,^ : r^^' 4 
 
ITS DECORATIONS 159 
 
 and the room known as the Scalcheria or CaneeUeria 
 retain any of the original decorations. But frag- 
 ments of the pavement, of coloured Pesaro tiles, 
 bearing the Gonzaga devices, the crucible and faggots, 
 which Francesco adopted, the sun which decorated 
 his father's Camera del Sole, the dove bearing the 
 motto, Semper, the black eagles and golden lion 
 granted to his ancestors by the Emperor Sigismondo, 
 and many other favourite emblems, may still be seen 
 in pubKc and private galleries, at South Kensington 
 Museum, and Berlin, in the Andrd Rothschild collec- 
 tion.^ 
 
 According to Abbot BettineUi, who described the 
 palace of the Gonzagas in the eighteenth century, 
 the studio took its name from the outer court leading 
 to the gardens, which was decorated in the grottesca 
 style, with stuccoed vaults and niches, and marble 
 columns, and adorned with statues and bas-reliefs. 
 The inscription on the walls of the Cortile bears the 
 date of 1522, and shows that it was enlarged and im- 
 proved when, at her son's request, Isabella gave up her 
 old rooms in the Castello to inhabit the Corte Vecchia. 
 But the new studio already went by the name of the 
 Grotta at the close of the fifteenth century, and con- 
 tained the Marchesa's finest pictures and choicest 
 books, as well as an infinite number of other beautiful 
 objects which she had collected from aU parts of 
 Italy. In May 1498, she dates a letter to her hus- 
 band from the Grotta,^ and from that time we find 
 frequent allusions to this favourite spot in her 
 correspondence. 
 
 It was Isabella's dream to make this Grotta a 
 
 1 Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1895. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 654. 
 
160 ISABELLA'S ART TREASURES 
 
 place of retreat from the world, where she could 
 enjoy the pleasures of solitude or the company of a 
 few chosen friends, surrounded by beautiful paintings 
 and exquisite works of art. Here she would read 
 her favourite authors or sing Virgil and Petrarch's 
 verses to her lute. Here she would play the clavi- 
 chord with the Greek and Latin mottoes which had 
 once adorned Beatrice's camerino in the stately 
 CasteUo of Milan, and listen to the strains of Jacopo 
 de San Secondo's viol or the recitations of the won- 
 derful improvisatore Serafino. Here she would spend 
 delicious hours with Duchess Elisabetta and her 
 sister-in-law, Emilia Pia, and give herself up to the 
 joys of intimate converse with the best and closest of 
 friends. In this sanctuary, from which the cares and 
 noise of the outer world were banished, it was Isa- 
 bella's dream that the walls should be adorned with 
 paintings giving expression to her ideals of culture 
 and disposing the mind to pure and noble thoughts. 
 The subjects of these pictures were to be classic 
 myths with allegorical meanings, chosen by herself 
 with the help of some favourite humanist of her 
 circle, and painted by the foremost masters of the 
 day. 
 
 During the next seven or eight years Isabella 
 applied herself to attain this object with aU the 
 perseverance and tenacity of her character. No 
 stone was left unturned, no chance of enriching her 
 collection was ever thrown away. Again and again 
 in her letters she begged her chosen agents, Zorzo 
 Brognolo in Venice, Ziliolo or Capilupi at Ferrara, 
 to send her "some beautiful thing for the studio." 
 Greek and Roman antiques, marble heads and reliefs 
 newly discovered in ruins of the Eternal City or 
 
MANTEGNA'S PARNASSUS 161 
 
 among the temples of the Ionian Isles, reached Mantua 
 in response to her urgent request. She did not scruple 
 to ask Caesar Borgia, who drove out Duke Guidobaldo, 
 or the Pallavicini, who betrayed her brother-in-law, 
 to give her the spoUs of Milan and Urbino. The 
 greatest painters, the most distinguished sculptors 
 and goldsmiths of the day, Mantegna, BeUini, 
 Perugino, Costa, Michel Angelo, Cristoforo Romano, 
 Raphael himself, were aU in turn desired to contrib- 
 ute some picture or statue to the decoration of the 
 Grotta. Often she met with refusals, oftener still 
 with delays and disappointments, but still she perse- 
 vered with the unwearied ardour, the indomitable 
 passion of the true collector. First of aU she began 
 with Mantegna. Of all living masters, none shared 
 Isabella's enthusiasm for antiquity or was more truly 
 inspired with classic feeling than this old servant of 
 the Gonzagas. Since his return from Rome he had 
 been too busUy engaged on the Triumphs, and the 
 decoration of Francesco's villas at Marmirolo and 
 Gonzaga, to work for the Marchesa, and the one 
 portrait which he had painted, had failed to satisfy 
 her critical taste. But the task which she gave him 
 now appealed in a peculiar manner to his imagination, 
 and in the two magnificent tempera paintings which 
 he executed for the Marchesa's new studio, the aged 
 master rose to new heights of creative power and 
 romantic invention. In the one, Venus the Queen 
 of Love is throned on the green slopes of Parnassus 
 by the side of Mars, the God of War, and at the 
 foot of the sacred mount, Apollo and the Muses 
 celebrate her triumph in joyous songs and dances. 
 A drawing of the central figure in the lower group 
 by Mantegna's pen has been preserved at Munich, 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
162 THE DANCING MUSE 
 
 and in this INIuse, who leads the dance, we recognise 
 the fair face and radiant smile of the young Marchesa 
 herself, whom the painter has here introduced as the 
 presiding genius of the studio/ In the other picture, 
 Minerva is seen armed with spear and helmet rushing 
 out of a thicket and chasing the Vices of Ignorance, 
 Ingratitude, Sloth, and Lust from the green bowers 
 and cypress arbours of a sheltered garden. There 
 can be little doubt that the idea of this new series 
 of Triumphs, in which the victory of moral force and 
 of that supreme excellence which under the name of 
 virtib was so often on the lips of Isabella and her 
 contemporaries, originated with Mantegna., and that 
 the Marchesa afterwards adapted it with the help of 
 the humanist Paride Ceresara to the other pictures 
 of the cycle. ^ 
 
 The Parnassus or Triumph of Love, which is by 
 far the finest of the two paintings, was completed by 
 Andrea in the summer of 1497. The Marchesa, 
 in a letter written that spring, thanked her friend 
 Lorenzo da Pavia for some new varnish which he 
 had sent from Venice, and which was so excellent 
 that Messer Andrea would like to have twice as 
 much, and on the 3rd of July Alberto da Bologna 
 wrote to Isabella, who was absent at Ferrara: 
 "Nothing is now wanting to the studio of Your 
 Highness, and you will find Messer Andrea's picture 
 has been hung and its pedestal and frame gilded." ^ 
 The companion picture of the Triumph of Virtue 
 was probably finished by the end of the century, but 
 even before this Isabella was doing her utmost to 
 
 1 B. Berenson, " The Drawings of Mantegna/' p. 4. 
 
 2 Cf. Dr. Paul Kristeller, " A. Mantegna," pp. 348, 349. 
 8 Yriarte, Gazette d. B. AHs, 1895. 
 
PERUGINO 163 
 
 obtain works from other masters. When the Mar- 
 quis visited Venice on his return from Naples, Isabella 
 desired him to tell Giovanni Bellini how anxious she 
 was that he should paint a picture for her studio, 
 and on the 26th of November 1496, Alberto da 
 Bologna, who was in attendance on his master, wrote 
 to say that the painter had promised to satisfy her as 
 soon as possible. In the same letter, the faithful 
 servant, who may have felt it necessary to assure his 
 mistress of her husband's loyalty, adds : " Not a day 
 passes but His Excellency speaks of Your Highness 
 in the most affectionate terms. Your image is 
 graven on his heart, and he always speaks of you as of 
 a dear and sweet daughter." On the 3rd of April 1497, 
 Isabella asked Lorenzo da Pavia, with whom she was 
 in constant correspondence, if his friend the painter 
 Perugino were ahve or dead. A report of the 
 Austrian master's death had, it appears, reached her 
 ears, but if he were ahve and in Venice she begged 
 Lorenzo to ask him to paint a picture for her studio.^ 
 Perugino was alive, but had left Venice some months 
 before, and Lorenzo no doubt told Isabella how 
 full of work the painter was, and how long the Duke 
 of Milan and the Prior of the Certosa had waited 
 in vain for their altar-piece. But many more 
 years were to pass before either Giovanni Bellini 
 or Perugino could be prevailed upon to satisfy the 
 Marchesa's wishes. As she wrote to her friend 
 Ceresara : " We only wish that we could be as well 
 served by painters as we are by men of letters. But 
 we know that the wish is vain. We must be content 
 to take what they choose or are able to give us." ^ 
 
 1 Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
 2 Ibid., 1896. 
 
164 CmSTOFORO ROMANO 
 
 Meanwhile, the Marchesa had been fortunate in 
 securing the services of a master whose rare excel- 
 lence she had long admired — the sculptor Giovanni 
 Cristoforo Romano. This accomplished artist, who 
 was born in Rome about 1465, and sent to Milan by- 
 Cardinal Ascania Sforza, was employed on the works 
 of the Certosa of Pavia, and became one of Beatrice 
 d'Este's favourite singers. In this capacity he ac- 
 companied her on aU her journeys, " and was with 
 her," as Marchesino Stanga wrote, "now in one 
 place, now in another." From his boyhood Cristoforo 
 had devoted himself to the study of antique art in 
 Rome, and did his utmost to prevent the Eternal 
 City from being stripped of its precious marbles. 
 Sabba da Castighone tells us that he was as fine a 
 connoisseur as Mantegna, and in the Cortigiano he is 
 ranked with Michel Angelo among the foremost 
 sculptors of the age, and would have rivalled him in 
 greatness if he had not suiFered from constant ill- 
 health. Since Isabella had seen his charming 
 bust of Beatrice, on her first visit to Milan, she 
 had been very anxious to obtain a similar effigy of 
 herself, and had begged Lodovico to allow the 
 sculptor to come to Mantua. But although the 
 Duke and Duchess had readily granted her re- 
 quest, Cristoforo had excused himself from accept- 
 ing the Marchesa's invitation until he had finished 
 his work at the Certosa, and it was not tiU after 
 Beatrice's death that he consented to leave Milan. 
 In April 1497, Isabella again begged Lodovico to 
 allow Messer Zoan Cristoforo to come to Mantua, 
 as she wished for his advice on certain works, and 
 in September she wrote to Benedetto Tosabezzi, 
 her agent at Venice, enclosing a letter from "our 
 
DOOR IN THE GROTTA 165 
 
 sculptor and servant, M. Zoan Cristoforo Romano," 
 desiring the Venetian engineer, Antonio Riecio, to 
 send him certain Carrara marbles, with which she 
 wished him to adorn her studio.^ From this letter it 
 is plain that Cristoforo was already in her service, and 
 that he was about to design the beautiful doorway 
 which may stiU be seen in her apartment of the 
 Paradiso, on the upper floor of the Corte Vecchia. 
 Since these rooms were only built in 1520, when the 
 Marchesa gave up her old apartments in the Castello, 
 there can be little doubt that this white marble 
 portal, richly encrusted with porphyry and other 
 coloured stones, and adorned with classical bas-reliefs, 
 was originally destined for the Studio of the Grotta. 
 The subjects of these medallions agree exactly with 
 Mantegna's pictures and with the general scheme of 
 decoration. Minerva appears in one tondo, armed 
 with spear and olive ; in another, Apollo hangs up 
 his lyre on the trunk of a tree ; and on a third we 
 see the Muse of Poetry and Eloquence represented 
 with a book and cornucopia ; while the whole is 
 framed in a frieze of Greek vases, griffins, and doves, 
 and carved with exquisite deUcacy. 
 
 We recognise this gifted sculptor's hand in two 
 sepulchral monuments, bearing the date of 1498, in 
 the Gonzagas' favourite sanctuary of S. Maria deUa 
 Grazie, near Mantua, and Dr. Luzio has lately 
 discovered two sketches of the Marquis Francesco's 
 device of the crogiolo or crucible, which he designed 
 in the same year. We learn from a letter, which 
 Isabella sent to the sculptor in Rome in March 1506, 
 that soon after his arrival at Mantua he had carved 
 her bust in marble for her faithful servant, Ales- 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 51. 
 
166 PORTRAIT-MEDAL 
 
 sandrb da Baesso, and afterwards repeated the work 
 on a smaller scale, for her friend, the Marchesa di 
 Cotrone. Unfortunately both these busts have per- 
 ished. But one memorable work which Cristoforo 
 executed at this period has fortunately survived. 
 This is the famous portrait-medal of Isabella, with 
 a winged figure driving away a serpent on the re- 
 verse, and the sign of the Archer and her favourite 
 device of a star above. The latter group was prob- 
 ably intended as a symbolic representation of the 
 Marchesa's virtues and wisdom ; while the motto, 
 Benemerentium ergo, is an evident allusion to her 
 protection of art and letters. But the great value of 
 Cristoforo's medal consists in the authentic portrait 
 which it gives us of Isabella, as she was at the age 
 of twenty-four. The beautiful face with its regular 
 features is seen in profile, the waving locks are 
 loosely caught up in a knot at the back of the head, 
 and a single string of pearls adorns the bare throat. 
 And, in order to leave no room for doubt, the words 
 " Isabella Esten, March, Man.," are inscribed round 
 the head. Fortunately we possess documents which 
 fix the date of this medal with absolute certainty. 
 The one is a letter of September 1498, in which a 
 Ferrara poet, Giacomo FaeUa, tells the Marchesa 
 that his friend Tebaldeo, with whom he has been 
 spending the summer in the hills near Brescia, has 
 shown him the medal of Her Excellency, and that 
 the sight of her fair face has inspired him with a 
 sonnet.^ The other is a letter from Niccolo da 
 Correggio, regarding the Latin motto which the 
 Marchesa had desired him to choose for her medal.^ 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It, App. ii. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier, Giom. St. d. Lett., v., xxi., 243. 
 
NICCOLO'S MOTTO 167 
 
 After the death of the Duchess Beatrice this 
 brilliant cavalier left Milan to visit his old home at 
 Correggio, but feared to accept a pressing invitation 
 from Isabella to bring his daughter, Leonora, to see 
 her, lest he should bring the plague to Mantua. On 
 the 8th of June he wrote from the heart of Petrarch's 
 country : — 
 
 " To-morrow, my dear lady, I am going to dine at 
 Selvapiena, two miles from Rosena, where the most 
 celebrated Messer Francesco Petrarca composed 
 so many works. It is a pleasant spot, fit for such 
 exercises, and if you read the life which is printed 
 with his sonnets and triumphs, you will see it 
 mentioned. So I go there joyfully, in spite of the 
 long journey to Rosena, which is twenty-five miles 
 from Correggio and a very remote place. I shall 
 remain there some days and await the commands of 
 Your Excellency, whose slave I am for ever." 
 
 In July he came to Mantua, and falling ill soon 
 after his departure, wrote gallantly to his lady : " I 
 parted with Your Excellency and with my own 
 health at the same moment." The following May 
 found him again at Correggio, from which place he 
 wrote to tell Isabella that he hoped soon to be 
 allowed to visit the "retreat of the Grotta," to 
 which his secretary, the accomplished soldier and 
 poet who went by the name of "II prete di 
 Correggio," had been lately admitted. " If I am 
 allowed this favour I shall count myself honoured 
 indeed, and if you do not let me in, I must reluctantly 
 confess my inferiority and seek to learn of my 
 more fortunate servant." A few days afterwards, 
 Isabella wrote begging him to send her a suitable 
 motto for Cristoforo's medal. In reply, Niccolo 
 
168 NICCOLO'S LETTERS 
 
 suggested the Latin words, Benemerentium causa, 
 which, however, did not please her, as she had seen 
 this motto before and desired something entirely 
 new and original, upon which Niccolo replied, on the 
 18th of May :— 
 
 " It certainly would not do for a lady of so rare 
 a merit to adopt a motto which had ever been used 
 by another, although I must -own that I had never 
 seen it before. Nevertheless to please my sovereign 
 lady I will say Benemerentium ergo, which has the 
 same meaning as Benemerentium causa. This will 
 show you how blindly I obey Your Excellency ! I 
 send back your cavalier as quickly as possible, only 
 grieving that I cannot be with you myself for 
 another week, as I must go to Milan. — Your servant, 
 Niccolo da Coereggio. 
 
 " P.S. — I have thought of two more lines which 
 I wiU add, although they are of little worth. 
 
 Naturae oflScium 
 Gratitudinis studio." 
 
 Niccolo met the Marchesa again in the following 
 spring at Ferrara, where she entertained her father's 
 guests and presided at the carnival balls and fetes. 
 After the Moro's fall he fixed his residence once 
 more at Duke Ercole's court, where he was much 
 beloved by all the princes of Este and became a 
 devoted admirer of Alfonso's second wife, Lucrezia 
 Borgia. But he still owned allegiance to Isabella, 
 and sent her canzoni and capitoli on the pattern of 
 his favourite Petrarch's compositions. One sonnet of 
 his which especially pleased her was composed in 
 memory of a beautiful youth in Rome, who had 
 lately died in the arms of his mistress. Isabella on 
 her part sent him presents of fish from Garda, and 
 
TO ISABELLA 169 
 
 when, in 1506, his son Galeazzo naarried the fair and 
 accomplished Ginevra Rangoni she presented the 
 bride with a splendid clavichord. "Your Excel- 
 lency,'' wrote Niccolo from Correggio, " has sent a 
 most beautiful clavichord to my daughter-in-law, and 
 has very kindly ordered Domino Philippi to put it in 
 order. Besides the thanks which my daughter her- 
 self is sending you, I felt that I must thank you 
 personally for these favours, for which we cannot be 
 too grateful. As for the song which you ask me to 
 select from Petrarch, I have chosen one of those 
 which I like best, beginning: Si e dehole il file a cut 
 s'atiene, which seems to me well suited for your 
 purpose, containing verses which must be sung by 
 turn crescendo and diminuendo. With it I send 
 one of my own songs, composed in a similar metre, 
 which you can sing to the same tune as the Petrarca 
 canzone, and also a poem in imitation of Petrarch's 
 Chiare, dolce et fresche acque. Once more I com- 
 mend myself to your good graces, and am keeping 
 Domino Philippi till to-morrow." ^ 
 
 But Isabella was never satisfied, and a few months 
 later wrote in great distress because her favourite 
 maid of honour had lately died, and no one could 
 find the last capitoli and sonnets which Niccolo had 
 sent her. Fortunately Niccolo, who, as a rule, never 
 transcribed his verses, was able to supply another copy 
 of the poem beginning with the words : Non si e 
 ardito il cor, which the Marchesa especially wished 
 to read, and with his old gallantry wrote that, old as 
 he was growing, he was still young enough to dance 
 with her, and to ride at the ring, and break a lance, 
 for her sake, in the coming jousts. 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 244. 
 
170 SERAFINO'S POEMS 
 
 Many other poets and artists there were who, hke 
 Cristoforo Romano and Niccolo da Correggio, found 
 their way to Mantua or Ferrara, when Beatrice's tragic 
 death had, in Galmeta's words, turned that brilliant 
 court "from a joyous paradise into the blackest hell." 
 Calmeta himself, " Velegantisdmo Calmeta," as he was 
 called by his contemporaries, who had been her 
 sister's secretary, spent some time that summer at 
 Mantua and dedicated his commentary on Petrarch's 
 canzone, Mai non vo cantar, to the Marchesa, and 
 Serafino, the famous singer and actor, who was so great 
 a favourite with all the Este and Gonzaga princes, also 
 accepted Isabella's invitation. During the year which 
 he spent at Mantua, after Beatrice's death, the Duke 
 and Duchess of Urbino begged him in vain to come 
 and amuse them for a little while, and both Cardinal 
 d'Este and his brother Ferrante asked Isabella for 
 copies of his stramhotti and capitoli. The Marchesa, 
 however, was very jealous of these poems which 
 Serafino composed for her benefit, and when Bishop 
 Louis Gonzaga of Gazzuolo asked her for a certain 
 capitolo " On Sleep," which the poet had lately written, 
 begged him to keep it under lock and key and not 
 allow any one to see it, as she particularly wished 
 these charming verses not to become public property. 
 " This, however," she adds, " you will, I fear, find to 
 be a very difficult thing." ^ 
 
 But the greatest of all the Milanese artists who 
 came to Mantua after Lodovico Sforza's exile was 
 the Florentine master, Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella 
 had often met the distinguished artist who stood 
 so high in the Moro's favour, and had seen and 
 admired his masterpieces in painting and sculpture. 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 93. 
 
frJ^rriJie'r'ieLC' ^>4%u^eK/rt^, ^^n/ruzyj 
 
 
LEONARDO'S PORTRAIT 171 
 
 A year after Beatrice's death, on the 26th of April 
 1498, she sent to beg Ceciha Gallerani, Lodo- 
 vico's former mistress, to lend her the portrait 
 which Leonardo had painted some years before, in 
 order that she might compare it with some fine 
 portraits by Giovanni Bellini which she had just 
 seen. Cecilia hastened to gratify the Marchesa's 
 wish, and sent back Leonardo's picture by Isabella's 
 messenger, saying that she only wished it were a 
 better likeness ; not that this was the master's fault, 
 for there was no painter in the world who could equal 
 him, but because, when he painted it, she was of 
 "youthfiil and imperfect age."^ Leonardo himself 
 seems to have paid a flying visit to Mantua in the 
 following December, for in a letter from his villa 
 of Goito, the Marquis desires his treasurer to pay 
 Leonardo the Florentine eleven ducats for certain 
 strings of lute and viol which he had brought 
 from Milan, and begs him to do this at once, in 
 order that the master may be able to continue his 
 journey.^ But we know that he and his friend 
 Luca Pacioh, who dedicated his " Book of Games " 
 to the Marchesa, visited Mantua on their way to 
 Venice at the close of 1499. It was on this occa- 
 sion that Leonardo drew the beautiful portrait of 
 Isabella, in red chalk, which is now in the Louvre. 
 The late M. Yriarte was the first to recognise 
 Isabella's features in this drawing of the VaUardi 
 collection, and although Dr. Luzio has lately ex- 
 pressed doubt on the subject, there seems little 
 reason to question the fact. Leonardo has drawn 
 the brilliant Marchesa's portrait in his own fashion — 
 
 1 " Beatrice d'Este," pp. 53, 54. 
 
 2 Luzio, Emporium, 1900, p. 352. 
 
172 LORENZO DA PAVIA 
 
 wearing a simple striped bodice, with the waves of 
 rippling hair falling low on her bare neck, without 
 ornament or jewel of any description. But the fine 
 and dehcate features are the same as those in the 
 medal which Cristoforo designed two years before; 
 the eyes have the same bright and keen expression, 
 and the whole face is radiant with life and intellect. 
 Time has dealt hardly with Isabella's portraits, and 
 of all those countless pictures which were scattered 
 over Italy, this of Leonardo's is the only one which 
 brings her before us in the bloom of youth and 
 beauty. As it happens, we have a testimony to 
 the truth of Leonardo's portrait from no less an 
 authority than the great connoisseur Lorenzo da 
 Pavia. For the Florentine master went on from 
 Mantua to Venice, there to await the issue of Duke 
 Lodovico's descent on Milan, and to watch with 
 anxious eyes the result of that forlorn hope, on 
 which his whole future was staked. There he met 
 his old friend, the wise man of Pavia, and as they 
 talked together of their great patron and the old 
 life at Milan, the painter brought out his drawing 
 of the Marchesa and showed it to her loyal servant. 
 And on the 13th of March 1500, while they were 
 rejoicing over the wonderful news from Milan, 
 Messer Lorenzo wrote to the Marchesa about a 
 lute which he was sending to Mantua. 
 
 "Most illustrious Lady, — I send you by this 
 courier an excellent lute of walnut wood, made in 
 the Spanish fashion, which seems to me to have the 
 finest tone that I ever heard. I have been ill, 
 and as yet unable to finish the black and white 
 lute, which I will do, like this one, in the Spanish 
 style. Leonardo Vinci is in Venice, and has shown 
 
ADMIRES LEONARDO'S DRAWING 173 
 
 me a portrait of Your Highness, which is exactly 
 Uke you, and is so well done that it is not pos- 
 sible for it to be better." ^ 
 
 Leonardo, it appears, took a copy of his car- 
 toon to Venice, and left the other at Mantua, for, 
 a year afterwards, the Marchesa sent a message 
 to him in Florence, begging him to send her a 
 replica of his drawing, since the Marquis had given 
 away the copy which she had kept. But he never 
 painted her portrait in colours, as he had promised 
 on that brief and memorable visit, and not all 
 Isabella's eiForts and entreaties were able to ob- 
 tain a picture by his hand for her studio. 
 
 In this J same year, when Leonardo came to 
 Mantua, Isabella was intent on a new scheme, the 
 erection of a statue to Virgil in the square in front 
 of the CasteUo. Early in the century, Carlo Mala- 
 testa, acting as regent for his nephew, the young 
 Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, had, in a fit of misguided 
 piety, thrown a statue of Virgil which adorned the 
 Piazza di S. Pietro into the Mincio, saying that the 
 people of Mantua paid the Roman poet a homage 
 only due to a saint. The Marquis Lodovico, who 
 had learnt from his great teacher, Vittorino da Feltre, 
 how to reverence Virgil, had been very anxious to 
 restore this statue, but had never been able to carry 
 out his pious intention. Now the discovery of an 
 antique bust which Battista Fiera, a learned Mantuan 
 physician, pronounced to be the true effigy of Virgil, 
 fired Isabella with ambition to raise a monument to 
 the Mantuan poet. She naturally proposed to entrust 
 the work to the artist of aU others best fitted for the 
 task, Andrea Mantegna. A letter which her hus- 
 
 1 A. Baschet, Aide Manuce. 
 
174 MONUMENT TO VIRGIL 
 
 band's secretary, Jacopo d'Atri, wrote to her from 
 Naples, shows the enthusiasm which her intention 
 excited among classical scholars. 
 
 " Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, — Your 
 Excellency has doubtless heard of the great merits 
 and talents of Pontanus,^ of whom we may truly say 
 that not only in our own time, but since the days of 
 Virgil, there has never been a man of greater learning 
 or more real merit. Yesterday, after having a long 
 conversation with him in the name of your illustrious 
 lord, I remembered Your Highness's desire to raise 
 a statue to Virgil, and thought I would consult him 
 on the subject and hear his advice. I told him 
 I did this by your order, and explained the object 
 which animated Your Highness and inspired your 
 magnanimous soul with the wish to caiTy out this 
 idea. As soon as Pontanus heard this, he called two 
 learned gentlemen and said to them : ' If Paolo 
 Vergerio, who wrote De Educando Liberis, were 
 present, the pleasure that he would have in recog- 
 nising the generous soul of this illustrious Madonna 
 would exceed the sadness which he felt on hearing 
 that Carlo Malatesta had thrown the statue of Virgil 
 into the river.' Then, laying stress on these words, he 
 added : ' Only consider, gentlemen, the magnanimity 
 of this lady of tender years and without classical 
 learning, who determines to revive the fame of this 
 great man, and to render honour and glory to 
 Mantua, where the same lord. Carlo, a man of ex- 
 
 1 Pontanus, to whom he here alludes, was not only an elegant 
 Latin poet, whose verses were afterwards published by Aldus, 
 but held high office under King Alfonso^ of Naples and his son 
 Ferrante, and enjoyed [the confidence of the reigning monarch, 
 Federico. 
 
ADVICE OF PONTANUS 175 
 
 perience and learning, outraged the poet's memory 
 and the fame of that noble city. Here, indeed, is a 
 royal lady, worthy of all praise and commendation, 
 and had I heard of this before, I would certainly have 
 given her a place in my book De Magnanimitate.' 
 We then proceeded to discuss the question whether 
 the poet's statue should be made of bronze or marble, 
 and agreed that although bronze is certainly the 
 nobler material, yet, since there is always a risk that 
 it may be melted down to make guns or bells, we 
 should prefer a fine marble statue, placed on a noble 
 pedestal in some honourable place. The work should 
 be given to some good sculptor, who would take the 
 poet's portrait from nature, for I had just told Pon- 
 tanus of the effigy lately discovered by Messer 
 Battista deUa Fiera. And in order not to depart 
 from the antique style, the statue should stand by 
 itself, with a laurel crown on the head, and the 
 drapery, either an antique toga caught upon the 
 shoulder or a senator's robe, such as Messer Andrea 
 Mantegna may think best. The hands should hold 
 nothing, and the statue should be perfectly plain, with- 
 out a book or anjrthing else, but with antique sandals 
 on the feet, and the attitude would be such as Messer 
 Andrea shaU decide. At the base there should only 
 be a few words, such as — Puhlius Virgilius Mantuanus, 
 and also — Isabella Marchionissa Mantuce restituit — as 
 may please Your Excellency. These gentlemen 
 agreed that Pontanus must consider what would be 
 the best words to be engraved on the base, and he 
 agreed to do this wiUingly. What I did will, I 
 hope, be agreeable to Your Excellency, since it was 
 prompted by true affection, and by one who desires 
 your glory and feels that this will bring you immortal 
 
176 DESIGN ASCRIBED TO MANTEGNA 
 
 fame. — Your slave and servant, Jacopo d'Atri."^ 
 Naples, 17th March 1499. 
 
 A drawing, now in the His de la Salle collection 
 in the Louvre, of a statue of Virgil, covered with 
 laurel and holding the ^neid, in the style, although 
 not by the hand, of Mantegna, was probably executed 
 by Isabella's order, but her project was never carried 
 out, and Mantua was left without a monument of her 
 greatest son. The only memorial erected in Isabella's 
 lifetime was the fine terra-cotta bust of Virgil, which, 
 in 1511, the doctor Battista Fiera placed on an arch 
 in front of the church of S. Francesco, together with 
 a bust of the Marquis, and of the Carmelite poet 
 Battista SpagnuoU. The arch was destroyed by the 
 Austrians in 1852, but the three busts are stUl 
 preserved in the Museum of Mantua. 
 
 1 A. Baschet, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1866, 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 1500—1502 
 
 Birth of Isabella's son Federico — Caesar Borgia his godfather — 
 Relations of the Gonzagas with him — Elisabetta of Urbino 
 goes to Rome — Letters of Sigismondo Cantelmo — Comedies at 
 Ferrara and Mantua — Treaty of Granada and partition of 
 Naples — Caesar Borgia conquers Romagna — Abdication and 
 exile of Federico, King of Naples — Betrothal of Alfonso d'Este 
 to Lucrezia Borgia — Preparations for the marriage in Rome — 
 II Prete's letters to Isabella — Wedding of Lucrezia and her 
 journey to Ferrara. 
 
 The year 1500, which saw the final ruin of Lodovico 
 Sforza and the rise of Caesar Borgia, was a memor- 
 able one for Isabella d'Este, both in her public 
 and private life. On the 17th of May, within a 
 month of the catastrophe of Novara, she gave birth, 
 in the CasteUo of Mantua, to the long-wished- 
 for son and heir. Some time before, Suor Osanna 
 foretold this event, and bade the Marchesa be of 
 good cheer, since her prayers were heard and she 
 would soon bear a son.^ Now the joyful news 
 was hailed with acclamation, not only throughout 
 Mantuan territory, but at Ferrara and Urbino. The 
 sumptuous cradle which Duke Ercole had sent for 
 his first grandchild's birth, and which Isabella had 
 refused to let her daughters use, was at length 
 brought out; and the happy mother borrowed Spanish 
 leather hangings and tapestries from Ferrara for the 
 
 1 Donesmondi, Storia Eccles. di Mantova. 
 VOL. L "' M 
 
178 BIRTH OF FEDERICO 
 
 decoration of her iiifant son's nurseries at his chris- 
 tening. This ceremony took place on the 16th of 
 July, but was not marked by any public rejoicings. 
 As Isabella wrote to her sister-in-law, " the troubled 
 state of Italy has deprived him of a more honourable 
 baptism." ^ The choice of the godfathers was signifi- 
 cant. The first was the Emperor Maximilian, whose 
 friendship the Marquis was anxious to secure without 
 breaking with Louis XII., and who was himself 
 rejoicing over the birth of his grandson, the future 
 Emperor Charles V. Little did Isabella know how 
 great an influence the babe, who first saw the 
 light at Ghent, on that auspicious Feast of St. 
 Matthias, was destined to wield over the fate 
 of Italy and the fortunes of her new-born son. 
 The second of Federico's sponsors was Cardinal 
 Sanseverino, the warlike prelate, who, like all his 
 brothers, had been a devoted partisan of the Sforzas, 
 and had entered Milan at the head of the Moro's 
 followers. None the less, he had, a few months 
 before, succeeded in making his peace with France, 
 through the friendship of Cardinal d'Amboise, and 
 soon afterwards returned to Milan. The third august 
 personage whom the Marquis chose to hold his son 
 at the font was Caesar Borgia. The Pope's son, as 
 young Castiglione wrote home, was the tallest and most 
 splendid-looking man among all the princes and nobles 
 who escorted Louis XII. on his entry into MUan. 
 Now he was rapidly becoming the most prominent 
 figure in Italian politics. His energy of wiU and 
 powers of mind were as great as his strength of 
 body ; his ambition was as boundless as his courage. 
 His influence over the Pope was absolute. He was 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 106. 
 
CiESAR BORGIA HIS SPONSOR 179 
 
 already master of Rome and aspired to reign over all 
 Italy. The Pope's son, wrote the Ferrarese envoy, 
 Pandolfo CoUenuceio, " has a great soul and seeks 
 fame and grandeur, but cares more to conquer States 
 than to govern and defend them. He is fierce in his 
 revenge and never forgives a wrong, so I hear on aU 
 sides." The truth of this report was confirmed by the 
 Pope himself, who remarked, in conversation with 
 another Ferrara agent, Costabili : " The Duke is a 
 good-natured man, but he cannot forgive an insult. 
 The other day I told him that Rome was a free city, 
 where every one had a right to say what he pleased. 
 ' That may be all very well for Rome,' replied 
 Csesar, ' but I will teach people to be sorry for what 
 they say.' " ^ 
 
 From the first, Francesco Gonzaga and his wife 
 realised the growing power of Duke Valentino, as he 
 was popularly called in Italy, and lost no opportunity 
 of conciliating this dangerous personage. A few days 
 after his son's birth, the Marquis wrote to ask him to 
 stand sponsor to the little Federico, an honour which 
 Cgesar accepted with alacrity, as we learn from a note 
 written on the 24th of May : — 
 
 " I heard of the fortunate and much-desired birth 
 of Your Excellency's little son with exultation as 
 great as if it had been my own, and gladly accept 
 the honour you propose to do me, begging that you 
 will depute one of your councillors to represent me 
 at the font and will give my congratulations to your 
 most illustrious consort, hoping this babe may be the 
 first of a numerous race of sons destined to perpetuate 
 the name of two such noble and glorious parents." ^ 
 
 1 Pastor, "History of the Popes/' vi. 113. 
 
 2 F. Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," p. 66. 
 
180 ELISABETTA GONZAGA 
 
 But enough was known of Caesar Borgia's designs 
 at Mantua to excite the worst fears, and the 
 suspicion which the Marquis Francesco entertained 
 of his new ally is evident from a letter which he 
 addressed to Elisabetta of Urbino, in March 1500, 
 begging his sister to abandon her intended visit to 
 Rome. 
 
 Already in the summer of 1499, the Duchess had 
 invited Isabella to accompany her on a pilgrimage 
 to Rome in this year of Jubilee, but the critical 
 state of public affairs in Lombardy and the approach- 
 ing birth of her child compelled the Marchesa re- 
 luctantly to decline the proposal. As the time of 
 Elisabetta's journey drew near, the Marquis became 
 seriously alarmed for his sister's safety, and urged 
 her by their mutual love to consider the present 
 state of things and the risks to which she would be 
 exposed. If she is in need of change, let her come 
 to Mantua and give his wife the pleasure of her 
 company. " The year is long," he adds, " and later 
 on we will all three go to Rome and visit the holy 
 places together in a more convenient season." But 
 when this letter reached the Duchess, she was already 
 on her way to the Colonnas at Marino, and wrote 
 to the Marquis from Assisi, full of concern at the 
 objections which he raised to her plans. 
 
 " Most illustrious Prince and dearest Brother, — 
 A few days ago I left Urbino on my way to Rome 
 to keep the Jubilee, as I told you some time ago, 
 and this morning reached Assisi, where I received 
 your letter begging me to give up my journey. 
 This has caused me the greatest possible grief and 
 vexation. On the one hand, my sole desire is now, 
 as it has ever been, to comply with your wishes, and 
 
VISITS ROME 181 
 
 pay you the obedience due to a father. On the other, 
 as you see, I have already started and am beyond 
 the borders of the State, and Signor Fabrizio Colonna 
 and Madonna Agnesina, my honoured sister-in-law, 
 have engaged a house and made aU the necessary 
 arrangements for me. And since I have promised to 
 be at Marino in four days, and Signor Fabrizio is on 
 his way to meet me, I do not see how I can give up 
 the journey with honour to my lord and myself, more 
 especially since everything has been considered and 
 arranged beforehand by my good lord. Neither will 
 Your Excellency have any fear for my safety when 
 you hear that I go to Marino first, and on with 
 Madonna Agnesina incognito to Rome, there to visit 
 the churches chosen for this Holy Jubilee, without 
 making myself known or speaking to any one. In 
 Rome, we shall be lodged in the house of Cardinal 
 SaveUi, which is conveniently situated in the midst 
 of the Colonna quarter, but I intend to return to 
 Marino as soon as possible and spend most of my 
 time there. So Your Highness need have no 
 doubts or fears for my safety, although I confess 
 that, if I had not already started, I would have 
 given up my intention, not from any fear of danger 
 or disturbance, but in order to satisfy Your Excel- 
 lency. But since I have already got as far as this 
 on my journey, I am sure this letter will satisfy 
 you, and I beg and pray you to write to me in Rome 
 so that I may know that you are satisfied and may 
 keep the Jubilee with greater content and peace of 
 mind. Otherwise I shall be in continual distress and 
 anxiety. I commend myself heartily to your good 
 graces, and remain your younger sister, Elisabetta." ^ 
 1 F. Gregorovius, op. cit., p. 134. 
 
182 DEATH OF EMILIA PIA'S HUSBAND 
 
 The next day Elisabetta continued her journey, 
 and after spending Holy Week in Rome and visiting 
 St. Peter's and the Tombs of the Apostles, in strictest 
 incognito, she returned with her sister-in-law to the 
 Colonnas' castle of Marino in the Alban hills, and 
 enjoyed the company of Madonna Agnesina and her 
 seven-year-old daughter, the Uttle Vittoria, who was 
 already betrothed to the young Marquis of Pescara. 
 A fresh sorrow awaited her at Urbino in the death of 
 her husband's half-brother, Antonio, a valiant soldier 
 who had fought at Fornovo with Francesco, and 
 whose wife, Emilia Pia, was her devoted friend and 
 companion. The Duchess's tender heart was full of 
 sympathy for the heart-broken widow, and she wrote 
 to Isabella saying that both she and the Duke were 
 doing their best to comfort poor Madonna Emilia, 
 whose grief was enough to move the stones to pity. 
 Isabella herself wrote in the most affectionate terms 
 to Emilia Pia, begging her to take comfort, " since 
 this is a journey on which we all must go," and telling 
 her that, as she had proved herself the best of wives 
 in the past, it was now her duty to try and conform 
 herself to the divine will, in order that her prayers for 
 her husband's soul might be the more acceptable in 
 the sight of God.^ Before long Emilia dried her tears 
 and recovered her old gaiety, but in spite of her 
 charms and popularity, she never consented to marry 
 again, and remained faithful to the memory of her 
 lamented husband. 
 
 Early in the following year Isabella visited Fer- 
 rara and spent some time at her father's court, where 
 several Latin comedies were acted, including the 
 "Mercadanti," the "Asinaria," and the "Eunucho." 
 
 1 Luzio e RSnier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 1 07. 
 
COMEDIES AT FERRARA 183 
 
 " These plays," she remarks in a letter to Mantua, "are 
 certainly fuU of vain words, and are not without doubt- 
 ful passages to which some persons might take ob- 
 jection. AU the same, they are very amusing, and 
 excite much laughter, chiefly owing to the frequent 
 changes of voice and excellent performance of these 
 actors." At her urgent entreaty the Duke agreed to 
 return with her to Mantua, where the Marquis made 
 great preparations for some dramatic representations 
 to be given in his honour. But, at the last moment, 
 the arrival of papal envoys with important proposals 
 from the Borgias detained Ercole at Ferrara, and the 
 carnival fetes at Mantua took place without him. 
 One of his favourite courtiers, however, Sigismondo 
 Cantelmo, the husband of Isabella's intimate friend, 
 Margherita MarosceUo, accompanied the Marchesa 
 home, and sent the Duke full accounts of the per- 
 formances in the magnificent theatre prepared for the 
 occasion in the Castello. His elaborate descriptions 
 of this building and allusions to the Triumphs of 
 Mantegna, with which the stage was decorated, lend 
 especial interest to the following letter : — 
 
 "Most excellent Prince, my dear Lord,— The 
 arrangements made by this illustrious Lord Marquis 
 have been most splendid, and deserve to be studied 
 by aU who wish to erect appropriate theatres for the 
 performance of ancient and modern plays. I do not 
 doubt that Your Excellency has already heard of the 
 representations which have been given. None the 
 less, I should fail in my duty if I did not write to tell 
 you what, indeed, requires a better scribe than I am — 
 all the magnificence, grandeur, and excellence of the 
 said representations, the beauty of which I will try 
 to describe as briefly as possible. The stage itself 
 
184 THEATRE AT MANTUA 
 
 is quadrangular in form, but somewhat extended in 
 length. Each side has eight arcades, with columns 
 well proportioned to the size and height of the arches. 
 The base and capitals of each pillar are richly painted 
 with the finest colours and adorned with foliage, and 
 the arches, with their reliefs of flowers, offer an admir- 
 able perspective, each being about four braccia wide 
 and proportionately high, the whole representing 
 an ancient and eternal temple of rare beauty. The 
 back of the stage was hung with cloth of gold 
 and foliage, as required for the recitations, and the 
 sides were adorned by six paintings of the Triumphs 
 of Caesar by the famous Mantegna. On the two 
 other and smaller sides of the stage there were 
 similar arcades, but only six in number. Two sides 
 of the stage were given up to the actors and reciters ; 
 on the two others were steps occupied on the one 
 hand by women, on the other by strangers, trumpeters, 
 and musicians. At one angle were four very lofty 
 columns with rounded bases, and between them a 
 grotto designed with great art, but in the most 
 natural manner. The roof overhead blazed with 
 hundreds of lights like shining stars, with an artificial 
 circle, showing the signs of the zodiac, and in the 
 centre, the sun and moon moving in their accus- 
 tomed orbits. Within the recess was a Wheel of 
 Fortune inscribed with the words. Regno, regnam, 
 regnabo, and in the midst, the golden goddess, 
 seated on her throne, bearing a sceptre adorned with 
 a dolphin. The lowest tier of the stage was hung 
 with the Triumphs of Petrarch, also painted by 
 Mantegna, and large golden candelabra hung fi-om 
 the centre of the roof, each holding three double 
 rows of torches and a shield with the arms of His 
 
DESCRIBED BY CANTELMO 185 
 
 Caesarean Majesty, the black eagle with the royal and 
 imperial diadem. At the sides of the stage were two 
 large banners with the arms of His Holiness the Pope 
 and the Emperor, and smaller ensigns with those 
 of the Most Christian King and illustrious Signory 
 of Venice. Between the arches were banners with 
 the arms of Your Excellency and of the German 
 prince Dvike Albert of Bavaria, and the devices of 
 this Signor Marchese and the Signora Marchesana. 
 Higher up on the walls were busts and statues of 
 gold, silver, and other metals, which added greatly 
 to the decorative effect of the whole. Last of all 
 the roof was hung with sky-blue cloth to imitate 
 the blue vault of heaven, studded over with the 
 constellations of our hemisphere. 
 
 "The recitations were exceedingly fine and en- 
 joyable. On Friday 'Philonico' was given, on 
 Saturday ' II Penulo ' of Plautus, on Sunday the 
 'Ippolita' of Seneca, on Monday the 'Adelphi' 
 of Terence. AU of these were admirably recited by 
 skilled actors, and received the greatest applause 
 from the spectators. As Monsignore Louis d'Ars, 
 the son of the illustrious M. de Ligny, is now here, 
 and had not seen the first play, I hear the ' Philonico ' 
 will probably be given again. If I have forgotten 
 anything, I hope soon to supply the omission by 
 word of mouth, when I see Your Excellency, to 
 whose good graces I C9mmend myself — Your 
 Excellency's servant and slave, Sigismondo Can- 
 TELMO." ^ From Mantua, Feb. 13, 1501. 
 
 This minute description, obscure as it is in some 
 places, at least enables us to form some idea of the 
 
 1 Campori, Latere artistiche, 1866, and D'Ancona, Ori^ni del 
 Teatro, vol. ii. 
 
186 BIRTH OF LI VI A 
 
 construction of the new theatre and of its splendid 
 and elaborate decorations, while the presence of the 
 French visitors, whom the Gonzagas were especially- 
 anxious to conciliate, showed that the event was not 
 without political significance. 
 
 That autumn Isabella gave birth to a third 
 daughter, who received the name of Livia, but 
 died at the age of six. Neither this child nor 
 Leonora, who was already seven years old, appears 
 to have interested her mother much, and she seldom 
 mentions their names in her letters. She was, how- 
 ever, careful to give them an excellent education, 
 and first Sigismondo Golfo, then Francesco Vigilio, 
 taught Leonora Latin and grammar. The Marchesa 
 chose these teachers herself, and would allow no 
 carelessness or irregularity. On one occasion, when 
 Golfo absented himself for some weeks, she sent 
 him an order to return at once, if he did not wish 
 to lose his situation. But all her fondest hopes 
 centred round her little son, Federico. She watched 
 the growth of this precious infant with the ten- 
 derest affection, and when the Marquis was absent 
 from Mantua sent him daUy reports of his little 
 son. " I am quite well," she writes on the 3rd of 
 July 1501, "and so is our beautiful boy, who is 
 always asking for his Pa." Again, on the 7th of 
 August, the proud mother writes : " To-day our 
 little boy began to w^lk, and took four steps 
 without any help ; although, of course, he was care- 
 fully watched, much to our delight and his own. 
 His steps were a little uncertain, and he looked 
 rather like a tipsy man I When I asked him after- 
 wards if he had any message to send his father, he 
 
CONQUEST OF ROMAGNA 187 
 
 said, ' Ti Pa / ' so I must commend him to you as 
 well as myself."^ 
 
 Meanwhile political events of grave importance 
 were taking place in other parts of Italy. The 
 Pope's daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, after the dis- 
 solution of her first marriage with Giovanni Sforza, 
 the widower of -Maddalena Gonzaga, became the 
 wife of Alfonso, Duke of Bisceglia, an illegitimate 
 son of IsabeEa's uncle, the late King Alfonso of 
 Naples, and nephew of the reigning king, Federico. 
 The union proved a happy one, but the unfortunate 
 prince was so foolish as to quarrel with Cassar 
 Borgia, and in July 1500 he was attacked by five 
 masked assassins as he left the Pope's rooms, and 
 seriously wounded. " Every one here," wrote Cal- 
 meta from Rome to Elisabetta Gonzaga, " knows 
 that this is Duke Valentino's doing." A few weeks 
 later the wounded man was strangled in his bed in 
 the Vatican by Caesar's guards before the eyes of his 
 wife. "The Pope," wrote the Mantuan envoy, 
 Cattaneo, "is very much displeased at this event, 
 both on account of the King of Naples, and for 
 the sake of his daughter, who is in despair." ^ 
 
 Immediately after this deed, which excited 
 general horror, Caesar Borgia set out to conquer 
 Romagna at the head of an army of 7000 men. 
 First Pesaro, then Rimini, surrendered without a 
 blow, and Giovanni Sforza fled to Mantua, and 
 sought refuge in his first wife's home. Francesco 
 received his brother-in-law kindly, but told him 
 plainly that he could do nothing against Borgia. In 
 spite, however, of Isabella's professions of friendship 
 
 1 Luzio, Precettori, &c., p. 37. 
 
 2 Pastor, " History of the Popes," vi. 613. 
 
188 BY CiESAR BORGIA 
 
 for her son's sponsor, she could not conceal her 
 admiration for the gallant little town of Faenza, 
 which remained loyal to its prince, Astorre Manfredi, 
 and alone among the cities of Romagna offered a 
 determined resistance to the conqueror. On the 
 20th of April 1501 she wrote to her husband: "I 
 rejoice to hear that the citizens of Faenza are so 
 loyal and constant in their lord's defence, and feel 
 that they have redeemed the honour of Italy. 
 May God give them grace to persevere ; not that 
 I wish Duke Valentino any iU, but because neither 
 this poor Signor nor his faithful subjects deserve 
 such ruin. I thank Your Excellency for giving me 
 news of the first battle, of which Messer Carlo da 
 Sesso also informs you in the enclosed letter, which 
 I opened in your absence."^ But five days after 
 this Faenza was forced to surrender, and the brave 
 young Manfredi was taken captive to Rome, and 
 strangled in Castell' Sant' Angelo by Caesar's orders. 
 At the same time Isabella had to lament the ruin 
 of her mother's family and the downfall of the last 
 king of the house of Aragon. Federico's doom was 
 already sealed. In November 1500 a secret treaty 
 was concluded between Louis XII. of France and 
 Ferdinand the Catholic, who agreed to divide the 
 kingdom of Naples between them. In June a large 
 French army crossed the Alps and marched against 
 Naples, and a month later Gonsalvo di Cordova 
 landed in Calabria with a Spanish force. The Pope 
 ratified the treaty publicly, and Caesar Borgia left his 
 army in Romagna to join the French before Naples. 
 After a fiercely contested battle, Gaeta and Naples 
 opened their gates to the victors, and on the 4th 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It., App. ii. 
 
MARRIAGE OF ALFONSO D'ESTE 189 
 
 Federico fled to Ischia, and abdicated his throne in 
 favour of the French king. He retired to France, 
 where a pension and the Duchy of Anjou were 
 granted him, and where he spent the remaining three 
 years of his life. 
 
 Everywhere Csesar Borgia and his French allies 
 were triumphant, and no one knew in which direction 
 their arms would next be turned. The situation was 
 an anxious one, and Isabella was greatly alarmed to 
 hear from her father's envoy at Milan that her 
 husband had incurred the suspicion of the French 
 Viceroy, Cardinal d'Amboise, by his supposed in- 
 trigues with the Emperor. One day, when the 
 Ferrarese ambassador was dining with the Viceroy, 
 his host suddenly asked him what he thought of 
 the Marquis of Mantua's plot to drive the French 
 out of Italy. Then, turning to Trivulzio, the 
 Cardinal said : " M. le Marechal, what would you do 
 if you knew that the Signor Marchese kept a spy 
 here to report all our actions ? " "I should dismiss 
 his ambassador at once," rephed Trivulzio. And that 
 same evening the Mantuan representative, Tosabezzi, 
 received notice to leave Milan.^ 
 
 Under these circumstances Francesco Gonzaga 
 saw that his best policy was to cultivate the friend- 
 ship of Caesar Borgia, and he took care to offer 
 no opposition to Duke Valentino's latest scheme. 
 This was the proposal of a marriage between his 
 sister Lucrezia and the Duke of Ferrara's eldest son, 
 Alfonso d'Este. A few weeks after the murder 
 of her second husband, the report of this intended 
 aUiance was already the common talk of Rome. 
 "The Pope's daughter," viTote a German pUgrim 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It., App. ii. 
 
190 WITH LUCREZIA BORGIA 
 
 who visited Rome in this year of Jubilee, and was 
 grievously shocked at these scandals, "lives here in 
 great state, and is about to marry a third husband, 
 the first being yet alive. If one does not please her, 
 she asks for another." In February 1501, when Isa- 
 bella was spending the carnival at Ferrara, formal 
 proposals to this effect were made to her father by 
 the Pope's envoy. At first the proud spirit of the 
 Este princes recoiled with horror from the thought. 
 Not only was Lucrezia the Pope's bastard, but her 
 own character was by no means free from stain. 
 There might be no grounds for the horrible crimes 
 which were freely imputed to her in Rome, but the 
 Ferrarese ambassador reported that she had been 
 engaged in an intrigue with a papal chamberlain 
 named Peroto, and had given birth to a <;hild a year 
 after the dissolution of her first marriage. The bare 
 idea that a woman against whom such charges could 
 be brought, should reign in the place of the good 
 Duchess Leonora, seemed intolerable to the Duke 
 and his children. At first Alfonso quite declined to 
 entertain the proposal, and Isabella regarded it with 
 unqualified disgust, although she was too prudent to 
 give vent to her feelings in public. But by degrees 
 this natural repugnance melted away before the 
 solid advantages of the proposed marriage. The 
 Pope not only offered to give his daughter the 
 enormous dowry of 300,000 ducats, but to reduce 
 the yearly tribute paid by Ferrara as a fief of the 
 Church from 400,000 ducats to a nominal sum of 60 
 ducats, and to surrender several important fortresses 
 and valuable benefices to the Duke. Louis XII. 
 warmly supported the Pope's proposals, and Ercole 
 began to realise the substantial benefits which he and 
 
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT 191 
 
 his State would derive from the marriage. When 
 the Emperor, moved by his invincible hatred for the 
 Borgias, commanded him as his liege lord to break 
 off the negotiations, the Duke only returned a civil 
 answer, and made use of Maximilian's despatch to 
 secure better terms from the Pope. 
 
 Atlength, after prolonged conferences, the marriage 
 contract was finally signed on the 26th of August, 
 and Ercole wrote to inform his daughter Isabella of 
 the fact. On the same day the marriage was publicly 
 proclaimed in Rome. Both the Pope and Cassar 
 were exultant, and Lucrezia, who, in spite of her 
 troubled past, was of a singularly child-like and light- 
 hearted nature, gave vent to her delight by dancing all 
 night with so much energy that she was laid up with 
 an attack of fever the next morning. The Mantuan 
 agent, Cattaneo, supplied Isabella with abundant 
 details of the preparations that were made for the 
 wedding during the next few weeks. 
 
 " The dowry," he wrote on the 13th of December, 
 "wiU consist of 300,000 ducats, counting the value 
 of the presents which this Madonna will receive. 
 First of all, 100,000 ducats will be paid down in gold 
 at Ferrara ; then she will have clothes, plate, jewels, 
 fine linen, costly hangings and trappings for horses 
 and mules representing another 200,000 ducats. Her 
 trousseau wiU contain no less than 200 camoras, each 
 of which will be worth 100 ducats, with sleeves 
 and gold fringes valued at 30 ducats apiece. One 
 robe alone is valued at 20,000 ducats, and a jewelled 
 hat is said to have cost 10,000 ducats, while in Rome 
 and Naples more gold has been employed in pre- 
 paring her outfit during the last few weeks than is 
 generally required in two years." 
 
192 FERRARESE ENVOYS IN ROME 
 
 On the 23rd of December, Alfonso d'Este'sbrothers, 
 Don Ferrante and Cardinal Ippolito, arrived in Rome 
 with a brilliant suite to solemnise the marriage, and 
 escort the bride to Ferrara. Lucrezia, clad in white 
 and gold brocade, with pearls and rubies in her hair, 
 received the two princes on the steps of the Vatican, 
 and Caesar led them into the palace, while the Pope 
 looked on from a balcony, and greeted his guests with 
 eifusion. He conversed freely with the Ferrarese 
 envoys, saying that he meant Lucrezia to have more 
 beautiful pearls than any other princess, and praised 
 her beauty and goodness, comparing her to the 
 Marchesana of Mantua and the Duchess of Urbino. 
 But in spite of these assurances we see how deep 
 was the distrust which the Borgias inspired and how 
 anxious Duke Ercole felt with regard to Lucrezia's 
 own character by the following letter which his 
 confidential agent, Gian Luca Pozzi, wrote on the 
 evening of his arrival in Rome : — 
 
 " To-day, after supper, Girardo and I waited oil 
 the most illustrious Madonna Lucrezia, in the name 
 of Your Excellency and Don Alfonso. We con- 
 versed together on many subjects, and in all she said 
 we found her very sensible, discreet, of good and 
 loving nature, and sincerely attached both to Your 
 Excellency and Don Alfonso, so that I confidently 
 believe Don Alfonso will find real comfort in her 
 society. Besides which, she is singularly graceful in all 
 her actions, and her manners are fuU of modesty and 
 decorum. She is a good Christian, fillled with the 
 fear of God, and is going to confess to-morrow, and 
 to communicate on the Feast of the Nativity of Our 
 Lord. She has a sufficient share of good looks, and 
 her pleasing expression and graceful manners make 
 
IL PRETE'S REPORT 193 
 
 her seem more beautiful than she really is. In 
 short, her qualities are such that I am sure there is 
 nothing to fear from her, but rather everything to 
 hope for. Your Highness may rest assured that, 
 bound as I feel to speak the truth without prejudice, 
 I tell you this with great joy and consolation." ^ 
 
 The bride made the same excellent impression on 
 // Prete, that faithful servant of Niccolo da Correggio, 
 whom Isabella, in her anxiety to receive full particu- 
 lars of the marriage, had sent to Rome in her brother's 
 suite. This admirable chronicler described the 
 wedding ceremony and fetes, the dresses and jewels 
 of the chief personages, and the bride's dowry and 
 trousseau, with a fulness and exactness which, as 
 Gregorovius remarked, are worthy of a Times reporter. 
 He was especially careful to obey the Marchesa's 
 wishes, by giving a minute description of Lucre- 
 zia's appearance and character. " She is a charm- 
 ing and very graceful lady," he wrote after the 
 first interview. " I can teU you that our Cardinal's 
 eyes sparkled at the sight of her." 
 
 On the 29th of December, he wrote again to Isa- 
 bella : " This noble Madonna is seldom seen in public, 
 being occupied in preparation for her departure. But 
 on Sunday, the Feast of St. Stephen, I went to see 
 her later in the evening, and found her sitting near 
 the bed with ten maids -of- honour, and twenty 
 other ladies wearing handkerchiefs on their heads 
 after the Roman fashion. They soon began to 
 dance, and Madonna danced very gracefully and 
 well with Don Ferrante. She wore a camora of 
 black velvet trimmed with gold fringe, with narrow 
 sleeves slashed to show her white linen chemise, a 
 
 1 F. Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia," p. 189. 
 VOL. I. N 
 
194 WEDDING OF LUCREZIA BORGIA 
 
 vest of black velvet richly embroidered in colours, 
 a gold-striped veil and a green silk cap with a ruby 
 clasp on her head. Her maids-of-honour have not 
 yet got their wedding dresses. Our own ladies are 
 quite their equals in looks and in everything else. 
 But two or three of them are decidedly graceful. 
 One from Valencia dances well ; another, called 
 Angela, is very charming. Without her knowledge 
 I have chosen her for my mistress! Yesterday the 
 Cardinal and Don Ferrante rode through the town 
 with the Duke, all wearing masks." ^ 
 
 The wedding was celebrated on the 30th of 
 December, in the CappeUa Paolina, before the Pope, 
 who sat on his throne, attended by thirteen Cardinals 
 and the foreign Ambassadors, only the Emperor's 
 representative being conspicuous by his absence. 
 The bride was magnificently attired in a robe of 
 gold brocade, with flowing sleeves that trailed on 
 the floor. Her train of crimson velvet, trimmed 
 with ermine, was borne by ten maids-of-honour. 
 Her golden hair was tied back with a black ribbon, 
 and she wore a gold net over her hair, and a string 
 of pearls with a pendant of large emeralds, pearls, 
 and rubies round her neck. The Duke of Ferrara's 
 mandate was read aloud, the Bishop of Adria de- 
 livered an address which was shortened by the Pope's 
 orders, Ferrante placed the ring on the bride's finger 
 in his brother's name, and she replied in a clear voice 
 that she received it of her own free choice. Then 
 Cardinal Ippolito presented her with Duke Ercole's 
 present, a gorgeous casket of jewels, valued at 70,000 
 ducats, filled with precious gems, rings, necklaces, 
 and the famous pearl necklace which, Isabella re- 
 
 1 F. GregoroviuSj op. cit., p. 194, &c. 
 
fI:TES in ROME 195 
 
 membered with a sigh, had belonged to her dearly 
 loved mother. The Pope was delighted, and ex- 
 claimed as he took the jewels in his hands that the 
 young Cardinal's charm of manner doubled the value 
 of the jewels. But Duke Ercole had been careful 
 to insert a proviso in the contract stipulating that the 
 jewels were to be returned, and only the wedding 
 ring kept by Lucrezia if the marriage were afterwards 
 dissolved. 
 
 Cardinal Ippohto then presented the bride with 
 his own gift of four jewelled crucifixes, and the other 
 Cardinals followed with their gifts, after which the 
 whole company witnessed a succession of races and 
 jousts on the Piazza before the Vatican. Steel 
 weapons were used, and as many as six noble youths 
 were wounded, reports II Prete. " Then Cgesar," 
 he goes on, " took the Madonna's hand and danced 
 before the Pope with rare grace, and the maids-of- 
 honour followed and danced very weU in couples. 
 His Holiness was in high spirits, and laughed all the 
 time. This lasted over an hour. Then the comedies 
 began. One was in Latin verse, and a shepherd and 
 children were introduced, and looked very fine, but I 
 could not understand its meaning. After that the 
 company dispersed, and only His Holiness, the bride, 
 and her brother and brothers-in-law sat down to the 
 wedding feast at the Pope's table." 
 
 Isabella's correspondent gave her detailed accounts 
 of the week's festivities that followed, of the comedies 
 and ballets, the masquerades and dancing, the recita- 
 tion of epithalamiuras and marriage hymns, the bull- 
 fights organised by Caesar Borgia, and the torchlight 
 processions in which Lucrezia took part.^ At length, 
 
 1 Gregorovius, op. cit., pp. 200-217. 
 
196 JOURNEY OF THE BRIDE 
 
 on the 6th of January, the wedding party set out for 
 Ferrara, escorted by a cavalcade of Roman horsemen. 
 The bride was attended by a suite of 180 persons, and 
 Angela Borgia, that damigella elegantissima who had 
 fascinated // Prete at first sight, was her chief lady- 
 in-waiting. By the Pope's command the bride was 
 received with royal honours at Terni, Spoleto, Fohgno, 
 and each place where a halt was made. At Gubbio 
 Duchess Elisabetta herself came to meet her, and 
 Duke Guidobaldo, who had strong reason to distrust 
 Csesar Borgia, no doubt felt it prudent to give his 
 sister a splendid reception at Urbino. Elisabetta her- 
 self accompanied the bride over the mountain passes 
 to Pesaro, where Lucrezia was lodged in the very 
 palace which she had occupied for some years as the 
 wife of Giovanni Sforza. At Imola, the party rested 
 for a whole day in order that the bride might set her 
 jewels and clothes in order for her entry into Ferrara, 
 and wash her head. This, Ferrante d'Este explained 
 in a letter to his father, she had been unable to do for 
 ten days, owing to which she suffered severely from 
 headaches. Some days were spent at Bologna, where 
 a banquet was given by the Bentivoglios in her 
 honour, after which the party embarked on bucen- 
 taurs, and travelled by water first along a canal, and 
 then up the river Po as far as Castell Bentivoglio, a 
 town about twenty miles from Ferrara. Here the 
 bride was surprised to see Don Alfonso, who had 
 ridden out in disguise to meet her, and spent two 
 hours in her company to her great delight. She 
 wrote that night to tell her father of the prince's 
 courtesy, which gratified the old Pope highly. The 
 next day he sent for the Ferrarese envoy to express 
 his satisfaction, and spoke with genuine affection of 
 
TO FERRARA 197 
 
 Lucrezia, saying repeatedly : " I have done great 
 things for her, and I mean to do more." As the 
 Venetian ambassador, Paolo Capello, remarked : 
 " The advancement of his children is the only thing 
 that he seems to care about." ^ 
 
 1 M. Sanuto, Diarii, iii. 847. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 1502 
 
 Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia's marriage festivities — Recep- 
 tion of the bride at Ferrara — Isabella's letters to her husband 
 — Conaedies, balls, and fetes — The ambassadors' gifts— Isa- 
 bella entertains the French ambassador — Her interview with 
 the Venetian envoys — Return to Mantua — Lucrezia Borgia's 
 life at Ferrara — Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis. 
 
 While Elisabetta Gonzaga was escorting Lucrezia 
 Borgia on her journey through Central Italy, Isabella 
 d'Este came to Ferrara at her father's request, to 
 receive her brother's bride. Her own letters to 
 Francesco give full descriptions of the wedding 
 festivities, which were on a splendid scale and are 
 said to have cost Duke Ercole 25,000 ducats. On 
 the 29th of January, two days after her arrival, 
 Isabella wrote : — 
 
 " My dearest Lord, — My father came to my room 
 after dinner to-day and arranged the order of the 
 bride's entry, which is to be as follows. On Tuesday, 
 I shall accompany Don Alfonso with only a few 
 ladies in a barge as far as Malalbergo to meet her, 
 after which she will sleep at my lord Alberto d'Este's 
 house at Casale, and I shall return home with the 
 Duchess of Urbino, who however must go back on 
 Wednesday to keep the bride company. Madonna 
 Lucrezia Bentivoglio with half of these ladies will go 
 to meet her and follow her in the procession, whUe I 
 remain here with the other half to receive her at the 
 steps of the Palace. It is true that I mean to go and 
 
 198 
 
ISABELLA AT FERRARA 199 
 
 see the entry from the Custom-house, but as soon as 
 the procession has passed by, I shall return to the 
 Palace. After making these arrangements, my 
 father took me to see the hall where the comedies 
 are to be acted, which is 146 feet long by 46 wide. 
 Steps have been made from the Piazza with a parti- 
 tion to divide the men from the women, who will be 
 in the centre, with the men on either side ; the ceUing 
 and steps are hung with green, red, and white 
 draperies. On the opposite side of the hall is a 
 wooden stage about the height of a man, with battle- 
 ments, and the scenery for the comedies, which are 
 to be six in number. About 5000 persons are 
 expected, but the seats will be reserved for strangers, 
 and any that remain will be given to Ferrarese gentle- 
 men. Five shields with coats of arms hang from the 
 roof — those of the Church, of France, Este, and Borgia, 
 and the black and white eagle which was our old coat 
 of arms. I saw nothing else worthy of note. The 
 wooden beams of the roof are left bare, but perhaps 
 these are to be draped later. I will tell you what 
 more is to be seen on the day itself. All these 
 gentlemen are busy preparing sumptuous dresses and 
 gold chains, but the attire of the women will be 
 splendid beyond words ! I have not left the house 
 these two days, owing to the number of visitors 
 which I have had. To-night we go to the house of 
 M. Ercole Strozzi. I am sending 500 oysters by the 
 sailors who take back the barge, and I hope Your 
 Excellency will enjoy them for love of me. Kiss my 
 darhng boy a thousand times over! — Your wife, 
 Isabella." ^ Ferrara, Jan. 29, 1502. 
 
 1 This and the following letters from Ferrara were pubhshed 
 by D'Arco in Arch. St. It, App. ii. See also F. Gregorovius, 
 " Lucrezia Borgia." 
 
200 RECEPTION OF THE BRIDE 
 
 On the 1st of February, the Marchesa described 
 her first meeting with the bride : " Soon after eight 
 o'clock I entered Don Alfonso's barge together with 
 Don Giulio (her half-brother) and nay own gentlemen 
 and ladies. At Torre della Fossa I changed boats 
 and went on to Malalbergo, where we met the bride 
 in a ship with Don Ferrante and Don Sigismondo and 
 a few others, and here I found the Duchess of Urbino 
 with them. The boat came alongside, and one bark 
 having curtsied to the other with joyous haste, I 
 entered the bride's with Madonna Laura (Giovanni 
 Gonzaga's wife), and after exchanging salutes we went 
 on our way and she did not enter the smaU bucentaur 
 for fear of losing time. About four o'clock we 
 reached Torre della Fossa, where my father was 
 standing on the shore awaiting us. The archers in 
 their red and white hveries, seventy-five in number, 
 were drawn up in a row, and the whole court gathered 
 round the Duke, who took Madonna Lucrezia by 
 the hand and kissed her, after she had insisted on 
 first kissing his hand. Then we entered the large 
 bucentaur, where all the ambassadors shook hands 
 with us, and we sat down in the following order: 
 the bride between the French and Venetian, myself 
 between the Venetian and Florentine, and the Duchess 
 of Urbino between the Florentine and Sienese, the 
 Lucchese envoy being close by. My father and 
 Don Alfonso sat on deck above, talking and joking 
 together, and were much amused by the Spanish 
 clowns, who paid the bride all manner of compli- 
 ments, and so, amid great cheering and shouting 
 and the sound of trumpets and guns, we reached 
 Casale about five. After accompanying the bride 
 to her rooms we all left, and I took the Duchess of 
 
COSTUMES OF THE PRINCESSES 201 
 
 Urbino in my carretta to her lodgings, which are 
 those of Ventimiglia above the loggia. I will not 
 describe Madonna Lucrezia's appearance, as you have 
 seen her. She wore a vest of wrought gold trimmed 
 with crimson satin, with slashed sleeves in Castilian 
 fashion, a crimson satin mantle, turned back on one 
 side and lined with sable, open at the throat to show 
 a frilled chemise, in the usual fashion. On her neck 
 she wore a string of big pearls, with a pendant of 
 ruby and a pear-shaped pearl, and a gold coif on 
 her head, but no band. Madonna Luerezia Benti- 
 vogho received her on the shores of the Po with a 
 great company of ladies. Madonna Teodora was 
 presented to her by Don Alfonso's seneschal as 
 chief lady-in-waiting, together with twelve Ferrarese 
 maidens wearing camoras of crimson satin, and black 
 velvet mantles lined with black lamb. The gentle- 
 men of her household have not yet been chosen. 
 Five carriages were sent to meet her — one hung 
 with gold brocade, and led by four white horses, 
 each worth fifty ducats apiece ; one covered with 
 red velvet, led by roan horses, all very fine ; and 
 three hung with purple satin, with horses of different 
 colours. I have not mentioned Don Alfonso, be- 
 cause, as I told Your Excellency before, he went 
 last night to Bentivoglio, returned to Ferrara this 
 morning, and joined my father at Torre della Fossa. 
 The Duchess of Urbino is very well and lively, 
 and commends herself to Your Excellency with me, 
 and I beg you to kiss the dear child of our love. 
 — Your wife, Isabella." 
 
 On this occasion the Duchess of Urbino wore 
 black velvet embroidered with a gold pattern, while 
 Isabella herself was attired in a black velvet robe 
 
202 LUCREZIA'S APPEARANCE 
 
 trimmed with lynx fur, with a green velvet vest 
 studded over with gold plaques — a gift from Fran- 
 cesco — a gold circlet on her head, and a gold 
 collar set with diamonds round her neck. Her 
 beauty and distinguished air attracted general ad- 
 miration, as the Marchesa di Cotrone, who accom- 
 panied her to Ferrara, wrote that evening to the 
 Marquis. 
 
 " The bride is not beautiful, but sweet and attrac- 
 tive in appearance, and although she had many ladies 
 with her, and among them that illustrious Madonna, 
 the Duchess of Urbino, who is very handsome and a 
 worthy sister of Your Excellency, yet my illustrious 
 lady was universally pronounced, both by our people 
 and by those who came with the Duchess, to be by 
 far the most beautiful, so much so that if the bride 
 had foreseen this, she would have made her entry by 
 torchlight ! There can be no doubt of this, since 
 others are as nothing at my lady's side. So we 
 shall bear the prize back to the home of my own 
 Madonna." ' 
 
 On the following day the Duke and his son rode out 
 to meet the bride at Casale, and escorted her across 
 the bridge of Castel Tedaldo, and through the town 
 to the ducal palace. The pageant is described by 
 contemporaries as the grandest ever seen in Ferrara. 
 
 " I will tell you the order of this illustrious bride's 
 entry," writes Isabella, " and whatever else is worth 
 noting, as best I can. First of all came my father's 
 seventy-five archers in white and red liveries, with 
 three captains in different costumes, then eighty 
 trumpeters, among them six of the Duke of 
 Romagna's, wearing cloth of gold, and purple and 
 
 1 D'Arco, op. cit. 
 
ENTRY OF THE BRIDE 203 
 
 white satin uniforms, and twenty-four pipers and 
 trumpeters. Behind them came the nobles and gentle- 
 men of Ferrara, of whom seventy wore golden chains, 
 none of which cost less than 500 ducats, while many 
 were worth 800, 1000, and even 1200 ducats. Then 
 followed the Duchess of Urbino's suite, all in black 
 velvet and satin, and after them Signor Don Alfonso 
 and M. Annibale Bentivoglio. His Highness rode a 
 big bay horse with purple velvet trappings embossed 
 with gold. He wore a suit of grey velvet covered 
 with scales of beaten gold, worth at least 6000 ducats, 
 a black velvet cap trimmed with gold lace and white 
 feathers, and grey leather gaiters. Eight squires 
 walked behind him, four men and four boys, in 
 French suits of gold brocade and purple velvet, with 
 hose of red and purple cloth. Then came the bride's 
 suite, twenty of whom were Spaniards clad in black 
 and gold, but only twelve of the whole company 
 wore gold chains, and these not at all large ones or 
 equal to those worn by my gentlemen. These were 
 followed by the Bishops of Adria, Comachio, Cervia, 
 and two others sent by the Pope. Then came the 
 ambassadors, walking two abreast — a Lucchese and 
 a Sienese together, the other Sienese with a Floren- 
 tine, and so on, the two Venetians wearing long 
 crimson satin mantles ; last of aU the four Roman 
 ambassadors in long cloth-of-gold mantles lined with 
 crimson satin. Behind them were six drummers 
 and two Spanish jesters in brocade of variegated 
 colours. Then the bride, under a crimson baldacchino 
 carried by the doctors. In front of her was a big 
 dapple-grey horse, given her by the Duke, with 
 crimson trappings embroidered with gold, led by 
 eight grooms in purple and yellow vests and hose." 
 
204 STATE PROCESSION 
 
 The Venetian chronicler^ informs us that, as the 
 bride rode over the bridge of Castel Tedaldo, her horse 
 took fright at the guns, and would have thrown her 
 if her groom had not rushed to her help, and placed 
 her on a mule. Isabella continues : " The bride 
 was mounted on a roan mule with velvet trappings 
 covered with gold lace, and fastened with nails of 
 beaten gold. She wore a cloth of gold camora with 
 purple satin stripes and flowing sleeves after the 
 French fashion, and a shernia of wrought gold, open 
 on one side, and lined with ermine, as were her 
 sleeves. Round her throat was the necklace of 
 rubies and diamonds which belonged to Madonna of 
 Ferrara, of blessed memory ! On her head was the 
 jewelled cap which my lord father sent together with 
 the necklace to her in Rome, without any band. 
 Six of Don Alfonso's chamberlains, aU wearing fine 
 gold chains, held the reins. The French ambassador 
 rode at her side, outside the baldacchino." 
 
 The bride, according to another account, sent 
 for the French envoy, PhiUppo Bert, when the 
 procession started, and made him ride at her side, 
 as a token of the Pope's gratitude to the King of 
 France for bringing about the marriage. 
 
 " Behind the bride, the Duchess of Urbino and 
 my lord father ; the Duchess on the right on a roan 
 mule, with black and gold velvet trappings, wearing 
 a black velvet robe adorned with certain triangles of 
 beaten gold which are astrological signs, a string of 
 pearls at her throat, and a gold coif on her head. My 
 Lord Duke rode a roan horse, with black velvet and 
 a suit of purple velvet, and was followed by two 
 ladies, Donna Hieronima Borgia and the wife of 
 
 1 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, iv. 222-230. 
 
ISABELLA RECEIVES THE BRIDE 205 
 
 Fabio Orsini, both in black velvet ; and behind them, 
 Madonna Adriana, a widowed relative of the Pope. 
 These were the only women on horseback. Madonna 
 Lucrezia Bentivoglio rode in a chariot hung with 
 gold brocade, followed by twelve other chariots, bear- 
 ing the bride's ladies and her own Ferrarese and 
 Bolognese ladies. Behind them came two sumpter- 
 mules, with black and silver trappings, elaborately 
 worked, and fifty-six more with red and yellow clothing, 
 and twelve with purple and yeUow. A few arches, 
 as I told Your Excellency, were erected at certain 
 points along the route, and there were some represen- 
 tations which are not worth mentioning, and no one 
 paid much attention to them." 
 
 At five o'clock the procession reached the Piazza, 
 where two rope-dancers descended simultaneously 
 from opposite towers, and at the same moment the 
 doors of the dungeons were thrown open and all the 
 prisoners released. On the steps of the ducal palace, 
 the Marchesa, magnificently arrayed in a camora of 
 cloth of gold, embroidered with her favourite device 
 of musical notes and rests, received the bride, and 
 conducted her to the Sala Grande, followed by the 
 Duke and the whole company. In this noble hall, 
 hung with Leonora's priceless tapestries, two Ferrara 
 poets, Celio Calcagnini, the friend of Raphael and 
 Erasmus, and Ariosto, recited a Latin Epithalamium 
 in the bride's honour, and hailed Lucrezia as pul- 
 cherrima Virgo — a title which may well have sounded 
 ironical in the ears of the bystanders, when applied to 
 one whom the Romans had derisively called "the 
 Pope's daughter, wife, and daughter-in-law." 
 
 The following day was spent in dancing and 
 acting, and in the evening Isabella took up her pen 
 
206 COMEDIES AND BALLS 
 
 and wrote : " To give Your Excellency an account 
 of to-day's doings : After dinner we brought the 
 bride out of her rooms, and led her into the Sala 
 Grande, which was so crowded with people that there 
 was no room to dance. However, we got through two 
 dances as best we could." Cagnolo, who had come 
 to Ferrara in the French ambassador's suite, tells us 
 that Lucrezia came down from the tribunal, where 
 she was seated between Isabella and Elisabetta, and 
 danced Roman and Spanish dances, to the sound of 
 tambourines, with rare grace. He adds that although 
 she is not regularly beautiful, her golden hair and the 
 dazzling whiteness of her skin, together with her 
 gentleness and winning manners, render her most 
 attractive. " She is very gay and light-hearted, and 
 is always laughing." ^ 
 
 Then the acting began. " My father," continues 
 Isabella, "brought in all the actors, and showed 
 us the costumes which have been prepared for the 
 five comedies, to show us that the dresses had 
 been made on purpose, and that those which were 
 worn in one comedy would not have to be used 
 again. There are in all one hundred and ten 
 actors, men and women, and their clothes are of 
 cendale (a fine silk) and camlet. The leader of the 
 troop appeared in the character of Plautus, and ex- 
 plained the argument of the five plays, the ' Epidico,' 
 the ' Bacchid^e,' the ' Miles gloriosus,' the ' Asinaria,' 
 and ' Cassaria.' After this we passed into another 
 hall, and about six o'clock the first play began. 
 Neither the verses nor the voices struck me as very 
 good, but the Moresche dances between the acts 
 were very weU danced, with great spirit. . . . The 
 
 1 Zambotto, Cronaca. 
 
ISABELLA'S ENNUI 207 
 
 last was danced by Moors with lighted torches in 
 their hands, and was a fine sight. It was not over 
 tUl past ten, and then every one went home to 
 supper." The Marchesa evidently found these pro- 
 longed festivities very tedious, and at the end of this 
 letter she adds a postscript in which her real feelings 
 are expressed. 
 
 "I will not deny that Your Excellency, in my 
 eyes, enjoys far greater pleasure in being able to see 
 my httle son every day, than I find in these f§tes. 
 If they were the finest in the world, they would not 
 please me without Your Excellency and our little 
 boy. But I will not believe that he has forgotten 
 me already. If he does not remember me out of 
 affection, he must remember me if only because he is 
 kissed so often ! So I hope Your Excellency will be 
 sure to kiss him a few more times for love of me ! 
 Don Alfonso and the bride slept together last night, 
 but we did not pay them the usual morning visit, 
 because, to say the truth, this is a very cold wedding ! 
 I hope that my person and suite compare favourably 
 with those of others who are here, and we shall at 
 least carry off the prize of the card-playing, since 
 Spagnoli has already robbed the Jew of 500 gold 
 pieces. To-day we are to dance till four o'clock, and 
 then see another comedy. — Your wife, Isabella." 
 Feb. 3. 
 
 On the 4th, the bride did not leave her room tiU 
 late in the day, and the Duke took his chief guests to 
 see the sights of Ferrara— the treasures of art con- 
 tained in the Castello and the Schifanoia palaces, the 
 guns in which his son AKonso took especial interest, 
 and the holy Dominican nun, Sister Lucia of Viterbo, 
 
208 HER IMPATIENCE TO RETURN HOME 
 
 who had received the stigmata, and whose wounds 
 were said to bleed afresh every Friday. 
 
 " Yesterday," wrote Isabella on Saturday the 5th, 
 "we all stayed in our rooms till five o'clock, because 
 Madonna Lucrezia chooses to spend aU these hours 
 in dressing, so that she may outshine the Duchess of 
 Urbino and myself in the eyes of the world, and 
 being Friday, there was no dancing. At half-past 
 five the ' Bacchidfe ' began, and was so long and tire- 
 some, with so few dances, that I wished myself many 
 times at Mantua. It seems a thousand years till 
 my return, both because of my longing to see Your 
 Excellency and my little son, and of my wish to 
 escape from here, where I do not find the least 
 enjoyment. Your Excellency need not envy me 
 for being at this wedding, which is a cold and duU 
 affair ! I only wish I had stayed at home. If I 
 had time to write to you more fully, I should be less 
 bored. But, as soon as I am out of bed, my brothers 
 come in and do not leave my side aU day. Besides 
 which all the ladies come and visit me, since Donna 
 Lucrezia is not to be seen until she appears in the 
 Sala. We sup about eleven o'clock and go to bed 
 at one or two. You may imagine how little I enjoy 
 all this. Pity me ! Last night only two dances 
 were introduced in the play, and at the end we 
 heard nothing but groans and complaints from the 
 spectators, who had already sat there more than four 
 and a half hours. Nothing else is worth saying, only 
 I beg you not to forget to kiss Federico for me.— 
 Your wife, Isabella. 
 
 " p,S. — I must tell you that to my credit I am 
 always the first to be up and dressed ! " February 5, 
 1502. 
 
THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR 209 
 
 Lucrezia spent that day in her room, washing her 
 head and writing letters to tell her father of the 
 splendid fetes which had been given in her honour. 
 And Sanuto inft5I*ns us that she privately presented 
 Duke Ercole with the pontifical bull releasing the 
 fief of Ferrara from the payment of tribute. In 
 the evening Isabella invited Monseigneur Bert, the 
 French ambassador, to supper in her rooms, and 
 placed him between the Duchess of Urbino and 
 herself at table. The conversation, Cagnolo tells 
 us, was witty and brilliant. The Marchesa looked 
 her lovehest in a robe of white and silver tabi, and at 
 the urgent entreaty of her guests, consented to sing 
 to them after supper, accompanying herself on the 
 lute, to the delight of all who were present. After- 
 wards she took the ambassador into her private 
 rooms and discussed political affairs confidentially 
 with him for nearly an hour, in the presence of two 
 of her ladies. Finally she took off her own perfumed 
 gloves and presented them to Monseigneur Bert, 
 who received them with the deepest reverence and 
 gratitude, saying that he counted them even more 
 precious than the sacred linen bestowed on him by 
 Suor Lucia, and would keep them in a reliquary to 
 the end of his days. 
 
 On Sunday the whole court attended high mass 
 in the Duomo, and Don Alfonso was solemnly in- 
 vested with a consecrated cap and sword, presented 
 by the Pope to his dear son. Another baU was given 
 in the Sala Grande, at which Isabella looked radiant 
 in a gown of crimson satin and black velvet, trimmed 
 with massive gold cord, and ruby and pearl buttons ; 
 and the bride, who appeared in a violet robe patterned 
 over with gold fish-scales, and a jewelled coronet on 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
210 COMEDIES AND JOUSTS 
 
 her head, danced French country dances with great 
 charm and spirit. After this came a performance of 
 the " Miles gloriosus," ending with a true mummers' 
 dance of the rudest description, in which shepherds, 
 wearing rams' heads, fought and butted each other 
 with their horns to the infinite amusement of the 
 spectators. 
 
 On Monday a new diversion was provided for 
 the guests, in the form of a single combat which 
 took place on the Piazza in front of the ducal palace, 
 between Vincenzo da Imola, a soldier in the Marquis 
 of Mantua's service, and a Bolognese gentleman of 
 Annibale Bentivoglio's suite. After a desperate en-, 
 counter with lances and clubs, Vincenzo succeeded 
 in unhorsing his adversary, and would have slain him 
 if the Duke had not divided the combatants. " Vin- 
 cenzo remained on horseback," writes Isabella, " and 
 rode round the enclosure amidst infinite shouting, all 
 the people crying Turco ! while the poor Bolognese 
 showed his broken staff! So we bore off the palm." 
 
 In the evening the "Asinaria " was performed with 
 a marvellous interlude of satyrs, who danced to the 
 tune of a musical clock, and chased wild beasts and 
 birds over the stage. Then a Mantuan musician played 
 three lutes at once, and the whole performance ended 
 with a ballet of the harvest, in which the different 
 operations of digging, ploughing, sowing, reaping and 
 thrashing the corn were represented to the rustic 
 music of bagpipes. Isabella appeared in a gown of 
 crimson velvet, striped with gold bands, and a tiara of 
 immense diamonds on her head, while the bride wore 
 a robe of woven gold, and a long chain of priceless 
 gems round her neck. 
 
 On Shrove-Tuesday, which was the last day of 
 
GIFTS TO THE BRIDAL PAIR 211 
 
 the carnival, the ambassadors visited the bride's 
 chamber, and presented her with costly gifts. First 
 of all, Duke Ercole gave his daughter-in-law his 
 own magnificent jewels. Then the French ambas- 
 sador presented the bride with a rosary of golden 
 beads, perfumed with musk, and her chief maid-of- 
 honour, Angela Borgia, with a precious chain. At 
 the same time he gave the Duke a golden shield 
 with an enamelled figure of St. Francis, made in 
 Paris, and Don Alfonso a similar shield, bearing an 
 image of the Magdalene, no doubt, remarks Cagnolo, 
 because he had taken to himself a bride who in virtues 
 and charms resembled this saintly maiden, and of 
 whom it might be said, as it was of Mary Magdalene, 
 " to her much is forgiven, because she loved much ! " 
 
 The other ambassadors followed with gifts of 
 rich brocades and bronze and silver ewers and bowls, 
 but the most remarkable presentation was made by 
 the Venetian envoys, who took off the magnificent 
 crimson velvet and ermine mantles which they had 
 worn all the week, and laid them at the feet of the 
 bride — " upon which," wrote the Marchesa di Cotrone 
 to Francesco Gonzaga, " every one who was present 
 burst out laughing." 
 
 A ball took place afterwards, at which the royal 
 ladies appeared in their most gorgeous costumes, and 
 Isabella wore a violet velvet robe embroidered with 
 gold acorns, and a magnificent jewelled tiara. The 
 last comedy, the " Cassaria," was performed with a 
 series of elaborate musical interludes and recitations in 
 honour of the happy pair. Don Alfonso, who was 
 an accomplished musician, played the viol, and took 
 part in a concerto for six instruments, and at the 
 close of the last ballet — a war-dance of Swiss 
 
212 A ROPE-DANCER 
 
 soldiers — a golden ball melted away in the air and re- 
 vealed the forms of four Virtues, who sang a delicious 
 quartette. But the musical part of the entertainment 
 was decidedly superior to the comedy, which Isabella 
 declared to be " lascivious and immoral beyond words," 
 so much so that she refused to allow any of her ladies 
 to be present. 
 
 The next morning, being Ash Wednesday, was 
 spent by Isabella in religious exercises with her 
 family. But in the afternoon, by way of relaxation, 
 she was present with the whole court at a performance 
 given by a youth named Cingano, who anticipated 
 Blondin by walking on a rope from the roof of the 
 bishop's palace to the Sala Grande in the ducal palace. 
 The Duke's son and the royal ladies, as well as all the 
 foreign envoys, came out to witness the feats of this 
 performer, who danced with his eyes bhndfolded, 
 walked backwards in a steel cuirass, and was seen 
 hanging by his feet to the rope suspended in mid-air 
 above the square, to the infinite amusement of the 
 august company.-^ That evening the Marchesa re- 
 ceived farewell visits from the foreign ambassadors, 
 and made use of this opportunity to ingratiate herself 
 and her husband with the Signory of Venice, as we 
 learn from the following letter, which her secretary 
 Capilupi addressed to the Marquis : — 
 
 " My dear Lord, — To-day my Madonna and the 
 Duchess were in the bride's room when the Venetian 
 ambassador came to take leave of her, and at the 
 same time pay their respects to Her Excellency and 
 the Duchess of Urbino. But they first of aU ad- 
 dressed my Madonna, in a long speech, saying that 
 the Signory had charged them to call upon Your 
 
 1 Muratori, Diario Ferrarese, vol. xxiv. 404. 
 
THE VENETIAN AMBASSADORS 213 
 
 Highness if you had been at the wedding, and that 
 since you were not present, they wished to pay the 
 same honour to the Marchesa, because of the services 
 rendered by Your Excellency to their State, whose 
 loyal son they count you to be, and on whose good 
 offices you may always depend. Madonna then took 
 up her speech and answered them in a clear voice, 
 with as much elegance and prudence as if she had 
 been a consummate orator. I am quite unable to 
 write down all that she said, but I must tell you 
 one thing which every one thought very wise and 
 admirable. ' If this illustrious Signory,' she re- 
 marked, ' had made trial of Your Excellency in your 
 youth, and had employed you in the defence of Italy 
 at that time, now that you are older and more ex- 
 perienced, they might avail themselves of your 
 services with more advantage.' These and other 
 appropriate words amazed the ambassadors and others 
 present so much that they all confessed themselves 
 her slaves. The ambassadors then turned to the 
 Duchess of Urbino, and in their words plainly showed 
 that they honoured her in the first place as Your 
 Excellency's sister, and in the second as the Duke 
 of Urbino's wife, and she also replied discreetly. 
 Last of all Donna Lucrezia spoke, but although she 
 has had more husbands than either your wife or 
 sister, she could not attain by a long way to the 
 wisdom of their answers. Your Excellency will 
 rejoice to learn what an excellent impression Madonna 
 your wife has made on all these lords and am- 
 bassadors. Her disgust and displeasure at the foul 
 comedy of yesterday was evident to all, so that the 
 Duke had good cause to be ashamed ; her conduct 
 was only praised, since, as Your Highness knows. 
 
214 LUCREZIA BORGIA 
 
 she would not allow any of her maidens to be 
 present. — Your faithful servant, Benedictus Capi- 
 I.UPUS." ^ Ferrara, Feb. 9, 1502. 
 
 The next day Isabella took leave of her relatives, 
 and, accompanied by the Duchess of Urbino, re- 
 turned to Mantua, where she arrived on Monday 
 the 14th, and joyfully embraced her little Federico 
 once more. A few days afterwards she addressed a 
 courteous note to Lucrezia, announcing her safe 
 arrival and signing herself " Your loving sister." ^ 
 
 Lucrezia on her part was unfeignedly anxious to 
 cultivate Isabella's friendship. In a letter which 
 Laura Bentivoglio addressed to the Marchesa a few 
 months afterwards, from Ferrara, she described a 
 visit which she had paid to Alfonso's wife, in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 " She made me sit down, and asked with charming 
 sweetness after Your Excellency, begging to hear 
 about your clothes, and especially about your head- 
 dresses. Afterwards, in speaking of her Spanish 
 robes, she said if she had anything that you would 
 care to see or possess, she would gladly oblige you, 
 being most anxious to please Your Excellency. 
 And she expressed a wish that you would write to 
 her sometimes and be more familiar in your inter- 
 course with her, and asked repeatedly if the betrothal 
 of Duke Valentino's daughter with your son had 
 been arranged. To-day she wore a camora of black 
 satin and gold foliage, with a hem that looked like 
 a flame of pure gold, and flowing sleeves, such as 
 Your Excellency wears, and a necklace of the finest 
 pearls. Her head was dressed in her usual fashion, 
 
 1 Luzio, Precettori, p. 36. 
 
 ^ F. Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," App. 
 
HER RELATIONS WITH ISABELLA 215 
 
 with a very bright emerald on her forehead and a 
 green velvet cap wrought with beaten gold. Her 
 manners and gestures were most natural and quite 
 charming, and she looked very pretty, but has grown 
 rather thinner, although she is not ill." 
 
 Lucrezia always showed great curiosity about 
 the Marchesa's clothes, and on one occasion, Lucre- 
 zia d'Este, who visited her while she was under- 
 going a cure, wrote as follows to Isabella : " I 
 found her lying on the bed wearing a black silk 
 robe with tight sleeves and frills at the wrist, and 
 after many caresses and affectionate greetings, she 
 inquired what were the latest Mantuan fashions and 
 praised my head-dress. I promised to make some 
 caps in our style, and send them to her. Certain 
 rosettes which I wore on my forehead also pleased 
 her, and she begged me to show them to a jeweller 
 and have them copied for her." ^ 
 
 But, in spite of mutual compliments and fine 
 speeches, the two ladies were never on intimate terms, 
 and Dr. Luzio points out that most of the letters 
 from the Gonzaga archives quoted by Lucrezia's 
 biographer Gregorovius were in reality addressed to 
 the Marquis and not to Isabella.^ In later years 
 some rivalry arose between the two princesses, and 
 Isabella could not forgive her old friends, Niccolo 
 da Correggio and Ercole Strozzi, for transferring 
 their devotion and dedicating their poems to her 
 sister-in-law. Lucrezia, however, proved an excellent 
 wife to Alfonso, by whom she was fondly beloved, 
 and who sincerely lamented her early death in 1519. 
 She bore him four children, the eldest of whom, 
 
 1 Luzio in A'^. Antologia, 1896. 
 
 2 Luzio, Precettori, p. 37. 
 
216 HER CONDUCT AT FERRARA 
 
 Ercole, was born in 1508, and succeeded his father as 
 Duke in 1534. Her conduct during the latter years 
 of her life was exemplary, and she edified the people 
 of Ferrara by the charitable institutions which she 
 founded, and spent much of her time in Duchess 
 Leonora's favourite convent of Corpus Domini. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 1502 
 
 Isabella's visit to Venice — Her letters to the Marquis— Courtesy 
 of the Doge and Signory — Her income and expenditure — 
 Proposed marriage between Federico Gonzaga and Csesar 
 Borgia's daughter — Elisabetta of Urbino goes with Isabella 
 to Porto — Caesar Borgia seizes Urbino — Flight of Duke 
 Guidobaldo to Mantua — Isabella asks for the Venus and 
 Cupid of Urbino — Caesar Borgia sends them to Mantua — 
 Michel Angelo's Cupid sold to Charles I. and brought to 
 England. 
 
 As soon as Isabella had recovered from the fatigues 
 of the wedding festivities at Ferrara she began to 
 make plans for a new expedition. The Duchess of 
 Urbino had never seen Venice, and a vow which 
 Isabella had made to the Santo at Padua aiforded 
 a good excuse for paying a second visit to the 
 famous city. This time the two princesses decided 
 to go in the strictest incognito, in order that they 
 might be able to dispense with tedious ceremonies, 
 and devote themselves wholly to sight-seeing and 
 their own amusement. So they set out one morning 
 in March, taking only two ladies with them — the 
 Marchesa di Cotrone and the faithful Emilia Pia — 
 and escorted by the Protonotario Sigismondo Gon- 
 zaga and two of Isabella's most trusted servants, 
 her seneschal Alessandro da Baesso and her secretary 
 Benedetto Capilupi. The Marquis accompanied his 
 wife and sister as far as Sermide, where they took 
 
 217 
 
218 VISIT TO VENICE 
 
 boat to the mouth of the Po, and spent the night at 
 a wretched hostelry at Stellata. As usual, Isabella 
 gave her husband a full account of her doings in a 
 letter from Venice, where she arrived on the 14th of 
 March.^ 
 
 " My dear Lord, — Yesterday morning we left ' la 
 Stellata' so early that we reached Chiozza an hour 
 after dark, but since the hostelries were all full we 
 had to send Benedetto Capilupi to inform the 
 Podesta of our arrival, which we did the more 
 readily, hearing that he was M. Alvise Capello, 
 brother to M. Paolo, and a great friend of Your 
 Excellency ; and although we begged him to direct 
 us to some private lodging near the inns, he insisted 
 on receiving us in his own house in the kindest 
 manner possible, and, above all, allowed us to remain 
 strictly incognito. So we accepted his invitation, 
 and were honourably lodged and entertained at 
 supper in the palace. That night we were too tired 
 and travel-stained to see His Magnificence, but this 
 morning he visited us and regretted that he had not 
 been aware of our coming, so as to pay us greater 
 honour, as the Signory would have wished, and 
 begged us to dine with him. We replied that we 
 were on our way to discharge a vow at Padua, but 
 had come through Venice, as the Duchess had never 
 seen this city, and that since we were in travelling 
 dress we should not have made ourselves known to 
 him, only that he was a friend of Your Excellency, 
 and, we felt sure, could be trusted to keep our 
 secret ; to which he replied that we had done well, 
 and that the moment he heard of our arrival he had 
 
 1 This and the five following letters in the Archivio Gonsaga 
 were published by Dr. LuziOj Mantova e Urbino, 307-315. 
 
THE SIGHTS OF VENICE 219 
 
 sent word to the Signory, but we begged that on no 
 account should we be received and pubUcly enter- 
 tained by them. So we came on here quietly this 
 evening, and are lodged in the house of M. Niccolo 
 Trevisano, which is occupied by the Duke of Urbino's 
 ambassador. We found Franceschino Trevisano 
 in the house, and hear from him that aU Venice 
 knows of our arrival, and that Your Excellency's 
 friends are delighted. We aU three commend our- 
 selves to you, and I beg you to kiss my boy. 
 To-morrow I will send some fish and oysters. I 
 thank Your Excellency for allowing me to come 
 here, and am enjoying Venice much more than I did 
 last time, and think the city far more beautiful. 
 The Duchess owns that it is more marvellous than 
 Rome, and wonders at the sight, and is lost in 
 admiration, and kisses Your Excellency's hand. — 
 With the right hand of your wife, Isabella." 
 Venice, March 14, 1502. 
 
 The next day she resumed her tale : — 
 " I was sure Your Excellency would be vexed to 
 hear of the discomforts that we endured at the 
 Stellata, but I hope you will understand that mine 
 were not serious, and that I have spirit enough to 
 put up with such trifling inconvenience, although, of 
 course, we should have been more comfortable if we 
 had stayed with Your Excellency at Sermide. The 
 only disadvantage would have been that we could not 
 have reached Chiozza that evening, where, although 
 we arrived unexpectedly, we were very honourably 
 entertained by M. Alvise Capello at his expense, as I 
 told you before. Yesterday we stopped at Ponia to 
 see those big ships, and went on board a very large 
 one which is being built and is said to be three thou- 
 
220 THE CAMPANILE 
 
 sand tons and more. This morning we went to hear 
 mass at Sta. Maria dei Miracoh, and then to S. 
 Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di S. Marco, and 
 returned home by another way. Directly after 
 dinner we went to S. Marco, hoping to find very few 
 people at that hour, but we were mistaken, as there 
 were a good many, and then, so as not to leave any- 
 thing undone and to see this marvellous city well, we 
 climbed the Campanile of S. Marco, where we 
 greatly enjoyed the beautiful view and examined the 
 noble buildings on all sides. When we descended, 
 we returned by boat and went to S. Giorgio and to 
 the Misericordia, and came home by the Grand 
 Canal. As yet I have seen none of our friends, 
 except Genua, who shook hands with me in the 
 Campanile, and this evening he called at our lodgings 
 to see if we required an5rthing. Monsignore and 
 I spoke to Francesco directly about the jewels. 
 Monsignore pretended that he had found a friend 
 who would lend him 3000 ducats before Your 
 Excellency heard of this, in order to conduct the 
 transaction the more secretly with regard to the 2000 
 ducats which the Albani wiU pay. We have sent for 
 the Jew, and Monsignore and I wiU do our utmost to 
 settle this business. The Duchess is anxious to see 
 the Doge and Signory, who will not appear till the 
 procession of Olives on Sunday, so we have settled to 
 stay here over that day, although I, having seen them 
 already, do not care about it, but I must do this for 
 her sake. On Monday we shall be at Padua, 
 Tuesday at Vicenza, Wednesday at Verona, and so 
 as not to travel on Holy Thursday or Friday, we will 
 spend these two days there and make our com- 
 munions. On Saturday we shall be at Mantua, and I 
 
COURTESY OF THE DOGE 221 
 
 pray you to give a hundred kisses to my darling boy, 
 so that when I am there he will not think it strange 
 to be kissed." Since the Doge had invited the 
 Marchesa to visit the CoUegio, as she had done 
 before, Isabella sent Capilupi and Baesso to make her 
 excuses and those of the Duchess to the Prince and 
 Signory, and explain that they were travelling 
 incognito, and had no clothes in which they could 
 appear. The Doge returned a courteous answer, and 
 gave orders that the Treasury of S. Marco and the 
 Arsenal should both be shown to the distinguished 
 visitors. 
 
 " Meanwhile," writes Isabella, " we went to hear 
 mass at Ca' Grande, and afterwards landed at the 
 Rialto and walked through the Fish-market and the 
 Merceria to the columns of S. Marco. There were 
 such crowds of people that it was difficult to make 
 our way, but we enjoyed it so much that we did 
 not mind the walk, and Monsignore was the most 
 tired of the party. The Duchess is as well as pos- 
 sible. At the columns we took a boat and came 
 home, where we found a secretary from the Signoria 
 waiting to tell us that four gentlemen were coming to 
 visit us on the part of the Doge and Senate. We 
 begged him to dispense with this ceremony, but we 
 had hardly finished dinner before they were here. 
 The Duchess and Monsignore and I met them on 
 the stairs and led them into the room, and I replied 
 to their compliments, laying stress on the love and 
 devotion of Your Excellency for this illustrious 
 Signory. When they were gone M. Alvise MarceUo 
 appeared, having cleverly delayed his visit till theirs 
 was over, and spent some time in friendly conversa- 
 tion. He seems as much devoted to you as ever. 
 
222 GIFTS FROM THE SIGNORY 
 
 M. Filippo Capello also called and talked in the same 
 familiar way with Monsignore and me. Then we 
 went to the ' Vergine,' where we enjoyed seeing the 
 nuns' rooms and hearing two of them sing, but owing 
 to the new regulations lately introduced by Frate 
 Raphael da Varese, who is preaching in S. Marco 
 this Lent, no men are allowed to enter the convent. 
 On our return home we found Alvise Marcello, who 
 told Monsignore that he had got the order to view the 
 Treasury to-morrow morning and the Arsenal after 
 dinner. We commend ourselves to you, and so does 
 M. Alvise a thousand times. I enclose the names of 
 the gentlemen, begging you to kiss our little son for 
 me: M. Alvise Moncenigo, M. Zoanne Gabriele, 
 M. Pietro Justiniano, M. Alvise Mohno." Venice, 
 March 16. 
 
 The next day Messer Alvise called early with a 
 present of fish and confectionery from the Signory,' 
 valued, Sanuto tells us, at twenty-five ducats. This 
 gift included four large chests of fish of different 
 kinds, eight large gilt marzipane cakes, twenty-nine 
 boxes of sweetmeats, four pots of ginger and four of 
 syrup of violets, as well as twenty pounds of wax 
 candles. Isabella sent these presents by messenger to 
 Mantua that evening, begging the Marquis to accept 
 them for her sake. She added a postscript to the 
 effect that the Pope's ambassador had informed the 
 Duchess how warmly the Doge had spoken of their 
 august visitors in the College, saying that the Duke 
 and Marquis could give no better proof of their con- 
 fidence in the Signory than by sending those persons 
 who were dearest to them to Venice. " And all our 
 friends here say the same thing." 
 
 1 Sanuto, Diarii, iv. 234. 
 
ST. MARK'S 223 
 
 After this the Marchesa proceeded to give her 
 husband the following account of their day : — 
 
 " We went to mass at the Carita, and on to 
 S. Marco, where the Pala and Treasury were shown 
 us by Messer Paolo Barbo, the procurator. Then we 
 were taken to the Great Hall of the Council, and to 
 the Armoury of the Doge's Palace, after which we 
 went on foot by the Merceria, which were prepared 
 for us, as far as the Rialto, where we took boat and 
 came home to dinner. Afterwards we went to the 
 Arsenal, which our friend Messer Alvise Marcello 
 showed us with the greatest care and kindness, and 
 Messer Carlo Valerio and Paolo Capello came to 
 shake hands. When we had seen all, M. Alvise 
 took us into the house which he occupies close by, as 
 Treasurer, and entertained us in the usual manner. 
 M. Alvise and M. Paolo Capello came with us in the 
 boat to S. Antonio, where we saw the Sepulchre, and 
 on our way home we called on our neighbour, the 
 Queen of Cyprus, who had invited us to visit her. 
 These gentlemen escorted us home, and so the day 
 ends, and if Your Excellency considers the length of 
 the journey, and all we have seen and done, you will 
 count us to be the most gallant ladies in the world ! " 
 Venice, March 17, 1502. 
 
 The two princesses had certainly made good use 
 of their short visit, and Isabella was delighted with 
 all that she had seen and done. We do not hear if 
 she saw her friends Lorenzo da Pavia and Aldo 
 Manuzio, or the painter Giovanni BeUini, who had 
 excited her displeasure by his long delays in exe- 
 cuting the picture for her Grotta. But it was Alvise 
 Marcello to whom she applied two years later to help 
 her in the matter, and the other patricians are fre- 
 
224 RETURN TO MANTUA 
 
 quently mentioned in her correspondence. Queen 
 Caterina Cornaro was an old friend of the Este prin- 
 cesses, whom Isabella had already visited in her 
 mountain home of Asolo, and to whom she wrote 
 after her return to Mantua, thanking her for the 
 affection and kindness which she had shown her. 
 On the morning of the 21st, the ladies left Venice, 
 and by evening reached Padua, where they were 
 entertained by Count AchiUes Borromeo, and Isa- 
 bella found time to inform her husband that the 
 French ambassadors were expected at Padua on their 
 way to Venice, having been abruptly dismissed by 
 the Emperor. Maximilian had refused to grant 
 Louis XII. the investiture of Milan and the incor- 
 poration of the duchy in the kingdom of France, 
 while the French monarch on his part declined either 
 to release Lodovico Sforza or to allow the exiled 
 partisans of the Sforzas to return to Milan. " Until 
 the present time," she adds, " the King of France has 
 taken little count of the Venetians, but now he is 
 most anxious to secure their friendship." And she 
 ends with expressing her delight in the good news 
 which her husband gives her of Federico, whose 
 company she longs to share, but hopes to make up 
 for lost time on her return. After spending the last 
 days of Holy Week in the house of Count Canossa 
 at Verona, and receiving a gift of fish from the 
 cavaKer Giorgio Cornaro, in the name of the Signory 
 of Venice, Isabella and her sister-in-law reached 
 Mantua on Easter Eve, and the happy mother once 
 more clasped her precious boy in her arms. 
 
 A week afterwards, Francesco left home to attend 
 some races in the neighbourhood, and Isabella's letters 
 as usual were fuU of fond allusions to the child's 
 
FEDERICO'S INFANT CHARMS 225 
 
 cleverness and charms. "The boy always seemed 
 intelligent," she writes on the 4th April, " but since 
 Your Excellency's departure, he surprises me every 
 hour with his pretty ways, and seems determined to 
 keep me amused in your absence. He sits in your 
 place at meals, and plays a thousand other tricks, 
 which I do not teU Your Excellency lest I should 
 excite your envy." Again, two days later, she wrote : 
 " Yesterday, when I was saying my office, he came 
 in and said he wanted to find his papa, and turned 
 over all the cards till he found a figure with a beard, 
 upon which he was delighted, and kissed it six times 
 over, saying, ' Papa hello ! ' with the greatest joy 
 possible," ^ 
 
 Another and less pleasant task to which Isabella 
 now turned her attention was the settlement of her 
 accounts. The expenses of her visit to Ferrara had 
 been heavy ; besides the cost of her own sumptuous 
 toilette, and those of her ladies, presents of costly 
 brocade and chains had to be given to the actors 
 and buffijons, the trumpeters and musicians. Marino 
 Sanuto teUs us that on this occasion the Marchesa 
 had shown remarkable liberality to all of these, but 
 especially to the Spanish jesters in the bride's train.^ 
 At Venice, as we have seen, she had been engaged 
 in raising fresh loans to pay the Albani and redeem her 
 jewels ; and soon after her return to Mantua she ad- 
 dressed a letter to her father, Duke Ercole,to whom she 
 had more than once applied for help in her difficulties. 
 This time, however, she gave him a full statement of 
 her income and expenditure, which is of great in- 
 terest, and shows that if this brilliant lady occasionally 
 
 1 Luzio, Precettori, p. 38. 
 
 2 Dia7ii, iv. 230. 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
226 ISABELLA'S EXPENSES 
 
 erred on the side of extravagance^ she was a prudent 
 and clever manager, who made the most of her 
 money, and had a shrewd eye to business. 
 
 " My honoured Lord and Father, — When I first 
 entered this illustrious house I was given a yearly 
 allowance of 6000 gold ducats, to pay for my clothes 
 and provide dowries for my maidens, and all that is 
 necessary for my servants — including two gentlemen ; 
 the Court supplying the food of about a hundred 
 persons. Afterwards, in' order that I might be free 
 to increase or diminish my household, my illustrious 
 consort gladly agreed, by the advice of his stewards, 
 to take this burden from off their shoulders, and give 
 me another 2000 ducats for the expenses of my whole 
 company. Of this income 6000 was charged on the 
 toll of the mUls, 1000 on an excise duty, and the other 
 1000 on the lands of Letopalidano, near Gonzaga. So 
 you see that in all I have 8000 ducats a year. It is 
 true that by my own economy, and that of my servants, 
 the income of this estate has been increased by about 
 1000 ducats, with which I have been enabled to buy 
 some neighbouring lands ; so that at present the rent 
 brings in about 2500 ducats a year. But I also have 
 to feed about fifty more persons of my household. 
 And it is true that my lord has given me other houses 
 for my pleasure, such, for instance, as Sacchetta and 
 Porto ; but their income does not exceed their ex- 
 penses, and sometimes I have to spend more money 
 to keep them in repair. This is all I can tell Your 
 Excellency for your satisfaction." 
 
 By this statement it is clear that Isabella enjoyed 
 a yearly income of from 8000 to 9000 ducats — no 
 inconsiderable sum, if we consider that the ducat 
 was worth about eleven and a half francs — or, roughly 
 
ALLIANCE WITH THE BORGIAS 227 
 
 speaking, nearly ten shillings — and that money has 
 increased five times in value since those days.^ But 
 considering the large demands upon her purse, and 
 her passion for pictures and antiques, as well as fine 
 clothes and jew^els, it is decidedly to her credit that 
 she was able to keep out of debt, and could often raise 
 money to help her husband in bad times or sudden 
 emergencies. The question of the Cardinal's hat for 
 her brother-in-law, Sigismondo, was now once more 
 raised. But this time it was complicated with another 
 scheme. This was nothing less than the betrothal of 
 Isabella's two-year-old son, Federico, to the infant 
 daughter of Ceesar Borgia and Charlotte d'Albret. 
 The proposal was first made by Duke Valentino. 
 Early in June 1502 he addressed a charming letter to 
 Isabella, expressing his joy at the prospect of this 
 fresh link between them, and during the next few 
 months this marriage was the object of constant 
 negotiation. Both parties were equally wary. 
 Francesco stipulated that his brother should be 
 raised to the Cardinalate at once, while Borgia, 
 on his part, demanded substantial pledges for 
 the consummation of the marriage in future years. 
 But flattering as were the terms in which the Duke 
 expressed his delight at the prospect of the union 
 between his family and the Gonzagas, both the 
 Marquis and Isabella looked upon his proposals 
 with deep distrust. Their suspicions were not 
 removed by the events which took place in the 
 course of the following summer. About the 20th 
 of June Isabella and her sister-in-law went to Porto 
 with a few chosen ladies, and little Federico, be- 
 cause, as his mother said, she could not be happy 
 
 1 See A. Luzio in Nuova Antologia, 1896. 
 
228 C^SAR BORGIA SURPRISES URBINO 
 
 without him. While they were enjoying the fresh 
 breezes and delicious gardens of this charming 
 country-house, the most terrible and unexpected 
 news reached them from Urbino. 
 
 " We were here," wrote Isabella on the 27th of 
 June to her sister-in-law, Chiara de Montpensier, 
 " very quiet and contented, enjoying the company 
 of the Duchess of Urbino, who has been with us 
 since carnival, and often wishing that you were here 
 to complete our happiness, when news of the unex- 
 pected and perfidious seizure of the duchy of Urbino 
 reached us. The Duke himself arrived here with 
 only four horsemen, having been suddenly surprised 
 and treacherously attacked, so that he narrowly 
 escaped with his life. We were quite stunned by the 
 blow, and are stiU. so bewildered and unhappy that 
 we hardly know where we are, as Your Excellency 
 will understand ; and so great is my compassion for 
 the Duchess that I could wish I had never known 
 her." 1 
 
 On the 13th of June, the day after Caesar Borgia 
 addressed his affectionate letter to Isabella rejoicing 
 over the proposed marriage of their children, he left 
 Rome at the head of a large army, and marched 
 through the district of Spoleto, laying the whole 
 country waste, and spreading terror wherever he 
 came. Before his departure he sent friendly mes- 
 sages to Duke Guidobaldo, asking him to aUow 
 his troops to march through the territory of Urbino, 
 and begging for the help of some artiUery in his ex- 
 pedition against the Varani of Camerino. But when 
 he reached Spoleto, instead of marching against 
 Camerino as had been expected, he suddenly turned 
 
 1 Luzio, Maniova e Urbino, p. 125. 
 
FLIGHT OF GUIDOBALDO 229 
 
 up the rocky defile of the Furlo Pass, and marched 
 along the great Flaminian Way, and through 
 the vaUey of the Metaurus towards Urbino. On 
 the 20th of June, the Duke, " supposing himself to 
 be in perfect security,"^ had ridden out to sup in 
 the orange gardens of the Zoccolanti convent, a 
 favourite sanctuary of the Dukes of Urbino, where 
 Piero della Francesca had painted his fine altar- 
 piece, now in the Brera. Here, in the shady groves 
 on the outskirts of the convent garden, he was en- 
 joying the beauty of the summer evening, when a mes- 
 senger arrived in hot haste from Cagli to say that Duke 
 Valentino was outside the city, marching on Urbino 
 at the head of 2000 men. It was too late to think 
 of resistance. Caesar's mercenaries were advancing 
 in every direction. Already the passes of the Apen- 
 nines were guarded, and a price had been set upon 
 the Duke's head. Guidobaldo's only hope of safety 
 lay in flight, and, yielding to the entreaties of his 
 servants, he fled for his hfe, taking with him his 
 young nephew, Francesco della Rovere. After many 
 adventures and narrow escapes, the fugitives suc- 
 ceeded in reaching Mantua safely. "I have saved 
 nothing but my life, my doublet, and my shirt," 
 wrote Guidobaldo on the 28th of June to his kins- 
 man. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, in a long letter 
 giving a vivid description of his midnight flight, 
 and of the false promise with which Borgia had 
 deceived him. " Such ingratitude and treachery," he 
 adds, "were never before known." ^ Even Lucrezia 
 was appalhd at her brother's action, and told the 
 
 1 Dennistoun, " Dukes of Urbino," vol. ii. p. 325, &c. 
 
 2 Alvisi, " C^sar Borgia " ; Dennistoun, " Dukes of Urbino," 
 vol. i. p. 391 ; Yriarte, "Caesar Borgia," vol. u. 
 
230 MICHEL ANGELO'S CUPID 
 
 prete of Correggio that she was miserable when she 
 remembered how kindly the Duchess of Urbino had 
 treated her, and would not have had this happen for 
 all the world. 
 
 At sunrise on the 21st of June, the Duke of 
 Romagna, as Caesar now styled himself, entered 
 Urbino, and, clad in a splendid suit of armour, in- 
 stalled himself on the ducal throne in the ancient 
 palace of the Montefeltri. No resistance was pos- 
 sible, and the few loyal subjects who dared oppose the 
 victor were stabbed or thrown into prison. During 
 the next few weeks a long train of mules was 
 seen descending the steep hiUside, laden with the 
 priceless tapestries and statues, the paintings and 
 treasures of gold and silver plate, which were the 
 pride of the ducal house. Sanuto reckons the value 
 of the booty carried off by Duke Valentino on this 
 occasion at 150,000 ducats, or nearly half a million 
 of our present money. 
 
 In the general grief and consternation at Mantua, 
 Isabella did not lose sight of her own interests. She 
 remembered a wonderful torso of Venus, and a Cupid 
 of almost equal beauty, which she had seen and ad- 
 mired in her brother-in-law's collection, and wrote off 
 without delay to Rome, begging her brother, Cardinal 
 Ippolito d'Este, to secure these rare statues, if pos- 
 sible, for her Grotta. Her letter was written on 
 the 30th of June, only three days after Guidobaldo 
 reached Mantua. 
 
 "Most Reverend Father in God, my dear and 
 honoured Brother, — The Lord Duke of Urbino, my 
 brother-in-law, had in his house a small Venus of 
 antique marble, and also a Cupid, which were given 
 him some time ago by His Excellency the Duke of 
 
ISABELLA'S REQUEST 231 
 
 Romagna. I feel certain that these things must 
 have fallen into the said Duke's hands, together 
 with aU the contents of the palace of Urbino, in the 
 present revolution. And since I am very anxious to 
 collect antiques for the decoration of my studio, I 
 desire exceedingly to possess these statues, w^hich 
 does not seem to me impossible, since I hear that 
 His Excellency has little taste for antiquities, and 
 would accordingly be the more ready to oblige 
 others. But as I am not sufficiently intimate with 
 him to venture to ask this favour at his hands, I 
 think it best to avail myself of your most revered 
 Signoria's good offices, and pray you of your kind- 
 ness to ask him for the said Venus and Cupid, both 
 by messenger and letter, in so effectual a manner 
 that both you and I may obtain satisfaction. I am 
 quite willing, if it so please Your Reverence, that you 
 should mention my name and say that I have; asked 
 for them very urgently, and sent an express courier, 
 as I do now, for, believe me, I could receive no 
 greater pleasure or favour either from His Excel- 
 lency or from your most dear and reverend Signoria, 
 to whom I commend myself affectionately. — Your 
 sister, Isabella, Marchioness of Mantua." ^ Mantua, 
 June 30, 1502. 
 
 The letter, in its frank, straightforward tone, is 
 highly characteristic of the writer. Even at this 
 critical moment, when her heart is wrung with sorrow 
 for the poor Duke, who has fled to Mantua in his 
 shirt-sleeves, and the beloved Duchess, Isabella does 
 not hesitate to seek a favour at the hands of the 
 treacherous prince who had caused their ruin. It is 
 true, she will not stoop to ask this favour of Valentino 
 
 1 GayCj Carteggio d'Artisti, vol. ii. 53. 
 
232 C^SAR SENDS THE STATUES 
 
 in person ; she has no domestichezza with him, and is 
 not on sufficiently famihar terms with him for that. 
 But she is none the less ready to make use of his 
 connection with her own family in order to attain her 
 object and gratify her passion for rare antiques. The 
 Cardinal, who was in high favour at the Vatican 
 since Lucrezia's wedding, complied with his sister's 
 request without delay, and Ceesar Borgia hastened to 
 gratify the fancy of the illustrious Madonna, whose 
 goodwill he was especially anxious to gain. Within 
 the next few weeks, the Duke of Romagna's chamber- 
 lain, bringing with him a mule laden with marbles, 
 arrived at Mantua; and on the 22nd of July, the 
 Marchesa told her husband joyfully that the precious 
 statues were safe in her Grotta. 
 
 " Yesterday, the muleteer arrived safely with the 
 Venus and Cupid which Duke Valentino has sent here, 
 and his chamberlain, Messer Francesco, presented 
 them to me." And after begging Francesco, who 
 had gone to meet the French king at Milan, to take 
 steps for recovering the Duchess of Urbino's dowry, 
 she adds the following postscript : " I do not write of 
 the beauty of the Venus, because I believe Your 
 Excellency has seen it, but for a modern thing the 
 Cupid has no equal." ^ 
 
 This Cupid, which justly excited the accomphsbed 
 Marchesa's admiration, was not, as she apparently 
 knew, a genuine antique, but the work of a young 
 Florentine sculptor, Michel Angelo Buonarroti, whose 
 fame was already great in Rome. In those early days, 
 when Savonarola's sermons were shaking the heart of 
 Florence, the youth of twenty carved a Sleeping 
 Cupid with quiver and torch at his side, which was 
 
 1 Alvisi, " Caesar Borgia," p. 537. 
 
TO MANTUA 233 
 
 so like a Greek marble that a dealer took it to Rome 
 and sold it to Cardinal Riario as an antique. The 
 Cardinal found out the fraud and returned the Cupid 
 to the dealer, but invited the sculptor to Rome. 
 Michel Angelo, indignant at the fraud which had been 
 practised in his name, sought out the dealer and 
 demanded him to restore his Cupid ; but the agent 
 laughed him to scorn, and soon found another pur- 
 chaser in the Pope's son, who, wishing to conciUate 
 the Duke of Urbino, presented him with this Cupid 
 and an antique torso of Venus. Guidobaldo, it seems, 
 set great store on this Cupid, and when, towards the 
 close of 1503, he had recovered his dominions, he told 
 Cattaneo, the Mantuan agent at the Papal court, that 
 he wished the Marchesa would restore his statue. But 
 Isabella rephed with her usual readiness that, glad as 
 she was to hear that the Duke was recovering his scat- 
 tered treasures, she must remind him that he had 
 given her permission to ask Borgia for the Cupid ; 
 and, to prove her case, sent Cattaneo Guidoba,ldo's 
 own letter on the subject. After this there was 
 nothing left for the Duke but to beg the Marchesa 
 to keep the statue and to assure her that his person 
 and property were altogether at her disposal.^ So the 
 Cupid remained in the famous Grotta, where it is 
 mentioned in the inventory of 1542, as the work of 
 Michelagnolo fiorentino. 
 
 De Thou, who visited the Castello in 1573, 
 praised the statue highly, and in June 1630, Charles 
 the First's agent, Daniel Nys, mentions it together 
 with the Cupids of Praxiteles and Sansovino as the 
 rarest objects in the ducal collection. There seems little 
 doubt that this Cupid, which Michel Angelo carved, 
 
 1 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb., 1886. 
 
234 THE LOST CUPID 
 
 and which had so strange a story, and both Guido- 
 baldo and Isabella valued so highly, came to England 
 in 1632, with the rest of the Mantuan art-treasures, 
 and for a while adorned the palace of Whitehall or 
 the halls of Hampton Court. But nothing is known 
 of its fate in after years, and it probably disappeared 
 with so many other rare and precious things at the 
 sale of Charles the First's collections. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 1502—1503 
 
 Louis XII. at Milan — He receives the exiled princes and the 
 Marquis of Mantua — Caesar Borgia arrives at Milan and con- 
 cludes an agreement with the king — Isabella's warnings to 
 her husband — The Duke and Duchess of Urbino forced to 
 leave Mantua and take shelter at Venice — Francesco Gon- 
 zaga goes to France — Isabella governs Mantua — Her nego- 
 tiations with Borgia regarding her son's marriage — Caesar's 
 campaign in Romagna — Treacherous murder of Vitellozzo and 
 his companions — Isabella sends Valentino a present of masks 
 — Death of the Pope and sudden revolution in Rome — 
 Return of Duke Guidobaldo to Urbino — Election of Pope 
 Pius III. 
 
 All the victims of Csesar Borgia's high-handed pohcy, 
 and all those who looked with alarm at his rapid 
 success, now turned to the French king for help. 
 Early in July, Louis XII. crossed the Alps to make 
 preparations for war against the Spanish forces, who, 
 under Gonsalvo di Cordova, had attacked his troops 
 in Naples. On the 28th he entered Milan, bringing 
 with him Federico of Aragon, the ex-king of Naples, 
 and attended by the Duke of Ferrara and the Mar- 
 quis of Mantua, who had joined him a week before 
 at Vigevano. Here, too, came the unfortunate Duke 
 of Urbino and Giovanni Sforza to plead their cause 
 against Valentino. Louis received the exiled princes 
 with fair promises, and Francesco Gonzaga was be- 
 ginning to talk loudly of avenging their wrongs, 
 when Csesar Borgia himself appeared suddenly on 
 
 236 
 
236 ISABELLA'S FEARS 
 
 the scene. " This inscrutable Duke," as Machiavelli 
 calls him, " who hardly ever speaks, but always acts," 
 left his victorious army in Umbria, and after paying 
 a flying visit to his sister Lucrezia, who had given 
 birth to a dead child and was lying dangerously ill 
 at Ferrara, reached Milan on the 7th of August. 
 His coming changed the face of affairs and destroyed 
 Ehsabetta Gonzaga's last hopes. He accompanied 
 the king to Genoa on the 26th, and did not take 
 leave of him until Louis had promised him his sup- 
 port in completing the conquest of Central Italy in 
 return for his help against the Spaniards in Naples. 
 
 AU this while Isabella was going through agonies 
 of fear and suspense. The imprudent words which 
 her husband had spoken in public against Valentino 
 had filled her with alarm for his safety, and she im- 
 plored him repeatedly in her letters to be more care- 
 ful in future, and, above all, to take every precaution 
 against poison, knowing the unscrupulous nature of 
 the Duke and the crimes which he had already 
 committed. 
 
 " I cannot conceal my fears for your person and 
 State," she writes on the 23rd of July, only the day 
 after she had received Borgia's gift of the Venus 
 and Cupid. " It is generally believed that His 
 Most Christian Majesty has some understanding with 
 Valentino, so I beg of you to be careful not to use 
 words which may be repeated to him, because in 
 these days we do not know who is to be trusted.^ 
 . . . There is a report here — whether it has come 
 from Milan by letter or word of mouth, I do not 
 know — that Your Excellency has spoken angry words 
 against Valentino before the Most Christian King 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 59. 
 
FOR HER LORD'S SAFETY 237 
 
 and the Pope's servants, and whether this is true or 
 not, they will doubtless reach the ears of Valentino, 
 who, having already shown that he does not scruple 
 to conspire against those of his own blood, will, I 
 am certain, not hesitate to plot against your person. 
 And being jealous for your hfe, which I count dearer 
 than my own, and knowing how your natural good- 
 ness leads you to take no precautions for your safety, 
 I have made inquiries of Antonio da Bologna and 
 others, and hear from them that you allow all manner 
 of persons to serve you at table, and that Alessandro 
 da Baesso eats with you, leaving grooms and pages 
 to do the offices of carvers and cupbearers. So that 
 I see it would be perfectly easy for any one to poison 
 Your Excellency, since you have neither guards nor 
 proper servants. I pray and implore you therefore, 
 if you will not take care for your own sake, to be 
 more careful for my sake and that of our little son, 
 and I hope that you will in future order Alessandro to 
 discharge his office of carver with the greatest caution. 
 If he cannot do this, I wiU send Antonio or some 
 other trustworthy servant, because I had rather run 
 the risk of making you angry than that both I and 
 our httle one should be left to weep for you." 
 
 She added the following postscript in her own 
 writing : " My dearest lord, do not laugh at my fears 
 and say that women are cowards and always afraid, 
 because their mahgnity is far greater than my fears 
 and your own courage. I would have written all 
 this letter with my own hand, but the heat is so 
 great we are nearly dead. The boy is very well and 
 sends you a kiss. — Isabella, who longs to see Your 
 Highness." ^ 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 137. 
 
238 CiESAR BORGIA AT MILAN 
 
 At the same time Isabella wrote to her old friend, 
 Niccolo da Correggio, who had also gone to meet 
 King Louis, begging him to acquaint her with all 
 that was happening at Milan. 
 
 On the 8th of August, Niccolo, ever loyal to her 
 wishes, wrote to tell her of Caesar Borgia's unexpected 
 arrival, and of the affectionate way in which the 
 King had welcomed him : — 
 
 " To obey your orders I must tell you that last 
 night Duke Valentino arrived here on horseback. 
 I cannot tell you with what warm demonstrations of 
 friendship His Christian Majesty welcomed him. 
 He was returning from the house of Messer Trivulzio, 
 when he met the Lord Duke arriving from the 
 Porta Romana, and, embracing him with great joy, 
 he led him to the Castello, and lodged him in the room 
 nearest to his ovsti. He himself ordered the Duke's 
 supper, choosing certain favourite dishes, and he 
 visited him three or four times in the course of the 
 evening, even when he had put on his night-shirt 
 and was about to go to bed ! He ordered seneschals 
 and servants for the said Duke, and begged him to 
 wear his own shirts and clothes, saying that he is not 
 to ask any one else for what he needs, but make 
 use of the king's wardrobe, carriages and horses, as 
 if they were his own. Only think. His Majesty 
 went so far as to propose that a litter for the 
 camp, to suit the Duke's taste, should be provided. 
 In fact, he could not do more for a son or brother. 
 Yesterday, being Sunday, His Christian Majesty 
 went to mass at San Stefano, where Duke Galeazzo 
 was murdered, and afterwards dined in the house of 
 your illustrious father, the Duke of Ferrara, which is 
 now occupied by Messer Teodoro di Trivulzio, and 
 
FAVOUR OF LOUIS XII. 239 
 
 went to a dance at the house of Francesco Ber- 
 nardino Visconti, and after supper he went to see 
 some more dancing in the house of Bishop Pallavicini 
 outside the Porta Lenza, and the Lord Duke accom- 
 panied His Majesty on horseback, and did not return 
 to the Castello until past nine. I did not go to the 
 festa, but hear that Ippolito was at the Bishop's 
 house. This morning the king is gone to dine at 
 Binasco, where he remains to-night, and goes on to 
 supper at Pavia to-morrow. The illustrious Lord 
 Duke, your father, will also go to Pavia, starting 
 three or four hours earlier. His Christian Majesty 
 goes on to Genoa, not, as was said at first, to Parma, 
 since he is returning to France sooner than was 
 expected. I do not know what else to tell Your 
 Highness of public matters, for it is rash to pro- 
 nounce any judgment in these times. But the 
 Signor Marchese will soon return, and will tell you 
 more of these caresses between the Duke and the 
 king." ^ 
 
 This letter confirmed Isabella's worst fears. She 
 used aU her influence to induce her husband to pay 
 court to the dreaded Valentino. As a further pre- 
 caution, she induced him to write a letter expressing 
 his friendly sentiments for the Duke, which she could 
 show to the chamberlain who had just presented her 
 with the two antiques. Her fears, as it turned out, 
 were not unfounded, for Sanuto reports that Francesco 
 pubhcly denounced Cassar Borgia as a bastard and a 
 priest's son, and that Valentino, on arriving at Milan, 
 openly challenged him to fight. During mass the 
 next day the Marquis told the Venetian envoy that 
 he would fight the Duke single-handed with sword 
 
 1 Luzio, " Niccolo da Correggio," in Giom. St. d. Lett., xxi. p. 240. 
 
240 THE EXILED PRINCES 
 
 and dagger, and boasted that he would dehver Italy. 
 King Louis, however, succeeded in reconciling the 
 two princes, and when he returned to France they 
 parted good friends. In a conversation which Borgia 
 had at Genoa with the Mantuan treasurer, Ghivizzano, 
 he laid stress on his friendly feelings for his lord, and 
 on the Pope's esteem for both Francesco and his 
 wife, but insisted that if the Marquis wished to 
 remain his ally, he must not keep the exiled Duke 
 at his court. Accordingly, on the 9th of September, 
 both the Duke and Duchess of Urbino left Mantua, 
 Elisabetta declaring that her husband would be 
 exposed to greater peril without her, and that she 
 would never leave him, were they to die in an 
 hospital. Fortunately they found shelter at Venice, 
 which, Sanuto remarks, becahie the refuge and resort 
 of all the princes whom Duke Valentino had expelled, 
 and were hospitably received by the Signory, who 
 gave them a pension and a house at Canareggio.' 
 But poor Elisabetta was reduced to the greatest 
 straits for want of money. At one time she even 
 entertained the idea of entering the service of the 
 Queen of France, Anne de Bretagne, who, in the 
 kindness of her heart, had sent the unhappy Duchess 
 generous offers of help. But she could not make up 
 her mind to leave her husband, while no power on 
 earth would induce her to accept Valentino's offer of 
 a liberal pension if she would consent to the dissolu- 
 tion of her marriage, and Guidobaldo would agree to 
 renounce his patrimony and become a priest. 
 
 In these melancholy circumstances Isabella showed 
 the same tender affection and sympathy for her un- 
 fortunate relatives. She ventured to ask Duke 
 
 1 Diarii, iv. 329, 701. 
 
ELISABETTA AT VENICE 241 
 
 Valentino for the recovery of Emilia Pia's property, 
 and sent her trusted seneschal Alessandro da Baesso 
 and other members of her household constantly to 
 and fro with letters and presents to Elisabetta. On 
 the 5th of October she wrote as follows : — 
 
 " My dear and honoured Sister, — The good news of 
 your safe arrival at Venice, and of the kind reception 
 which you have had both in public and private, re- 
 joiced my heart, and I thank you warmly for your 
 letters. I could not answer before, because I had no 
 messenger to send, but now that Alessandro is going 
 to you, I would not put off writing any longer. You 
 will hear from him that my lord and aU of us are 
 weU, excepting Leonora, who still has fever. We 
 have weaned Federico, who after the first night and 
 day has got over it easily. My lord starts to-morrow 
 for France as arranged. Your Highness may think 
 how sad I am without your conversation, but I hope 
 you will console me by writing constantly, and I will 
 do the same, and commend myself to you as well as 
 to the illustrious Lord Duke and Madonna Emilia." ^ 
 
 But when, a few days after this, Guidobaldo, 
 responding to the call of his old subjects, made a 
 desperate attempt to recover his throne, the Marquis 
 turned a deaf ear to his sister's entreaties, and refused 
 to lift a hand against his ally, Duke Valentino. As 
 might have been expected, his gallant effort proved 
 fruitless, and the love of his people availed little 
 against the might of Borgia. Guidobaldo was forced 
 to fly from Urbino a second time, but fell danger- 
 ously ill at Citta di Castello. It was not until the 
 end of January that he succeeded in escaping to 
 Venice. During some weeks Elisabetta remained 
 
 1 Luzio, Mantova e Urbino, p. 145. 
 VOL. I. ft 
 
242 THE MARQUIS IN FRANCE 
 
 ignorant of his fate, and Sigismondo Gonzaga, who 
 hastened to Venice and tried to comfort her, gave 
 Isabella a piteous account of her sorrow and anxiety. 
 
 Meanwhile, Francesco Gonzaga had started for 
 France on the 6th of October, as Isabella informed 
 the Duchess, on the invitation of King Louis, who 
 wished to consult him on Italian affairs and hoped to 
 secure his help against the Spaniards. He had pro- 
 mised his wife that he would be at home for Christ- 
 mas, and Isabella's letters show how eagerly his 
 return was expected. 
 
 " After I sent my last letter," she writes on the 
 2nd of December, " Federico wished to have supper 
 with me, which he did with the most charming grace 
 in the world, and afterwards, as he was at play with 
 ten gold ducats before him, I made some one knock 
 at the door and pretend that a poor beggar was 
 asking for alms. Upon which he took up a ducat at 
 once, and without any prompting, desired the money 
 to be given him, saying : ' Tell him to pray to God 
 for me and also for my Pa.' This dehghted all who 
 were present. I hope this childish inspiration wiU 
 have the effect of soon bringing you home, where 
 your presence is eagerly desired." ^ 
 
 But Louis XII. insisted on taking the Marquis 
 to spend Christmas in his chateau at Loches, and 
 eventually kept him at his court until the end of 
 January. Both the King and Queen treated Fran- 
 cesco with marked courtesy, and Anne of Brittany 
 renewed an offer which she had formerly made to 
 educate his daughter Leonora at her court and marry 
 her to a prince of the blood-royal. This plan was 
 eventually abandoned, but at one time it seems to 
 
 1 LuziOj Precettori) p. 38. 
 
QUEEN ANNE OF BRITTANY 243 
 
 have been seriously entertained, as we learn from a 
 curious autograph letter addressed by the Queen to 
 Isabella, which is stiU preserved in the Gonzaga 
 archives : — 
 
 " A ma Cousine la Marquise de Mantove. 
 
 " Ma cousine, mon cousin votre mari m'a dit que 
 lui et vous me veuliez bailler votre fille pour estre 
 avec mey et vous la m'envoyerez, mais que eussiez 
 sceu mon vouloir. Ma cousine, envoiez la moi quant 
 vais voudrez, car je la traieteray tout ainsi que si eUe 
 estoit myenne, et pouvez estre seure, ma cousine, que 
 tout ce que je pourriez faire pour vous, toujours my 
 employereay de bon coeur. Priant Dieu, ma cousine, 
 qu'U vous ait en sa garde.— Votre bonne cousine, 
 Anne. 
 
 " Escript h, Loches, le 15 jour Decembre." ^ 
 
 During her husband's absence, Isabella adminis- 
 tered public affairs with her usual tact and abUity, 
 and managed to keep Duke Valentino in good 
 humour. The negotiations regarding Federico's 
 marriage and Sigismondo's Cardinalate still dragged 
 on, and the Duke sent an envoy to Mantua to dis- 
 cuss the terms of the contract with the Marchesa. 
 But both parties regarded each other with mutual 
 suspicion, and in her letter to Francesco, Isabella 
 complained that the Pope returned equivocal answers 
 as to the Cardinal's hat, while the Duke refused to 
 fix the amount of his daughter's dowry. Cgesar's 
 object, it is clear, was to gain time, and to keep in 
 touch with the Gonzagas and with France, until the 
 dream of his life was successfully accompHshed, and 
 he had established one great kingdom of Central 
 Italy. AU through the autumn of 1502, he continued 
 
 1 L. Pelissier, Revue historique, 1891. 
 
244 MASSACRE OF SINIGAGLIA 
 
 his career of conquest. After quelling the rebellion 
 in Urbino, he marched against Sinigaglia, which was 
 held by Guidobaldo's sister Giovanna for her young 
 son Francesco deUa Rovere, and captured and sacked 
 the town. Then he seized Perugia and Citta di Cas- 
 tello and proceeded to attack Siena. The conquest 
 of Tuscany was his next object, and he entered into 
 negotiations with the Emperor for the investiture of 
 Pisa, Siena and Lucca. On the 1st of January 1503, he 
 informed the Marchesa Isabella, who had repeatedly 
 sent him congratulations on his victories, of his latest 
 success at Sinigaglia, and of the cold-blooded murder 
 of his old colleagues, Vitellozzo, Oliverotto, and their 
 companions. This treacherous act, which Machia- 
 veUi describes as the " bellissimo inganno di Sini- 
 gaglia," forms the subject of a long letter which 
 Isabella wrote to her husband on the 10th of January, 
 and which throws considerable light on the political 
 situation. 
 
 " My dear Lord,— Much as I desire Your High- 
 ness's return, and impatiently as I long to see you 
 again, I quite understand from your letter of the 16th 
 of December, which the muleteer has brought me, 
 that the cause of your delay is honourable and useful 
 to Your Excellency as well as agreeable to His Most 
 Christian Majesty. This being the case, I am content 
 with your explanations, and take no little pleasure 
 and comfort in hearing how much favour and atten- 
 tion is paid you by His Majesty. The fact that he 
 supphes you with money from his own purse, over 
 and above the pension which you receive, is in 
 itself, as you say, a great sign of affection. I thank 
 you warmly for telling me this, and have communi- 
 cated the good news to the most revered Proto- 
 
TREACHERY OF CtESAR BORGIA 245 
 
 notary, the Magnifico Giovanni Gonzaga, and other 
 of our gentlemen, who feel no small pleasure in 
 hearing that you are so highly honoured. After my 
 last letter of the 3rd, I should not have written 
 again if I had not received your letter, from which 
 I gather that this one will reach you before you 
 leave Lyons. Although you have doubtless heard 
 of the capture and death of the confederates of La 
 Marca, I will tell you the account which I have 
 received from our mutual brother, Signor Giovanni. 
 On the 3rd he wrote to say that the illustrious Lord 
 Duke of Romagna was congratulating himself with 
 Signor Giovanni Bentivoglio on the capture 3,t 
 Sinigaglia of Paolo Orsini, ViteUozzo, the Duke of 
 Gravina and Oliverotto de Fermo. He justifies his 
 action because, in spite of the pardon which they 
 had received from His Holiness and His Excellency 
 after their former rebellion, they came to Sinigaglia 
 as soon as the French troops were gone, with the 
 intention of seizing his person. Fortunately he 
 heard of this and was able to forestall their action 
 and treat them as they would have treated him. 
 The said captains went to Sinigaglia by order of the 
 Duke, with his safe conduct, and took possession of 
 the town in his name and then rode out to meet 
 him. The Duke shook hands with them and em- 
 braced them, re-entered the town riding between 
 ViteUozzo and the Duke of Gravina, and talking with 
 them. But as soon as they entered the house where 
 he took up his abode, he made them prisoners with 
 his own hands, and they were led away bound and 
 condemned to die the next morning. Both ViteUozzo 
 and Oliverotto had their heads cut off. By the same 
 letter I hear that the Prefetessa, hearing of the 
 
246 ISABELLA'S ACCOUNT 
 
 Duke's advance, abandoned the town, leaving the 
 Rocca w^ell defended, and went by Florence to 
 Genoa, to join S. Pietro in Vincula (her brother-in- 
 law, Cardinal Giuliano), which Francesco Malatesta 
 also confirms. Signor Giovanni wrote on the 5th, 
 to say that the Lord Duke had informed his brother- 
 in-law (Annibale BentivogHo) of the death of 
 Vitellozzo and Oliverotto, and that the Duke of 
 Gravina and Paolo Orsini are prisoners, and will 
 shortly be put to death in their turn. From Rome 
 we hear of the imprisonment of Cardinal Orsini, 
 and M. Giovanni Lucido (Cattaneo), writing from 
 Rome on the 3rd, tells me that the Pope threw 
 Rinaldo Orsini, Cardinal Archbishop of Florence, 
 and Giacomo Sante Croce into prison on the same 
 day, and that all Rome has taken up arms in self- 
 defence. But the Pope is well prepared and there 
 wiU not be any revolt. Signor Giovanni teUs me 
 that the Duke left Sinigagha after the town had been 
 sacked by his troops, and hastened against Perugia, 
 where Giovanni Baglioni and his men-at-arms sur- 
 rendered. I hear that a plot has been made in 
 Siena against Pandolfo Petrucci, who has imprisoned 
 twenty-two citizens, and put three of the chief 
 among them to death. The Lord Duke has written 
 a very courteous letter to Signor Giovanni Benti- 
 voglio, begging him to conclude an aUiance with 
 him, and asking for 100 light horse and 30 men- 
 at-arms, whom he is sending under the Cavahere 
 della Volta. I also hear that Signor Giovanni 
 Maria da Camerino has fled and that his women 
 are gone to Florence, and the people of Ancona 
 have sent envoys to the Duke promising to pay 
 him obedience. No one knows where the Duke 
 
OF BORGIA'S CONQUESTS 247 
 
 of Urbino is, but, from what we hear, we think 
 that he escaped from Cittk di Castello through the 
 Casentino, and Modesto, who has just arrived from 
 Venice, tells me it is reported there that he has 
 reached a place of safety and will soon be in Venice ; 
 but of this I have not heard either from the Duchess 
 or from any one else. Francesco Malatesta writes 
 from Florence that the devoted friends of Your 
 Excellency there are alarmed at the extraordinary 
 good fortune and exaltation of the Duke of Romagna, 
 and wish that you were at home, feeling that they 
 could better decide on their course of action if they 
 knew they could depend on you and your forces. 
 It is said that the Pope has renewed negotiations 
 with the Florentines, and I hear this also from 
 Rome, but it is not likely that they will trust him. 
 AU the same, if Your Excellency has not already 
 concluded this alliance, I beg you to make haste and 
 to settle matters, while you are with the Most Christian 
 King, as long as you can do this with profit and 
 honour, for there is no knowing what may happen. 
 As to the affairs of Naples, I hear so many different 
 reports that I do not know what to believe, and 
 leave Your Excellency to learn the truth at court. 
 There is nothing more to say, excepting that I and 
 Federico and our other children Leonora and Livia 
 are well and commend ourselves to your good graces. 
 —Your obedient wife, Isabella."^ 
 
 A few days after writing this letter, which gives 
 so graphic a picture of Csesar Borgia's treacherous 
 and vindictive acts, the Marchesa thought it well to 
 conciliate the all-powerful Duke by offering him a 
 present of a hundred masks, which she sent him 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notizie d'Isabella, p. 265. 
 
248 HER GIFT TO C^SAE. 
 
 together with the following letter congratulating him 
 on his " glorious victories." 
 
 " Most illustrious Lord, — Your kind letter inform- 
 ing us of Your Excellency's fortunate progress has 
 filled us with that joy and delight which is the natural 
 result of that friendship and affection which exists 
 between you and ourselves, and in our illustrious 
 lord's name and our own we congratulate you on 
 your safety and prosperity, and thank you for inform- 
 ing us of this, and also for your offer to keep us 
 informed of your future successes. This we beg you 
 of your courtesy to continue, since, loving you as we 
 do, we are anxious to hear often of your movements, in 
 order that we may rejoice in your welfare and share 
 your triumphs. And because we think that you 
 should take some rest and recreation after the fatigues 
 and exertions of these glorious undertakings, we send 
 you a hundred masks by our servant Giovanni, being 
 well aware that so poor a gift is unworthy of your 
 acceptance, but as a token that if in our land we 
 could find an offering more worthy of your greatness, 
 we would gladly send it to you. If these masks are 
 not as fine as they should be. Your Excellency must 
 blame the masters of Ferrara, since owing to the 
 law against wearing masks in public, which has only 
 lately been revoked, the art of making them has been 
 in a great measure lost. We beg you to accept them 
 as a token of our sincere goodwill and affection for 
 Your Excellency. As for our aUiance, we have no 
 more to say until we hear the decision of His HoM- 
 ness regarding the securities required for the payment 
 of the dowry, which we await in order finally to 
 conclude the agreement." ^ 
 
 1 Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia/' App. 
 
HIS REPLY 249 
 
 The Duke, who not only followed the practice of 
 other noble youths in riding out in disguise in search 
 of adventures, but always wore a mask on his face 
 in the streets of Rome,^ was highly gratified by the 
 Marchesa's present, and wrote to express his thanks, 
 from Aquapendente, on the 1st of February : — 
 
 " Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, hon- 
 oured Comatre,^ dearest Sister, — We have received 
 Your Excellency's gift of a hundred masks, which 
 are most acceptable to us not only on account of 
 their remarkable beauty and variety, but because of 
 the time and place of their arrival, which could not 
 possibly be more opportune. It seems, indeed, as 
 if Your Excellency must have foreseen the order of 
 our plan of campaign and our present journey to 
 Rome. After having taken the city and province 
 of Sinigaglia with all its fortresses, in a single 
 day, and justly punished the perfidious treachery of 
 our foes, we released the cities of CasteUo, Fermo, 
 Cisterna, Montone, and Perugia from the yoke of 
 tyrants, and brought them back to their old obe- 
 dience to His Holiness. Last of all, we deposed 
 the tyrant Pandolfo Petrucci from the dominion of 
 Siena, where he had shown such atrocious cruelty. 
 And these masks are above all precious to us be- 
 cause they afford a fresh proof of the singular affec- 
 tion which we know that you and your illustrious 
 lord cherish for us, and have already shown in other 
 ways, and now testify again by the long letter which 
 accompanies them. For all this we thank you in- 
 
 1 A. Giustinian, Dispacci, i. 412. 
 
 2 Comatre, Fr. commere, gossip. Csesar Borgia habitually ad- 
 dresses Isabella by this title because he had stood godfather to 
 her son. 
 
250 FRANCESCO IN FRENCH SERVICE 
 
 finitely, although the greatness of your merit and of 
 your goodness towards us is beyond words, and 
 claims recognition by deed. We shall wear the masks 
 with pleasure, and their perfect beauty will need no 
 other ornament. As for our mutual relationship, we 
 are doing our utmost to bring this about, and when 
 we reach Rome will see that His Hohness gives his 
 consent to the contract. The prisoners for whom 
 Your Excellency intercedes shall be set free, and as 
 soon as we have information to this effect, we will 
 let Your Highness hear from us without delay. — Of 
 Your Excellency the compare and younger brother, 
 C^SAU, Duke of Romagna. From the pontifical 
 camp at Aquapendente." ^ 
 
 When Csesar Borgia vprote this letter, he was 
 hurrying back to Rome to quell the rising of the 
 Orsini, who, in revenge for the Pope's violent acts, 
 had entrenched themselves in their fortresses of Ceri 
 and Bracciano, and were ravaging the Campagna up 
 to the gates of Rome. While he was engaged in this 
 fresh warfare, news reached him of the reverses which 
 the French troops had suffered in Naples. On the 
 28th of April, Gonsalvo de Cordova gained a decisive 
 victory over the French general, Louis d'Ars, at 
 Cerignola, and soon afterwards entered Naples in 
 triumph. Louis XII. lost no time in raising a new 
 army, and in July the Marquis of Mantua, who had 
 only lately returned from France, started for the 
 South with La TrdmouiUe, at the head of a con- 
 siderable force. 
 
 Isabella was once more left to hold the reins of 
 state in these critical times. Since her visit to Venice 
 after Lucrezia Borgia's wedding, she had not left 
 
 1 Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," App. 
 
A MIRACLE-PLAY 251 
 
 Mantua for a single day, but in April 1503, she paid 
 a short visit to her father, and spent St. George's day 
 at Ferrara, where, as usual, she received a warm wel- 
 come. On the 24th, she wrote to her husband : — 
 
 " Yesterday, besides receiving visits from a large 
 number of ladies and gentlemen, these Signors, my 
 brothers, remained continually with me, and about 
 four o'clock my sister-in-law (Lucrezia) came to my 
 room, and after conversing very pleasantly for some 
 time, took me in her chariot for a drive through 
 Ferrara tUl late, when the said Signors returned with 
 me to my lodgings. To-day the representation of 
 the Annunciation has been given. I went to the 
 Castello to fetch this lady, who continues to show me 
 great honour and aflfection, and we went together to 
 the Archbishop's house, where I found my lord father, 
 and saw the wooden stage which had been erected 
 and sumptuously adorned for the occasion. A young 
 Angel spoke the argument of the play, quoting the 
 words of the Prophets who foretold the Advent of 
 Christ, and the said Prophets appeared, speaking their 
 prophecies translated into Italian verse. Then Mary 
 appeared, under a portico supported by eight pillars, 
 and began to repeat some verses from the Prophets, 
 and while she spoke, the sky opened, revealing a 
 figure of God the Father, surrounded by a choir of 
 angels. No support could be seen either for His feet 
 or for those of the angels, and six other seraphs 
 hovered in the air, suspended by chains. In the 
 centre of the group was the Archangel Gabriel, to 
 whom God the Father addressed His word, and after 
 receiving his orders, Gabriel descended with admir- 
 able artifice, and stood, half-way in the air, at the 
 same height as the organ. Then, all of a sudden, an 
 
252 AT FERRARA 
 
 infinite number of lights broke out at the foot of the 
 angel- choir, and hid them in a blaze of glory — which 
 really was a thing worth seeing, and flooded all the 
 sky with radiance. At that moment the Angel 
 Gabriel alighted on the ground, and the iron chain 
 which he held was not seen, so that he seemed to 
 float down on a cloud, until his feet rested on the 
 floor. After delivering his message he returned with 
 the other angels to heaven, to the sound of singing 
 and music and melody, and there were verses recited 
 by spirits, holding lighted torches in their hands and 
 waving them to and fro as they stood supported in 
 the air, so that it frightened me to see them. When 
 they had ascended into heaven, some scenes of the 
 Visitation of St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph were given, 
 in which the heavens opened again and an angel 
 descended, with the same admirable contrivance, to 
 manifest the Incarnation of Jesus to Joseph, and set 
 his doubts at rest regarding the Conception of the 
 Holy Virgin. So the festa ended. It lasted two 
 and a half hours, and was very delightful to see, be- 
 cause of the fine machinery which I have described, 
 as well as other things of the kind which I have left 
 out. But the heat was great, because of the im- 
 mense crowd of people. On Thursday I think we 
 are to have a representation of the Magi and of the 
 Innocents, of which I will inform Your Excellency, 
 to whom I send by this courier a basket of fresh 
 honeycomb, — You most devoted vdfe, Isabella." ^ 
 
 On the following day the spectacle of the Magi 
 
 offering their gifts at the cradle of Bethlehem, with 
 
 the guiding star in the sky above, and a fine display 
 
 of opened heaven and angelic choirs, excited great 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella. 
 
DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI. 253 
 
 admiration, while the Massacre of the Innocents 
 moved the spectators to tears, and many women and 
 children who were present cried aloud.^ 
 
 A fresh sorrow awaited Isabella on her return 
 home. This was the death of her sister-in-law, 
 Chiara de Montpensier, whose troubled life ended 
 at Mantua on the 2nd of June. The poor Duchess 
 of Urbino, hving as she was in penury and exile 
 at Venice, felt this fresh blow keenly, and wrote to 
 Isabella saying that after losing state, home, and 
 fortune, she was now deprived of the sister who had 
 been to her as a mother. Suddenly an unexpected 
 event turned the tide of affairs and changed the 
 whole political situation. 
 
 On the 18th of August, Pope Alexander VI. 
 died in the Vatican. His iUness had been very 
 short. On the 5th of August, he and his son Caesar, 
 who was on the point of starting to join his army 
 at Perugia, and embark on a fresh series of con- 
 quests, dined with Cardinal Adriano da Corneto at 
 his villa. The following day Caesar wrote a letter to 
 Isabella d'Este, gratefully accepting an offer of a 
 couple of her dogs, which belonged to a breed that 
 he admired especially. A week afterwards both he 
 and his father fell seriously ill of malarial fever, 
 which attacked all the guests who had dined at the 
 Cardinal's villa. The old Pope, who was seventy-three 
 years of age, became rapidly worse, and on the after- 
 noon of the 18th Costabih wrote to Duke Ercole,^ and 
 Cattaneo sent word to the Marquis of Mantua, that 
 His Holiness was sinking. He died that night, but 
 Cattaneo, who informed the Marquis of the event 
 
 1 D'Ancona, Origini, vol. ii. 
 
 2 Archivio di Stato, Modena. 
 
254 RETURN OF GUTDOBALDO 
 
 early the next morning, says expressly that there was 
 no suspicion of poison, although both father and son 
 were taken ill at the same time.^ 
 
 The news spread like wildfire through the whole 
 of Italy. It reached Francesco Gonzaga as he was 
 marching south with the French army at Parma, 
 and he sent it on by express courier to Mantua. It 
 rejoiced the heart of Giovanni Sforza, who was ill in 
 bed himself, but told his brother-in-law that the good 
 news had nearly cured his malady, and that he only 
 hoped soon to hear that Valentino was also dead ! It- 
 reached the exiled Duke and Duchess in their sad 
 retreat at Venice, and Guidobaldo started without 
 delay for Urbino, where the people rose in arms and 
 welcomed him with acclamation. Never was an 
 exiled prince greeted with such passionate delight. 
 The children poured out to meet him with olive- 
 branches in their hands, and hailed his return with 
 triumphal songs. Old men wept tears of joy, 
 women and children thronged the streets, and 
 mothers held up their little ones to see the Duke, and 
 told them never to forget that day. " The very 
 stones," wrote CastigUone, "seemed to rejoice, and 
 to sing for gladness." ^ Emilia Pia's secretary, who 
 described the scene to the Marchesa Isabella, told 
 how high-born women danced with glee in the 
 streets, and old blind men of eighty were led up to 
 the Duke, and asked leave to touch him with their 
 hands that they might be sure he was there again. 
 " Some brought their children in arms to see him ; 
 others uttered words which would have moved the 
 
 1 Arckivio Gonzaga, quoted in Pastor, " History 'of the Popes," 
 vi; App. 
 
 ^ Serassi, Lettere di CastigUone. 
 
PAPAL CONCLAVE 255 
 
 stones to tears." ^ Elisabetta herself wrote to tell 
 Isabella the welcome which the Duke had received 
 from his faithful people. She remembered how, in 
 the darkest days of her distress at Mantua, the good 
 Sister Osanna bade her dry her tears, since Borgia's 
 dominion would prove as transitory as a blaze of straw, 
 and thanked God that her words had proved true.^ 
 
 Meanwhile all Rome was in a ferment. " The 
 confusion," wrote Cardinal Egidio of Viterbo, "was 
 such that it seemed as if everything were going to 
 pieces." Caesar Borgia, after vainly trying to take 
 possession of CasteU' Sant' Angelo, was borne in a 
 Utter to Nepi, and placed himself under the pro- 
 tection of the French army, which had advanced to 
 Viterbo. On the 16th of September, thirty-seven 
 Cardinals met in conclave. At first the French 
 candidate, George d'Amboise, was thought certain of 
 success, but Giuliano deUa Rovere strongly opposed 
 his election ; and before the conclave met, the 
 Mantuan agent, Ghivizzano, wrote to the Marquis, 
 saying : " The Cardinals are buzzing about us like 
 bees, and intriguing in all directions, but neither 
 D'Amboise nor Giuhano will be Pope: it wiU be 
 Siena or S. Prassede." The issue proved that he was 
 right. On the 22nd the aged Cardinal Piccolomini 
 of Siena was elected. "A good man," says Ghivizzano, 
 "whose previous life and acts of charity make the 
 people hope that as a Pope he will be the very 
 reverse of Alexander VI. And so they are beside 
 themselves with joy." ' On the same day Francesco 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 149- 
 
 2 Donesmondi, Storia Eccl. di Mantova, ii. 
 
 8 Archivio Gonzaga ; Pastor, "History of the Popes," vol. vi. 
 p. 619. 
 
256 THE POPE'S DEATH-BED 
 
 Gonzaga wrote a remarkable letter to his wife from 
 the French camp outside the walls of Rome, telling 
 her of the Pope's election, and repeating the legend 
 which had already sprung up in the popular mind, 
 that the devil himseK had come to fetch the soul of 
 the hated Borgia. 
 
 " Most Ulustrious and beloved Wife, — In order 
 that you may hear the latest details which have 
 reached us of the Pope's death, we write to inform 
 you how, in his last illness, he began to speak and 
 act in a way which made those about him think that 
 he was wandering, although he retained perfect 
 possession of his faculties. His words were : ' I wiU 
 come, you are right, only wait a little longer,' and 
 those who were in his secrets afterwards revealed that 
 in the conclave held after the death of Innocent III. 
 he had made a compact with the devil and had bought 
 the papal tiara at the price of his soul. One article 
 of the compact was that he should sit in the papal 
 chair for twelve years, which he actually did, as 
 weU as four more days. There are others who say 
 that seven devils were in the room at the moment 
 when he gave up the ghost. And when he was dead, 
 his blood began to boil, and his mouth foamed as if he 
 were a burning caldron, and this lasted as long as he 
 was above ground. His corpse swelled to such a size 
 that it lost the very shape of a human body, and there 
 was no diflference between its breadth and length. 
 He was carried to the grave with little honour, his 
 body being dragged from the bed to the sepulchre by 
 afacchino, who fastened a cord to his feet, because no 
 one would touch him, and his funeral was so miserable 
 that the wife of the lame dwarf at Mantua had a 
 more honourable burial than this Pope. And every 
 
ELECTION OF PIUS III 257 
 
 day the most shameful inscriptions are written over 
 his grave for his last epitaph. To-day we hear that 
 Siena is elected Pope. He is said to be a neutral 
 person, without passions or party. We are altogether 
 at the service of Your Highness, and beg you to kiss 
 Federico many times, We have sent to ask for 
 victuals and a passage through Rome for our army, 
 as had been already promised, but since the new Pope 
 had not yet been elected, we do not know what 
 answer to expect. We hear that the enemy are at 
 Genazzano and are advancing against us. Mon- 
 seigneur Tremogha is iU and has been forced to retire, 
 so we are left in command of the camp. Sene valeat. 
 Conjux Marchio Mantuce. Eoo Insula. 22 Sept. 
 1503. Xmo Regis Locum tenentis Generalis." ^ 
 
 1 Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia," App. p. 123. 
 
 VOL. I. i^ 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 1503—1505 
 
 Death of Pius III. — Election of Julius II. — Return of Elisabetta to 
 Urbino — Caesar Borgia sent to Spain, and his capture — Birth 
 of Isabella's daughter Ippolita — Francesco Gonzaga resigns 
 his command of the French armies — Returns to Mantua — The 
 French lose Naples — Comedies at Urbino, Mantua, and 
 Ferrara — Death of Duke Ercole — Quarrels and plots of the 
 Este brothers — Marriage of Francesco Maria della Kovere 
 and Leonora Gonzaga — Sigismondo Gonzaga raised to the 
 Cardinalate — Letters of Emiha Pia — Castiglione and Bembo— 
 Death of Suor Osanna — A Dominican vicar-general — Birth 
 of Isabella's son Ercole. 
 
 The election of Pope Pius III. proved to be only a 
 temporary measure. The new Pontiff was already 
 worn out with age and infirmities, and the fatigues of 
 his coronation, added to the anxieties of his office, 
 brought on a fatal Ulness of which he died on the 
 17th of October, only a month after his elevation to 
 the papal see. This time all parties agreed to choose 
 Giuliano della Rovere, and on the 1st of November, 
 after the shortest conclave ever known in the long 
 history of the Papacy,^ he was proclaimed Pope under 
 the title of Julius II. His election produced a 
 complete revolution in the policy of the Holy See. 
 The Duke of Urbino, whose sister was the wife 
 of Giovanni della Rovere, Prefect of Rome, was 
 appointed Captain - general of the Church, with 
 Giovanni Gonzaga as his lieutenant, and his nephew 
 
 , 1 Pastor, " History of the Popes," vi. 210. 
 
 258 
 
ELISABETTA RETURNS TO URBINO 259 
 
 Francesco della Rovere, the son of Julius the 
 Second's brother, was publicly recognised as heir to 
 the duchy. Elisabetta, who had remained in Venice 
 untU peace and order were restored in her lord's 
 dominions, now took leave of the Doge and Senate, 
 and after thanking them publicly for the hospitality 
 which she had received at their hands, returned to 
 Urbino the first week in December. On the 11th, 
 her seneschal, Alexander Picenardi, gave Isabella the 
 following account of the rejoicings which hailed her 
 entry : — 
 
 "Most illustrious Mistress, — I venture to give 
 Your Highness an account of the entry of Her 
 Excellency the Madonna into Urbino, but could not 
 describe the disasters and discomfort that we suffered 
 fi-om bad weather, bad roads and bad hostelries 
 between Venice and Urbino. When at length we 
 were four miles from Urbino, the whole population 
 poured out to meet her, chanting Te Deums, with 
 olive-boughs in their hands and crying ' Gonzaga 
 and Feltro ! ' And when we reached Urbino, a 
 great number of gentlemen and citizens were 
 at the gates, and came out to greet her with the 
 greatest joy, kissing and clasping her hand with tears 
 of tenderness, so that it was three hours before Her 
 Excellency could reach the Piazza. Then she 
 alighted from her horse in front of the Vescovado 
 and entered the church, where aU the ladies of Urbino 
 were assembled, bringing her an olive-branch with 
 golden leaves, and all with one voice called out Her 
 Excellency's name and embraced her with great joy. 
 Then Monsignore the Bishop, robed in his vestments, 
 took Madonna the Duchess by the hand and led her to 
 kneel down before the high altar, where all the clergy 
 
260 THE COURT OF URBINO 
 
 were assembled, and they began to sing Te Deum 
 laudamus and other devout prayers. When the 
 blessing had been given, they came out of church and 
 entered the palace, accompanied by the Bishop and 
 all the clergy and a great multitude of people, and 
 they remained in the palace till past midnight, and 
 every day and every night Her Excellency has been 
 feted in this manner. She is very well and com- 
 mends herself to Your Illustrious Highness, and, poor 
 as I am, I venture to throw myself at your feet, and 
 hope Your Excellency with forgive my presumption. 
 — Your most faithful servant, Alexander, Sene- 
 schal." ' 
 
 Thus the good Duchess came back to reign over 
 this people who adored her, and charm the hearts of 
 men by her gentleness and sweetness. For the next 
 few years the court of Urbino shone with more than 
 its old lustre, and the most brilliant cavaliers and 
 most accomplished scholars and artists — CastigMone 
 and Bembo, Cristoforo Romano and I'Unico Aretino — 
 sought a home in this palace, where Guidobaldo and 
 Ehsabetta held up before the world a noble example 
 of the purest virtue and the most refined culture. 
 
 By degrees the home of the Montefeltri regained 
 its former splendour. It is true that the priceless 
 tapestries of the Trojan war were never recovered, 
 but the famous library, and many of the treasures 
 of art which the palace had formerly contained, were 
 restored by Csesar Borgia, who, in his anxiety to 
 conciliate the new Pope, was abject in his professions 
 of friendship for the Duke, whom he had wronged so 
 cruelly. But the election of Juhus II. had sealed his 
 doom. He was too dangerous a rival to be allowed to 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 150. 
 
CiESAR BORGIA'S END 261 
 
 remain in Rome, and after surrendering the chief for- 
 tresses of Romagna to the Pope, he went to Naples. 
 Here Gonsalvo de Cordova arrested him by order of 
 King Ferdinand of Aragon, in spite of a safe conduct 
 which had been given him. He was sent to Spain in 
 August 1504, and after languishing for two years in 
 prison, succeeded in making his escape from the 
 Tower of Medina del Campo, and fell in March 1507, 
 at Viana, fighting for his brother-in-law, the King of 
 Navarre, against Castile. So this hero of great 
 powers and greater audacity, whose extraordinary 
 career had filled Italy with amazement, and whose 
 name struck terror into every heart, died at the early 
 age of thirty-one, and the meteor which had flashed 
 upon the world with sudden brilliancy, vanished into 
 night. Six months after his father's death he was 
 already forgotten in Rome. " Of Valentino," wrote 
 the Mantuan envoy, Giovanni Lucido, " one hears 
 no more." To the last he remained on friendly 
 terms with the Gonzagas, and when he reached 
 Pampeluna, he wrote a long account of his escape 
 to the Marquis, signing himself, " Your Co7npare et 
 minore fratello" and telling him that now, after aU 
 his labour and efforts, he was at length a free man. 
 And Lucrezia, in her letters to Francesco, thanks 
 him repeatedly for " the singular and truly fraternal 
 love that you have ever shown to my brother the 
 Duke." 
 
 While these strange events were thrilling the 
 heart of Italy, and one Pope was succeeding the 
 other at the Vatican, Isabella remained at Mantua, 
 directing the government in her husband's absence, 
 and much occupied with her little son. On the 
 12th of November, she took the three-year-old child 
 
262 MESSER VIGILIO 
 
 to see an Italian comedy, the " Formicone," adapted 
 from Apuleius, acted by some pupils of Francesco 
 Vigilio, who held a public school in Mantua, and 
 whom she had already determined in her own mind 
 to choose for Federico's tutor. The performance was 
 admirable, and Isabelkj in writing to her lord, tells 
 him that " a son of our steward distinguished himself 
 in the part of a servant, and will be of great use in 
 our comedies, while Federico was surrounded by a 
 fine troop of children." But the Marquis disapproved 
 alike of Messer Francesco and of his comedies, and 
 wrote back rudely that Isabella need not take 
 Federico to those plays and encourage VigUio's 
 hopes of having the child for a pupil, since he meant 
 the boy to have little book-learning, and acquire that 
 Uttle from other teachers, and hoped soon to take 
 him out to fight at his side and make a man of 
 him.^ 
 
 The day on which Isabella attended the repre- 
 sentation of Messer VigiUo's comedy was marked by 
 another event, as we learn from her brother-in-law 
 the Protonotary's letter to the Marquis. 
 
 " Yesterday I went with this illustrious Madonna 
 and Signor Federico to the school of Messer Fran- 
 ceso, whose scholars recited a fine comedy exceedingly 
 well. It was a very pretty sight, and pleased us all 
 highly. Afterwards we drove as usual to take the air 
 in the town, and returned to the CasteUo about 
 five o'clock; and Madonna sat down to cards to 
 spend the evening after her usual custom, and played 
 till after eight. Then she rose from the table and 
 told me that she vs^ould not come to supper as she 
 felt pains, and went to her room, and we sat down 
 
 ' D'Ancona, Oii^ni, ii. 389, and Luzio, Federico Ostaggio, p. 62. 
 
BATTLE OF THE GARIGLIANO 263 
 
 to table, and 1 supped in the Castello. And before 
 we had finished, the said Madonna gave birth to a 
 Uttle girl, and although we greatly desired a boy, 
 yet we must be content with what is given us."^ 
 
 This fourth daughter who was born to Isabella 
 received the name of Ippolita, and became a nun in 
 the Dominican convent of S. Vincenzo. 
 
 Meanwhile Francesco Gonzaga was conducting 
 the campaign in the kingdom of Naples under great 
 difficulties. The French troops under his command 
 were turbulent and undisciplined, his movements were 
 impeded by heavy floods, and his plans were foiled by 
 the superior generalship of the Great Captain, although 
 he succeeded in crossing the river Garigliano and 
 relieving Gaeta. At length, heartily sick of the 
 task, and being unable, in the words of the Venetian 
 diarist, " any longer to endure the pride, quarrels, and 
 disobedience of the French," he resigned his command 
 on the plea of iUness, and returned to Mantua.^ A 
 few weeks after his departure, on the 28th of De- 
 cember, the French were completely defeated in a 
 battle on the banks of the Garigliano, and Piero dei 
 Medici, who fought on the French side, was drowned 
 in the river. - The fortress of Gaeta, which Gonsalvo 
 had long blockaded in vain, now surrendered, and 
 Naples was lost to France. On the 11th of Feb- 
 ruary a treaty was signed at Lyons by which 
 Louis XII. gave up aU claim to the kingdom, and 
 Ferdinand of Aragon remained in undisputed pos- 
 session of Southern Italy. 
 
 Francesco's return and the restoration of Duke 
 Guidobaldo to his duchy were celebrated with bril- 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xxxiv. p. 27. 
 
 2 M. Sanuto, vol. xxiv. 
 
264 PLAYS AT FERRARA 
 
 liant f#tes both at Mantua and Urbino. Among the 
 dramatic performances given at the Duke's court, 
 was the so-called Comedy of Pope Alexander VI. and 
 Valentino, a representation which included Lucrezia's 
 wedding, Caesar Borgia's conquest of Urbino, the death 
 of the Pope, and the triumphant return of Guidobaldo 
 and Ehsabetta.^ 
 
 Duke Ercole came to Mantua at Isabella's urgent 
 entreaty, and highly commended the series of come- 
 dies that were given] in his honour. After he had 
 returned home, a dramatic version of the history of 
 Joseph, by a Ferrara poet, was given in the ducal 
 theatre, and Isabella's old friend, the chamberlain 
 Bernardo dei Prosperi, sent her full accounts of the 
 performance. "Yesterday," he writes, "this Signer 
 had the first part of the story of Joseph represented, 
 up to his imprisonment in Egypt. It was very 
 touching, and admirably acted in perfect silence, 
 because we have adopted the good customs learnt 
 at Mantua, and no longer allow every rogue to 
 come in and interrupt the performance. There was 
 no music but that of the organ and some flutes, 
 which were very soft and pleasant to hear."^ The 
 Duke's health had lately given much cause for 
 anxiety, and he was no longer able to ride ; but in 
 July he travelled in a litter to Florence to pay his 
 vows at the shrine of the Annunziata. After his re- 
 turn he fell seriously iU, and Isabella hurried to Fer- 
 rara to nurse him. But he rallied again, and retained 
 his keen interest in literary subjects. On the 27th of 
 October Isabella sent him one of the satirical pro- 
 ductions known as prediche d'amore, which had been 
 
 1 D'Ancona, Origini, ii. 21 ; Ugolini, Storia di Urbino, ii. 128. 
 
 2 D'Ancona, op. cit. 
 
DEATH OF ERCOLE D'ESTE 265 
 
 lately composed at Milan by a witty friar named 
 Fra Stoppino.^ He lingered on through the winter 
 months, and died on the 25th of January 1505.^ 
 
 Alfonso, who had been absent on a long journey 
 to France, England, and Spain, hurried home on 
 hearing of his father's illness, and the day after his 
 death, rode through Ferrara clad in white, during 
 a heavy fall of snow. A bold soldier and mighty 
 hunter, the new Duke was a man of extraordinary 
 physical strength, and would spend whole nights in 
 the marshes of Comacchio, tracking wild boars, in the 
 roughest weather, to the despair of his courtiers and 
 attendants. He inherited the artistic traditions of 
 the house of Este, built the sumptuous marble villa 
 of Belvedere on an island in the Po, and employed 
 Giovanni BeUini and Titian to decorate the Castello. 
 But his fierce and vindictive temper was the cause 
 of great family dissensions, and the first year of his 
 reign was marked by a terrible domestic tragedy 
 which cost Isabella many tears. First of all, in 
 November 1505, a quarrel arose between Cardinal 
 Ippolito d'Este and his half-brother GiuKo, an illegi- 
 timate son of the late Duke, who were both in love 
 with their sister-in-law Lucrezia's fair maid-of-honour, 
 Angela Borgia. One day Angela laughingly told 
 the Cardinal that his brother GiuUo's eyes were worth 
 more than his whole person, upon which Ippolito, in 
 a fit of jealous rage, hired a band of assassins to attack 
 Don Giulio on his return from a hunting expedition 
 at Belriguardo. The ruffians tried to put out his 
 eyes and partially bhnded him. Don Alfonso repri- 
 manded the Cardinal severely, and when Don Giulio 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 169. 
 
 2 Frizzi, Storia di Ferrara, iv. 250. 
 
266 PLOT OF THE ESTE BROTHERS 
 
 had recovered his sight, Niccolo da Correggio succeeded 
 in effecting an apparent reconcihation between the 
 brothers. But a few months afterwards GiuUo entered 
 into a conspiracy with his younger brother Ferrante 
 to murder both the Duke and Cardinal and seize the 
 duchy. The plot was discovered, and Ferrante was 
 thrown into prison. Giulio fled to Mantua, where 
 Isabella not only gave him shelter, but did her utmost 
 to save him from Alfonso's wrath, and wrote long 
 letters to her old friend Niccolo on the subject. But 
 the Duke was implacable, and Niccolo visited Isabella, 
 in July 1506, at her vUla of Sacchetta, and laid proofs 
 of Giulio's guilt before her eyes. After this the un- 
 fortunate prince was given up, and imprisoned together 
 with Ferrante in the dungeon of the CasteUo of 
 Ferrara. Here the unhappy brothers were left to 
 languish in captivity during the whole of Alfonso's 
 reign. Ferrante died in prison in 1540, and Giulio 
 was only released in 1559, two years before his death. 
 By this time he was eighty-three years of age, and 
 the Ferrarese chroniclers relate that when the old man 
 came out of his cell he still wore the clothes which 
 had been in fashion when he was first imprisoned 
 more than half a century before.^ 
 
 This tragic incident threw a gloom over Isabella's 
 family life, and after 1506, her visits to Ferrara became 
 less frequent than of old. But her strong family 
 instincts made her cling to her father's house, and in 
 the long struggle which Alfonso maintained against 
 three successive Popes, he found a loyal friend and 
 supporter in his sister. 
 
 While these dark shadows saddened Isabella's old 
 home, happier events were taking place at Mantua. 
 
 1 Frizzi, op. cit,, p. 255. 
 
BETROTHAL OF LEONORA GONZAGA 267 
 
 The month of her father's death was also that of her 
 daughter Leonora's betrothal to Francesco Maria 
 deUa Rovere, the nephew and heir of her brother-in- 
 law, Duke Guidobaldo. This marriage had long 
 been desired by Elisabetta, and was equally agreeable 
 to the Marquis of Mantua, as a means of obtaining 
 the Cardinalate, which he had been striving to obtain 
 for his brother during the last fifteen years. The 
 Venetian ambassador, Giustiniani, mentions a re- 
 port as to the proposed marriage in his despatches 
 from Rome as early as 1503;^ and Emilia Pia, in 
 writing to Isabella at the close of 1504, remarks that 
 " the new Cardinals are to be made at Easter, and it 
 is held certain that Our Reverend Monsignore, the 
 Protonotary, wiU be one." The official proclamation 
 actually took place in the Consistory held in the 
 following November, when Sigismondo Gonzaga was 
 proclaimed Cardinal, together with eight other 
 prelates nominated by the Pope. In January 1505, 
 Lodovico Canossa was sent to Mantua with formal 
 proposals by the Duke of Urbino, and on the 2nd of 
 March, the marriage was celebrated in the Vatican, 
 Giovanni Gonzaga acting as his niece's represen- 
 tative. The Pope insisted that the bride should 
 bring her husband a dowry of 30,000 ducats, but 
 only 20,000 ducats were to be paid at once, and the 
 remainder of this sum at a period to be fixed by 
 the Duchess Elisabetta. Leonora's portrait was sent 
 to Rome, at the request of the Pope, and in a letter 
 of April 30, Isabella expressed her regret to the 
 Prefettessa Giovanna della Rovere that it was only a 
 black and white drawing, since there was no painter 
 at present in Mantua who could handle colours well, 
 
 1 Dispacci, ii. 359. 
 
268 EMILIA PIA'S LETTERS 
 
 but said that she hoped to be able to send a better 
 picture soon. It was a strange excuse for Isabella 
 to advance, but Mantegna's health, we know, was 
 failing, and his son Francesco and Bonsignori were 
 probably engaged elsewhere. This proposed mar- 
 riage led to an active renewal of correspondence 
 between the courts of Mantua and Urbino, and since 
 Elisabetta's time was fuUy occupied, she often 
 employed Emilia to write to Isabella in her stead. 
 The letters of this witty and accomplished lady 
 abound in information of the most varied description. 
 She thanks the Marchesa for an account of the 
 Queen of France's coronation, which Mario Equicola 
 has sent from Blois, and gives her in return aU the 
 latest gossip from Rome and Urbino.^ She describes 
 the funeral services in honour of Queen Isabella of 
 Spain, the banquets and representations given by Car- 
 dinal Sanseverino, and the wedding of Juhus the 
 Second's daughter. Madonna Felice, to Giovanni 
 Orsini, the eccentric lord of Bracciano, whom Leonora's 
 husband, Francesco Maria, denounced as a madman. 
 She tells Isabella the marriages which are expected to 
 take place, and those which have ended in smoke, 
 and discourses in the same witty fashion of carnival 
 plays and Lent sermons. She has a great deal to 
 say of the eloquent friar, whose preaching is con- 
 verting every one at court, and rejoices to hear 
 that Isabella is attending the sermons of two of 
 her own friends, who are giving Lent courses at 
 Mantua, although they can hardly rival the Urbino 
 monk. In the same letter she informs the Marchesa 
 of the alarm which had been excited in Rome by 
 a report, brought from Spain by the merchants of 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 158-168. 
 
ISABELLA'S PERFUMES 269 
 
 Valencia, that Cassar Borgia had escaped from prison. 
 In reahty, as Emilia explains, Valentino had tried to 
 let himself down from his prison window by a 
 rope made of his bedclothes. But his attempt 
 failed. The rope gave way, and he feU and dis- 
 located his shoulder. The Marchesa's lively corre- 
 spondent ends by telling Her Excellency that she is 
 sending her a certain kind of wood that is said to 
 have a marvellous property for polishing the nails 
 and the hands, as well as a recipe for washing the 
 teeth, which is used by the Queens at Naples. And, 
 in return, Isabella sends Emilia some of the silver 
 boxes containing perfumes of her own manufacture, 
 which were eagerly sought after by persons of quality, 
 and were so highly appreciated by Pietro Bembo in 
 the days when he was secretary to Pope Leo X.^ 
 
 In the summer of 1504, Elisabetta invited 
 Isabella to accompany her to Rome. The Marchesa, 
 who had never seen the Eternal City, was enchanted 
 at the prospect, and declared that she would either 
 come incognito, clad in black, or else as a maid in the 
 Duchess's train. This journey, however, was ulti- 
 mately abandoned, partly from fear of the plague in 
 Rome, of which there were several cases ; partly 
 because of the wish of the Pope to cut down 
 expenses and restore order in the disordered finances 
 of the Vatican. "This Pope," writes Emilia, "is 
 so niggardly that I know not if our plan will succeed." 
 But she rejoices to hear that the standards of the 
 Church, which are said to be very gorgeous, and the 
 baton of Captain -general, are on their way to 
 Urbino. 
 
 That summer a distinguished Mantuan gentle- 
 
 1 V. Cian in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, ix. 120. 
 
270 CASTIGLIONE AND 
 
 man, Baldassarre Castiglione, entered the Duke's 
 service and settled at Urbino, much to the displeasure 
 of his own liege lord. The Marquis Francesco's 
 consent had indeed been formally asked, but he was 
 naturally reluctant to lose so brilliant and accom- 
 plished a figure from his court. When, a year 
 afterwards, Guidobaldo sent him as envoy to Ferrara, 
 he was forbidden to cross the Mantuan frontier ; and 
 when, in 1506, he went to England to receive the 
 Order of the Garter, which Henry VII. conferred on 
 the Duke of Urbino, Francesco refused to aUow him 
 to visit Mantua and embrace his mother before he 
 started on this long journey. Neither Elisabetta's 
 intervention nor a humble request which Castighone 
 himself addressed to the Marquis could induce him 
 to relent, and it was not tiU his return from England, 
 in the spring of 1507, that he was allowed to set foot 
 on his native soil. Isabella, however, proved a good 
 friend to Castighone, and earned his undying grati- 
 tude by her constant efforts to appease her husband's 
 resentment. 
 
 Another Mantuan subject and kinsman of Fran- 
 cesco, Cesare Gonzaga, also settled at Urbino in 
 these days, but always remained on friendly terms 
 with the Marchesa, and was one of her constant cor- 
 respondents. A devoted friend and companion of 
 Castiglione, he assisted him in the composition of 
 the pastoral play, " Tirsi," which the two authors 
 recited at the carnival of 1506, and is one of the chief 
 speakers who figure in the " Cortigiano." Cesare 
 was the brother of Luigi Gonzaga, who fives in 
 Ariosto's verse, and whose splendid palace of Borgo- 
 forte, near Mantua, was often honoured by Isabella's 
 presence, and his gay letters were much appreciated 
 
CESARE GONZAGA AT URBINO 271 
 
 by the Marchesa. In the summer of 1504, he writes 
 that he hears she has been reading Esop, and is so 
 much devoted to Latin literature as to despise all 
 poetry in the vulgar tongue, and ends by begging her 
 not to tire out all her teachers ! 
 
 Again, at the close of 1510, when Cesare is on 
 duty in the papal camp at Modena, he snatches a 
 moment to beg Her Excellency to allow Marchetto 
 to set a madrigal of his composition to music, and 
 send him the melody of her favourite sonnet 
 " Cantai," " If you will do me this kindness," he 
 adds, " I shall be grateful to you till the Day of 
 Judgment, and do not think it strange if in these 
 troublous times I make" such a request, for, after all, 
 ' Marte ha solo la scorza, e il resto Amove ' (Mars 
 only has the bark of the tree, and Love holds the 
 rest)."i 
 
 Yet another member of this brilliant group, 
 whose name lives in CastigUone's immortal pages, 
 and who, like him, sang the praises of the gentle 
 Duchess, was also intimately connected with Isabella 
 d'Este. This was the Venetian Pietro Bembo, who 
 came to Rome in the spring of 1505, on a mission 
 from the Doge and Signory, and was sumptuously 
 entertained by the Duke and Duchess, in their anxiety 
 to make some return for the hospitahty which they 
 had received at Venice during their sad days of exile. 
 Isabella was already weU acquainted with Pietro's 
 father, the old Podesta of Verona, and with his brother 
 Carlo, whose palace she had visited in Venice, and who 
 had lent her some portraits of Petrarch, Dante, and 
 Boccaccio, which she wished to have copied at Mantua. 
 In January 1503, Isabella begged Pietro to accompany 
 
 1 D'Arco, Documenti, 81 ; Arch. St. It., App. ii. 
 
272 PIETRO BEMBO 
 
 his friend Ercole Strozzi to Mantua, but at that time 
 he had been unable to accept her invitation, which 
 thus, in his courtly phrase, rendered him at once the 
 happiest and most miserable man in the world. 
 Again, in October 1504, Bembo was on his way to 
 visit Mantua, when he heard, on arriving at Verona, 
 that Isabella had been summoned to her dying father's 
 bedside. The Marchesa renewed the invitation early 
 in April, and Pietro wrote from Venice, saying that to 
 visit Mantua was one of the greatest wishes of his 
 heart, but regretting that as yet he is unable to wait 
 upon her. " Since, however," he adds, " I cannot come 
 myself, I send Your Highness, by Zuan Valerio, part 
 of my family, that is to say, three youths who have 
 not yet left the house, and commend them humbly 
 to Your Excellency's good offices." ^ The three 
 sonnets of his composition, which Bembo enclosed, 
 were highly appreciated by Isabella. She was still 
 better pleased when, two months later, their author 
 presented himself at Mantua on his way back to 
 Venice, with letters from Elisabetta and Emilia Pia, 
 who availed herself of this opportunity to send the 
 Marchesa a flask of myrtle scent. On this occasion 
 Isabella showed her cultured guest the treasures which 
 ^ she had collected in the little room in the old Castello, 
 with their delicately inlaid woodwork, and frieze of 
 music notes and playing cards, and the new studio of 
 the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia, where her choicest 
 pictures and marbles were arranged. There Bembo 
 saw Michel Angelo's sleeping Cupids and Mantegna's 
 two priceless paintings, the Triumphs of Venus and 
 of Pallas, as well as Perugino's Triumph of Chastity, 
 which had lately arrived from Florence, and promised 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p, 312. 
 
VISITS MANTUA 273 
 
 to try and induce his friend Giovanni Bellini to 
 paint a similar fantasia for the Marchesa's camerino. 
 He saw Isabella's rare books and manuscripts, the 
 dainty Aldine editions of Virgil and Petrarch, in the 
 production of which he had helped the great Venetian 
 printer ; Messer Lorenzo's wonderful organ and viols 
 and ebony and ivory lutes, and all the rich stores 
 of antique cameos and medals which were Isabella's 
 proudest possession. Isabella herseK, as she wrote to 
 tell Bembo's friend Tebaldeo, was delighted to see 
 how much her illustrious guest appreciated all her 
 treasures, and charmed him by singing some of his own 
 songs to the music of her lute. After his departure 
 Bembo sent her the following letter, beginning, after 
 his usual custom, with the words Jesus Christus : — 
 
 " I send Your Excellency, my dear Madonna and 
 most honoured mistress, ten sonnets and two some- 
 what irregular tramotti, not because they are worthy 
 to come into your hands, but because I wish that 
 some of these verses may be recited and sung by Your 
 Signory, remembering with what surpassing charm 
 and sweetness you sang the others, on that happy 
 evening which we spent together, and knowing that 
 my poor compositions can never attain to greater 
 honour. Most of the sonnets and both the tramotti 
 are quite new, and have not yet been seen by any one. 
 I must confess that they will not, I fear, answer Your 
 Signory's expectations, any more than they satisfy my 
 wishes. But I know that, if they are sung by Your 
 Signory, they will be most fortunate, and nothing 
 wUl be needed to delight the Usteners except the 
 beautiful and charming hand and the pure, sweet 
 voice of Your Most Illustrious Highness, to whose 
 good grace 1 never cease to commend myself. Your 
 VOL. I, s 
 
274 MACHIAVELLI AT MANTUA 
 
 Signory will deign to commend me to my Lady Alda 
 Boiarda. — Of Your Illustrious Signory the servant, 
 PiETRO Bembo." ^ Venice, July 1, 1505. 
 
 About the same time, Isabella received a stiU more 
 famous visitor in the person of the great Florentine, 
 Niccolo Machiavelli, who came to Mantua in May, to 
 bring Francesco Gonzaga the formal intimation of his 
 appointment to the post of Captain - general of the 
 Republic. His name had been first suggested by 
 Louis XII. to the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini, and 
 negotiations had been in progress during some weeks, 
 as we learn from a letter which Isabella wrote to her 
 husband from Ferrara in April. 
 
 " My dear and most illustrious Lord, — The arti- 
 chokes which Your Excellency sent me were 
 especially acceptable, both as coming from you and 
 as being the first which I had seen this year. My 
 brothers and sister-in-law enjoyed them with me, 
 for love of you, and I thank you warmly for taking 
 the trouble to send them. Yesterday morning I 
 received yours of the 17th, containing much good 
 news. Truly, as Your Excellency remarks, nothing 
 can be better for us than the establishment of peace 
 between the most powerful King of the Romans and 
 France and our other allies. We shall be able to 
 judge of this better when we hear particulars of the 
 treaty, but the idea that the Florentines wish to 
 secure you for their captain seems to me to promise 
 well and to be likely to lead to great honour. You 
 will no doubt consider this offer with your wonted 
 prudence, and I will keep my counsel, for it is not 
 a thing to be discussed with other persons, until it 
 is finally arranged. I think of coming to Revere 
 
 1 D' Aico, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 312. 
 
DEATH OF SUOR OSANNA 275 
 
 on Saturday, and on Sunday to Mantua. Here we 
 have no further news since the last which I gave 
 you. Please kiss Federico for me. — Your wife, 
 Isabella." ^ Ferrara, April 19, 1505. 
 
 This was the errand which brought Machiavelli 
 to Mantua early in May. Unfortunately we have 
 no further information as to his visit, interesting as 
 it would have been to learn the impression which so 
 brilliant a lady and skilled a diplomatist as the 
 Marchesa made upon the author of the "Prince." 
 His mission proved unsuccessful, for the salary 
 which the Florentines offered was far inferior to 
 that which the Marquis had received from the 
 Venetians, and after some prolonged negotiations, 
 Francesco finally declined the post. 
 
 The death of Suor Osanna, who breathed her last 
 in Isabella's arms one day in June 1505, was a 
 great sorrow to the Marchesa. She had shared all 
 her joys and griefs with this saintly friend, and 
 the good Sister is said to have loved her exceed- 
 ingly. To Osanna's prayers Isabella confidently 
 believed that she owed the gift of the long-desired 
 son, whose birth the holy nun prophesied some 
 months before the event, while in all private and 
 public calamities the Gonzagas always turned to her 
 for help and consolation. Now the Marchesa placed 
 a silver head on the Sister's grave, and employed her 
 favourite sculptor, Cristoforo Romano, to raise a noble 
 monument to her memory in the Dominican church. 
 During the next few years Isabella endeavoured by 
 every possible means to obtain the beatification 
 of her sainted friend, an honour which was finally 
 bestowed upon Suor Osanna by Pope Leo in 1515. 
 
 1 D'Arco, op. cit. 277. 
 
276 PADRE FRANCESCO 
 
 Her efforts on behalf of " this our dear mother," as she 
 calls her, were warmly supported by Padre Francesco 
 da Silvestri, the distinguished Dominican friar who 
 filled the chair of theology at Bologna during many 
 years, and was afterwards appointed General of the 
 Order by Pope Clement VII, This learned and ac- 
 complished ecclesiastic, to whom Bandello dedicates 
 one of his novels and whom he praises as a most 
 rare and singular man, endowed by nature with 
 every gift of body and mind, was one of Isabella's 
 most constant friends and correspondents. He shared 
 her love of music and pictures, and encouraged her 
 to persevere in her own studies, and above all to 
 train her children in the love of learning and in 
 the fear of God. In March 1504, when Isabella, 
 released by her husband's return from the cares of 
 government, once more returned to her classical 
 studies, Padre Francesco writes to her from Milan : 
 " I hear that you are still studying grammar. I 
 hope that, when I visit you next, I shall find you 
 studying rhetoric." And, in a Latin letter of July, 
 he exhort^ her to attend to her son's education, and 
 warmly approves the choice of Vigilio as his pre- 
 ceptor, " See that Federico receives a liberal 
 education," he writes when the boy is barely four 
 years old, " and applies himself in these tender years 
 to letters, so that he may grow up worthy of his 
 wise and excellent mother." When her father died, 
 Francesco's letter was the most beautiful and con- 
 soling among all the infinite number of condolences 
 which Isabella received, and when Suor Osanna 
 died, six months later, it fell to the friar to pro- 
 nounce her funeral oration. In later years, Fran- 
 cesco's arduous duties as Vicar-General and General 
 
Isabella d'Este 
 
 PhotOy Aiidersori, 
 
 LA BEATA OSANNA 
 
 By F. BoNSiGNORi 
 
 {Mantua) 
 
 To /ace p. 276, vol. i 
 
ISABELLA'S ILLNESS 277 
 
 of the Order compelled him to travel through France 
 and Italy to inspect Dominican convents, but his 
 interest in the Marchesa and her farnily never failed, 
 and he remained a true and faithful friend until he 
 died at Rennes in 1528. 
 
 In the autumn of 1505, Isabella fell seriously ill 
 of fever, and could not shake off the attack for 
 several weeks. Her friends in aU parts of the world 
 wrote to express their anxiety, and combined to 
 beguile the dulness of her convalescence. Bembo 
 made anxious inquiries after her health from Venice. 
 Cristoforo Romano called on all the Dominican friars 
 of Le Grazie at Milan to pray for her recovery, and 
 promised to visit the Seven Churches in Rome, and 
 say a prayer at each altar for his dear lady. Mario 
 Equicola sent the latest literary curiosities from Blois 
 for Isabella's amusement, confessing, however, that he 
 could find nothing in France that would be new to 
 her I Elisabetta despatched her favourite jester, Fra 
 Serafino, to Mantua without delay, and Emilia Pia 
 wrote lively letters to cheer the invalid. But Isabella 
 forgot all her troubles when, towards the end of 
 November, she gave birth to a fine boy. 
 
 " I rejoice," wrote Cristoforo from Rome, " to hear 
 of this fortunate event, and thank God that your ill- 
 ness has had so happy an ending. Be of good cheer, 
 dear lady, and may God give you much joy in your 
 children ! " This second son, the future Cardinal 
 who was one day to preside over the Council of 
 Trent, received the name of Louis or Alvise in 
 honour of the King of France. But Isabella preferred 
 to call him Ercole, after his grandfather, and when 
 the boy grew up to manhood, he became known by 
 this second name. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 1505—1507 
 
 Isabella's visit to Florence — Mario Equicola's treatise, Kec spe nee 
 metu — Ravages of the plague at Mantua — Isabella retires to 
 Sacchetta with her family — Francesco Gonzaga joins Pope 
 Julius II. at Perugia — Conducts the papal army against Bologna 
 — Flight of the Bentivogli— Entry of the Pope— Letters of 
 Isabella — Frisio sends her antiques from Bologna — Birth of 
 Isabella's son Ferrante — Visit of Ariosto to Mantua — Favour 
 shown him by Isabella — Ariosto pays her a splendid tribute in 
 his Orlando Furioso. 
 
 In March 1506, Isabella took a journey to Florence 
 to discharge a vow which she had made during her 
 illness, to Santa Maria dell' Annunziata, and spent 
 the Feast of the Annunciation in that city. It was 
 the first and, as far as we know, the only visit that 
 she paid to this town, where were living so many 
 friends, and which must have had many attractions 
 for her. Great, indeed, must have been the interest 
 with which she saw the Duomo and the Campanile 
 of Giotto, the churches and palaces on the banks of 
 Arno, and above all, the frescoes and pictures of her 
 artist-friends. Perugino, it is true, had failed to 
 satisfy her, and young Raphael had lately left for 
 Urbino; but Isabella probably met the Florentine 
 master Lorenzo di Credi, since he soon afterwards 
 painted a Magdalene by her order. And she looked 
 with wonder and admiration at the great cartoons 
 which Leonardo and Michel Angelo-r-the sculptor 
 
ISABELLA IN FLORENCE 279 
 
 of her Cupid — had designed for the decoration of the 
 Council Hall, in the Palazzo Pubblico. 
 
 The Marchesa paid several visits to Madonna 
 Argentina, the wife of the Gonfaloniere Piero 
 Soderini, and met Leonardo's uncle, but did not 
 succeed in seeing the painter, who had retired to 
 Fiesole in disgust at the failure of his experiments 
 in wall-painting, and was buried in the absorbing 
 study of hydraulics. 
 
 Before she left Florence, she desired a sculptor 
 named Filippo Benintendi to model a silver effigy of 
 herself, to be placed by that of her husband in the 
 chapel which Alberti had built for Lodovico Gonzaga, 
 in the Annunziata church. But the plague broke out 
 after her return to Mantua, and for some time to 
 come, money was very scarce in the Gonzaga treasury. 
 So the poor sculptor never received the 25 ducats 
 which the Marchesa had promised him, and nearly 
 two years afterwards, he ventured to remind her of 
 this omission, telling her at the same time how 
 beautiful her image appeared, standing as it did in 
 the finest part of the church, and how much ad- 
 miration it excited from every Mantuan who came 
 to Florence. Unfortunately this silver head shared 
 the fate of all Isabella's busts, and perished in a fire 
 which destroyed all the ornaments and works of art 
 in the Gonzaga chapel.^ 
 
 On the Marchesa's return home, the alarming 
 increase of the plague compelled her to leave Mantua 
 and take her children to the villa of Sacchetta, where 
 they spent the summer months. Here, on her birth- 
 day, the 16th of May, she received a present of 
 exceptional interest in the shape of a treatise, 
 
 1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 355. 
 
280 ISABELLA'S MOTTO 
 
 composed by Mario Equicola, on her favourite motto, 
 Nee spe nee metu. 
 
 The Marchesa, as we have already seen, in common 
 with most Itahan lords and ladies of the age, was in the 
 habit of adopting special devices and mottoes. The 
 musical notes which gave expression to her love of 
 music, the candelabra bearing the motto Syffieit unum 
 in tenehris which Paolo Giovio suggested, and which 
 were embroidered in gold on her festal robes, may 
 still be seen among the decorations of her eamerini at 
 Mantua. There too, inscribed in quaint charactelrs, we 
 may read the words of her favourite motto. Nee spe nee 
 metu, by which she expressed that serene equanimity 
 and philosophic frame of mind to which she aspired, 
 neither elated by hope nor cast down by fear. She 
 chose this motto for her own as early as 1504, when, 
 at the request of her friend Margherita Cantelma, 
 she gave one of the Imperial ambassadors who visited 
 Mantua and Ferrara gracious permission to use the 
 words in writing and in his armorial bearings and on 
 the liveries of his servants, " we ourselves," she wrote 
 at the time, " being the inventor of this motto, and 
 having adopted it as our peculiar device."^ In the 
 following autumn Mario Equicola, the Calabrian 
 secretary of Margherita Cantelma, who had followed 
 her and Sigismondo to Ferrara, and was often em- 
 ployed by the Este princes, wrote from Blois to 
 inform Isabella that he had written a book on this 
 device, and only awaited her permission to publish the 
 work. 
 
 "Most illustrious Lady, — It was the custom of 
 ancient authors to seek for noble and excellent sub- 
 jects in order to render their works immortal. 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Giom. St. d. Lett. It, xxxiii. 49. 
 
"NEC SPE NEC METU" 281 
 
 Signora mia, although I am only a poor man of 
 letters, I thank God, who has allowed me to serve 
 Your Excellency, from whose rare talents and lively 
 wit I hope some of my writings may acquire fame 
 and authority. In this firm hope, 1 have composed 
 a book of some forty sheets, in interpretation of JVec 
 spe Tiec metu, making mention of the words on every 
 page. In the said book I introduce discussions on 
 the meaning of this motto, which will show Your 
 Signory the methods of ancient poetry, philosophy, 
 and theology, connecting Nee spe nee metu with each 
 in turn, and praising this motto above all others ever 
 composed. I beg you to give me leave to publish 
 and print this little work, and if you wish, will send 
 it to you before it is pubhshed. I await your 
 pleasure, certifying that the twenty-seven chapters 
 on this inscription are nearly finished, after which I 
 will illustrate the musical signs." ^ 
 
 Mario had apparently divided his book into 
 twenty-seven paragraphs, in allusion to the mystic 
 number XXVII., vinte sette, another device adopted 
 by Isabella, which, we learn from Paolo Giovio,^ 
 signified that all the sects {sette) of her enemies 
 were conquered {vinte). Isabella readily gave the 
 desired permission, and the book, printed and bound 
 in elegant covers, was presented to her by Margherita 
 Cantelma on her next birthday. "Your letter and 
 the book which Madonna Margherita sent us," wrote 
 Isabella in reply, " are a more deUghtful birthday 
 present than any gift of gold or other precious things, 
 since you have thereby exalted our little device to 
 subUme heights." But, with her usual candour, she 
 
 1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 313. 
 
 2 Delle Imprese, p. 59. 
 
282 MARIO EQUICOLA 
 
 remarks to her friend Margherita, in a letter written 
 on the same day : "I certainly never imagined all 
 these mysteries when I made the little motto I " 
 
 Mario, however, succeeded in ingratiating himself 
 with the Marchesa, who invited him to Mantua on 
 his return from France, and whom he describes, in 
 a letter to Cardinal d'Este, as one of the Trinity 
 whom he served on earth. " The first," he explains, 
 " is Your Highness ; the second, Signor Sigismondo 
 Cantelma ; the third, the Signora Marchesana." When 
 Mario left Mantua in the following September, Isa- 
 bella sent a bust of herself as a gift to his mistress, 
 Margherita Cantelma, in return for the pains which 
 this beloved friend had taken with her birthday 
 present. A year afterwards, he accompanied Mar- 
 gherita again to Mantua, and assisted at some 
 dramatic performances given by Bishop Lodovico 
 Gonzaga and Antonia del Balzo at Gazzuolo. " You 
 must blame Madonna Antonia," wrote Margherita, 
 on the 15th of November, "who insists on keeping 
 me here a night to see the Most Reverend Mon- 
 signore's comedy. I will not describe the amuse- 
 ments to which these lords and ladies devote 
 themselves until we meet ; they really are so many 
 and varied that I am convinced time does not fly for 
 them, and they are more youthful, more joyous and 
 blooming than ever. None the less I am longing to 
 be in the sacred Grotta, with her who is the true 
 goddess of my adoration." Bishop Lodovico was 
 the last survivor of Lodovico and Barbara Gonzaga's 
 sons, and only died in 1511, while his sister-in-law, 
 Antonia, lived tiU she was close upon a hundred, and, 
 as we learn from Bandello's writings, preserved her 
 joyous nature and love of letters to the last. In 
 
PLAGUE AT MANTUA 283 
 
 March 1508, we find Equicola again reading Latin 
 poetry at Mantua with Isabella, and in the autumn he 
 finally obtained leave from Cantelma and his wife to 
 enter the Marchesa's service, and eventually succeeded 
 CapQupi as secretary of his "most illustrious and 
 learned pupil." 
 
 When Mario's libretto reached Isabella, she had, 
 as we have said, left Mantua to escape from the 
 plague, and was spending the summer at Sacchetta. 
 It was a dreary year in the chronicles of the house of 
 Gonzaga. The chronicler Schivenoglia records that 
 the plague broke out at carnival, and lasted so long 
 that the gates of Mantua remained closed untU the 
 day of the Blessed Virgin's Nativity in September. 
 More than 2000 persons died in the city and suburbs, 
 and the expenses of the epidemic cost the Govern- 
 ment 140,000 ducats. Trade suffered severely, and 
 the people were reduced to the greatest misery. 
 The taxes were not paid, the revenue was in arrear, 
 and Isabella was once more compelled to pledge her 
 jewels. But she battled bravely with this new 
 calamity, and exerted herself with her wonted energy 
 to found charitable institutions and to relieve the 
 distress of her husband's subjects. 
 
 When the plague was beginning to abate, the 
 Marquis received a summons from Pope Julius II., 
 who was starting an expedition against Perugia and 
 Bologna, and invited Francesco to meet him at 
 Urbino. By a bull issued on the 10th of January, 
 this warlike Pope had proclaimed his intention of 
 recovering all those territories of which the Holy 
 See had been unjustly robbed, and the Baghoni and 
 Bentivogh were the first usurpers against whom he 
 directed his arms. Duke Guidobaldo recommended 
 
284 POPE JULIUS TI 
 
 his brother-in-law to His Hohness as the most vahant 
 and expert captain in Italy, and Julius, acting on 
 his suggestion, summoned Francesco to his help. 
 When he left Rome towards the end of August, so 
 promptly did the Marquis respond, that he reached 
 Perugia at the head of 200 horse on the 17th of 
 September, a few days after the Pope had entered 
 that city in triumph. " The faith which His Holi- 
 ness places in us," he wrote to Isabella, "leaves us 
 no choice in the matter, yet we cannot but feel com- 
 passion for that noble family of Bentivoglio, which 
 has always been so friendly to us."^ On the 25th 
 Julius II. reached Urbino, where great preparations 
 had been made for his reception, and Ehsabetta had 
 borrowed Isabella's biggest pearls and finest tapestries 
 to do honour to His Hohness. So numerous were 
 the guests that Elisabetta wrote to tell her brother 
 that to her regret she was unable to give him lodg- 
 ings in the palace, which, "being neither Mantua 
 nor Ferrara," could with difficulty accommodate the 
 Pope and his seventy-eight Cardinals. After a 
 rough journey by bridle-path over the mountain- 
 passes, in torrents of rain, the Pope reached Imola, 
 and here, on the 25th of October, the Marquis of 
 Mantua was appointed lieutenant-general of the 
 army in the place of Guidobaldo, who was laid up 
 with gout. At the same time news was received of 
 the flight of Giovanni Bentivogho and his family, 
 who had left for Milan, with a safe conduct from 
 Charles d'Amboise, the French general. A fort- 
 night later, on the 11th of November, the Pope 
 entered Bologna in triumph. 
 
 The weather was lovely and the roses were stiU 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 174. 
 
CONQUERS BOLOGNA 285 
 
 in bloom when, on the Feast of St. Martin, the 
 victorious Pope, wearing his purple cape and richly 
 jewelled mitre, borne aloft on the Sedia Gestatoria, 
 made his way through the crowded streets to the 
 Cathedral of S. Petronio. Before him marched the 
 pontifical standard-bearers, and, immediately behind 
 him, ten white palfreys with golden bridles, closely 
 followed by the Duke of Urbino, the Marquis of 
 Mantua, Francesco Maria, Prefect of Rome, and a 
 suite of nobles. Last of all, borne aloft in the air, 
 came the Papal Cross and the Host, under a silken 
 baldacchino, accompanied by the Sistine choir and 
 forty priests with Ughted tapers in their hands. 
 Thirteen triumphal arches were erected along the 
 route, and gold and silver medals, struck in honour of 
 the occasion, were thrown to the crowds of spectators 
 who came to witness the stately pageant and receive 
 the Pope's blessing from the steps of S. Petronio. 
 
 Francesco Gonzaga wrote glowing accounts of the 
 great ceremony, and of the marked favour with which 
 the Pope treated him. "It is even possible that we 
 may bring him with us to Mantua," he wrote to his 
 wife, and forthwith he desired her to see that the 
 CasteUo was made ready, and gave orders that the 
 frescoes of the Camera Dipinta should be carefully 
 restored, where they had suffered damage, by Andrea 
 Mantegna and his sons, " or, if they cannot or will 
 not do the work, by M. Francesco Bonsignori." But 
 when this letter was written the great master was 
 already dead. A brief mention of his death appears 
 in one of Isabella's letters to her husband, but she 
 was too full of joy and triumph at the thought of 
 Francesco's triumphant success to dwell on this 
 irreparable loss. 
 
286 THE CAMERA DIPINTA 
 
 On the 21st of September she wrote : — 
 "I received Your Excellency's letter, describing 
 your entrance into Perugia, and all the honours and 
 favours and promises which you have received from 
 His Holiness. May God in the highest be praised ! 
 And I thank Your Excellency for informing me of 
 this, since nothing can give me greater joy and satis- 
 faction than to hear of your prosperity and exaltation. 
 Let Your Signory boldly ask the Pope to come to 
 Mantua, and we shall contrive to do him honour. 
 I will have the corridor arranged, and the Camet'a 
 Dipinta restored by Maestro Francesco, because, as 
 you wUl have heard, Messer Andrea died immediately 
 after your departure. Federico's cure has been pro- 
 nounced complete by the doctor this morning. He 
 dressed, and dined with good appetite, and is playing 
 merrily in his room, so he is making a good recovery. 
 I will not write more now, as Monsignore is sending 
 this courier in great haste. Ercole and the girls are 
 weU." 
 
 Three days later she wrote again : — 
 " I ordered Ghisolfo to have the corridor leading 
 to the Camera Dipinta covered in, but we cannot 
 find the key of the armoury, and have not Kked to 
 force the door open, because of all the things which 
 it contains, and it ought not to be left open all day, 
 while men are going to and fro, and are at work in 
 the corridor. Your Excellency must tell me what you 
 wish about this, as there will be plenty of time. The 
 son of M. Andrea Mantegna will repair the Camera, 
 as Maestro Francesco (Bonsignori) cannot leave his 
 Cenacolo (in the convent of the Zoccolanti Friars). 
 I have been to see the new rooms at S. Sebastiano, 
 which are very fine, and the pictures seem to me 
 
MANTEGNA'S TRIUMPHS 287 
 
 admirable, Federico and the other children are well, 
 and so am I." ^ 
 
 The pictures to which Isabella here alludes were 
 in all probability Mantegna's Triumphs of Csesar, 
 for which a new haU had been lately prepared in 
 Francesco's newly-built palace, S. Sebastiano, near the 
 Porta Pusterla. In a letter of April 17, 1506,^ Corradi 
 had already informed the Marquis that he has ordered 
 the carved pilasters for Messer Andrea's canvases, 
 and it is these pillars, as Dr. KristeUer points out,^ 
 that we see reproduced in Andrea's well-known wood- 
 cuts. But the Triumphs were still employed as stage 
 decorations, we learn from a letter of Francesco 
 Gonzaga, who, in giving Vigilio orders for the repre- 
 sentations of a comedy in December 1501, desired 
 him not to move the Triumphs from Marmirolo, as 
 those which are in Mantua will be sufficient to adorn 
 the theatre.* 
 
 We find another allusion to the new rooms in 
 the Palazzo della Pusterla in a long letter which was 
 addressed by Isabella to her husband on the 5th of 
 October, and which, although written in her most 
 lively strain, shows that her relations with him were 
 none of the happiest.^ 
 
 " Your letter apologising for not having written 
 before has filled me with confusion, for it is I who 
 ought rather to have begged your pardon for my 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e jxrtefir' ii. 68. 
 
 2 lUA., &^. 
 
 8 "Andrea MaFtegji.%" p. 279- 
 
 * D'Ancona Origin, ii. 
 
 ^ This intefcsti.!ig letter escaped the notice of D'Arco and 
 other his*Mrians, nnd is only to be found in a rare pamphlet pub- 
 lished in 1870 by P. Ferrato and entitled Lettere di Principesse di 
 Casa Gonzaga. 
 
288 ERCOLE GONZAGA 
 
 delay, not you, when I know you have hardly time 
 to eat ! but, since you are so kind as to make excuses 
 to me, you will also be so good as to forgive my 
 delays, which were caused by Federico's illness and 
 my reluctance to give you any news which would 
 make you anxious. Now, thank God, he is perfectly 
 well, and I can the more gladly discharge my duty. 
 The hat for which you ask shall be made as soon as 
 the master arrives, and shall be as fine and gallant 
 as possible. If you will say how soon you require it, 
 I wiU try and have a coat made to match, if there is 
 time ; but pray teU me this at once. Thank you for 
 wishing me to see your entry into Bologna. It wUl 
 no doubt be a magnificent sight. I am very weU, 
 and, if you desire it, will come gladly. I think even a 
 bomb would have some trouble to make me miscarry. 
 Your Highness must not say that it is my fault if I 
 quarrel with you, because, as long as you show any 
 love for me, no one else can make me beheve the 
 contrary. But no interpreter is needed to make me 
 aware that Your Excellency has loved me little for 
 some time past. Since this, however, is a disagree- 
 able subject, I will cut it short, and say no more. I 
 am sorry Your Highness objects to my calling our 
 boy Ercole. I would not have done this if I had 
 thought you would dislike it. But Your Highness 
 knows that when you were at Sacchetta you said 
 he was very like my father, of blessed memory ; and 
 I said that, this being the case, you were wrong not 
 to call him Ercole. You laughec!^ and said no more ; 
 but if you had told me your mind, then I should 
 not have made this mistake. But only let me have 
 another boy, and you may call him Alvise, or what- 
 ever you like, and leave the other to be Ercole for me. 
 
PALACE OF S. SEBASTIANO 289 
 
 But I am sure that, if I had a thousand sons, I shall 
 never care as much for any of them as I do for 
 Federico. All the same, let Your Highness please 
 yourself, and I will do as you wish. A few days ago 
 I was in Your Excellency's new house, and, as I 
 wrote before, thought it most beautiful. You write 
 that I am making fun of you, which is not true, 
 because, if the rooms were not fine, I should keep 
 silence ; but, as the effect seemed strikingly fine to 
 me, I wrote this to you, and I repeat that they are 
 beautiful, and all the more so in my eyes because 
 Your Highness has followed the example of my 
 room, although, I must confess, you have improved 
 upon it. I will not weary you any more with words 
 of little importance, but commend myself a thousand 
 times over to Your Highness. — By the hand of 
 Isabella, who longs to see you." Mantua, Oct. 5, 
 1506. 
 
 On the 20th of October, Isabella wrote again as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Your letter, giving me an account of your 
 fortunate progress, has given me great pleasure, both 
 as showing me that you are in good health, and 
 telling me of all the honour and glory you are 
 gaining. I thank you exceedingly, and must tell 
 you in return that I and Federico, Alvise, and all 
 the girls are well. Alvise's nurse has had an attack 
 of fever, so I have given him Livia's nurse, until she 
 has recovered, which will not, I hope, be long now. 
 As soon as the felt hat, which is being made after 
 Bernardus del Armaria's directions, is finished, I will 
 have it covered with velvet and embroidered with 
 such taste that it shall be the finest and most gallant 
 thing in the world ! Please see that the pearls which I 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
290 SUSPICION OF THE VENETIANS 
 
 lent to the Duchess of Urbino are soon restored to you. 
 Francesco Mantegna has begun to repair the frescoes 
 in the Camera Dipinta, and Ghisolfo is having the 
 corridor covered. The painters are gone to Venice 
 to copy the Itaha. The Vicar of Serravalle writes to 
 say that part of the Castle vi^aU towards the Po has 
 fallen down, of which danger he says he warned 
 Your Excellency and the Masters of Revenue some 
 time ago. I sent orders to the said officers to provide 
 for its repair. Owing to this accident Federico's 
 nurse lost 70 measures of wheat and 200 of millet." 
 In her next letter Isabella told her husband of 
 the unexpected difficulties experienced by Girolamo 
 Corradi and Bonsignori, the two artists whom she had 
 sent by his orders to copy a fresco with a figure of 
 Italia in the ducal palace at Venice, which was to be 
 reproduced in his palace of S. Sebastiano. At the 
 same time she informed him of the jealousy with 
 which the Signory evidently regarded his close 
 relations with the Pope and the King of France.^ 
 
 " When Messer Hieronimo the painter and his 
 companion went to Venice to copy the Italia, I 
 wrote to Carlo Valerio begging him to assist them, 
 and he, being anxious to serve^ Your Excellency, 
 asked His Serenity the Prince for his permission, 
 because without this they could not obtain entrance 
 into his ante-chamber, and those artists who formerly 
 ventured to copy the painting without his leave, went 
 there at their own peril. Messer Hieronimo now 
 informs me, on Messer Carlo's part, that the Prince 
 refused to give his consent, saying : ' Look at those 
 letters which we have received, informing us that the 
 Marquis of Mantua every day speaks against this 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 71. Gaye, Carteggio, ii 90. 
 
ISABELLA WARNS HER HUSBAND 291 
 
 Signory, not in public, where he uses honourable 
 expressions, but in private, and not only does he him- 
 self act thus, but his servants follow his example, 
 which is most injurious to the State.' It is plain 
 they nourish hatred against Your Excellency, and 
 every day they say that they receive similar informa- 
 tion. Messer Carlo promised to behave with great 
 circumspection, and advises Your Excellency to say 
 some good words to the Signory's ambassador now 
 in attendance on His Holiness, so that he may report 
 them, and not leave the Senate under so unfavourable 
 an impression. Whatever turn affairs may take, he 
 begs you to be careful not to let any one know that 
 this warning has come from him. As to the copy of 
 the Itaha, he says it will be best to wait a month 
 or two, and after that he will try to obtain the 
 necessary permission. It has seemed to me right, 
 both for your sake and for that of Messer Carlo, to 
 give Your Excellency this information, while you are 
 with the said ambassador. Federico continues to 
 gain strength. — Your wife, Isabella, with her own 
 hand." ^ Nov. 1, 1506. 
 
 A fortnight later the Marchesa wrote again, on 
 receiving Francesco's account of the Pope's triumphal 
 entry into Bologna. 
 
 " I was filled with joy on hearing the account of 
 the solemn entry into Bologna, which Your Ex- 
 cellency described so fully in your two letters of the 
 11th, but this evening I am still more delighted to 
 hear that you soon hope to return home. Here I 
 expect you eagerly, since my present condition will 
 not permit of my coming to join you at Bologna. I 
 have received four ducats of the Pope's new coinage, 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 72. 
 
292 FLIGHT OF THE BENTIVOGLI 
 
 which I distributed as you desired, thanking you 
 very much for letting me have them. As soon as I 
 received your first letter, saying that His Holiness 
 has removed the interdict from Bologna, all the 
 priests in this city began to celebrate mass in thanks- 
 giving. I told Messer Annibale Bentivoglio, who is 
 at Revere, of the permission which you informed me 
 has been granted him, at your request, to keep his 
 house and aU its contents. He has replied that he is 
 well aware how much he owes to Your Excellency, 
 and begs me to thank you in his name, hoping that 
 you will continue to give him your good protection, 
 since his only hope is placed in Your Highness." 
 
 The Bentivogli, as we saw, had fled from 
 Bologna before the papal army, and their splendid 
 palace, newly decorated with frescoes by Francia's 
 hand, had been razed to the ground. In this general 
 ruin, Annibale, the eldest son of the ruling prince, 
 and his wife, Lucrezia d'Este, Isabella's half-sister, 
 gratefully availed themselves of the Gonzagas' help 
 and protection. They came to Mantua, where both 
 the Marquis and his wife treated them with the 
 greatest kindness, and braved the wrath of the fiery 
 old Pope, who was furious with Francesco for giving 
 shelter to his enemies. " His Holiness," wrote the 
 Mantuan envoy, " began to bellow like a bull with 
 rage, and not only threatened Your Excellency, but 
 Heaven itself." At the same time Isabella did not 
 neglect this opportunity of enriching her own collec- 
 tion with the spoils of her vanquished friends. A 
 certain Niccolo Frisio, who, according to Bembo, 
 was German by birth, but thoroughly Italian in all 
 else, and had earned Castiglione's gratitude by 
 nursing him during a serious illness in Rome, wrote 
 
BUSTS SENT TO MANTUA 293 
 
 on the 27th of November to inform the Marchesa 
 that he had recovered two alabaster heads which had 
 belonged to the Protonotary, Antonio Bentivoglio, and 
 had been stolen. One was a head of Antonia ; the 
 other, which had pearls in the hair, a bust of 
 Faustina. " I only regret," he added, " that I am 
 not in Rome, where 1 might have secured a couple 
 of paintings on the I^abours of Hercules, which 
 would, I am sure, have pleased you better ; but, if I 
 return to Rome, I hope to be able to do you this 
 service. — From him who would have desired to see 
 Your Excellency reigning in the capitol, in the great 
 days of triumphant Rome, your servant, Niccolo 
 Frisio." The busts were duly sent to Mantua, 
 and found a place in the Grotta, by the side of that 
 famous bust of Faustina which had been Mantegna's 
 greatest treasure.^ 
 
 Francesco's return was celebrated with great 
 rejoicings at Mantua, and the performance of the 
 " Formicone " was once more given in the CasteUo 
 at the New Year, under Messer Vigilio's direction. 
 Soon afterwards Isabella gave birth to a third son, 
 who received the name of Ferrante, and became a 
 vahant soldier, as well as a prime favourite of the 
 Emperor Charles V. 
 
 Isabella herself was dangerously ill for some days, 
 and narrowly escaped with her life. On her recovery, 
 her brother. Cardinal d'Este, sent the poet Ariosto 
 to convey his affectionate congratulations to the 
 Marchesa on this happy event, an attention which 
 Isabella greatly appreciated. During the few days 
 which he spent at Mantua, Ariosto read to the 
 Marchesa the greater part of his Orlando Furioso, 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. p. 73. 
 
294 ARIOSTO AT MANTUA 
 
 and this, she wrote to the Cardinal, "made these 
 hours in bed pass not only without weariness, but 
 with the greatest possible pleasure." From the 
 first Isabella showed the keenest interest in the 
 Ferrara poet's verses, and encouraged him to continue 
 his Orlando, and weave the scattered fragments 
 into one great poem. He often came to visit her at 
 Mantua, and listened attentively to her advice and 
 criticism. When his poem was published in 1516, 
 her husband allowed the paper on which it was 
 printed to be sent from Venice to Ferrara free of 
 duty, a privilege to which great importance was 
 attached, and which was only granted to a few 
 highly favoured scholars. As soon as the book 
 appeared Ariosto came himself to Mantua, and 
 presented a copy to Isabella herself, and another to 
 her husband, while, in a later edition, he paid a 
 magnificent tribute to her charms and virtues. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 1507—1508 
 
 Louis XII. invites Francesco Gonzaga to help him in the siege of 
 Genoa — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Fetes in the Castello — 
 Isabella's correspondence with Elisabetta Gonzaga — Her 
 intended journey to France — Death and funeral of the Duke 
 of Urbino — Visit of Duke Francesco Maria to Mantua — Birth 
 of Isabella's youngest daughter — Murder of Ercole Strozzi, 
 and death of Niccolo da Correggio — Rivalry of Isabella and 
 Lucrezia Borgia. 
 
 Early in April 1507, Louis XII. entered Italy with 
 a large army, and invited the Marquis of Mantua to 
 help him in quelling a rebellion which had broken 
 out in Genoa, and was secretly supported by 
 Machiavelli and the Florentines. Francesco gladly 
 accepted the king's proposal, and distinguished 
 himself greatly in the siege of Genoa. After the 
 surrender of that city he entered Milan in triumph 
 with Louis, who appointed him Grand Master of the 
 Order of St. Michel, and expressed so earnest a wish 
 to make the Marchesa's acquaintance that Francesco 
 sent an express courier to beg his wife to come to 
 Milan at once. Isabella set out immediately with 
 her little son Federico, now a child of seven, and 
 travelled by Lodi to Milan. Once more she saw the 
 beautiful city which she had known so well in the 
 reign of her brother-in-law, the unhappy Duke who 
 languished in the dungeon of Loches, and with that 
 strange forgetfulness of the past which marked the 
 
296 ISABELLA AT MILAN 
 
 men and women of her age, danced and supped with 
 King Louis in these same halls of the Rocchetta 
 where Beatrice had died. Great as were the changes 
 and melancholy the scenes of destruction which met 
 her eyes in this once splendid palace of the Sforzas, 
 Isabella found many old friends and familiar faces 
 in the brilliant crowd of courtiers. Galeazzo di San 
 Severino was there, in close attendance on the king 
 as Grand Ecuyer de France, and distinguished 
 himself in the tournament given in the Marchesa's 
 honour on the piazza in front of the Castello, which 
 had been the scene of his prowess in old days. So, 
 too, was the Moro's favourite painter, Leonardo the 
 Florentine, who came to Milan at the French king's 
 urgent entreaty to erect triumphal arches and arrange 
 the court pageants held in honour of his victory. 
 And before Isabella left, another old friend appeared 
 on the scene in the person of Antonio Pallavicini, 
 now Cardinal di S. Prassede, who arrived in great 
 haste on the 7th of June as papal legate, and was 
 received with the stately ceremonial due to the Pope's 
 representative. But, melancholy as were the associa- 
 tions which these old scenes and well-known faces 
 must have recalled, Isabella seems to have enjoyed 
 herself exceedingly. Her brilliant charms made a 
 profound impression on King Louis and all his 
 courtiers, and the monkish chronicler, Jean d'Auton, 
 singled her out among all the fair and high-born 
 ladies who were present at the royal ball in the 
 Castello as une belle dame qui danse a merveilles} 
 On her return to Mantua the Marchesa wrote in high 
 spirits to tell her sister-in-law at Urbino all that she 
 had seen and done in Milan. Her letter, breathing 
 
 1 Chroniqiie de Louis XII., publiee par R. de Maulde La Clavi^re. 
 
f:&tes in the castello 297 
 
 as it does a gay spirit of fun and rivalry eminently 
 characteristic of the writer, must be given in fuU : — 
 
 " Since Your Excellency went to Rome and 
 Rome came to Urbino, I have never ventured to 
 rival the grandeur of your court, nor to pretend that 
 I have seen as many rare and excellent things as 
 you have done, but have looked on in silence and not 
 without hidden envy at Your Highness. But now 
 that I have been to the first and noblest court in 
 Christendom, I can boldly not only challenge you, 
 but compel you to envy me. A few weeks ago, I 
 was summoned by my illustrious lord to Milan to 
 pay homage to His Most Christian Majesty, and 
 arrived there on the vigil of Corpus Christi. After 
 dinner, as I was about to go and pay my respects, 
 I received a message from him, desiring me to go 
 to the lists on the Piazza where the Giostra was 
 being held. So I went there at the stated hour 
 and found His Majesty, who came to meet me on 
 the steps and received me with the greatest courtesy 
 possible. All the Milanese ladies were present and 
 the Princess of Bisignano, as well as all the barony 
 and nobility of France and the great lords of Italy, 
 the Duke of Savoy, the Marquises of Mantua and 
 Montferrat, and all the castellans of the Milanese 
 towns, and the ambassadors of every power in Italy. 
 The French lords are so numerous that it would be 
 impossible to name them all. But I must mention 
 the Due de Bourbon, our nephew, a taU youth of 
 handsome and majestic appearance, who closely 
 resembles his mother (Chiara de Montpensier) in 
 complexion, eyes, and features. If the Roman 
 Court is marvellous for its ceremonial and order, 
 that of France is no less amazing and extraordinary 
 
298 JOUSTS AND BANQUETS 
 
 for confusion and disorder — so much so that it is 
 quite impossible to distinguish one man from another I 
 It is also certainly remarkable for its freedom and 
 absence of etiquette. In this court, for instance, 
 cardinals are not treated with any greater honour 
 than chaplains are in Rome. No one gives place to 
 them or pays them any respect, from the king 
 downwards. His Majesty, however, is always most 
 courteous and respectful to aU who presume to 
 approach him, and above all to ladies, always rising 
 from his seat and lifting his cap to show them 
 honour. Thrice over he came to visit me in my 
 lodgings. The first time, when I happened to be 
 dining with Signor Zoanne Giacomo Trivulzio, he 
 waited more than half-an-hour for my return, and 
 each time he remained no less than two or three 
 hours, conversing on different subjects with the 
 greatest friendliness in the world, neither did he 
 fail to speak honourably of Your Highness in the 
 course of conversation. Madonna Margherita di San 
 Severino (sister of Emilia Pia), the Contessa di 
 Musocho, and sometimes the Princess of Bisignano, 
 who are well versed in the French language, were 
 our interpreters. In spite of repeated efforts, I 
 never succeeded in finding His Majesty in the 
 Castello, saving one day when he invited me to a 
 public banquet in the Rocchetta, where the Princess 
 of Bisignano and I had the honour of sitting at 
 his table. We danced in an informal manner both 
 before and after supper. His Majesty danced with 
 me, and the Cardinals Narbonne, San Severino, 
 Ferrara, and Finale, who were present at the banquet, 
 were constrained by him to dance, much to our 
 amusement and diversion. I will not write about 
 
THE FRENCH COURT 299 
 
 the public spectacles held on the Piazza, because I 
 know that they will have been fully described by 
 your ambassador. Certainly I have seen better- 
 managed jousts, but I never saw, and do not think 
 that, in all Christendom, it would be possible to see, 
 a greater number and variety of people ! Most of 
 them were nobles — ^not only those of Milan, which 
 must be the first or second largest city in the world, 
 but the whole court of France and most of the 
 courts of Italy were here assembled, so that Your 
 Excellency wUl understand how proud and glorious 
 a sight it was I The assembly was a much larger 
 one than we could have seen at the king's own 
 palace in France, because the lords who followed 
 him to Italy do not reside at court, and if they are 
 occasionally present at some solemn ceremony, we 
 should not have seen all the people and nobles of 
 Milan, and indeed we may say of Italy, since the 
 gentlemen and citizens of many different cities 
 came to witness these spectacles. O how great was 
 my happiness ! and how it makes me rejoice every 
 time that I remember it ! Only think what it 
 would be if Your Signory were here and we could 
 communicate by word of mouth ! I have written 
 all this to deliver myself from the sin of envy, and 
 also to describe a thing which is excellent in spite 
 of its disorder 1 I am sure that the Roman court 
 is not to be compared with the French court, where 
 the temporal and spiritual are united. If Your 
 Excellency could have seen the procession of Corpus 
 Christi set out from the Duomo with little enough 
 order — first the clergy, then an infinite number of 
 Swiss guards with halberds on their shoulders, 
 behind them the Gentlemen of the Guard, battle- 
 
300 THE PAPAL LEGATE 
 
 axes in hand, and after them under a baldacchino 
 borne by the chief lords came the Legate of France 
 bearing the Body of Christ, followed by the king, 
 with seven Cardinals and all the barony of France 
 and Italy, and people of Milan and the neighbouring 
 towns — it would have seemed to you the finest 
 spectacle which you had ever witnessed ! It is true 
 that Your Signory may say, ' I have seen Rome ' ; 
 still you must confess that you saw it undone and 
 in ruins. But I have seen Genoa, Florence, and 
 Milan, which in our age are no less worthy of 
 admiration, in their most triumphant days. I will 
 not deny that I have a great wish to see Rome, 
 not for the sake of the court and the different 
 nations who are represented there, for I could not 
 look upon anything finer than what I have seen 
 here, but in order to visit the antiquities and 
 famous ruins of Rome and to realise what the 
 triumph of a victorious Emperor must have been. 
 But this occasion has not been entirely without 
 Roman ceremonies, since at the entrance of my 
 friend, the Most Reverend Cardinal and Legate 
 of S. Prassede, he was received by the Legate of 
 France and eight Cardinals, all the orders of clergy, 
 and singers, with great magnificence, because His 
 Most Reverend Signory holds the rank of the Pope 
 whom he represents, so that I may say I have seen 
 both the Pope and the Roman court. Afterwards 
 I paid His Signory two visits at his lodgings, where I 
 was most lovingly received, embraced, and honoured, 
 and was able to realise the splendid state of the 
 Cardinals who live in Rome. This impression was 
 confirmed by the visit which I received from Cardinal 
 de Rouen and all the other Cardinals attached to 
 
ELISABETTA AND ISABELLA 301 
 
 this court, who came in a body, not to pay me 
 honour, which would not have been suitable on their 
 part, but merely to show me courtesy. I might go 
 on and describe all the separate visits which I re- 
 ceived from Italian and French lords and Milanese 
 ladies, as well as from the King and the Cardinals, 
 but this and aU the rest I will leave to Your Signory's 
 imagination, lest I give you too much reason to 
 envy me I " Mantua, July 7, 1507. 
 
 Elisabetta, however, declined to own herself van- 
 quished, although, owing to Duke Guidobaldo"s ill- 
 ness, it was two months before she sent the following 
 rejoinder : — 
 
 "It is already over a month since I received 
 Your Signory's letter, which was delightful and ac- 
 ceptable beyond words. If I could, my dear lady, 
 express in words or writing the pleasure and satis- 
 faction which I take in reading your eagerly expected 
 and much -prized letters, it would take me all 
 eternity ! And I am sure that if you reahsed a small 
 part of the happiness they give me, you would more 
 often employ your secretary. On the other hand, 
 if I complain, I do not wonder that they are few and 
 far between, knowing that all dear and precious 
 things are rare. . . . Although Your Excellency 
 thinks that you have delivered yourself from the sin 
 of envy in order to excite my jealousy by telling me 
 all the great and magnificent things which you have 
 seen at Milan, I must reply that I feel no envy 
 whatever. What sight can be greater than that of 
 Rome ? I saw that city, which is and has ever been 
 acknowledged to be the head of the world, with aU 
 the marvellous ancient and modem treasures which it 
 contains, to my great and endless wonder and delight. 
 
302 THE POPE AT URBINO 
 
 I saw, above all, the Pope, who represents God 
 upon earth, surrounded by the whole Roman court, 
 which is second to none. I confess that these things 
 which Your Signory has seen with so much pleasure, 
 are also splendid, but if you had seen these other 
 great sights, you would, I do not doubt, hold them 
 to be very inferior. But of one thing I can boast 
 with far greater reason than Your Excellency, which 
 is that, although I have only once visited Rome, 
 Rome and the Roman court has been, not once, but 
 twice to visit me at Urbino. Now Your Excellency 
 will see if I cannot challenge you to a glorious duel 
 and carry off an honourable victory ! And further, 
 I wiU tell you of other things, which will, I am 
 certain, cause Your Signory voluntarily to retire 
 from the fray, and perhaps make you regret that 
 you ever entered the hsts, seeing that you are en- 
 tirely vanquished. The Most Serene Cathohc King, 
 being at Gaeta, desired to imitate the example of the 
 Pope and Sacred College, and himself proposed to 
 come to visit me at Urbino, which he would have 
 done had he not been afterwards obliged to change 
 his plans and take another voyage elsewhere." This 
 was Ferdinand the Catholic, who came to visit his 
 newly conquered kingdom of Naples with his new 
 wife, Germaine de Foix, in October 1506, and re- 
 mained there until the following June, when he met 
 Louis XII. at Savona, before that monarch returned 
 to France. "And the great King of the Romans, 
 after holding many Diets, was unable to obtain the 
 Electors' consent to his journey into Italy, so that 
 till now it has been impossible for him to visit 
 Urbino in person and keep his promise of showing 
 me His Majesty. All this will help Your Highness 
 
ISABELLA INVITED TO FRANCE 303 
 
 to understand that I do not in the least envy the 
 sights which you have seen, nor do I need to go 
 elsewhere to see nobler and more wonderful things, 
 since, without leaving home. Heaven has granted 
 me these rare favours. Nor do I intend to take any 
 more journeys, unless it is to see and enjoy the com- 
 pany of Your Signory, which I shall always count 
 the greatest of all pleasures, and which I desire above 
 aU things, both for the sake of embracing you and 
 enjoying your presence, and because I have so many 
 things to discuss with you that, without the help of 
 Madonna Emilia, five days of uninterrupted talking 
 would hardly satisfy me. I hear that Your Signory 
 has made a vow to visit Loreto and exhort you to 
 fulfil this vow soon, after which I intend to lay such 
 snares for you that, whether wiUingly or by force, 
 you wiU find yourself in my power ! My lord Duke 
 has recovered from his indisposition. I am well and 
 hope to hear the same of you, &;c. — Your sister, 
 Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino." Urbino, Sept. 7, 
 1507. 
 
 When Ehsabetta's letter reached Isabella she had 
 just received an unexpected invitation from Louis 
 XII. and Anne of Brittany to visit the French 
 court, and accept the office of godmother to the 
 babe whose birth was hourly expected, and who, 
 it was confidently hoped, would this time prove a 
 Dauphin. The Marchesa was overjoyed at the pros- 
 pect, and wrote triumphantly to tell the Duchess of 
 this new and unexpected honour, and to express her 
 dehght at the prospect of a journey beside which 
 the glories of her pilgrimages to Rome, and papal 
 and royal visits, grew pale. 
 
 " I made the sign of the Cross at the sight of a 
 
304 HER JOY AT THE PROSPECT 
 
 letter of Your Signory's which was more than six 
 hnes in length, and felt so much pleasure at the 
 sight that I read it with greater care and attention 
 than the short ones which I usually receive. Your 
 Excellency, I feel, here tacitly confesses that she 
 prefers the style which I have acquired on my 
 journeys to that which she has learnt by going only 
 to Rome ! And since you are under this obligation 
 to me, I will not this time thank you for your long 
 and affectionate letter. Neither will I promise to 
 write more often, as you ask, because, if you look, 
 you will find that you have many more of my 
 letters in your file than you can register of your 
 own. But, in accusing me of neglect, Your High- 
 ness was evidently anxious to forestall my charges, 
 knowing well that neither the pleasures and good time 
 which 1 enjoy here, nor the pressure of overwhelming 
 business, ever prevent me remembering one whom I 
 love as my own soul. In reply, I must say that 
 you have indeed beheld great things in Rome and at 
 Urbino, and that you hoped to have seen more if the 
 Catholic King had come to visit you or if the Most 
 Serene King of the Romans had been able to under- 
 take his journey to Italy, and the Diets had not 
 determined otherwise. But how can these things 
 in any way compare with my prospects in the near 
 future, putting aside all that I have seen and done 
 in the past, as is well known to Your Signory ? The 
 Most Christian King thinks that the Queen cannot 
 bear a son unless I am present, and he has therefore 
 begged me earnestly to stay with her for this event, 
 in order that I may both honour the birth with my 
 presence, and hold the infant at the sacred font. 
 What greater honour could there be in this world 
 
OF SEEING PARIS 305 
 
 than to be gossip and sponsor to a King of France 1 
 
 what splendour, pomp, and glory will be mine ! I 
 shall not only visit Paris, the most flourishing Uni- 
 versity and populous city of the universe, but the 
 whole of France, Burgundy and Flanders, and may 
 perhaps reach Sant' lago of Galicia. O how many 
 new lands and royal sights I shall see on this journey ! 
 Your Signory and Madonna Emilia, who know so 
 much of the country and its customs, will be able to 
 imagine these. But what if my journey to France 
 takes place, and the coming of the Emperor to Italy, 
 which had been overruled by so many Diets, should 
 be abandoned ? In this case, the glory which you 
 love will return to me, and the Germans, I think, 
 may give up Diets in future, and eat and drink to 
 their hearts' desire ! I do not know if after this 
 you can claim to be my equal, and if it wiU be pos- 
 sible for me to accept your invitation to Urbino so 
 easily ! When I return to Italy I begin to wonder 
 if this earth wiU be worthy to bear me, if carpets 
 wiU not have to be spread under my feet, and a 
 baldacchino sent to meet me wherever I go ! But, 
 joking apart, I really hope to start for France in a 
 few days, and am busy making preparations. When 
 
 1 return we must think of meeting, for I am as 
 anxious about this as Your Highness can be."^ 
 Mantua, 25th September 1507. 
 
 Whatever her moods may be — ^grave or gay, im- 
 patient or gentle, stern or gracious — Isabella always 
 interests and attracts us ; but Isabella in high spirits, 
 intent on some new departure and gaily challenging 
 
 1 This and the three preceding letters in the Archivio Gonzaga 
 were first published by Dr. Luzio in a pamphlet entitled Gara dei 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
306 DEATH OF GUIDOBALDO 
 
 the world in her buoyant fancy, is altogether'irresist- 
 ible. Unfortunately she was doomed to disappoint- 
 ment, and this journey to France, to which she looked 
 forward with so much delight, never took place. 
 There were many difficulties in the way. Money, as 
 usual, was scarce at Mantua, and the Marquis was 
 reluctant to let his wife undertake so long and 
 expensive a journey. Her presence was urgently 
 required at home during his frequent excursions, and 
 the negotiations that were being secretly carried on 
 between the Pope and his allies might, at any moment, 
 as Francesco well knew, involve him in war with 
 Venice. So Isabella was compelled to put off her 
 expedition, and devote herself to her husband and 
 children. She could not even visit Ferrara, and 
 assist at the splendid fgtes that were held at her 
 brother's court, during the carnival of 1508, when 
 an Eclogue composed for the occasion by Ercole 
 Pio was represented, in which the shepherds of 
 Arcadia paid a glowing tribute to three nymphs 
 who dwell on the banks of the Po, the Mincio, and 
 the Metauro, and Lucrezia, Isabella, and Elisabetta, 
 who were there extolled as the most famous ladies 
 of the age. For in January her little girl Livia died, 
 and Francesco himself fell seriously ill, and showed 
 the first symptoms of that incurable disease which 
 eventually ended his life. At the same time, sad 
 news came from U rhino. The unusual severity of 
 the winter brought on a fresh attack of the gout, 
 from which Guidobaldo had suflfered all his life, and 
 on the 11th of April 1508 he died. 
 
 The good Duke was only thirty-five years of age, 
 but his sufferings had been intense during the last 
 weeks of his life, and death came as a welcome 
 
DUKE OF URBINO 307 
 
 release. " Why do you envy me so great a blessing ? " 
 he said, with a smile, to his heart-broken wife and 
 weeping friends ; " is it not a great good to be freed 
 from this terrible burden of pain ? " And a few hours 
 later he passed away, repeating a favourite passage 
 from Virgil, to Castiglione, who stood at his bedside. 
 Elisabetta was inconsolable. She nursed her 
 beloved husband with the greatest devotion, and won 
 general admiration by the wisdom with which she 
 conducted affairs of state, and secured the peaceful 
 succession of Guidobaldo's young nephew, Francesco 
 Maria deUa Rovere. "Never was there so prudent 
 and wise a Madonna," exclaimed her brother Giovanni 
 Gonzaga, who hastened to Urbino to comfort his 
 sister; "she is indeed to be commended in all that 
 she does." ^ Three days after his death, Guidobaldo 
 was buried by his father's side, in the little church of 
 the Zoccolanti friars, in the shady gardens which he 
 had loved so well, and where, on that fatal night, six 
 years before, he had first received the news of Csesar 
 Borgia's invasion. On the 2nd of May, a solemn 
 requiem mass was held in the Duomo, and was 
 attended by many princes and foreign ambassadors. 
 A huge catafalque was erected in the nave, decorated 
 with the late Duke's arms and banners, and his robes 
 as Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter 
 were laid on the bier, while his old tutor Odasio 
 pronounced a touching and eloquent oration, which, 
 Giovanni Gonzaga informed his brother, "was said 
 to be very beautiful by persons who understand 
 these things better than I do." ^ Four days later, 
 Isabella's faithful secretary, Capilupi, whom she had 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 182. 
 
 2 Dennistoun, "Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino/' ii. 79- 
 
308 GRIEF OF ELISABETTA 
 
 sent to express her grief and sympathy with the 
 widowed Duchess, reached Urbino, and thus de- 
 scribes the gloom and mourning which now reigned 
 in the once gay and brilliant palace ; — 
 
 " I found this illustrious Madonna surrounded by 
 her women in a room hung with black, with the 
 windows all closed, and only one candle on the floor. 
 She was sitting on a mattress spread on the floor, with 
 a black veil over her face and a black vest up to her 
 throat, and it was so dark I could hardly see, and had 
 to be led up to her like a blind man by my cloak. 
 She took my hand, and we both began to weep, and 
 it was some time before her sobs and my own allowed 
 me to speak. I gave her Your Excellency's letter, 
 and expressed my sympathy in as few words as pos- 
 sible. . . . We spoke of Your Excellencies and your 
 children, and of different subjects, and she told me 
 the great kindness which His Hohness has shown 
 at this time, and I stayed with her more than two 
 hours. The new Duke was sitting among the women, 
 but when the Duchess called him he rose, and I 
 gave him your messages. He replied briefly, but in 
 a prudent and sensible manner. He looks to me 
 taller and slighter than I expected, but it was too 
 dark to judge fairly. The Duchess speaks of him 
 very warmly, and he treats her with the reverence of 
 a son and a servant. To-day we spent more than 
 three hours together, and I induced her to talk of 
 other subjects, and even made her laugh, which no 
 one had as yet succeeded in doing. I begged her to 
 open the shutters, which no one had dared suggest, 
 and I think that in two days' time she will consent 
 to do this. She still eats her food on the floor. I 
 complained of the black veil which displeased Your 
 
FRANCESCO MARIA 309 
 
 Highness ; she excused herself for wearing it, but had 
 not thought of this before Signor Giovanni arrived, 
 and could not remove it now with decency, but says 
 that when Donna Leonora conies here as a bride, 
 she will change it joyfully, and says that if this 
 marriage proves as prosperous as she desires, she will 
 no longer feel widowed, and that this will be the 
 greatest joy that she can ever hope to know on earth. 
 . . . The funeral ceremonies, as Signor Giovanni has 
 told you, were sumptuous. There were 825 mourners, 
 wearing long cloaks with trains and hoods. All the 
 friars and priests of the state and five bishops were 
 present, and stood round the catafalque, with an 
 infinite number of lighted torches, but they were 
 hardly as numerous or as fine as those at Mantua. 
 The universal grief and lamentation here is beyond 
 description." ^ 
 
 The young Duke, Francesco Maria, now expressed 
 a great wish to visit his promised bride. For some 
 time past he had been anxious to come to Mantua, 
 and his natural eagerness to see his future wife was 
 further stimulated by Leonora's uncle, Giovanni 
 Gonzaga, who told him that, when he had seen 
 Donna Leonora and the Marchese's famous breed of 
 horses, he would have seen the two finest things 
 in the world ! For, he assured him, there was no 
 fairer and sweeter maiden in the whole of Italy, while 
 no Christian king or prince had a stud to equal that 
 of Mantua. Accordingly, on the 25th of August, 
 Francesco Maria made his appearance at Mantua, and 
 spent two days with the Marquis and his daughter. 
 Isabella herself was absent, having lately given birth to 
 another daughter at her summer villa on the heights 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier, Maniova e U rhino, p. 185. 
 
310 VISITS MANTUA 
 
 of Cavriana, and Federico Cattaneo sent her the 
 following account of the young suitor's visit ; " Yes- 
 terday evening about seven, the Duke of Urbino 
 arrived at the Castello, traveUing incognito with only 
 four persons, and remained upstairs with our illustrious 
 lord for about half-an-hour. As soon as he arrived, 
 our Signor sent for Madonna Laura (the wife of Gio- 
 vanni Gonzaga), whose little girl died two days ago. 
 She came at once, and with her Madonna Violante, 
 Madonna Costanza, Madonna Orsini degli Uberti, 
 and as soon as they were in the Castello they dressed 
 Madonna Leonora in white tabby. If Your High- 
 ness could have seen the confusion there was at that 
 moment ! As for me, I very much wished you could 
 have been there for many reasons, and many others of 
 your servants did the same. The Cardinal then came 
 in, took Madonna Leonora by the hand, and led her 
 down the little staircase near the Camera Dipinta. 
 They entered the Camera of the Sun, and found the 
 Duke with our illustrious Signor and many other 
 gentlemen. The Duke came to meet Madonna 
 Leonora and kissed her. But he did not seem to 
 have succeeded very well, and our Cardinal pushed 
 him towards her again, and then he threw his arm 
 round her head, and kissed her on the mouth. After 
 this they sat down together and talked of many 
 things, and more especially of pictures. Presently 
 my lord called me and bade me fetch the portrait 
 of Your Highness by Lorenzo Costa, the Ferrara 
 painter, which I had lately placed in its frame. I 
 brought it directly, and every one admired it. Then 
 we all took our leave. The Duke went to St. 
 Sebastian, and every one else to his own house. Of 
 JVIadonna Leonora's modesty and bearing I can only 
 
HIS PRESENTS TO ISABELLA 311 
 
 tell Your Signory that she behaved not as a child, 
 but as a very prudent lady. The Duke leaves here 
 on Monday, and goes to Viterbo." Mantua, 26th 
 August 1508. 
 
 The young Duke was eighteen years of age 
 and had already distinguished himself as a gallant 
 soldier, but gave signs of that violent temper for 
 which he was famous in after days. Only a few 
 months before, he had stabbed one of Duke Guido- 
 baldo's favourite cavaliers with his own hand, because 
 the unfortunate young man aspired to the hand of 
 his widowed sister, Maria Varana.^ But he always 
 behaved with the greatest deference to his widowed 
 aunt, and was anxious to acquire the good graces of 
 his bride's parents. He sent the Marquis a scimitar 
 which had belonged to the lamented King Ferrante 
 II. of Naples, and presented Isabella with a set of 
 costly trappings for a horse which had been the 
 property of Csesav Borgia, saying he knew that she 
 was not only fond of driving in a chariot and riding 
 mules, but was an excellent horsewoman, and thought 
 that she might relish a share " in the spoils of one 
 who knew not how to make use of his good fortune." ^ 
 Leonora was by this time a lovely maiden of fourteen 
 summers, whose beauty was already the theme of 
 courtiers and poets, and whose riper charms Titian's 
 brush was to render immortal in years to come. The 
 little daughter who was born to her mother that 
 August received the name of Livia Osanna, after her 
 lamented friend the Beata Osanna. The body of this 
 holy nun had been taken up a few weeks before, in the 
 Marchesa's presence, and after being exposed to the 
 
 1 Dennistoun, op. cit., ii. 305. 
 
 2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 186, 187. 
 
312 PAOLA GONZAGA 
 
 veneration of the public for a whole day, had been 
 solemnly interred in the beautiful Area designed by 
 Cristoforo Romano, in San Domenico. This second 
 Livia was vowed to the cloister from her infancy, 
 and became a Poor Clare in the convent of Santa 
 Paola, or Corpus Domenico. Here the Emperor 
 Charles V. himself came to see her, and the fame 
 of her sanctity attracted many illustrious visitors. 
 Sister Paola, which name the princess adopted on 
 taking the veil, is mentioned more than once in her 
 mother's correspondence, and several letters which 
 she herself addressed to her cousin Duke Ercole of 
 Ferrara and his wife Ren^e are preserved in the 
 Gonzaga archives, and were published by Ferrato. 
 
 In November Isabella went to Ferrara, where she 
 still found a warm welcome from her brother Alfonso, 
 in spite of the family quarrels which saddened her 
 home, and the coolness between her and la Diva 
 Borgia, as Lucrezia was styled by flattering poets 
 and courtiers. But two of her oldest friends were 
 missing. Ercole Strozzi, the accomplished Latin poet 
 and intimate friend of Bembo, whose house was often 
 honoured by Isabella's presence, and who himself 
 frequently came to Mantua, had been foully mur- 
 dered in cold blood one summer day when he left his 
 house to take an early walk and enjoy the morning 
 air. His wife, the beautiful Barbara ToreUi, had 
 only given birth to her first child a fortnight before, 
 and now wrote " with streaming tears and broken 
 heart " to tell her friends at Mantua the sad news. 
 The murdered man was buried with great pomp, and 
 the learned humanist, Celio Calcagneni, pronounced an 
 eloquent oration over the corpse of his gifted friend. 
 " Great is the sorrow we all feel here," wrote Bernardo 
 
DEATH OF NICCOLO DA CORREGGIO 313 
 
 dei Prosper! to Isabella — "most of all, because he 
 was so rare and excellent a man of letters." Not 
 a word was said as to the murderer, but it was 
 generally known in Ferrara that Alfonso d'Este had 
 long been jealous of Barbara ToreUi's preference for 
 Ercole, and had secretly planned his destruction. 
 Before Strozzi's death, the Marquis of Mantua had 
 promised to stand godfather to his new-born 
 daughter, and now sent the poet Tebaldeo to repre- 
 sent him at the christening. 
 
 Something of the same mystery overshadowed 
 the fate of Isabella's briUiant kinsman, Niccolo da 
 Correggio, who died in January 1508, at Ferrara, away 
 from his own house — to the bitter grief of his wife, 
 Cassandra CoUeoni. In her letter of condolence, Isa- 
 bella expressed her pity for this poor Madonna, 
 and alluded covertly to some love intrigues in 
 which her old friend had been unhappily entangled. 
 Only a year before, Alfonso had presented Niccolo 
 with a fine palace in the Via degli Angeli, which had 
 formerly belonged to his unhappy brother Giulio, in 
 recognition of his services in discovering that prince's 
 plot against the Duke's life. And in February 1507, 
 he wrote to the Marchesa in his old strain, telling her 
 how eagerly her coming was awaited at Ferrara, and 
 how busy he was preparing masquerades for her 
 amusement. The Duke, he added, was longing to 
 see his sister, and confidently expected her to spend 
 the next two months at his court. But soon after 
 this the old courtier incurred his lord's displeasure, 
 and Bernardo dei Prosperi, in a letter informing 
 Isabella that Signor Niccolo was at the point of 
 death, ascribes his melancholy condition to grief at 
 his disgrace. " His case," adds Bernardo, " has been 
 
814 ISABELLA ASKS HIS SON 
 
 pronounced hopeless by seven doctors, and in this 
 miserable end we must plainly see the judgment of a 
 just God." ^ 
 
 No sooner did Isabella hear of her old friend's 
 death than she wrote to his son Giangaleazzo, desir- 
 ing him to send her the MS. volume of poems which 
 his father had dedicated to her many years ago. 
 Giangaleazzo replied courteously, begging for time to 
 make certain corrections which his father had been 
 unable to finish. Upon this, the Marchesa sent him 
 a long letter, couched in her most imperious tones,^ 
 telling him that she could bring witnesses to prove 
 how, at the time of Alfonso's wedding to his first 
 wife, Anna Sforza, his father Niccolo, being in the 
 room above the court chapel, showed her his book in 
 three parts, containing sonnets, capituli, and canzoni, 
 with an epistle dedicating each in turn to herself. 
 " This," she goes on to say, " he confirmed again 
 when he was with me in my villa of Sacchetta, at the 
 time of Don Giulio's affair, saying that, in asking me 
 to be the patroness of his book, he resembled those 
 persons who, in order to keep their house clean, 
 paint a saint upon the outer walls." Then, lapsing 
 into a gentler and more pathetic strain, Isabella 
 recalled the long familiarity and friendship which she 
 had enjoyed with his father long before he was l?orn, 
 and which dated back to her earliest childhood, and 
 ended by desiring him to send the precious MS. 
 without delay by the present courier.^ 
 
 Giangaleazzo now sent a servant to Mantua with 
 fresh excuses and explanations. The MS. which his 
 
 1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., xxiii. 77. 
 
 2 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 315. 
 ^ Luzio e Renier, op. cit. 79- 
 
FOR NICCOLO'S POEMS 315 
 
 father had shown her was, he explained, not worthy 
 of her acceptance, being marked in certain places, 
 and not as elegantly bound as Niccolo himself would 
 have desired, so that he must beg her to wait a 
 little longer. To these excuses the Marchesa paid 
 little heed, beyond sending the writer a curt note, 
 sajring that, no doubt, his father being the most 
 generous of men, would have wished to adorn the 
 book before he presented it to her. Since he was 
 unfortunately no more, she must request Giangaleazzo 
 to forward the volume, which, as he is evidently 
 aware, had been promised to her. 
 
 But the book never came, and in August, Mario 
 Equicola, Isabella's confidential servant, wrote from 
 Ferrara, telling her that Duchess Lucrezia was going 
 to Correggio to obtain Messer Niccolo's canzoniere, a 
 piece of information which roused Isabella's ire to 
 the highest pitch. However, Giangaleazzo managed 
 to evade Lucrezia's request with equal success, and, as 
 the best way out of the difficulty, kept his father's 
 canzoniere in his own hands. We have another 
 proof of the rivalry which existed between Isabella 
 and her sister-in-law in a letter,^ written by Mario 
 in August 1508, teUing her that, in looking over the 
 MSS. of his friend Ercole Strozzi, he had discovered 
 a Latin epigram, originally written for the Sleeping 
 Cupid of Isabella's Grotta, which had been altered 
 and adapted to fit a marble Cupid belonging to 
 Duchess Lucrezia. " This," he adds, "is in reality 
 a very inferior modern work, but her flatterers 
 pretend that it is a genuine antique 1 " In conclusion, 
 the excellent secretary proposes his readiness to go 
 to the stake, if need be, in order to maintain the 
 
 1 A. LuziOj / Precettori, p. 43. 
 
316 LUCREZIA AND ISABELLA 
 
 truth, and prove to all the world that Ercole Strozzi's 
 verses were originally written in honour of the 
 Sleeping Cupid in the Isabellian Grotta, and in- 
 scribed to his own Madonna Marchesana. So keen 
 was the competition of these great ladies for the 
 tribute paid them by scholars and poets, so highly 
 did they prize the honour of seeing their own names 
 linked with these Latin verses which were to 
 perpetuate their fame for all time. Tantum possunt 
 camoence. " Such power have the Muses ! " 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 1500—1506 
 
 Isabella's relations with painters during the early years of the 
 sixteenth century — Her letters to Leonardo da Vinci — Corre- 
 spondence with Fra Pietro da Novellara, Angelo del Tovaglia, 
 Manfredi, and Amadori — She asks Perugino for a painting for 
 her studio — Description of the Triumph of Chastity composed 
 by Paride da Ceresara — Perugino's delays — Correspondence 
 with Malatesta, Tovaglia, <fec. 
 
 We have seen how, in the closing years of the fifteenth 
 century, Isabella founded her famous studio of the 
 Grotta, in the ancient portion of the Castello known 
 as the Corte Vecchia, and began to collect works of 
 art for its adornment. In spite of the many distrac- 
 tions which occupied her time and thoughts, in spite 
 of her husband's absence, and the active part which 
 she took in public affairs, she pursued this object 
 with unremitting energy and perseverance. 
 
 Never at any period of her life were her relations 
 with artists more frequent and more full of interest 
 than in these first ten years of the new century. 
 Andrea Mantegna, the court painter of the Gonzagas, 
 as we have already said, executed the first pictures for 
 the decoration of her new studio. And naturally 
 enough the great Florentine master who had visited 
 Mantua at the close of 1499, and drawn her portrait, 
 was one of the next artists to whom she applied. 
 After Leonardo's return to Florence in April 1500, 
 he sent the Marquis a sketch of the house of Angelo 
 
 317 
 
318 ISABELLA'S CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 del Tovaglia, a wealthy merchant whom Francesco 
 often employed on business matters, and which he 
 had greatly admired on a visit which he paid to 
 Florence that spring. 
 
 " I send you," wrote the Mantuan agent, Francesco 
 Malatesta, in August, " a drawing of the house of 
 Angelo Tovaglia, by the hand of your servant 
 Leonardo Vinci, who desires to be commended both 
 to you and to Madonna. But he said that to make 
 the house perfect, and satisfy your idea, you would 
 have to transport the site of Messer Angelo's house 
 to the spot where you intend to build. The drawing 
 has not been coloured, nor have I thought it necessary 
 to put in the evergreens, ivy, box, cypresses and laurels 
 of the garden, but if you vnsh it, the said Leonardo 
 offers to send you a painting as well as a model of 
 the villa." ^ 
 
 The birth of Isabella's son, and the political 
 troubles of that anxious year, prevented her from 
 availing herself of Leonardo's offers of service at the 
 time, but in the following March she wrote the follow- 
 ing letter to the cultured ecclesiastic, Fra Pietro da 
 NoveUara, who was at the time preaching a course 
 of Lent sermons in Santa Croce of Florence : — 
 
 " Most Reverend Father in God, — If Leonardo, 
 the Florentine painter, is now in Florence, we beg 
 you will inform us what kind of life he is leading, 
 that is to say if he has begun any work, as we have 
 been told, and what this work is, and if you think 
 that he wiU remain for the present in Florence. 
 Your Reverence might find out if he would under- 
 take to paint a picture for our studio. If he consents, 
 we would leave the subject and the time to him ; but 
 
 1 Luzio in Emporium, 19OO, p. 353. 
 
WITH LEONARDO DA VINCI 319 
 
 if he declines, you might at least induce him to paint 
 us a little picture of the Madonna, as sweet and holy 
 as his own nature. WiU you also beg him to send 
 us another drawing of our portrait, since our illustrious 
 lord has given away the one which he left here ? For 
 all of which we shall be no less grateful to you than 
 to Leonardo." Mantua, March 27, 1501. 
 
 TheCarmehte Vicar-General replied without delay : 
 " Most illustrious and excellent Lady, — I have 
 just received Your Excellency's letter, and wiU obey 
 your orders with the utmost speed and diligence. But, 
 from what I hear, Leonardo's manner of life is very ^ 
 changeable and uncertain, so that he seems to live for 
 the day only. Since he has been in Florence, he has 
 only made one sketch — a cartoon of a child Christ, 
 about a year old, almost jumping out of his mother's 
 arms to seize hold of a lamb. The mother is in the 
 act of rising from S. Anna's lap, and holds back the 
 child from the lamb, an innocent creature, which is a 
 symbol of the Passion, while S. Anna, partly rising 
 from her seat, seems anxious to restrain her daughter, 
 which may be a tjrpe of the Church, who would not 
 hinder the Passion of Christ. These figures are as 
 large as life, but are drawn on a small cartoon, because 
 they are represented either seated or bending down, 
 and one stands a little in front of the other, towards 
 the left. And this sketch is not yet finished. He 
 has done nothing else, excepting that two of his 
 apprentices are painting portraits to which he some- 
 times adds a few touches. He is working hard at 
 geometry, and is quite tired of painting. I only write 
 this that Your Excellency may know I have re- 
 ceived your letters. I wiU do your commission, and 
 let you know the result very soon, and may God 
 
320 CARTOON FOR THE SERVI 
 
 keep you in His grace. — Your obedient servant, Fr. 
 Petrus Novellara, Carm. Vic-Gen."^ Florence, 
 April 3, 1501. 
 
 The letter is of great importance, both as showing 
 Leonardo's absorption in geometrical studies, and 
 giving a description of the famous cartoon which 
 he drew for the Servi friars, and which not only 
 filled all the artists with admiration, but brought 
 crowds of men and women to the convent hall, 
 where this masterpiece was exhibited during two 
 days. " The whole city was stirred," wrote Vasari, 
 " and you might have fancied that you saw a pro- 
 cession on some solemn feast day." And Girolamo 
 da Casio, the Bologna poet, with whom Isabella was 
 in constant correspondence, wrote a sonnet on the 
 cartoon which had moved all Florence to wonder. 
 
 Ten days later the Carmelite friar wrote again to 
 tell Isabella the result of his efforts : — ' 
 
 " This Holy Week I have succeeded in learning 
 the painter Leonardo's intentions by means of his 
 pupil, Salai, and some of his other friends, who, to 
 make them more fully known to me, took me to 
 see him on Wednesday in Holy Week. In truth, 
 his mathematical experiments have absorbed his 
 thoughts so entirely that he cannot bear the sight 
 of a paint-brush. But I endeavoured as skilfully 
 as I could to inform him of Your Excellency's wish. 
 Then, finding him well disposed to gratify you, I 
 spoke frankly to him on the subject, and we came 
 to this conclusion : if he can, as he hopes, end his 
 engagement with the King of France without dis- 
 pleasing him by the end of a month at latest, he 
 would rather serve Your Excellency than any other 
 
 1 Luzio, / Precettori, A pp. 
 
LEONARDO'S MADONNA 321 
 
 person in the world. But, in any case, as soon as 
 he has fuiished a httle picture which he is painting 
 for a certain Robertet, a favourite of the King of 
 France, he will do your portrait immediately and 
 send it to ydu. I left two good petitioners with him. 
 The httle picture which he is painting is a Madonna, 
 seated as if at work with her spindle, while the Child, 
 with His foot on the basket of spindles, has taken up 
 the winder, and looks attentively on the four rays 
 in the shape of a cross, as if wishing for the cross, 
 and holds it tight, laughing, and refusing to give 
 it to His mother, who tries in vain to take it from 
 Him. This is aU I have been able to settle with the 
 master. I preached my sermon yesterday. God grant 
 it may bring forth much fruit, for the hearers were 
 numerous. I commend myself to Your Excellency. 
 — Frateb, Petrus de Novellara." Florence, April 
 14, 1501."^ 
 
 Leonardo's promises, however, remained as usual 
 unfulfilled, and hearing no more of her Madonna, or 
 portrait, in July Isabella wrote to Manfredo de 
 Manfredi, her father's envoy at Florence, begging 
 him to dehver a letter which she had written into 
 the master's own hands. 
 
 On the 30th, Manfredi replied : — 
 
 " I have given Your Excellency's letter to Leo- 
 nardo, the Florentine. I dehvered it myself into his 
 own hands, teUing him that I would take charge of 
 
 ^ This letter is quoted by M. Muntz, "Leonardo da Vinci," ii. 
 121 ; but the date of April 10, 1503, which he borrows from Calvi's 
 life of the master, is clearly wrong. D. Richter and Signor Solmi 
 give April 4, 1501, as the correct date ; but since Easter Day fell 
 on the 11th of April in that year, Wednesday in Holy Week 
 must have been the 7th, and the letter was probably written on 
 the 14th. 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
322 LORENZO DEI MEDICI'S VASES 
 
 any letter which he might wish to send in answer, 
 and would see that it was faithfully delivered to you. 
 Leonardo replied that he would send an answer 
 shortly, and hoped to be able to obhge Your Ex- 
 cellency. But, since no letter came, I sent again 
 to ask his intentions, and he rephed that all he 
 could say for the moment was that I might send 
 you word that he had begun to do what Your 
 Highness desired. This is all that I have been able 
 to obtain from the said Leonardo." 
 
 A few months later, on the 3rd of May 1502, 
 Isabella, hearing that certain vases which had be- 
 longed to Lorenzo dei Medici were for sale, wrote 
 to her agent, Francesco Malatesta, desiring him to 
 show these vases to some competent person, "such, 
 for instance, as Leonardo, the painter, who used to 
 live at Milan, and is a friend of ours, if he is in 
 Florence, and consult him as to theii* beauty and 
 quality." This was a task quite to Leonardo's taste, 
 and he did not hesitate to give the Marchesa the 
 benefit of his opinion on the precious vases. 
 
 " I have shown them to Leonardo Vinci, the 
 painter," wrote Malatesta on the 12th of May, "as 
 Your Highness desired. He praises all of them, but 
 especially the crystal vase, which is all of one piece 
 and very fine, and has a silver-gilt stand and cover ; 
 and Leonardo says that he never saw a finer thing. 
 The agate one also pleases him, because it is 
 a rare thing and of large size, and is all in one 
 piece, excepting the stand ■ and cover, which are 
 silver-gilt ; but it is cracked. That of amethyst, or, 
 as Leonardo calls it, of jasper, is transparent and 
 of variegated colours, and has a massive gold stand, 
 studded with so many pearls and rubies that they 
 
PRAISED BY LEONARDO 323 
 
 are valued at 150 ducats. This greatly pleased Leo- 
 nardo, as being something quite new, and exquisite 
 in colour. All four have Lorenzo Medici's name 
 engraved in Roman letters on the body of the vase, 
 and are valued at a very high price : the crystal 
 vase, at 350 ducats ; the jasper vase, set with gems, 
 at 240 ducats ; the agate vase, at 200 ducats ; and the 
 jasper vase, on a plain silver stand, at 150 ducats."^ 
 
 At the same time Malatesta enclosed coloured 
 drawings of the four vases, in order that Isabella 
 might make her choice, only regretting that it was 
 impossible for any painter to reproduce the beautiful 
 lustre which charmed the eyes of Leonardo. 
 
 The prices of those rare works of art were 
 probably beyond the Marchesa's means in this ex- 
 pensive year, when Lucrezia Borgia's wedding and 
 her visit to ^''enice had exhausted her treasury, but 
 Leonardo's praises must have fiUed her with longing 
 to add them to her collection. She had not yet 
 given up all hope of obtaining a picture from the 
 Florentine master, and two years afterwards, when 
 Leonardo was at work on the cartoon of the Battle 
 of Anghiari for the Council HaU in the Palazzo 
 Pubblico, this indefatigable princess once more re- 
 turned to the charge. This time she wrote a 
 charming letter to Leonardo, which she sent to the 
 merchant Angelo del Tovaglia, whose villa had 
 excited the envy of the Marquis some years before, 
 and who was now engaged in conducting negotiations 
 on her part with Perugino. 
 
 "Since we desire exceedingly," she wrote to 
 Angelo on the 14th of May 1504, "to have some 
 work by the hand of Leonardo Vinci, whom we 
 
 1 Luzio, Arch. Star, dell' Arte, i. 181. 
 
324 ISABELLA'S EFFORTS 
 
 know both by reputation and by personal experience 
 to be a most excellent painter, we have asked him, 
 in the enclosed letter, to paint us a youthful Christ 
 of about twelve years old. Do not scruple to present 
 this letter to him, adding whatever words may seem 
 to you most suitable, so as to persuade him to serve 
 us ; and let him know that he shall be well rewarded. 
 If he excuses himself and says that he has not time, 
 owing to the work which he has begun for that most 
 excellent Signory, you can tell him that this will be 
 a means of recreation and pleasure when he is tired 
 of historical painting, and that for the rest he can take 
 his own time, and work at leisure." 
 
 The letter which Isabella sent to Leonardo was 
 as foUows : — 
 
 " To Master Leonardo Vinci, the painter. M. 
 Leonardo, — Hearing that you are settled at Flor- 
 ence, we have begun to hope that our cherished desire 
 to obtain a work by your hand may be at length 
 realised. When you were in this city, and drew our 
 portrait in carbon, you promised us that you would 
 some day paint it in colours. But because this would 
 be almost impossible, since you are unable to come 
 here, we beg you to keep your promise by converting 
 our portrait into another figure, which would be still 
 more acceptable to us ; that is to say, a youthful 
 Christ of about twelve years, which would be the 
 age He had attained when He disputed with the 
 doctors in the temple, executed with all that sweet- 
 ness and charm of atmosphere which is the peculiar 
 excellence of your art. If you wiU consent to gratify 
 this our great desire, remember that apart from the 
 payment, which you shall fix yourself, we shall remain 
 so deeply obhged to you that our sole desire will be to 
 
TO OBTAIN A PICTURE 325 
 
 do what you wish, and from this time forth we are ready 
 to do your service and pleasure, hoping to receive an 
 answer in the affirmative." Mantua, May 14, 1504. 
 
 On the 27th of May, Angelo del Tovagha 
 replied : — 
 
 "I received the letter of Your Highness, to- 
 gether with the one for Leonardo da ^'^inci, to 
 whom I presented it, and at the same time tried to 
 persuade and induce him, with powerful reasons, to 
 obUge Your Excellency by painting the little figure 
 of Christ, according to your request. He has 
 promised me without fail to paint it in such times 
 and hours as he can snatch from the work on which 
 he is engaged for this Signory. I wiU not fail to 
 entreat Leonardo, and also Perugino, as to the other 
 subject. Both make liberal promises, and seem to 
 have the greatest wish to serve Your Highness. 
 Nevertheless, I think it will be a race between 
 them which is the slower ! I hardly know which 
 of the two is likely to win, but expect Leonardo 
 will be the conqueror. All the same, I will do my 
 utmost." 
 
 Angelo's prophecy was destined to be fulfilled to 
 the letter. More than a year passed away before 
 Perugino's picture found its way to Mantua, while 
 neither the honest merchant's entreaties nor the 
 charming Marchesa's honeyed words were able to 
 move Leonardo to action. Once more, on the 30th 
 of October, Isabella wrote to Angelo, with a second 
 letter to Leonardo, gently reminding him of his 
 promise. 
 
 "You sent me word by Messer Angelo some 
 time ago that you would gladly satisfy my great 
 desire. But the large number of orders which you 
 
326 FROM LEONARDO 
 
 receive make me fear lest you have forgotten mine. 
 I have, therefore, thought it well to write these few 
 words, begging you to paint this little figure by 
 way of recreation when you are tired of Florentine 
 history." 
 
 Still the master, intent as he was on painting his 
 great picture on the wall of the Council Hall, gave 
 no sign of life. But in January his favourite pupil, 
 Salai, offered his services to the Marchesa, and pro- 
 fessed his readiness to paint some cosa galante for 
 Her Excellency. His offer was not accepted, but a 
 few months later Isabella desired Angelo del Tovaglia 
 to send Salai to judge of the merits of the picture 
 which Perugino had at length finished for her studio, 
 and, if necessary, suggest alterations. 
 
 In March 1506, Isabella herself came to Florence, 
 as we have seen, and spent the Feast of the An- 
 nunciation in the city of flowers. She did not see 
 her friend Leonardo, who was studying the cause of 
 rivers and the flight of birds in his country retreat at 
 Fiesole. But she met his uncle, Alessandro Amadori, 
 the Canon of Fiesole, with whom so much of his 
 time was spent, and for whom he cherished a deep 
 and lasting affection. To this courteous ecclesiastic 
 the Marchesa confided her great wish to obtain a 
 little picture from the hand of the famous master, 
 and he promised to use all his influence to induce 
 his nephew to satisfy her ardent desire. On the 
 3rd of May, a week or two after she had returned 
 to Mantua, Alessandro wrote to her as follows : — 
 
 " Here, in Florence, I act at aU hours as the 
 representative of Your Excellency, with Leonardo 
 da Vinci, my nephew, and I do not cease to urge 
 him by every argument in my power to satisfy the 
 
HIS UNCLE'S LETTERS 327 
 
 desire of Your Excellency, and paint the figure for 
 which you asked him, and which he promised you 
 several months ago, in the letter that I showed Your 
 Excellency. This time he has really promised me 
 that he will soon begin the work and satisfy your 
 wish, and desires me to commend him to your 
 favour. And if, before I leave Florence, you will 
 teU me whether you prefer any especial figure, I will 
 take care that Leonardo satisfies Your Highness, 
 whom it is my greatest wish to oblige. I visited 
 Madonna Argentina Soderini this afternoon, and she 
 was glad to hear from me that Your Highness had 
 reached Mantua safely. I gave her Your Highness's 
 messages, and she sends the enclosed note in return. 
 May God prosper Your Excellency." ^ 
 
 The Marchesa wrote back gratefully on the 12th 
 of May from Sacchetta, where she had been driven 
 by the sudden outbreak of the plague in Mantua : — 
 
 " We were very grateful for your letter of the 3rd, 
 telling us that you had conveyed our inquiries to the 
 Signora Gonfalionera, as we learn by a letter from 
 Her Highness ; neither are we less pleased with the 
 dexterity which you have shown in deahng with 
 Leonardo Vinci, in order to induce him to satisfy 
 us and paint that figure for which we asked. We 
 thank you for all your trouble, and beg you to 
 persevere in your kind efforts on our behalf."^ 
 
 But before the end of May, Leonardo left 
 Florence to enter the service of Charles dAmboise, 
 the French Governor of Milan, and spent over a year 
 in that city, at the express request of King Louis, 
 
 1 Luzio in Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, i. 181-184. 
 ^Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1888; Muntz, "Leonardo da 
 Vinci," ii. 113 ; Solmi, " Leonardo," p. 159. 
 
328 HER CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 who himself came to Milan for six weeks in 1508, 
 and begged that notre chier et bien ame Leonard de 
 Vinces should be allowed to remain at his court. 
 There Isabella probably met him when she spent that 
 joyous fortnight at Milan, and renewed her acquaint- 
 ance with so many of her old friends. But he never 
 painted her picture, and the only work by Leonardo's 
 hand in the Gonzaga collection was a small painting 
 afterwards given to her son Federico by Count 
 Niccolo MafFei, after his return from France. This 
 work is described in the inventory of 1627 as " a 
 woman's head, with dishevelled hair," valued at 180 
 ducats, and hung in a passage leading to the Studio 
 of the Grotta.^ 
 
 Isabella was more fortunate in her dealings with 
 other painters, and ultimately succeeded in obtaining 
 a picture for her studio from Perugino, although 
 this artist's delays and prevarications provoked her 
 sorely. The Umbrian master enjoyed a great 
 reputation in North Italy at the close of the 
 fifteenth century. He had painted noble altar- 
 pieces at Cremona and the Certosa of Pavia, and 
 Duke Lodovico Sforza had repeatedly invited him to 
 enter his service, and decorate his rooms in the 
 Castello of Milan. Perugino was well known at the 
 court of Mantua, since his young wife, Chiara, was 
 a daughter of Luca Fancelli, the well-known archi- 
 tect, who had spent forty years in the service of the 
 Gonzagas. When the painter was at Venice in 
 1496, Isabella asked him, through his friend, Lor- 
 enzo da Pavia, to paint a picture for her studio. 
 But her request came too late, for by this 
 time Perugino had left Venice, and was busily 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. l6l. 
 
WITH PERUGINO 329 
 
 engaged in painting his great altar-pieces at Florence 
 and Perugia. Accordingly, in 1500, Isabella wrote 
 to Giovanna della Rovere, the sister of Duke Guido- 
 baldo of Urbino, and mother of her future son-in- 
 law, Francesco Maria, saying how much she desired 
 to obtain a poesia for her studio from Perugino, and 
 begging this lady to use her influence with the painter. 
 The Prefettessa, however, was not encouraging. 
 Perugino, it was true, had lately painted a series of 
 frescoes at Sinigaglia, but was reluctant to accept 
 orders, and very slow in executing them. Moreover, 
 he would be sure to raise difficulties as to the subject 
 of the picture, and did not care to paint compositions 
 of this kind. The issue proved Giovanna to have 
 been right, but Isabella was not easily discouraged, 
 and two years and a half later she wrote to Francesco 
 Malatesta, desiring him to approach Perugino on the 
 subject.^ 
 
 " Since we desire," she wrote in September 1502, 
 "to have in our camerino paintings of allegorical 
 subjects by the best painters in Italy, among whom 
 II Perugino is famous, we beg you to see him and 
 find out, through the intervention of some friend, if 
 he is willing to accept the task of painting a picture 
 on a storia or invention which we will give him, with 
 small-sized figures, such as those which you have 
 seen in our camerino. You wiU find out what 
 payment he requires, and if he can set to work soon, 
 in which case we will send him the measurements of 
 the picture with onv fantasia. And be sure to send 
 me a prompt answer." 
 
 1 W. Braghirolli, Notisie e documenti inediti intorno a P. Van- 
 nucchi, from the Archivio Gmzaga ; and C. Yriarte, Gazette des Beaux 
 Arts, 1895. 
 
330 PERUGINO'S PROMISES 
 
 At first Malatesta gave the Marchesa little hope of 
 success. Perugino, he told her, was a man fertile in 
 excuses and difficult to deal with, and he advised her 
 to employ Filippino Lippi or Sandro Botticelli in his 
 stead. But Isabella insisted that he should begin by 
 approaching Perugino. The first interview proved 
 satisfactory, and Perugino, tempted by the Marchesa's 
 hberal offer of 100 ducats, promised to paint a 
 fantasia for her studio, within the next few months, 
 on any subject that she liked to choose. Two months 
 afterwards Capilupi sent a letter to another agent in 
 Florence, Vincenzo Bolzano, desiring him to give 
 Perugino a paper with fuU details of the subject, 
 drawn up by Isabella's favourite humanist, Paride da 
 Ceresara, and at the same time obtain his formal 
 agreement to the contract. If the painter agreed to 
 Isabella's conditions, the size of the picture and a 
 sketch of the composition were to be given him, 
 and 20 ducats were to be paid in advance. " The 
 Marchesa," adds the secretary, " desires that the 
 picture should be painted on canvas, like Mantegna's 
 compositions, and recommends the master to use the 
 greatest care and dihgence, but this, no doubt, will 
 be superfluous, since Her Excellency feels certain 
 that Perugino will not wish his work to be unworthy 
 of his fame, especially as it will have to bear com- 
 parison with Mantegna's paintings." 
 
 The contract was duly signed, the money paid 
 down, and the Marchesa's programme handed to the 
 painter. This curious document, which both M. 
 Muntz ^ and M. Yriarte ^ reproduce in full, shows how 
 minute were the directions which painters received 
 
 1 Histoire de I' Art pendant la Renaissance, ii. 62. 
 
 2 Gazette d. B. Arts, 1895. 
 
ISABELLA'S ORDERS 331 
 
 from the poets and humanists of the day, and how 
 little freedom in the choice of subject was allowed 
 them by their patrons. Isabella, no doubt, went too 
 far in this direction, and the best painters felt their 
 imagination cramped by her minute instructions. 
 Mantegna, whose genius overcame all difficulties, pro- 
 bably moulded the material to suit his fancy, and 
 certainly succeeded best in the paintings which he 
 executed for her studio. Giovanni Bellini, as we 
 shall see, quite refused to paint the subject assigned 
 to him, and Perugino found the theme little suited 
 to his art, and failed to satisfy her. Nor is his failure 
 surprising when we read her directions. 
 
 " My poetic invention, which I wish to see you 
 paint, is the Battle of Love and Chastity — that is to 
 say, Pallas and Diana fighting against Venus and 
 Love. Pallas must appear to have almost vanquished 
 Love. After breaking his golden arrow and silver 
 bow, and flinging them at her feet, she holds the blind- 
 fold boy with one hand by the handkerchief which he 
 wears over his eyes, and lifts her lance to strike him 
 with the other. The issue of the conflict between 
 Diana and Venus must appear more doubtful. Venus's 
 crown, garland and veil will only have been slightly 
 damaged, while Diana's raiment will have been singed 
 by the torch of Venus, but neither of the goddesses 
 will have received any wound. Behind these four 
 divinities, the chaste nymphs in the train of Pallas 
 and Diana will be seen engaged in a fierce conflict — 
 in such ways as you can best imagine — with the 
 lascivious troop of fauns, satyrs, and thousands of 
 little loves. These last will be smaller than the 
 god Cupid, and will carry neither gold bows nor 
 silver arrows, but darts of some baser material — 
 
332 DESIGN FOR A FANTASIA 
 
 either wood or iron, as you please. In order to give 
 full expression to the fable and adorn the scene, 
 the olive tree sacred to PaUas will rise out of the 
 ground at her side, with a shield bearing the head of 
 Medusa, and the owl, which is her emblem, wiU be 
 seen in the branches of the tree. At the side of 
 Venus, her favourite myrtle tree will flower, and 
 to heighten the beauty of the picture, a landscape 
 should be introduced with a river or the sea in 
 the distance. Fauns, satyrs, and loves will be seen 
 hastening to the help of Cupid — some flying through 
 the air, others swimming on the waves or borne on 
 the wings of white swans, but all alike eager to take 
 part in the Battle of Love. On the banks of the 
 river, or on the shore of the sea, Jupiter will be seen 
 in his character as the enemy of Chastity, changed 
 into the bull that carries off" the fair Europa. Among 
 the gods attending on him. Mercury will appear 
 flying like an eagle over Glaucera, the nymph of 
 Pallas, who will bear a small cistus engraved with 
 the attributes of the goddess ; Polyphemus, the one- 
 eyed Cyclops, will be seen chasing Galatea ; Phoebus 
 in pursuit of Daphne, who is already changing into 
 a laurel ; Pluto carrying off Persephone to the infernal 
 realm, and Neptune about to seize Coronis at the 
 moment she is metamorphosed into a raven. I send 
 you aU these incidents, in a small drawing, which 
 may help you to understand my explanations. If 
 you think there are too many figures, you can reduce 
 the number, as long as the chief ones remain — I mean 
 Pallas, Diana, Venus, and Love — but you are for- 
 bidden to introduce anything of your own invention." 
 This was the elaborate and intricate composition 
 which Perugino, the painter of Madonnas and Saints 
 
DETAILS OF THE COMPOSITION 333 
 
 with angelic faces and seraphic expression, was now 
 required to paint. Anything less suited to his genius 
 it would have been hard to find. The subjects which 
 he generally represented were of the simplest kind ; 
 the figures were few and for the most part in repose. 
 He could paint a sweet-faced Madonna looking down 
 on her Babe, a Saint with upturned eyes and rapt 
 expression standing at the foot of the Cross, even 
 a nude Apollo serenely confident of victory, but this 
 crowded canvas, with its multitude of figures, fighting 
 and chasing each other, was altogether beyond his 
 powers. We can hardly wonder that he showed 
 considerable reluctance to attack the subject. First 
 one excuse was suggested, then another, to account 
 for his protracted delays. But every letter which 
 Isabella received from her different agents in Florence 
 told the same tale. Perugino had not even attempted 
 to begin a sketch of the composition. At length 
 even the Marchesa's patience became exhausted, and 
 she sent Angelo del TovagUa to demand an explanation 
 from the painter. Upon which Perugino declared 
 that he was doubtful as to the size of the figures, and 
 begged for exact measurements of the personages 
 in the foreground of Mantegna's picture. These 
 Isabella sent him, with the following note, on the 
 12th of January 1504 : — 
 
 "Excellent Friend, — The enclosed paper, with 
 the thread wound round it, gives the length of the 
 biggest figure on M. Andrea Mantegna's pictures, 
 close to which your own will hang. The other 
 figures behind can be of any size that you like. You 
 will know now how to act. Above aU, we beg you 
 to be quick with the work, for the sooner we can 
 have it, the better we shaU be pleased." 
 
334 PERUGINO'S DELAYS 
 
 Five weeks later, some alterations having been 
 made in the lighting and arrangement of the studio, 
 Isabella sent fresh directions for the painter's benefit. 
 StiU Angelo was unable to report progress, and in 
 April, Isabella wrote indignantly, demanding Perugino 
 to restore her twenty ducats, if his picture were not 
 ready in a month's time, and telling Tovaglia to appeal 
 to the Gonfaloniere in case of the master's refusal to 
 refund the money. After writing this angry letter, 
 the Marchesa apparently thought better of it, and 
 sent a young Mantuan painter, Lorenzo Leombruno, 
 to Florence, with a letter of recommendation to 
 Perugino, desiring him to report on the state of the 
 picture, and, if it were not yet begun, to claim her 
 ducats. But when Leombruno reached Florence, at 
 the end of April, Perugino had gone to Umbria, and 
 did not return till the following autumn. Then, 
 however, he professed the greatest anxiety to fulfil 
 his obligations to the Marchesa, and Isabella sent him 
 the following letter on the 81st of October, the same 
 day on which she wrote to Leonardo asking him to 
 paint a Christ : — 
 
 " Perusino, — We have seen, by two letters which 
 you wrote to M. Angelo Tovaglia, that you hope 
 soon to finish our Storia, which gives us great plea- 
 sure. But, as we feel the greatest impatience in the 
 world to see it, we beg that you will finish it and let 
 us have it as soon as possible. Farewell." 
 
 In point of fact, the picture had only just been 
 sketched out on the canvas, as we learn from Agostino 
 Strozza, the cultured Abbot of Fiesole, who, at 
 Tovaglia's suggestion, visited Perugino's shop, and 
 sent his report to Isabella early in November. Yet 
 another agent was employed by the impatient 
 
ABBOT STROZZA CALLED IN 335 
 
 Marchesa, in the person of Luigi Ciocca, who pro- 
 mised Isabella to pay the patriarch, as he called 
 him, frequent visits, and accepted the commission 
 the more readily because of the lovely maidens 
 whom he found sitting as models to the painter. 
 Perugino now pleaded poverty in excuse for his 
 delays, saying that he lived from hand to mouth, 
 and was compelled to do work which brought him 
 ready money, and put off other commissions, but 
 promised to finish the Marchesa's picture by Easter. 
 When, however, Ciocca ventured to criticise the 
 drawing of certain fauns in the picture, Perugino 
 replied with so much arrogance that Ciocca's anger 
 was roused, and he would have giveri him a rude 
 answer if it had not been for the presence of the 
 maidens. This remark alarmed Isabella, who wrote 
 at once to Abbot Strozza, upon whose judgment in 
 artistic matters she could rely, begging him to in- 
 spect Perugino's drawing, as she would rather give 
 up the picture than have one which neither did her 
 nor the painter honour. Leonardo's pupil, Salai, was 
 now called in to give his opinion, as Ciocca explains 
 in the following letter : — 
 
 "Most illustrious Madonna, — To-day the Reve- 
 rend Abbot of Fiesole and I spent some time with 
 Perugino, and told him our opinion of the work, 
 and succeeded in persuading him to carry it swiftly 
 to perfection, so much so that he has promised to use 
 the greatest art, diligence, and attention to satisfy 
 his honour and duty, and meet your wishes. I am 
 also glad to tell you that a pupil of Leonardo Vinci, 
 Salai by name, young in years but very talented, 
 whom I sent to Perugino, praises the fantasia 
 greatly, and has corrected some of the small defects 
 
336 SALAii OFFERS HIS SERVICES 
 
 which the abbot and I had pointed out. We will 
 continue to do our utmost, in order that Your Ex- 
 cellency may be satisfied. This Salai has a great 
 wish to do some gallant thing for Your Excellency 
 himself, so if you desire a little picture, or anything 
 else from him, you have only to tell me the price 
 you are ready to give, and I will see that you are 
 pleased. — Your servant, Aloisius Ciocca."^ Flo- 
 rence, Jan. 22, 1505. 
 
 At Salai's suggestion the artist rectified certain 
 errors of drawing which satisfied Ciocca, who told 
 the abbot that he thought the picture was as good as 
 could be expected from Perugino, who excelled in 
 the treatment of larger forms, but had little ex- 
 perience in handling small-sized figures and crowded 
 compositions. Another point which disturbed Isa- 
 bella considerably was that she heard Perugino had 
 represented Venus as a nude figure, contrary to her 
 express directions. This, she told the abbot, must 
 not be allowed, since, if one single figure were altered, 
 the whole meaning of the fable would be ruined.^ 
 
 When the Marchesa's letter reached Fiesole, the 
 abbot hastened to Perugino's shop, but it was only 
 to find that the painter had left Florence. " I can- 
 not understand the man's behaviour," he wrote to 
 Isabella on the 22nd of February 1505, " and begin 
 to fear he will prove me to be a liar. I find it is 
 already a fortnight since he left Florence, and I 
 cannot discover where he has hidden himself, and 
 when he is likely to return. His wife and friends 
 either do not know where he is or else they are 
 hiding it from me, probably because, contrary to all 
 his promises, he has undertaken some other work. 
 
 1 BraghiroUi, op. cit. ^ Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
PERUGINO LEAVES FLORENCE 337 
 
 Not a day passes without my sending to inquire of 
 him, and as long as he was working at the picture 
 I called at least once a week. Perhaps a fresh ad- 
 vance of money might fire his zeal ; but he is an 
 unaccountable fellow, who does not seem to see any 
 difference between one person and another. I never 
 met a man in whom art can accomplish such great 
 things, where nature has done so little." This con- 
 trast between the ideal beauty of Perugino's creations 
 and the baseness of his conduct, his unscrupulous 
 behaviour and greed for money, seems to have been 
 felt by aU who came in contact with the great Um- 
 brian master, and agrees with Vasari's unfavourable 
 estimate of his character. 
 
 A month later the abbot told Isabella that Peru- 
 gino was still absent, but that, as he now discovered, 
 he had gone to Perugia, and was detained there by a 
 lawsuit on behalf of a friend. In reality the master 
 had accepted a commission to paint a fresco at his 
 native town of Citta della Pieve, which, after much 
 bargaining, he executed in March 1505 (O.S. 1504). 
 He went on to paint a S. Sebastian at the neigh- 
 bouring town of Panicale, and did^ not return to 
 Florence until the beginning of May, when Ciocca 
 upbraided him with the shameful way in which he 
 had treated the Marchesa. " Upon which," writes 
 Ciocca, "he declared, as usual, that he was sorely 
 pressed for money, and muttered between his teeth 
 that he knew he should be left with the picture on 
 his back, and have to wait for his ducats. I told 
 him to remember that he was not dealing with men 
 of Spoleto or the March, but with a Marchioness 
 of Mantua, a generous lady, who showed the highest 
 appreciation of all that was good and beautiful, and, 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
338 THE TRIUMPH OF CHASTITY 
 
 above all, of works of art. Let him only finish his 
 picture, and make it as perfect as possible, and Her 
 Highness wiU show him that she keeps her engage- 
 ments in a very different manner ! " Once more the 
 painter promised,' for the hundredth time, to finish 
 the picture in a fortnight, and, " strange as it seems," 
 wrote Ciocca, " this time he has really kept his word ! "' 
 
 On the 7th of June, Isabella wrote to the painter 
 herself, addressing him as her very dear and famous 
 friend, and sending him the eighty ducats that were 
 still due to him. Before her letter reached Florence 
 the picture had been sent to Mantua, and on the 
 14th Perugino composed a letter, with the help of 
 a less illiterate friend, thanking the Marchesa for 
 the money, and saying that he hopes his work will 
 satisfy her wishes and his reputation, since he, as 
 is well known, has never failed to prefer honour 
 to gain. He further explained that he had painted 
 the picture in tempera, because Leombruno had told 
 him that Messer Andrea Mantegna's pictures in the 
 Marchesa's studio were executed in this medium. 
 
 On the 30th of June, Isabella wrote : " The pic- 
 ture has reached me safely, and pleases me, as it 
 is well drawn and coloured ; but, if it had been 
 more carefuUy finished, it would have been more 
 to your honour and to our satisfaction, since it is to 
 hang near those of Mantegna, which are painted 
 with rare delicacy. I am sorry that the painter 
 Lorenzo of Mantua advised you not to employ oils, 
 for I should have preferred this method, as it is 
 more effective. None the less, I am, as I said before, 
 well satisfied, and remain kindly disposed towards 
 you."^ 
 
 1 BraghiroUi, op. cif. 
 
ITS DEFECTS 33& 
 
 Perugino replied on the 10th of August, express- 
 ing his regret that he had not known the medium 
 employed by Mantegna, and saying that he would 
 have greatly preferred to use oils rather than tempera, 
 which did not suit the texture of his canvas, but hoped 
 some day to be allowed to paint the Marchesa another 
 more deUcately finished picture. Isabella, however, 
 was not sufficiently pleased with the Triumph of 
 Chastity to order a second painting for her studio, 
 and when, after Perugino's death, his widow, Chiara 
 FanceUi, offered her a picture of Mars and Venus 
 surprised by Vulcan, which the artist had intended 
 for the Marchesa, she declined to purchase the 
 painting.^ The correctness of Isabella's judgment 
 is confirmed by the sight of Perugino's picture, which 
 hangs in the Louvre to-day, side by side with the 
 works which Mantegna and Lorenzo Costa executed 
 for the Marchesa's Grotta. The Triumph of Chastity 
 is the feeblest and least satisfactory of the series, and 
 lacks the charm of the Ferrarese artist's graceful com- 
 positions, while it sinks far below the level of the 
 great Paduan master's conceptions. Both in style 
 and subject Isabella's poesia was iU-adapted to Peru- 
 gino's art, and had, it is plain, inspired him with Uttle 
 interest. The composition is crowded and confused, 
 without life or unity ; the execution is poor and 
 flimsy, and the figures and trees are curiously out of 
 proportion. The chief beauty of the picture lies in 
 the clear Umbrian sky, in the lovely landscape of 
 blue hills and river, and in the laughing faces and 
 gambols of the countless loves who are sporting on 
 the grass. Venus, we note, does not wear either 
 the crown, veil or garland prescribed by Isabella, and 
 
 1 BraghiroUi, op. cit. 
 
340 ISABELLA'S CRITICISM 
 
 the Marchesa must have recognised that in this in- 
 stance at least the painter was right. But, as she 
 said herself, the Triumph of Chastity was hardly- 
 worthy of the place of honour which it occupied 
 in her studio, or of the painter's great name and 
 reputation. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 1501—1507 
 
 Isabella asks Giovanni Bellini for a picture — Her correspondence 
 with Lorenzo da Pavia and Michele Vianello — The subject 
 changed to a Nativity — Delays of the painter — Isabella calls in 
 Alvise Marcello — Asks for her money to be returned — The 
 picture is completed and sent to Mantua in 1 504 — Isabella's 
 negotiations with Giovanni Bellini through Pietro Bembo for 
 another picture, which is never painted. 
 
 Giovanni Bellini had naturally been one of the 
 first painters to whom Isabella d'Este applied when 
 she began to adorn her new studio. His father, 
 Jacopo, had frequently visited Ferrara and worked 
 for the Este princes, and Francesco Gonzaga often 
 met both the brothers Giovanni and Gentile during 
 the years that he spent in the service of the Venetian 
 Signory. Isabella herself admired Giovanni's paint- 
 ings in the Council Hall on her first visit to Venice 
 in 1493, and three years afterwards asked the great 
 master to paint a picture for her Camerino. In 1498, 
 we know that she had been interested in comparing 
 certain paintings by Giovanni with Leonardo's por- 
 trait of the youthful Cecilia Gallerani,^ and the excel- 
 lence of his art was well known to her through his 
 personal friends, Lorenzo da Pavia, Aldo Manuzio, the 
 great printer, and other cultured Venetians, with 
 whom she was in constant communication. Early 
 in March 1501, Michele Vianello, a distinguished con- 
 noisseur, who, according to Messer Lorenzo, had the 
 
 1 " Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan," p. 53. 
 
 341 
 
342 CORRESPONDENCE WITH 
 
 finest collection of works of art in Venice, and who 
 was on intimate terms both with the painter and the 
 master of organs, spent a few days at Mantua, and 
 promised the Marchesa to induce Giovanni to paint a 
 Jantasia to match the allegories of Mantegna.^ 
 
 " On my arrival here," he wrote, March 5, " I went 
 to see Zuan Bellini, to execute the commission given 
 me by Your Signory before I left, and told him your 
 wish, and the Storia which you desire him to paint. 
 Zuan Bellini replied that he was obliged to work for 
 this Signory in the Palace, and could never get away 
 from early morning till after dinner, but that he 
 would manage to find or rob time in which to serve 
 you, both for your sake and for love of me. But I 
 must warn you that the said Zuan has many other 
 works on hand, so that it will be impossible for you 
 to have your picture as soon as you wish. I think it 
 will be a year and a half before it is finished. As to 
 the price, he asks 150 ducats, but may reduce it to 
 100. This is all I can do." 
 
 Isabella lost no time in clenching the bargain, and 
 on the 1st of April, Michele wrote again : " I have 
 seen Zuan BeUini several times, and told him Your 
 Excellency's wishes, and he has agreed to do the work 
 for 100 ducats in a year's time. He wiU set to work 
 as soon as possible, and I hope that you may have 
 the picture in a httle over a year. He promises to 
 take the greatest pains, and begs you to send him 
 25 ducats, and hopes to begin the work directly after 
 the holidays. — Your servant, M. Vianello." 
 
 On the 4th of April, Isabella wrote: "Messer 
 Michele, — 1 am glad to hear that you have induced 
 
 1 W. Braghirolli, Archivio Veneto, vol. xiii. ; C. Yriarte, Gazette 
 d. B. Arts, 1896. 
 
GIOVANNI BELLINI 343 
 
 Zuan Bellini to do the picture, and in order that he 
 may set to work with the more courage after Easter, 
 I send him the 25 ducats as agreed." The money, 
 however, was not sent till the 25th of June, when 
 Michele acknowledged its receipt, and promised to 
 give it to BeUini as soon as he returned from the 
 country, where he was spending a few days at his 
 viUa. " I have," he continued, " already spoken to 
 him several times about your picture. He seems 
 most anxious to serve Your Signory, but does not 
 hke the idea of the Storia you propose, and is un- 
 willing to paint this, because, if this picture is to be 
 a companion to M. Andrea's work, he would like to 
 do his best, and is sure that he cannot make anything 
 good out of such a subject. He seems so reluctant 
 to undertake this Storia that I doubt if Your Ex- 
 cellency would be satisfied, and it would, I think, be 
 better to let him do as he pleases, for in that case 
 I am certain you would be better served. But he 
 wUl do nothing without your orders." 
 
 Isabella knew BeUini too well to insist further, 
 and on the 28th of June, she wrote to Michele as 
 follows : "If Zuan BeUini objects so much to this 
 Storia, I am content to leave the subject to his judg- 
 ment, as long as he paints a story or fable of his own 
 invention, representing something antique, which has 
 a fine meaning. I should be very glad if he would 
 begin the work at once, so that it may be finished 
 within the year, or even sooner, if possible. The 
 size of the picture has not been altered since you were 
 here and saw the place that it was to occupy in the 
 studio, but for greater safety I wiU send you the 
 correct measurements, and wiU teU our sculptor, 
 Zoanne Cristoforo, to write to you on this matter." 
 
344 LORENZO DA PAVIA'S EFFORTS 
 
 The next mention we find of Giovanni's picture is 
 in a letter of the 27th of August from Lorenzo da 
 Pavia, who, writing on the 26th of July, teUs the 
 Marchesa that Vianello is doing his best to make 
 Giovanni Bellini paint her picture. A month later 
 he sends her some rosaries of the finest ebony, and a 
 Virgil and Petrarch lately issued by the Aldine 
 press, and after expressing his joy that she has 
 obtained possession of the clavichord which he had 
 made for her dead sister, Duchess Beatrice, adds 
 significantly : " Giovanni Bellini is going to paint you 
 a beautiful yawtam, but he has not yet set to work. 
 He is a slow man, and excuses himself because he is 
 still engaged in the Palace, but promises to do both 
 things." And he ends by advising his mistress to 
 apply to Perugino, a recommendation which she 
 promptly followed, to her cost. 
 
 But the months went by, and Isabella, hearing no 
 more of her picture, wrote on the 20th of December 
 to ask Messer Michele what the painter was about. 
 " After we sent you the 25 ducats for Zuan 
 BelUni, we never heard if he had begun our picture. 
 If it is to be finished in a year, he ought already to 
 have done a great part of the work. So please see 
 him, and teU me the exact state of the picture, and 
 beg him to persevere, so that we may have it at the 
 promised time. But if he has not begun the work, 
 and you know that he will not or cannot keep his 
 promise, you will see that he returns our money, 
 so that we may employ another master, since we 
 desire, above all things, to see the decoration of our 
 Camerino completed." ^ 
 
 Michele wrote in reply, on the 12th of January 
 
 1 Braghirolli, op. cit. 
 
TO OBTAIN BELLINI'S PICTURE 345 
 
 1502, that the painter had been ill for some time, 
 and had more work than he could do, but that 
 he promised to finish the picture by the end of 
 September, if the Marchesa would consent to wait so 
 long. Then an interval of eight months elapsed, 
 during which Isabella went to Ferrara for Lucrezia 
 Borgia's wedding, and afterwards came herself to 
 Venice, where she no doubt saw Lorenzo da Pavia 
 and Messer Michele, and probably received Bellini's 
 excuses and assurances of his readiness to serve her 
 in person. But when, at the end of August, she 
 asked Lorenzo for news of her picture, he replied : — 
 
 " Giovanni BeUini has never done anything I not 
 indeed for want of constant entreaties both on my 
 part and on that of Messer Michele, but I always 
 thought, as I told Your Highness, that he would 
 never paint this picture. He is not the man for 
 these subjects {historic). He says that he will do 
 them, but he never does ! By way of helping on 
 matters, I asked one of my friends, a poet of talent, 
 to invent a very simple theme which could be easily 
 painted, and which I now enclose, but even thus, I 
 fear, he wiU never undertake the work, and M. Michele 
 will therefore ask him to return the 25 ducats." 
 
 This, however, proved to be less easy than Lorenzo 
 supposed, and on the 10th of September, he wrote : 
 " As for the money. Your Highness must understand 
 that it is difficult to make the painter give back the 
 ducats. Now he pretends that he will paint you a 
 charming fantasia after his own fashion, which is, it 
 must be confessed, a rather lengthy fashion! M. 
 Michele begs you to write him a letter which he can 
 show the painter, and will compel him to restore the 
 money." 
 
346 ISABELLA'S ANGER 
 
 Isabella now determined to give up the idea of a 
 painting for her studio, and to ask Bellini for one of 
 those sacred subjects in which he excelled. On the 
 15th of September, she wrote to Vianello : "M. 
 Michele, — You may remember that many months 
 ago we gave Zuan BeUini a commission to paint a 
 picture for the decoration of our studio, and when it 
 ought to have been finished we found that it was not 
 yet begun. Since it seemed clear that we should 
 never obtain what we desired, we told him to abandon 
 the work and give you back the 25 ducats which 
 we had sent him before, but now he begs us to leave 
 him the work, and promises to finish it soon. As 
 tiU now he has given us nothing but words, we beg 
 you wiU teU him in our name that we no longer care 
 to have the picture, but that if in its stead he would 
 paint a Nativity {Presepio -manger) we should be 
 well content, as long as he does not keep us waiting 
 any longer, and wiU count the 25 ducats which he 
 has already received as half payment. This, it 
 appears to us, is really more than he deserves, but 
 we are content to leave this to your judgment. We 
 desire this Nativity should contain the Madonna and 
 Our Lord God and St. Joseph, together with a St. 
 John Baptist and the usual animals. If he refuses 
 to agree to this, you will ask him to return the 
 25 ducats, and if he will not give back the money 
 you will take proceedings through the F«a della 
 Ragione " (a Venetian Court of Justice). When this 
 letter reached Venice the painter was absent, but as 
 soon as he returned Vianello made him Isabella's 
 offer, which he accepted gladly, promising to do a 
 most excellent thing for the Marchesa, and only 
 stipulating that the price should be 100 ducats, the 
 
WITH THE PAINTER 347 
 
 same which he was to receive for the Storia. This, 
 however, Isabella refused to give, saying that 50 ducats 
 was sufficient, since the Nativity must be of a smaller 
 size, and could not be placed in her Camerino, but 
 should be hung in a bedroom. The exact dimensions 
 of the new picture were sent to Venice by Francesco 
 Gonzaga's secretary, Battista Scalona, and Vianello 
 acknowledged the receipt of the measurements, and 
 told Isabella that Bellini agreed to paint the Presepio 
 and to introduce " the Child and St. John Baptist, 
 with a distant landscape and other inventions, if this 
 is agreeable to Your Highness. As to the price, he 
 agreed to take 50 ducats, and anything more which 
 may seem good to Your Excellency. So I ordered the 
 canvas to be prepared with gesso, and he promised to 
 begin at once." ^ 
 
 Isabella now suggested the addition of a St. Jerome 
 to the group, but the painter demurred to this, and 
 the Marchesa was compelled to yield. " Apparently," 
 she wrote to Vianello on the 25th of November, 
 " Bellini will not hear of St. Jerome being introduced 
 in my Nativity ; but I did not choose the subject, 
 and it is he who seems to be reluctant to paint the 
 picture at all, so let him do as he pleases. I am will- 
 ing to have the Presepio, as long as it is worthy of 
 his reputation. As for the medium and material, 
 canvas or panel, he may do as he likes, as long as he 
 keeps to the measurements supplied." ^ 
 
 A whole year went by, and, hearing no more of her 
 picture, Isabella once more desired Lorenzo da Pavia 
 to inquire if Giovanni Bellini were alive or dead ! On 
 the 6th of October 1503, Lorenzo wrote ; " I have 
 been to see Zuan Bellini, who declares the canvas 
 
 1 Braghirolli, op. cit. ^ Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
348 ASKS FOR RETURN OF MONEY 
 
 will be ready in six weeks." But on the 3rd of 
 January, after repeated visits to the old master's 
 shop, he writes : " I am always seeing Zuan Bellini. 
 He is working at the picture, but very slowly, and 
 asks for another six weeks' respite, pretending that 
 the colour will not dry fast enough in winter." 
 
 By this time Isabella's patience was fairly at an 
 end, and on the 10th of April 1504, she addressed 
 the following letter to her long-suffering agent : 
 " Lorenzo, — We can no longer endure such villainy 
 as Giovanni Bellini has shown us regarding this 
 picture or panel of the Nativity which he agreed to 
 paint for us, and we have decided to recover our 
 money, even if the picture is finished, which we do 
 not beheve. I have written to the Magnifico Messer 
 Alvise Marcello, our compatre, begging him to claim 
 the money, and if Bellini refuses to return it, compel 
 him to do so by the command and authority of His 
 Most Serene Highness the Prince [the Doge, Leonardo 
 Loredano]. You will therefore beg His Magnificence 
 to do this office, in order that we may get out of the 
 hands of this ungrateful man." 
 
 On the same day the indignant Princess addressed 
 the following letter to Alvise Marcello, a patrician of 
 high rank, who, in his capacity of Venetian ambas- 
 sador at Mantua, had been godfather to one of her 
 children, and who had paid her special attention when 
 she had lately visited Venice : " Three years ago 1 
 gave Giovanni Bellini, the painter, 25 ducats as part 
 payment of a subject which he had promised to do for 
 my studio. Afterwards, since he declined to paint 
 this Storia, he agreed to execute a Nativity of Our 
 Lord for the said sum, as Michele Vianello and 
 Lorenzo da Pavia are aware. The master has never 
 
ALVISE MARCELLO'S ADVICE 349 
 
 kept any of his promises, and does not, it is plain, 
 intend to keep them. We hardly know what steps 
 to take next, but we see clearly how little is the 
 respect which the painter has shown us. Belhni has 
 never considered his obligations to us, and we are 
 determined to have our money back. As there is no 
 one in Venice whom we trust more than Your Mag- 
 nificence, we have thought it best to ask you to desire 
 Bellini to return our 25 ducats, without accepting 
 either excuses or promises, for we will have no more 
 of his work. If he refuses, I beg of you not to shrink 
 in this extremity from saying words to the Prince, or 
 to any magistrate who can order an execution, so that 
 he may not be allowed to insult us in this fashion. If 
 he refuses to give back the money, which we can 
 hardly beheve, you might appeal to Michele Vianello 
 or Lorenzo da Pavia ; and Your Magnificence may 
 rest assured that you can do us no greater service 
 than to recover our money, and, what is of far more 
 importance, prevent Bellini from doing us so great 
 an injury."^ 
 
 Even the noble Venetian Senator, however, hesi- 
 tated to take strong measures against the great 
 master, who stood so high in the public estimation, 
 and who was already seventy-seven years of age. All 
 he did was to send Lorenzo da Pavia once more to try 
 to bring the old man to reason. This time Bellini de- 
 clared that he had been overwhelmed with work, and 
 obhged to paint a picture for the Doge — probably the 
 noble portrait of Loredano in the white peaked cap, 
 which is now in the National Gallery. But when it 
 came to returning the money he stoutly refused, and 
 produced the picture, which was three-parts finished. 
 
 1 Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
350 BELLINI'S APOLOGY 
 
 " He will certainly finish it now," wrote Alvise to the 
 Marchesa, " because of his great poverty — per essere 
 lui miserrimo," a strange statement on the part of so 
 renowned and industrious a painter, who was, more- 
 over, in receipt of a considerable pension from the 
 State. However, Messer Alvise's courteous phrases, 
 and, yet more, the prospect of having her picture, 
 produced a softening effect on the Marchesa's temper, 
 and a humble letter which Giovanni himself sent her 
 on the 2nd of July, satisfied her offended dignity, and 
 induced her to overlook the past : — 
 
 " Most illustrious Excellency, — If I have been 
 slow to satisfy the wish of Your Highness, which 
 was no less my own, and you have found it tedious 
 to wait so long for the promised picture, I beg your 
 pardon on bended knees, praying you of your wonted 
 kindness to attribute this delay to my innumerable 
 occupations, and not to any forgetfuhiess of Your 
 Excellency's orders, which are graven in my heart 
 continually, since I am your most devoted servant ; 
 and I pray God that if I have not satisfied Your 
 Highness in point of time, you may at least be con- 
 tent with the work, and if this does not satisfy your 
 great wisdom and experience, you will ascribe my 
 failure to the weakness of my own poor powers. — 
 Humbly commending myself to Your Excellency, 
 your most humble servant, Johannes Bellinus, 
 pictor." ^ Venice, July 2, 1504. 
 
 Four days afterwards, Lorenzo da Pavia was able 
 to inform his mistress that the picture was at length 
 completed, and, better still, that it was a beautiful 
 work of art, fully worthy of the grand old master's 
 fame. 
 
 1 Braghirolli, op. cit. 
 
THE PRESEPIO FINISHED 351 
 
 " Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, — I have 
 been to Zuan Bellini several times with the Magnifico 
 Alvise MarceUo to ask for the return of the money 
 without being able to effect anything, but this 
 mormng I went back and saw the picture, which is 
 really finished and wants nothing. And it is indeed 
 a beautiful thing, even finer than I could have ex- 
 pected, and will, I am sure, please Your Excellency. 
 The painter has made a great effort to do himself 
 honour, chiefly out of respect to M. Andrea 
 Mantegna, and although it is true that in point of 
 invention it cannot compare with the work of 
 Messer Andrea, that most excellent master, I pray 
 Your Excellency to take the picture, both for your 
 own honour and also because of the merit of the 
 work. He need not lose his money, in any case, for 
 I have found a purchaser who wiU give me the money 
 for you, but I will do nothing until 1 hear from you, 
 and perhaps it may not come to anything. Although 
 the said Zuan BeUini has behaved so badly that he 
 could not possibly have acted worse, his excuses are 
 not altogether without reason, and Your Highness 
 must accept his excellence and forget his iU conduct. 
 And I say this because his works are among the 
 finest in Italy, and all the more because he is growing 
 old and will only become feebler. If you vdsh it, 
 he will have a most beautiful frame made for the 
 picture, and take its measurements before we send 
 it to you. — Your Lorenzo da Pavia."^ Venice, 
 July 6. 
 
 No sooner did Isabella receive Lorenzo's letter 
 than, fuU of joy at the prospect of receiving her 
 picture, she wrote off to the old painter, graciously 
 
 1 Braghirolli, op. cit. 
 
352 LORENZO'S OPINION OF BELLINI 
 
 assuring him of her willingness to forgive the past and 
 accept his work. 
 
 " Messer Zuan Bellini, — If the picture which you 
 have painted for us agrees, as we believe and hope, 
 with your fame, we shall be satisfied, and are ready to 
 forgive you the wrong which your long delays have 
 caused us. Therefore, I beg you to give the canvas 
 to Lorenzo da Pavia, who will pay you the 25 
 ducats that are still owing, and we pray you to pack 
 it in such a manner that it may be brought here 
 conveniently, and without risk. If we can oblige 
 you in any way we will do so gladly, when we 
 have seen if you have served us well." Mantua, 
 July 9, 1504. 
 
 At the same time she sent these few lines 
 to Lorenzo : " Since Zuan BeUini has finished 
 the picture, and it is as beautiful as you tell 
 us, we are willing to take it and send you the 
 25 ducats remaining to complete the payment, 
 by our secretary, Battista Scalona. Please have 
 it packed so that it can travel safely, and give it to 
 Scalona." ^ 
 
 The faithful Lorenzo sent off the picture with a 
 deep sense of relief, but not without some feeling of 
 alarm. "It seems to me," he wrote on the 16th of 
 July, " that a thousand years wiU elapse before I hear 
 how you like this picture. Certainly it is a beautiful 
 work, although I confess, if I had ordered it, I should 
 have preferred the figures to have been larger. And, 
 as I said before, in point of invention no one can 
 rival Andrea Mantegna, who is indeed a most 
 excellent painter, the foremost of our age. But 
 Zuan BeUini excels in colouring, and all who have 
 
 ^ Braghirolli, op. cit. 
 
ISABELLA SATISFIED 353 
 
 seen this little picture think it admirable ; and it is 
 very highly finished, and will bear close inspection." 
 But his fears proved groundless, and Isabella ex- 
 pressed the greatest delight and admiration for the 
 picture. " I am indeed glad," wrote Lorenzo, " that 
 the painting pleases Your Excellency, and this news 
 has given me the most lively pleasure. It is a very 
 fine work, but I stiU think the figures are too small. 
 The mistake lay in not asking the painter for two or 
 three drawings or sketches from which a choice could 
 be made. But no one ever mentioned this to me, 
 and Bellini would never let me see his work, or I 
 might have made some objection to the size. If 
 the picture could speak, it might complain of being 
 painted in so narrow a space." ^ 
 
 Isabella, however, had no fault to find, and 
 kept Giovanni BeUini's Nativity to her dying day 
 among her most cherished treasures. But it dis- 
 appeared with so many other precious works after 
 the sack of Mantua, and the last mention we find of 
 it is in the inventory of 1627, where it is described 
 as — "A picture of about three hraccia long, by 
 Giovanni BeUini, with a Blessed Virgin, the Child, 
 St. John the Baptist, St. Jerome, and St. Katherine, 
 on panel." ^ 
 
 The best proof that we have of Isabella's satisfac- 
 tion with Bellini's painting is the fact that before 
 a year was over she once more renewed her request 
 that he would paint a Storia for her Camerino. 
 This time she had recourse to a powerful ally in 
 the person of Pietro Bembo, who, as we have already 
 seen, paid a visit to Mantua in June 1505, and 
 
 1 Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
 2 D'Arco, Arte e Ariefici di Mantova, ii. 188. 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
354 BEMBO INDUCES BELLINI 
 
 promised to use his influence with Bellini to induce 
 him to paint a Storia to match the paintings of 
 the Grotta, by Mantegna and Perugino. The ac- 
 complished scholar was intimate with the grand old 
 master, who had lately painted a beautiful portrait of 
 his mistress, and on his return to Venice lost no 
 time in fulfilling his errand. On the 27th of August, 
 he wrote to Isabella :— 
 
 " I send Your Illustrious Signory many thanks 
 for your messages to me by M. Zuan Francesco 
 Valerio, which show me — what is more precious to 
 me than anything else in the world — that you 
 remember I am your good servant. I have not 
 forgotten that I promised, if possible, to induce 
 Zuan Bellini to paint a picture for your Camerino, 
 in which matter I have been greatly helped by M. 
 Paolo Zoppo, a loyal servant of Your Highness, and 
 a dear friend of Belhni. In fact, we have stormed 
 the castle with so much vigour that I believe it will 
 shortly surrender. All that we now require to make 
 the victory complete is that Your Excellency should 
 write a warm letter to the master, begging him to 
 oblige you, and if you send it to me, you may be sure 
 it wiU not have been written in vain. Since I left 
 you, I have been so busy that I have nothing new 
 to send, so you must pardon me if this letter is 
 empty. I kiss your hands and commend myself to 
 my honoured lady, Alda Boiarda. — Your servant, 
 PiETEO Bembo."^ 
 
 Isabella was ill with fever when this letter reached 
 her, but as soon as she recovered she employed 
 Capilupi to write the following letter to BeUini : — 
 
 " Messer Joanne, — You will no doubt remember 
 
 ' Gaye, Carieggio, ii. 76. 
 
TO PAINT A STORIA 355 
 
 how greatly we desired to have a painted Storia from 
 your hand to hang near those of your brother-in-law, 
 Mantegna, and how earnestly we formerly begged 
 you to gratify our wish. But since, by reason of 
 your numerous engagements, you were unable to 
 gratify us, we were content to accept, instead of the 
 Storia, a Nativity, which pleased us greatly, and is 
 as dear to us as any picture we possess. But the 
 Magnifico Pietro Bembo, when he was here a few 
 months ago, heard of this our great desire, and gave 
 us hopes that it might be gratified, since he believed 
 that many of the works upon which you were en- 
 gaged are now finished, and, knowing the sweetness 
 of your nature and your readiness to oblige all men, 
 more especially persons in authority, he assured us 
 that you might be willing to satisfy us. Since then, 
 however, we have been constantly ill with fever, and 
 imable to attend to business, but now that we are in 
 better health we write to ask if you will paint this 
 picture, and choose the poetic invention yourself, if 
 you do not wish us to give it to you. And, besides 
 giving you fuU and honourable payment, we shall 
 remain under eternal obligations to you. When 
 we hear that you agree to this, we will send you 
 the measure of the canvas and the earnest money." 
 Mantua, October 19, 1505. 
 
 Bellini replied before long, expressing his readiness 
 to undertake the work, and on the 7th of November, 
 the Marchesa wrote to thank him : — 
 
 " We are very happy to hear that you are willing 
 to satisfy our intense desire, and paint the picture 
 about which we wrote lately. Nothing wiU please 
 us more than to have a work from your hand. We 
 will have the measurements taken, and will send you 
 
356 FOR THE GROTTA 
 
 particulars of the lighting, according to the place 
 where the picture is to hang. And since the 
 Magnifico Pietro Bembo is soon returning to Venice, 
 and has seen the pictures in our Grotta, he wiU be 
 able to decide on the subject with you. We wiU 
 then send you the earnest money, and beg you to 
 persevere in your present kindly intention towards 
 us. Meanwhile, farewell."^ 
 
 On the 20th, Bembo, who had been absent from 
 Venice for some weeks, wrote to the Marchesa : 
 " Having just returned from the March, where I 
 spent some time, I find Your Signory's letters on 
 the subject of Bellmi's picture, in answer to mine, 
 which are already old. And I also hear that M. 
 Paolo Zoppo and M. Lorenzo da Pavia, both of 
 them good servants of Your Highness, have been 
 diligent in my absence. But to-day I have been to 
 see Zuan Bellini, and find that he has firmly resolved 
 to gratify your wish, which I am sure he will do 
 admirably. He only awaits your answer as to the 
 size and lighting of the picture." 
 
 Lorenzo, who now appears on the scene again, 
 had lately returned from a visit to the Court of 
 Urbino, where the good Duchess Elisabetta had 
 given him a warm welcome, and had shown him the 
 beauties and treasures of the ducal palace. But the 
 negotiations with Giovanni Bellini, far from being 
 ended, were, as he knew by experience, only just 
 beginning. Meanwhile, news reached Venice of 
 Isabella's illness, and of the birth of her son Ercole, 
 and Bembo hastened to send the illustrious lady 
 condolences on her prolonged sickness and congratu- 
 lations on her happy deliverance. 
 
 1 Gaye, op. cit, p. 80, &c. ; C. Yriarte, Gazette, &c., 1896. 
 
CHOICE OF A SUBJECT 357 
 
 On the 2nd of December, the Marchesa dictated 
 the following letter to her secretary, Capilupi : — 
 
 " Magnifico Messer Pietro, — We were glad to hear 
 from the letter of Your Magnificence that you had 
 reached Venice safely, and feel sure that, as you 
 grieved over our sickness, so you will have rejoiced 
 over the fortunate birth of our son, since we are 
 persuaded that you love us with the same fraternal 
 affection that we feel for you. We thank you 
 sincerely for your good offices with BeUini, and beg 
 you to keep an eye upon him until we are able to 
 leave our bed, and send hiixi the necessary directions 
 for the size and hghting of the picture. At present 
 you might remind him to finish any other works 
 upon which he is engaged, in order that, after the 
 Christmas festival, he may be able to attend to our 
 affairs without distraction. I hope Your Magni- 
 ficence will not object to choosing the subject of a 
 fantasia which may satisfy BeUini. Since you have 
 seen the other pictures in our Camerino, you wiU 
 know what is most appropriate, and will be able to 
 choose a graceful theme of new and different mean- 
 ing. You can, we repeat, do us no greater pleasure 
 than this, of which we shall ever remain mindful, and, 
 as before, most ready to serve you."^ 
 
 On the 1st of January 1506,^ Bembo replied : 
 " BeUini, whom I have seen several times of late, is 
 exceUently disposed towards Your Excellency, and 
 is only awaiting the measurements of the canvas to 
 begin work. But the invention, which you teU me 
 I am to choose for the picture, must be adapted to 
 
 1 V. Cian, Un Decennio nella Vita di P. Bembo, p. 218. 
 
 2 This letter is dated 1505 in D'Arco and Gaye. It should be 
 1505 O.S., i.e. 1506. 
 
358 CORNELIO'S TRIUMPH OF SCIPIO 
 
 the painter's fancy. He does not care to have his 
 imagination fettered by innumerable instructions, 
 but prefers to arrange his composition according to 
 his own ideas, being confident that in this way he 
 can produce the best effect. All the same, I wiU 
 endeavour to meet your wishes as well as his own." 
 In return, Pietro begs this gracious lady to do him 
 a great favour. A certain kinsman and very dear 
 friend of his, a man of great parts and excellent 
 learning, Messer Francesco Cornaro (or, as he chose 
 to Latinise his name, Cornelio), " being, like all noble 
 and gentle souls, passionately fond of rare things," had 
 engaged Messer Andrea Mantegna to paint some 
 canvases for him, at the price of 150 ducats, 25 of 
 which he paid down when he sent the measurements. 
 "Now he tells me," continued Bembo, "that M. 
 Andrea refuses to go on with the work without 
 asking a much larger sum, which seems to M. 
 Francesco the strangest thing in the world, especially 
 as he possesses letters from M. Andrea in which he 
 himself fixed this price. I therefore beg and implore 
 Your Signory to persuade M. Andrea to keep faith 
 with M. Francesco, and begin his pictures, since he 
 who is called the Mantegna of the world ought above 
 all men to keep (mantenere) his promises. . . . M. 
 Francesco does not care about one or two hundred 
 ducats — thank God, he has them in abundance ; but 
 he does not like to be lightly esteemed and mocked 
 at, and, if Your Excellency thinks Mantegna's work 
 is deserving of a higher reward, is perfectly ready to 
 accept your decision. ... I hope also that Messer 
 Andrea's well-known courtesy and gentilezza wiU 
 not render Your Excellency's task difficult, and I 
 promise you that M. Francesco will gratefully repay 
 
MANTEGNA'S ILLNESS 359 
 
 all that you do for him with M. Andrea, by helping 
 on your business with M. Zuan Bellini, over whom 
 he has great influence, and will, as well as myself, 
 remain most deeply obliged to Your Most Illus- 
 trious Excellency." ^ 
 
 The picture in question was the noble Triumph of 
 Scipio, now in the National Gallery, which was still 
 in Mantegna's shop at the time of his death, eight 
 months later. 
 
 Isabella rephed to this letter of Bembo on the 
 31st of January : " We are dehghted to hear that 
 Bellini is going to do the picture, and recognise 
 that this is owing to Your Magnificence. We will 
 find out the particulars of the size and the hghting, 
 and wiU send them to you, together with the earnest 
 money. Meanwhile we beg you earnestly to settle 
 the subject with the painter. M. Andrea Mantegna 
 has been very dangerously ill these last days. He is 
 very near his end, and although just now he is a little 
 better, it is impossible to speak to him of picrtures, or 
 of anything but his health. If he recovers we will 
 see that the Magnificent Francesco Cornelio receives 
 satisfaction." ^ 
 
 But a series of unexpected interruptions interfered 
 with the execution of Isabella's plans. In March, she 
 paid her first visit to Florence, and the sudden out- 
 break of plague on her return compelled her to leave 
 Mantua in haste and take refuge with her children 
 and servants in her villa of Sacchetta. On the 11th 
 of May,^ she wrote to Bembo, regretting that owing 
 to her hurried departure from the Castello, and the 
 disturbance caused by this terrible visitation, she had 
 
 1 Gaye, op. cil., pp. 71-73. ^ Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
 3 V. Cian in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. ix. 
 
360 VIANELLO'S SALE 
 
 been unable to send the measurements of Bellini's 
 picture, but hoped to do this as soon as the plague 
 abated, and begged him in the meantime to compose 
 the poesia and keep the painter in the same excellent 
 dispositions. Meanwhile, she had heard from Lorenzo 
 da Pa via of the death of his friend, the accomplished 
 Michele Vianello, who had served her so loyally and 
 well in her former negotiations with Bellini. The 
 cabinetto of this refined collector, with all its priceless 
 contents, was shortly to be sold by auction, and 
 Isabella was especially anxious to acquire a rare agate 
 vase, and a picture of the Passage of the Red Sea 
 and the Destruction of Pharaoh, by the Flemish 
 artist Van Eyck, or, as she calls him, John of Bruges. 
 She lost no time in acquainting Bembo with her 
 wishes, and once more begged his assistance. " I 
 have reverently received Your Most Illustrious 
 Excellency's letter," wrote Messer Pietro on the 
 13th of May, " and understand that you wish to 
 buy the agate vase and Destruction of Pharaoh 
 which belonged to Vianello. I will see Taddeo 
 Albano and Lorenzo da Pavia, and will endeavour 
 to satisfy Your Excellency, as is my bounden duty. 
 As for Bellini, I will not fail to obey you. I was 
 very sorry to hear of the plague at Mantua, which 
 deprived me of the pleasure of paying my respects 
 to Your Highness this Easter, which was, I confess, 
 the chief object of my journey." ^ 
 
 A prolonged correspondence on the subject of 
 Vianello's sale took place between the Marchesa and 
 Lorenzo da Pavia, and Isabella sought the help of 
 all her friends in Venice to attain the desired end. 
 On the day of the sale, Messer Michele's palace was 
 
 1 Gaye, op. cii., p. 82. 
 
VAN EYCK'S PICTURE 361 
 
 crowded with the most distinguished collectors in 
 Venice, and the utmost excitement prevailed when, 
 after a fierce struggle with Messer Andrea Loredano, 
 the picture by John of Bruges was knocked down to 
 Lorenzo da Pa via for the large sum of 115 ducats. 
 " I was in an agony of fear," writes the excellent 
 Lorenzo, " and should have felt happier if it had been 
 a little less." ^ Money was very scarce, as he knew, 
 just then at Mantua. All Isabella's jewels were 
 pledged, and she found it difficult to meet her 
 current expenses, but she managed to borrow the 
 money from her good friend, the banker Albano, 
 and wrote joyously to tell her favourite sculptor, 
 Cristoforo Romano, of the new treasures which she 
 had secured.^ 
 
 Soon afterwards Pietro Bembo left Venice for 
 Urbino, and we hear no more of his poesia or of Zuan 
 Bellini's picture. Only in a letter of the 9th of 
 January 1507,' Lorenzo da Pavia remarks : " I learn 
 by Your Signory's letter that you are very impatient 
 to have the viol of ebony and sandal- wood, and feel 
 quite ashamed by my own delays. I seem to have 
 caught Messer Zuan Bellini's malady ! " But, in his 
 defence, let it be remembered that the old painter 
 was over eighty years of age. 
 
 ^ A. Baschet, Aide Manuce. 
 
 2 A. Venturi, Cristoforo Romano, Archivio dell' Arte, i. 151. 
 
 8 C. Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1896. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 1504—1512 
 
 Mantegna's last works for Isabella d'Este — His illness and debts 
 — He appeals to Isabella for help^ and sells her his antique 
 bust of Faustina — Calandra's description of Comus — Death of 
 Mantegna and tribute of Lorenzo da Pavia — Pictures in 
 Andrea's workshop — The Comus finished by Lorenzo Costa — 
 Letters of Antonio Galeazzo Bentivoglio to Isabella — The 
 Triumph of Poetry or Court of Isabella — Costa's portrait of 
 the Marchesa — Francia paints the portrait of her son Federico 
 and her own — Correspondence on the subject with Casio and 
 Lucrezia Bentivoglio — Death of Giorgione. 
 
 The year in which Isabella d'Este made a last attempt 
 to obtain a picture for her studio from the aged 
 Bellini was also that of Mantegna's death. His 
 health had long been failing, and when, in April 
 1505, he implored Isabella's good offices on behalf of 
 his son, who had incurred the Marquis's displeasure, 
 and been banished from Mantua, his feeble state of 
 mind excited the Marchesa's deepest compassion. 
 
 "M. Andrea Mantegna came to recommend his 
 son to me," she wrote to her lord on the 1st of April, 
 " looking all tearful and agitated, and with so sunken 
 a face that he seemed to me more dead than ahve. 
 The sight filled me with so much compassion that I 
 could not refuse to beg Your Excellency to restore 
 his son to him with your usual goodness, for, gravely 
 as he has sinned against you, the long service, incom- 
 parable excellence, and rare merits of M. Andrea 
 
MANTEGNA'S ILLNESS 363 
 
 claim this favour on behalf of his rebellious son. If 
 we wish him to live and to finish our work Your 
 Excellency must gratify him, or else we shall soon lose 
 him, and he will die, rather of grief than of old age ; 
 so I recommend him with all my heart to your good 
 graces. — Your wife, Isabella, with her own hand." ^ 
 The Marquis, however, absolutely refused to par- 
 don Francesco Mantegna, saying that he had insulted 
 the best of his servants, and in spite of his pretences 
 was in reality the most irreligious man in the world ! 
 Finally, he desired Isabella to teU M. Andrea that, 
 greatly as the Marquis would always honour him, 
 his son was unworthy of receiving any favour at 
 his hands.^ More than a year passed before Fran- 
 cesco was allowed to return to Mantua and to resume 
 his labours in the palace of S. Sebastiano. Mean- 
 while, Andrea, as we have seen from Isabella's letter 
 to Bembo ^ in January 1506, fell dangerously ill, and 
 for some days was not expected to live. He recovered, 
 however, but his son's misconduct and the pecuniary 
 difficulties in which he found himself weighed heavily 
 upon his mind, and the sad words which he inscribed 
 on his last picture, the St. Sebastian of the Franchetti 
 collection, bear witness to the deep gloom which had 
 settled on his soul : Nil nisi divinum stabile est ; 
 coetera fumus — " Nothing but the Divine endures ; 
 the rest is smoke." In his distress the old master 
 turned to Isabella, and addressed the following letter 
 to the Princess, who had always proved his best and 
 kindest friend : — 
 
 " Dear and illustrious Lady, — Accept, I pray Your 
 
 1 D'Arco, o;j. cit., ii. 58. 
 
 2 Kristeller, " Andrea Mantegna," App., Doc. 73. 
 
 3 See p. 359. 
 
364 HE OFFERS HIS FAUSTINA 
 
 Excellency, my humblest and most sincere recom- 
 mendations to your favour. I feel myself by the 
 grace of God somewhat better, and although I have 
 not yet recovered the full use of my limbs, yet the 
 little talent which God gave me is still undiminished, 
 and is, as ever, at the command of Your Excellency, 
 I have almost finished the drawing of the Storia of 
 Comus for Your Excellency, and hope to go on with 
 it as my fancy is able to help me. Illustrissima 
 Madonna mia, I commend myself to you, because for 
 many months past I have not been able to obtain a 
 farthing, and am in great need, and feel myself sorely 
 embarrassed, since, never expecting these bad times, 
 and being desirous not to remain a vagabond on the 
 face of the earth, I had bought a house for the price 
 of 340 ducats, payable in three instalments. Now 
 the first term is ended, and I am pressed on all sides 
 by creditors, and, as Your Excellency knows, I can 
 neither sell nor mortgage anything now, and I have 
 many other debts ; so it has come into my mind to 
 help myself as best I can by parting from my dearest 
 possessions, and, since I have been often asked at 
 different times, and by many persons of note, to sell 
 my dear Faustina of antique marble. Necessity, 
 which compels us to do many things, prompts me to 
 write to Your Excellency on the subject, since, if I 
 must part from it, I would rather you should have it 
 than any other lord or lady in the world. The price 
 is 100 ducats, which I might have had many times 
 over from great masters ; and I beg of you to let me 
 know your intentions, and commend myself infinite 
 times to Your Excellency. — Your servant, Andreas 
 Mantinia." ^ 
 
 1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 6l. 
 
TO ISABELLA 365 
 
 To this piteous appeal Isabella returned no answer. 
 Her time and thoughts were fully occupied, and she 
 was not even able to send BeUini the measurements 
 of the picture, which she was so anxious to obtain. 
 Then came her visit to Florence and the sudden 
 outbreak of the plague. After that she was re- 
 duced to dire straits for want of money, and may 
 well have found it difficult to give Messer Andrea 
 the hundred ducats for his beloved Faustina. But as 
 soon as the plague began to abate she sent the son 
 of her old Castellan, Gian Giacomo Calandra, from 
 Sacchetta to pay the painter a visit and inquire about 
 his antique bust, which she coveted greatly, but could 
 not ajfford to buy at so high a price. 
 
 " This morning," writes Calandra, " I visited 
 Mantegna in Your Excellency's name, and found 
 him fuU of complaints on his sufferings and needs, 
 which have compelled him to mortgage his property 
 for 60 ducats, besides having many other debts. But 
 he still refuses to reduce the price of his Faustina, and 
 hopes to get it. I pointed out that this was hardly 
 the time for any one to lay out so large a sum, and it 
 comes to this : he would rather keep the marble than 
 let it go for less than 100 ducats, but if great want 
 should compel him to lower the price, he wiU let 
 Your Highness know. This he promised me faith- 
 fully. But if he finds a purchaser who will give 
 100 ducats, since you cannot give that, he will let it 
 go without writing to you again. I do not see that 
 he has any hope of selling it at this price, unless it is 
 to Monsignore the Bishop [Louis Gonzaga, Bishop of 
 Mantua, and uncle of the Marquis], who is fond of 
 these things and spends largely. But I think he 
 hoped to excite the jealousy of Your Excellency by 
 
366 HIS SKETCH OF COMUS 
 
 the thought of another customer, and so I feel bound 
 to tell you this. Afterwards he begged me to entreat 
 Your Highness to advance some money to supply his 
 needs, that he might be able to work better at his pic- 
 ture of the God Comus. I did not fail to make ample 
 excuses, but promised that I would tell you this, as 
 I do now. I asked to see his picture, in which he 
 has drawn these figures : the God Comus, two Venuses 
 (one draped and the other nude), two Loves, Janus 
 with Envy on his arm pushing her out. Mercury, and 
 three other figures, who are put to flight by him. 
 The others are still wanting, but the drawing of 
 these is most beautiful. I must tell you that he is 
 hurt at your not having answered his letter, and he 
 said with a smile that perhaps it was out of shame 
 because you could not help him in his present 
 necessities. And, indeed, it seemed to me that he 
 quite understood my excuses. As to your reply to 
 his letter, I told him that Your Excellency did him 
 quite as much honour by sending her servant in 
 person as by writing to him, and that, if you did not 
 show him the courtesy and hberality which his talents 
 deserved, you had no reason to be ashamed, since the 
 state of the country was a more than sufficient excuse. 
 I have written this to Your Highness, because it 
 seems to me that a letter from you would console 
 him, if you would write without taking any notice of 
 his resentment. If you are not satisfied with what I 
 have done in the matter, I beg you to forgive me, 
 for I have done what I could, and I kiss your hands 
 humbly. — Your faithful servant, Jo. Jac. Calandba." 
 Mantua, July 15, 1506. 
 
 Isabella now desired Calandra to send the bust by 
 boat across the lake to Sacchetta, and promised to 
 
ISABELLA BUYS HIS FAUSTINA 367 
 
 let Andrea know her decision as soon as she had seen 
 it. On the 1st of August, Gian Giacomo wrote as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Your Highness will have heard from Capilupi 
 that I received the Faustina from M. Andrea 
 Mantegna, who, although he gave it me into my 
 hands without any conditions, and was very wUling 
 to gratify your wish, yet did this with great ceremony, 
 and entrusted the marble to me with repeated injunc- 
 tions, and many signs of jealous affection, so much 
 so that if six days were to expire without his seeing 
 it again, I am almost certain that he would die. 
 Although I have not said a word about the price, he 
 himself repeated that he would not take less than 
 100 ducats, begging your pardon for this his per- 
 tinacity, but declaring that, unless he were compelled 
 by necessity, he would not part from it for much 
 more. I am sorry I could not send it by to-day's 
 boat, and perhaps six days may elapse before another 
 boat starts, but Your Signory will let me know if 
 you wish it to be sent by messenger." ^ 
 
 Immediately on receiving the precious bust, 
 Isabella wrote to tell Mantegna that she wovdd 
 keep it, and give him the price which he asked. 
 
 "M. Andrea, — We have received your head of 
 Faustina, which pleases us, and which we desire to 
 have for the price which you ask, for, even if it were 
 not worth the 100 ducats, we should be glad to give 
 it you for your pleasure and convenience. But since, 
 owing to the disturbance caused by the plague, we 
 have no ready money, we are sending you our 
 servant Cusatro to make arrangements which may 
 meet your needs and our own, because he can tell 
 
 1 D'Arco, op. cit., ii. 66. - 
 
368 AND PAYS HIS DEBTS 
 
 you what we are able to do, and we will not fail to 
 do whatever he promises. We beg you to be con- 
 tent to settle the matter with Cusatro, and shall be 
 content to abide by whatever you and he may decide. 
 We wiU keep the head until Cusatro returns, and, if 
 you do not agree to his terms, wiU return it at 
 once." Sacchetta, August 4, 1506. 
 
 The result of Cusatro's interview with the painter 
 was that the Marchesa agreed to be responsible for 
 100 ducats which he owed to his chief creditor. 
 Immediately after her servant's return to Sacchetta, 
 Isabella hastened to set the old man's mind at rest 
 on the subject. 
 
 "M. Andrea, — We sent for Hieronimo Bosio, 
 your creditor, and, according to the arrangement 
 which you made with Cusatro, we came to an 
 agreement as to the 100 ducats, which he will be 
 content to take from us. So you need have no 
 further anxiety on the subject, and whenever you 
 wish it we will pay these 100 ducats, which wiU be 
 given to him, and paid by us for the Faustina. 
 Of the remaining 27 ducats which you stUl owe, 
 Hieronimo cannot dispose, because they are due to 
 his brother Alessandro, and we have not at present 
 the means of paying the money, which we would 
 gladly do, as earnest money for the picture which 
 you are painting for us, and in order to give you 
 ease and peace of mind. But you wiU excuse 
 us, because you know the extreme difficulty that 
 we have in finding money at the present time."^ 
 Sacchetta, August 7. 
 
 Isabella, it is clear, was genuinely anxious to deal 
 kindly by the old painter, whose great services she 
 
 1 Kristeller, op. cit, App., Doc. 79 and 80. 
 
DEATH OF MANTEGNA 369 
 
 fully appreciated, although in her passion for en- 
 riching her studio she did not scruple to deprive him 
 of his beloved Faustina. As Calandra had pro- 
 phesied, he did not long survive the loss of his 
 treasured marble. Six weeks afterwards he died, 
 on Sunday the 13th of August, and Francesco 
 Mantegna, the son who had caused him so much 
 sorrow, wrote to inform his patron, the Marquis, of 
 his death, telling him that with his dying breath his 
 father had asked for His Excellency, lamenting his 
 lord's absence, and had sent him a last message. 
 " We are sure," he adds, " that Your Excellency, who 
 always rewards his true servants generously, will not 
 forget the fifty years' service rendered you by such a 
 man, and will help us in our present loss and sorrow." ^ 
 
 On the following day the news of Mantegna's 
 death reached ^''enice, and, in a brief note to Isabella, 
 that true artist, Lorenzo da Pavia, paid a noble 
 tribute to the great painter : " 1 am much grieved to 
 hear of the death of our Messer Andrea Mantegna. 
 For, indeed, we have lost a most excellent man and 
 a second Apelles, but I believe that the Lord God 
 wUl employ him to make some beautiful work. As for 
 me, I can never hope to see again a finer draughtsman 
 and more original artist. Farewell. — Your servant, 
 Lorenzo da Pavia in Venecia."^ October 16, 1506. 
 
 The great master had no truer epitaph. 
 
 Isabella's reply was brief but sincere : " Lorenzo, — 
 We were sure that you would grieve over the death 
 of M. Andrea Mantegna, for, as you say, a great light 
 has gone out." s 
 
 1 D'Arco, op. ciL, ii. 67. 
 
 2 Armand Baschet, op. cit, p. 47. 
 
 3 Kristeller, op. cit, App., Doc. 84. 
 VOL. I. ^ ^ 
 
370 ELISABETTA'S REGARD FOR HIM 
 
 The Marchesa's interest in Mantegna's family 
 did not cease with his death, and through her in- 
 fluence his son was allowed to retain his house in the 
 Borgo Pradella. In November 1507, Lodovico 
 Mantegna wrote begging her to help him to recover 
 certain moneys, which Cardinal Sigismondo had 
 granted the brothers on the tolls in payment of the 
 pictures which he had kept, so that they might be 
 able to defray the expenses of their father's funeral 
 and of their own mourning. Two years afterwards 
 Lodovico died, and Francesco, after trying to kill 
 his widowed sister-in-law, and seize his nephew's 
 patrimony, applied to Elisabetta of Urbino for re- 
 dress, declaring that he had been cruelly defrauded 
 by the corruption and malignity of legal officers. 
 The kind Duchess wrote in touching terms to her 
 brother, the Marquis, begging him to repair the sup- 
 posed injustice which had been done to Mantegna's 
 son — " for the sake of the more than ordinary love 
 which I bore to Messer Andrea, who, as Your 
 Excellency knows, was a man of rare genius and 
 most devoted to our house. Truly," she goes on, 
 " this love that we bore him in life, did not end with 
 his death, but also extended to his son Francesco, 
 for whom I am inclined to cherish the greatest de- 
 votion, because he is now Messer Andrea's only 
 surviving son." ^ But Francesco's real character was 
 too well known at Mantua for the Marquis to attend 
 to his complaints, and, in spite of Elisabetta's inter- 
 cession, he never recovered his patron's favour. 
 
 Among the works that remained in Mantegna's 
 workshop at the time of his death were the so-called 
 Triumph of Scipio, which had been ordered by 
 
 1 D'Arco, op. cit, ii. 77. 
 
COSTA FINISHES THE COMUS 371 
 
 Francesco Cornaro, and the famous Crista in scurto, 
 or foreshortened Christ, from which the painter would 
 never part in his hfe-time. Both of these were re- 
 tained by Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, while a 
 third, the imposing St. Sebastian, now belonging to 
 Baron Franchetti of Venice, became the property 
 of Bishop Louis Gonzaga. After that art-loving 
 prelate's death in 1511, this noble work passed into 
 the hands of Cardinal Bembo, in whose house at 
 Padua Marco Antonio Michiel saw it. But no 
 mention was made of the unfinished Comus, which 
 had evidently been ordered by Isabella for her 
 studio, and now passed into her hands. A few 
 months afterwards she employed the Ferrarese artist, 
 Lorenzo Costa, who settled at Mantua in November 
 1506, and succeeded Mantegna as court painter, to 
 finish this Storia, which in style and subject agrees 
 exactly with the works which Mantegna, Perugino, 
 and Costa himself had already painted for her Grotta. 
 The group of Janus and Envy and Mercury driving 
 out three figures of the Vices on the right, agrees 
 exactly with Calandra's description, while the word 
 Comes is inscribed on the triumphal arch which occu- 
 pies a prominent place in the picture. In the inven- 
 tory of 1542, this painting is described as being " by the 
 hand of M. Lorenzo Costa, and containing a triumphal 
 arch and many figures making music, together with 
 a fable of Leda." The real title of the Storia, it is 
 plain, was the Triumph of Music, in the person of 
 the mirth-loving Comus, the god of musical inspira- 
 tion, who is here seen leading the joyous Bacchic 
 train, while Orpheus and Arion are both introduced 
 
 1 This has been convincingly shown by Dr. Kristeller, op. cit, 
 p. 858. 
 
372 ANTONIO BENTTVOGLIO'S OFFER 
 
 in the foreground of the picture. The subject was 
 no doubt chosen by Paride da Ceresara, at Isabella's 
 suggestion, to form the companion picture of the 
 Triumph of Poetry, which Lorenzo Costa had 
 already painted at Bologna. 
 
 During the summer of 1504, when Isabella was 
 moving heaven and earth to obtain painted allegories 
 for her studio from Giovanni Bellini and Perugino, 
 she received a visit from the Protonotary, Messer 
 Antonio Galeazzo Bentivoglio, a brother-in-law of 
 her sister Lucrezia d'Este, and displayed the treasures 
 of the Grotta before his admiring eyes. This courtly 
 prelate, whose portrait Francia has introduced in a 
 well-known Nativity, promised to ask the painter, 
 Lorenzo Costa, who had been long settled at Bologna, 
 to undertake a picture for the Marchesa's studio, and 
 soon after his return, wrote to inform her that Costa 
 would gladly execute her commission, and paint any 
 fantasia which she might choose. 
 
 Isabella wrote off without a moment's delay to 
 Paride da Ceresara, who had already supplied Peru- 
 gino and Bellini -vfithfantasie at her request, begging 
 him to invent a composition similar to those which 
 had not yet been executed by these dilatory masters. 
 
 " I really do not know," she remarks, " which of 
 us two suffers the most from the interminable delays 
 of these painters — I who see no end to the decora- 
 tion of my Camerino, and you who are every day 
 required to supply new compositions, which these 
 wayward masters either refuse to execute or else 
 render inaccurately. We have, therefore, decided to 
 employ some new painters, so that we may be able 
 to complete the work within a fixed period." ^ 
 
 ' C. Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1896. 
 
PARIDE'S INVENTION 373 
 
 Five days later, the Marchesa received the poet's 
 composition, which seemed to her perfect of its kind. 
 "If only," she exclaimed with a sigh, "painters were 
 as rapid as poets ! " On the 27th of November, she 
 forwarded Paride's instructions to Bologna, together 
 with threads, giving the length and breadth of the 
 picture, enclosed in a sealed packet, and a sketch of 
 the composition, " because," as she remarked, " words 
 do not always express our whole meaning." In con- 
 clusion, she promised to send the earnest money, and 
 begged Messer Antonio, who understood drawing 
 well, to see that the painter began the picture at 
 once, and did not drag on his work after the fashion 
 of Perugino and Bellini. 
 
 The courteous Protonotary hastened to satisfy her 
 on these points. " As soon as I received the letter by 
 your courier," he wrote on the 1st of December, " I 
 sent for the painter, who was greatly pleased with 
 Your Excellency's fantasia, and says that he will 
 execute it in his own way, omitting nothing, but im- 
 proving the composition. I feel sure that he will 
 satisfy you thoroughly, because he works with his 
 whole heart. Afterwards, in speaking of the lighting, 
 I told him that the painting was to hang in the place 
 where Your Excellency showed me, that, as far as I 
 could recollect, the light would fall in the opposite 
 direction, and that I thought Messer Andrea's picture 
 was varnished, which surprised him, as it was painted 
 on canvas. Will you, therefore, kindly tell me if 
 M. Andrea's picture is varnished or not, and send me 
 the precise size of the figures, so that the painter may 
 see that his work corresponds in all respects with the 
 neighbouring pictures ? As soon as the painter receives 
 this information, and all things necessary are ready, 
 
374 LORENZO COSTA 
 
 he will begin work, and I will see, as I promised, that 
 Your Excellency is well and promptly served, and 
 that you are not made to wait as interminably as you 
 were by your other artists. . . . When once the pic- 
 ture is begun, and seems to be likely to answer our 
 expectations, I wiU let you know for your own satis- 
 faction, but not to remind you of the price, for there 
 must be no mention of money between us, since I 
 wish Your Excellency kindly to accept the painting 
 for my sake, and you may rest assured that it wUl be 
 well and speedily finished. I wish for nothing in 
 exchange, but that you would be kind to Violante, 
 who is always in my thoughts, so much so that I 
 shall be forced to come and spend ten days with you 
 next carnival. — Your servant and kinsman. Ant. 
 Gal. Bentivolus." ^ Bologna, December 1, 1504. 
 
 Violante was the Protonotary's young niece, a 
 daughter of Alessandro Bentivoglio and Ippohta 
 Sforza, whom Isabella treated with great kindness, 
 and who eventually married Gianpaolo Sforza, Mar- 
 quis of Caravaggio, and is often mentioned in 
 Bandello's novels. 
 
 The Marchesa replied to this letter without delay, 
 and sent the painter full directions, repeating her 
 anxiety that Costa's painting " might not suffer from 
 the baneful influence of that fatal constellation which 
 seems to have presided over the execution of the other 
 pictures in my poor Camerino." ^ 
 
 Unfortunately, that winter Costa fell seriously ill, 
 and was at the point of death, as M. Antonio told 
 the Marchesa in April, so that he was quite unable 
 to begin the picture. By August, however, it was 
 
 1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 359. 
 
 2 Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
PAINTS THE TRIUMPH OF POETRY 375 
 
 well advanced, and Isabella's constant correspondent, 
 the poet Casio, informed her that it would be ready 
 before Christmas, and would, he felt sure, please her 
 exceedingly. But early in the following January, the 
 Protonotary wrote again to the Marchesa, apologis- 
 ing for the painter's delay in finishing her picture, 
 which would have been ready before this if his 
 father, Giovanni Bentivoglio, had not employed Costa 
 to adorn the new mortuary chapel of St. Cecilia.^ 
 Lorenzo's fresco of the saint distributing her goods 
 to the poor in this chapel bears the date of 1506, and 
 can only have been finished a few months before the 
 Bentivogli were driven out of Bologna by Pope 
 Juhus II. Before that time, no doubt Isabella had 
 received her picture safely, and may indeed have 
 taken it back with her when she passed through 
 Bologna that spring on her return from Florence. 
 Costa's work hung in the studio of the Grotta on 
 the same wall as Mantegna's allegories, and is 
 described in the inventory of 1542 as " a picture by 
 the hand of the late Messer Lorenzo Costa, painter, 
 with many figures and trees and a Coronation." The 
 exact subject is not easy to determine, but there 
 seems little doubt that the Triumph of Poetry was 
 the theme assigned to the artist, and that Costa, 
 being, as Mario Equicola tells us, as amiable a courtier 
 as he was excellent a painter, dexterously contrived 
 to pay a compliment to the Marchesa ^ by represent- 
 ing her as Queen of the realm of song. A winged 
 boy seated on the lap of the Muse of Poetry is in the 
 act of placing a laurel crown on Isabella's brow, as 
 she presides over her court, surrounded by poets who 
 
 > A. Venturi, Archivio St. d. Arte, i. 249. 
 2 C. Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
376 FOR ISABELLA'S STUDIO 
 
 pour out their deathless lays, and fair maidens play- 
 ing the lutes under shady groves. In the foreground 
 young girls are seen wreathing the ox and the lamb 
 with flowers, while in the distance armed cavaliers 
 recall the exploits which live in immortal verse. The 
 knight in the foreground, who has slain the hydra at 
 his feet, has been supposed to represent Baldassarre 
 Castiglione, but more probably wears the features 
 of Isabella's brother-in-law, Annibale Bentivoglio, or 
 the courtly Protonotary himself. The fair landscape, 
 with the distant hills and blue river, winding its 
 way between grassy banks and woodland glades, 
 supplies a charming setting for these gallant knights 
 and lovely maidens, and the whole is conceived 
 and painted in Costa's most graceful and attractive 
 manner. 
 
 That Isabella was well satisfied with the picture 
 may be gathered from the fact that when the Benti- 
 vogli were expelled from Bologna she invited Costa 
 to come and take Mantegna's place at her court. 
 "TeU the painter Costa," she wrote to her friend 
 Casio, on the 16th of November 1506, only five 
 days after the Pope's triumphal entry into Bologna, 
 " that if he likes to come here we shall be very glad 
 to see him."^ 
 
 By the end of the month, Lorenzo was settled 
 at Mantua, where the Marquis employed him to con- 
 tinue the decorations of his palace at St. Sebastian, 
 which Mantegna had left unfinished. He received a 
 yearly pension of 669 lire, 10 soldi, and in 1509 the 
 Marquis gave him 1200 ducats, as well as a house and 
 250 acres of land at Revere, and granted him the 
 privilege of a citizen of Mantua in a deed drawn up in 
 
 ' Gruyer, L'Art a la Cour de Ferrare, ii. 209. 
 
COSTA SETTLES AT MANTUA 377 
 
 the most flattering terms. Costa remained at Mantua 
 to the end of his life, and enjoyed the favour of 
 Isabella's husband and son until, in 1535, he died of 
 fever at the age of seventy -five, after a few days' iUness.^ 
 Unfortunately, nothing remains of all the frescoes 
 with which he adorned the viUas of Revere and Mar- 
 mirolo and Francesco Gonzaga's favourite palace of 
 St. Sebastian. 
 
 In a letter of April 11, 1509, Isabella tells her 
 husband that Costa is decorating the haUs of this 
 palace, and Vasari describes the portraits of the 
 Marquis and his three sons, Federico, Ercole, and 
 Ferrante, assisting at a sacrifice to Hercules, which 
 he painted at one end of the hall where Mantegna's 
 Triumphs hung. In another hall he represented 
 Francesco led by Hercules up the steep and thorny 
 ways of the mountain of Eternity, and Isabella sur- 
 rounded by her ladies playing instruments of music. 
 These figures, Vasari teUs us, were all painted from 
 life, and remind us of that admirable portrait of 
 Isabella which the Marquis showed his future son-in- 
 law, Francesco Maria, when he visited the Castello in 
 August 1508. This work pleased the Marchesa so 
 much that she wrote from Cavriana begging Calandra 
 to compose an appropriate distich which might be 
 inscribed on the picture, and when she went to 
 Ferrara in the following autumn her brothers were so 
 anxious to see the portrait that a courier was sent to 
 Mantua to bring it. The original of this portrait has 
 disappeared, but, as Dr. Luzio has lately pointed out," 
 there can be little doubt that the portrait of Isabella 
 d'Este in the collection of Gonzaga portraits made 
 
 ' Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 218. 
 
 2 Luzio in Emporium, 1901, p. 435. 
 
378 FRANCIA PROMISES TO PAINT 
 
 by Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol in 1579, and now 
 in the Vienna Gallery, was copied from Costa's 
 painting, which was then still preserved at Mantua. 
 Although the work of an inferior artist, this picture 
 is of great interest, especially as the way in which 
 Isabella wears her hair, and the shape and striped 
 material of her bodice, bear a marked likeness to 
 Leonardo's drawing. 
 
 About the same time that Isabella employed Costa 
 to paint a Storia for her studio she entered into 
 correspondence with his more famous friend, the 
 goldsmith-painter, Francia. Francia's fame as the first 
 goldsmith in Italy had spread far beyond his native 
 city, and his name was familiar to the Marchesa, 
 since he had often worked for her family. In 1488, 
 he made a beautiful gold chain of linked hearts for 
 Duchess Leonora, and after Isabella's marriage he 
 sent her a chain of engraved gems, while his name 
 appears on the title-page of the Virgil issued from the 
 Aldine press, as the maker of the famous Italic types 
 first used by the great printer. So, when this dis- 
 tinguished master offered to paint a picture for her 
 studio, she accepted his proposal readily. On the 
 17th of August, the poet Casio, in writing to inform 
 her of the progress of Costa's picture, begged her to 
 send the drawing for the canvas that Francia was to 
 paint, since he was anxious to set to work, and had 
 declined to accept any other commissions until he 
 heard from the Marchesa. And the writer adds that 
 he has brought the master some fine ultramarine blue 
 from Florence expressly for this purpose. 
 
 Probably the frescoes upon which Francia was 
 engaged during the next year in the Chapel of 
 St. Cecilia, and the revolution which took place at 
 
A STORIA FOR ISABELLA 379 
 
 Bologna in 1506, delayed the execution of his work, 
 but we certainly hear no more of Isabella's Storia for 
 some time to come. At length, five years later, in 
 December 1510, the painter himself wrote to the 
 Marchesa, saying : — 
 
 "Hearing that Your Highness desires a canvas 
 for her Camerino, we await your commands, and wiU 
 be ready to begin the picture after Christmas, and 
 devote ourselves to the work with all possible dili- 
 gence, although we shall have to encounter a perilous 
 competition. But Apelles and Parrhasius, we trust, 
 will come to our help. — Francia, aurifex." Bologna, 
 December 12, 1510. 
 
 A month later he returned to the subject. 
 
 " I hear from Girolamo Casio that Your Highness 
 would Uke me to paint the canvas for your Camerino 
 which was ordered in past years by our mutual friend. 
 I will gladly place my time and powers at Your 
 Excellency's disposal, and if you will send me the 
 canvas as well as the measure and lighting correctly, 
 so that I may not make any mistake, I will begin it 
 immediately, and devote myself to the work with the 
 utmost diUgence, so that I may please Your High- 
 ness and gain honour myself. — Francia, aurifex." ^ 
 Bologna, January 11, 1511. 
 
 After this, however, we hear no more of the 
 Storia, and the idea was apparently dropped. But 
 we know that about the same time this popular 
 master painted a portrait of Isabella's son Federico, 
 and another of herself, both of which pleased her 
 greatly. The first was executed in July 1510, when 
 the young prince, a boy of ten, was on his way to 
 Rome, where the Venetians required him to re- 
 
 ^ C. Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
380 HE PAINTS FEDERICO'S PORTRAIT 
 
 main as a hostage on his father's release. Isabella, 
 anxious to have her darhng son's portrait as a con- 
 solation in his absence, sent an express to the seneschal 
 Matteo Ippolito, begging him to engage Francia to 
 paint Federico's picture during his short stay at 
 Bologna. 
 
 "As soon as Your Excellency's letter reached 
 me," wrote Matteo, on the 29th of July, " I sent for 
 the painter Francia, who gladly undertook to draw 
 Signor Federico's portrait, but fears that he cannot 
 finish it as quickly as you desire. I am sure, how- 
 ever, that when you see the picture it wiU please you 
 better than anything which you have seen for many 
 a long day. It would be impossible for anything to 
 be more hke him than is this sketch. At first the 
 master refused to colour it, saying that he had to 
 make a pair of bards for His Excellency the Duke." 
 This was Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, who was 
 then in command of the papal forces at Bologna, and 
 for whom, Vasari tells us, Francia painted a fine set 
 of harness. " So I had to apply to His Excellency, 
 who desired him at once to leave his commission and 
 satisfy Your Highness. As soon as it is ready I 
 wiU send it to you, and will let you know how much 
 the painter thinks he ought to be paid for this 
 portrait." ^ 
 
 The picture reached Mantua safely on the 10th 
 of August, and the enchanted mother wrote to Casio, 
 declaring that it would be impossible to have a better 
 likeness, and expressing her wonder that so perfect 
 and admirable a thing should have been made in so 
 short a time. Since, however, the boy's hair was too 
 fair, she sent the picture back to Casio in November, 
 
 ^ A. Bertolotti, Ariisti bolognesi, p. 33. 
 
AND THAT OF ISABELLA 381 
 
 begging him to ask Francia to correct this mistake, 
 which he did. Unluckily, just then the Marquis 
 Francesco came to Bologna with the Pope, and was 
 so much delighted with his son's likeness that he 
 insisted on showing it to His Holiness and the 
 Cardinals, and ultimately allowed it to be taken to 
 Rome by a certain Zoan Petro da Cremona, who 
 quite refused to restore it. 
 
 " Francia," wrote Casio on the 7th of November, 
 " declared that he would not paint a replica of the 
 portrait for all the gold in the world ! " 
 
 Isabella was furious at the loss of her precious 
 picture, and wrote so indignantly to Rome on the 
 subject that the missing portrait was returned forth- 
 with. On the 20th of November, Casio took 
 Francia to see Federico, who had come to join the 
 Pope at Bologna, and compare his portrait with the 
 original. The comparison was satisfactory, and both 
 Francia and Casio agreed that it was impossible to 
 improve the picture, which was accordingly sent 
 back to Mantua. Isabella immediately sent Casio 
 30 ducats, which Francia acknowledged courteously, 
 saying that the execution of Signor Federico's por- 
 trait hardly deserved such liberal payment, but that 
 he accepted the money as a gracious present from 
 Her Excellency, and remained her grateful servant 
 for life.^ 
 
 A few months later, when a fresh turn in the 
 tide had brought back the Bentivogli under French 
 protection to Bologna, Lucrezia d'Este begged her 
 half-sister to allow Francia, who had succeeded so 
 well with Federico's hkeness, to paint her own 
 portrait. The Marchesa agreed readily, and sent 
 
 1 C. Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
382 LUCREZIA D'ESTE'S CRITICISM 
 
 Lucrezia a drawing of herself, from which Francia 
 promised to paint the picture, with Madonna 
 Lucrezia's help. This princess declared that Isabella's 
 face was so deeply engraved on her heart that she 
 felt sure she could describe her features, colouring, 
 and expression all perfectly. But the war that was 
 raging at the gates of Bologna, and a tertian ague 
 which attacked the painter, interfered with his good 
 intentions, and, after two unsuccessful attempts, 
 Lucrezia herself had to confess that his portrait was 
 a failure. 
 
 " Dear and honoured sister," she wrote on the 
 7th of September, " I have lately paid constant 
 visits to the house of the painter Francia to see how 
 much his portrait resembled you. To speak frankly, 
 it does not seem to bear you the least Ukeness, 
 representing you as being thinner and more severe- 
 looking, and altogether different from the picture 
 which my imagination retains of you ; so I have 
 begged the painter, for his honour and my satisfac- 
 tion, to go to Mantua and see Your Excellency in 
 life, so that his work may really resemble nature. 
 This, however, he refuses to promise, saying that it is 
 too dangerous to venture on a comparison in which 
 chance has more to do than art, as is the case in 
 trying to paint a life-like portrait. But he promises 
 to try once more, and to alter anything that I wish 
 as often as I like, and perhaps by this means he may 
 be able to produce a better likeness, although I fear 
 it cannot really resemble you, since he has not seen 
 you. Meanwhile, I will do my best to persuade him 
 to come to Mantua. — Your most devoted sister, 
 
 LUCKETIA ESTENSIS."^ 
 
 1 Luzio in Emporium, 1901, pp. 427-430. 
 
OF FRANCIA'S PORTRAIT 383 
 
 Isabella, however, had not the least wish that 
 Francia should come to Mantua. In the first 
 place, as she told Lodovico Sforza many years 
 before, she was quite tired of sitting for her por- 
 trait. In the second, she was afraid of exciting 
 the jealousy of her own court painter, Lorenzo 
 Costa. 
 
 " I thank you," she wrote to her sister on the 
 26th of September, " for your kindness in trying to 
 induce Francia to come to Mantua, so as to paint my 
 portrait better, but hope you will not urge him to do 
 this any more, for, to say the truth, I do not care for 
 him to come here on this account, because the last 
 time my portrait was taken the necessity of sitting 
 still and without moving for a long while became 
 so tiresome that I never mean to do it again ; but 
 Your Highness has our image so deeply impressed 
 on her memory that I feel sure she will be able 
 to correct the master's mistakes. And you must 
 also remember that, if we received Francia here, 
 we should not know how to do this without offend- 
 ing Costa, and should find it difficult to retain his 
 friendship." 
 
 On receiving this letter, Lucrezia promised not to 
 press the matter further, and told Isabella that her 
 sons' tutor was satisfied that Francia's latest attempt 
 resembled the drawing which had been sent from 
 Mantua, and that it would be still more hfe-Kke 
 if he would let her see his picture once or twice 
 before it was finished. On the 25th of October, 
 she wrote triumphantly to tell Isabella that the 
 portrait was quite ready, and met with general ap- 
 proval, although Francia, who evidently was more 
 anxious to produce a fine work of art than a correct 
 
384 HER ADMIRATION OF THE WORK 
 
 likeness of a lady whom he had never seen, had 
 not chosen to consult Madonna Lucrezia again on 
 the subject. 
 
 " Our Francia, the foremost goldsmith among 
 painters, and among goldsmiths most illustrious as 
 a painter, yesterday brought me Your Illustrious 
 Signory's portrait, completely finished and placed in 
 a gold frame, to hear my judgment on his work. I 
 praised it greatly, since it seemed to me to deserve 
 high commendation. But if Your Excellency is not 
 wholly satisfied after inspecting it more closely, you 
 must not impute the fault to me, since I only saw it 
 once while he was engaged on the work, although 
 then I certainly tried to describe Your Excellency's 
 appearance to him. But you must blame the painter, 
 who, seeing that his work was superior to the other, 
 did not care to show it to me again, after promising to 
 bring it here many times before it was finished, and to 
 alter anything in it to which I took objection, I 
 must, however, confess that I see little in the portrait 
 that does not satisfy my taste. I hope Your Excel- 
 lency will say the same, for certainly, if you compare it 
 with the original sketch which was sent from Mantua, 
 it is no less like nature than that one, while it is far 
 more perfect in point of art. All those who know 
 you in this city agree in saying that in Francia's por- 
 trait they seem to see your living image, and the 
 most confidential servants of your illustrious lord 
 the Marquis say the same — above all, Scalona, by 
 whom I send this letter. So I conclude that you 
 will be satisfied with our Francia in this first and 
 difficult task, which, as he himself says, has almost 
 more to do with chance than with art. I wiU send 
 both portraits to Your Excellency as soon as possible, 
 
ISABELLA'S PRAISE 385 
 
 by way of Ferrara, and commend myself ever to you, 
 together with my daughters, who are indeed also 
 yours, since you have married them so much to our 
 satisfaction." ^ 
 
 Lucrezia, it must be explained, had a large family 
 of daughters, whom Isabella treated with great kind- 
 ness during the years of their exile at Mantua, and 
 one of whom, Camilla, married Pirro Gonzaga of 
 Gazzuolo, the youngest son of Antonia del Balzo, and 
 who, as well as her cousin Violante, is often men- 
 tioned in Bandello's novels. 
 
 On the 6th of November, Francia's picture 
 was sent to Ferrara by boat, and the painter 
 himself addressed the following letter to the 
 Marchesa : — 
 
 "Most illustrious Madonna, — We send the por- 
 trait of Your Highness, which we have done as well 
 as we could with the help of our M. Lucrecia 
 Bentivoglio's counsel, and if it is not as perfect 
 as it ought to be, you must graciously pardon the 
 painter, who places himself at your pleasure and 
 service. Nee plura ; vale et vivas felix. — ^Francia, 
 aurifexr ^ 
 
 On the 25th of November, the portrait had reached 
 Mantua, and Isabella lost no time in expressing her 
 satisfaction with Francia's work. 
 
 " To the most excellent painter, Francia. Maestro 
 Francia, — I have received your portrait, and every one 
 who has seen it can tell that the work is by your hand, 
 because of its great excellence. I am exceedingly 
 obliged to you for giving me so much pleasure. You 
 have indeed made us far more beautiful by your art 
 
 1 A. Luzio, op. cit, p. 429- 
 
 2 Yriarte, op. cit. 
 
 2 B 
 VOL. I. 
 
386 CRITICISM OF THE PORTRAIT 
 
 than nature ever made us, so that we thank you with 
 all our heart, and as soon as we can find a trusty 
 messenger we will pay the debt which we owe you, 
 without speaking of the obligation under which we 
 shall always remain to you." 
 
 But although the beauty of Francia's picture was 
 undeniable, the critical Marchesa was not altogether 
 satisfied with the likeness. The eyes, she thought, 
 were decidedly too black, and she asked Lucrezia if 
 the painter could not make them lighter. Neither 
 the princess nor the artist, however, approved of this 
 suggestion, as Lucrezia explained in a letter written 
 on the 9th of December. " II Francia, our painter, 
 seems to be in heaven, so fuU of delight is he to 
 hear that his portrait has pleased Your Excellency — 
 still more, to hear you say that his art has made 
 you more beautiful than nature. It would, as he 
 owns, be too great arrogance for the art of painting 
 to claim superiority over nature ; none the less, he 
 is by no means displeased to receive so great a 
 comphment from such a lady ! As to changing the 
 eyes from dark to light, the result would be doubtful, 
 and he would reluctantly run the risk of spoiling 
 what is good in the picture, and of exchanging a 
 certain for an uncertain advantage. It would be 
 necessary to alter the shadows of the picture to suit 
 the colour of the eyes, and then it would have to 
 be varnished over again, and if the eyes were a little 
 damaged by this operation, the picture would lose 
 all its charm. None the less, if you were here 
 to sit to him, he would do his best to please Your 
 Excellency, whom he will be ever ready to oblige ; 
 nor would I be slow to undertake whatever com- 
 mands you give, great or small, saying, as Eolus did, 
 
ISABELLA GIVES IT AWAY 387 
 
 ' Juno — Thine, O Queen, it is to command ; mine 
 it is to see that thy command is obeyed.' Farewell, 
 therefore, and love me and my children from your 
 heart. — Your devoted sister, Lucretia Estensis de 
 Bentivolis." ^ 
 
 Isabella recognised the truth of Francia's words, 
 and contented herself with sending him 30 ducats 
 in the following March, with renewed thanks for 
 his admirable portrait, and many excuses for the 
 delays caused by the war that was desolating North 
 Italy. 
 
 The strangest part of the tale yet remains to 
 be told. According to documents lately published 
 by Dr. Luzio from the Gonzaga archives,^ Francia's 
 portrait was given away by the Marchesa that winter 
 to a Ferrarese courtier named Zaninello. This 
 gentleman had lately presented her with the original 
 MS. of Pistoja's Rime, superbly bound and richly 
 illuminated, with a dedication to herself. This was 
 one of those gifts on which Isabella laid especial 
 store, and the volume of the dead poet's works found 
 a place among her choicest treasures. In 1531, the 
 Ferrarese poet Berni asked her permission to borrow 
 the book; on another occasion Alessandro Benti- 
 voglio, to whom Isabella lent it, returned the volume 
 adorned with a set of finely worked clasps. The 
 Marchesa repUed, half in jest, half in earnest : " It 
 was really not necessary for Your Highness to 
 have had these handsome clasps made for my book 
 of Pistoia's poems, so as to play the part of a good 
 tenant ! I did not ask you to pay rent, but lent it to 
 you solely for your pleasure, as I would lend you 
 
 1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 429. 
 
 2 Op. cit. 
 
388 TO ZANINELLO 
 
 anything that I possess ; certainly I could do no less. 
 But since, with your wonted gentilezza, you have 
 chosen to adorn my book, I thank you warmly for 
 your gracious courtesy." ^ 
 
 The Marchesa, it seems, hardly knew how to re- 
 pay Zaninello for his splendid present, and, learning 
 from her faithful Bernardo dei Prosperi that nothing 
 would please the donor better than her own portrait, 
 she sent him Francia's beautiful painting to adorn 
 his cabinet of pictures. Still more surprising is it 
 to find that in the following May she presented this 
 same Ferrara gentleman with Francia's portrait of 
 her darling Federico, so that, as Zaninello wrote, 
 his lowly roof was glorified by the presence of 
 both mother and son, both Venus and Cupid. 
 Unfortunately this portrait, in which Isabella con- 
 fessed the painter's art had made her more beauti- 
 ful than she was in life, has shared the fate of 
 so many others, and is only known to us by the 
 famous picture which Titian painted from Francia's 
 model.^ 
 
 Many other objects of virtil, good pictures 
 and rare antiques, poems and songs, came to 
 Isabella from Bologna, sometimes through her 
 kinsfolk the Bentivogli, more often through her 
 friend Girolamo Casio. One letter of his, dated the 
 15th of April 1506, when Isabella was expected at 
 Bologna on her return from Florence, contains a 
 curious list of articles which he has procured for 
 her. " There are, first of aU, the oUves, which you 
 will accept for my sake ; then the Magdalen painted 
 
 1 Cappellij Rime di A. Cammelli d. il Pistoia, p. 58. 
 
 2 This interesting fact has been lately proved by Dr. Luzio in 
 his paper on Isabella's portraits (^Emporium, 190O). 
 
DEATH OF GIORGIONE 389 
 
 by Lorenzo da Credi "—perhaps the well-known 
 picture by the Florentine master now at Berhn— 
 " also a picture of fruit by Antonio da Crevalcore — 
 a master most excellent in his art — but painted 
 larger than hfe. The pupil of Francia has finished 
 his Madonna, which is much praised by some persons. 
 You wiU see it soon, and can have it if you hke 
 for as many gold ducats as it weighs I Seriously, 
 the work is worth more than 10 ducats, but you 
 must pay what you choose, and I wiU see that he is 
 satisfied. Your Excellency need not trouble your- 
 self about the money — I wiU settle that for your 
 sake— to whom I commend myself from the bottom 
 of my heart. Semper felix valeat 1 — Your most 
 aifectionate servant, H. Casius." 
 
 In the year that Francia painted her son's por- 
 trait, Isabella, who never neglected an opportunity 
 of securing a work by a great master, heard of 
 Giorgione's death from her friends at Venice, and 
 wrote immediately to the banker Taddeo Albano, 
 begging him to inquire after a wonderful Notte 
 which the dead artist was said to have painted. The 
 fame of this master, whose exquisite art must 
 have charmed Isabella's refined and poetic nature 
 beyond all others, had reached Mantua long before, 
 and on her visits to Venice she had often seen 
 the noble portraits which he painted of her patrician 
 friends, and the frescoes which adorned the marble 
 palaces along the Canale Grande with their glowing 
 colours. Now that Zorzo da Castelfranco had died 
 of the plague in the flower of his age, the Marchesa 
 hastened to ask Messer Taddeo and her faithful 
 Lorenzo da Pavia to secure one of his pamtmgs for 
 her Camerino. 
 
390 ISABELLA ASKS FOR HIS NOTTE 
 
 "Dearest friend," she wrote to Albano on the 
 25th of October 1510, " we hear that among the 
 possessions left by Zorzo da Castelfranco, the painter, 
 there is a picture of a Notte, very beautiful and 
 original. If this is the case, we wish to have it, and 
 beg your Lorenzo da Pavia or any other person of 
 taste and judgment to go and see if it is a really 
 excellent thing. If it is, I hope you wiU endeavour 
 to secure this picture for me, with the help of our 
 dearest compare the Magnifico Carlo Valerio, or 
 of any one else you may think fit. Find out the 
 price, and let us have the exact sum ; but if it is 
 really a fine thing, and you think well to clench 
 the bargain for fear others should carry it off, do 
 what you think best, for we know that you will 
 act for our advantage, with your wonted loyalty 
 and wisdom." 
 
 Taddeo replied on the 8th of November : — 
 " Most illustrious and honoured Madama mia, — 
 In reply to Your Excellency's letter, the said Zorzo 
 died more of exhaustion than of the plague. I have 
 spoken in your interests to some of my friends who 
 were very intimate with him, and they assure me 
 that there is no such picture among his possessions. 
 It is true that the said Zorzo painted a JVotte for 
 M. Taddeo Contarini, which, according to the in- 
 formation which I have, is not as perfect as you 
 would desire. Another picture of the Notte was 
 painted by Zorzo for a certain Vittore Beccaro, 
 which, from what I hear, is finer in design and better 
 finished than that of Contarini. But Beccaro is not 
 at present in Venice, and from what I hear neither 
 picture is for sale, because the owners have had 
 them painted for their own pleasure, so that I 
 
DOSSO DOSSI AT MANTUA 391 
 
 regret I am unable to satisfy Your Excellency's wish. 
 — ^Your servant, Thaddeus Albanus." ^ Venice, 
 November 8, 1510. 
 
 These interesting letters not only prove the exact 
 date of Giorgione's death, but show the priceless 
 value which the paintings of this short-lived master 
 had already acquired in the eyes of his countrymen. 
 
 Another painter who caught something of Gior- 
 gione's romantic invention and poetic feeling often 
 visited Mantua in Isabella's life-time. This was 
 Dosso Dossi, one of Alfonso d'Este's favourite artists 
 and an intimate friend of the poet Ariosto, whose 
 fantastic imagination and magical dreams seem to 
 live again in such pictures as the Circe and the 
 Nymph of the Borghese collection. In 1511 Dosso 
 spent some time at Mantua and painted a fresco in 
 the palace of San Sebastiano, while the St. WiUiam 
 in armour and a Holy Family at Hampton Court 
 both came to England from the Gonzaga collection. 
 And it is of interest to remember that Titian paid his 
 first visit to Mantua in the company of this Ferrarese 
 master. Finally, among the painters who worked for 
 Isabella, we must not forget to mention Caroto and 
 Francesco Bonsignori, whose names appear so often 
 in the Marchesa's letters. Both were of Veronese 
 birth, but spent many years at Mantua as followers 
 and assistants of Mantegna, and helped in the decora- 
 tion of the palaces and churches of the Gonzagas. 
 
 In 1513 Bonsignori painted a portrait of the poet 
 Pistoia by IsabeUa's command, while his altar-piece 
 of the Beata Osanna with the Madonna kneeUng at 
 her feet belongs to a somewhat earher date. To 
 Carotd, MoreUi ascribes the weU-known portrait o± 
 
 1 Luzio, Arch. St. d. Arte, 1888. 
 
392 CAROTO'S OLD MAN 
 
 Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, now in the 
 Uffizi, and Vasari tells us that an admirable head 
 of an old man, bearing a hawk on his wrist, by 
 the same artist, was bought by Isabella for a 
 large sum and placed in the studio, where she had 
 collected " an infinite number of rare and precious 
 works of art." ^ 
 
 1 Vite, X. 70. 
 
 END OF VOL. 1 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson Sf Co. 
 Edinburgh 6^ London 
 

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