Return of Beatrice to Milan--Visit of Duke Ercole and Alfonso to Pavia
--Death of Duchess Leonora--Beatrice's _camora_ and Niccolo da
Correggio's _fantasia dei vinci_--Marriage of Bianca Maria Sforza to
Maximilian, King of the Romans, celebrated at Milan--Letter of Beatrice
to Isabella d'Este--Wedding _fêtes_ and journey of the bride to
Innsbrück--Maximilian's relations with his wife--Bianca's future life.
1493
On the 2nd of June, Beatrice and her mother left Venice and returned to
Ferrara, where she once more embraced her infant son and enjoyed a few
days' rest after all her _fêtes_ and journeyings. The 7th of June was
spent at Belriguardo, and from this favourite villa the young duchess
wrote to her sister, expressing her regret that she would be unable to
visit Mantua on her return to Milan.
"I would most willingly come to see you at Mantua, as I had hoped to do,
and as you know I still desire, and should very much enjoy a few days
with you in the country, but my husband is exceedingly anxious for my
return. So I must beg your Highness to let me enjoy a sight of you in
the bucentaur, and not to insist upon my landing this time."
Isabella complied with her sister's request, and went to meet the
duchess at Revere, where Beatrice stopped for a few hours on her way up
the Po, to join her husband at Pavia. Lodovico was naturally impatient,
not only to see his wife again, but to hear from her own lips all that
had happened at Venice. And he on his part had much to tell her of the
news which Belgiojoso had brought from France, and of the despatches
which he received from Erasmo Brasca in Germany.
The summer months were spent in the Castello of Pavia, where Beatrice
nursed her husband in a slight attack of fever, and afterwards received
a visit from her father and brother. They arrived on the 25th of August,
bringing with them a troop of actors to perform the _Menæchmi_ and some
of the other comedies which had pleased Lodovico so much at Ferrara.
Duke Ercole himself, as usual, took keen interest in these theatricals,
and before he left home sent to borrow two complete Turkish costumes and
turbans from the Marquis of Mantua, in order to supply deficiencies in
his actors' wardrobe. Three days after his arrival, Borso da Correggio,
a young nephew of Niccolo, who had travelled to Pavia with the duke,
sent the following note to give his cousin Isabella the latest news of
her family:--
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SISTER AND HONOURED LADY,
"We arrived on the 25th at Pavia, and were received by these excellent
lords and ladies with the usual formalities. We find both of the
duchesses well and happy, one of them, indeed--her of Milan--expects the
birth of another child shortly, but our own duchess is as gay and joyous
as ever. On the 27th the comedy of _The Captives_ was acted, and the
performance went off very well. To-day _The Merchant_ is to be given,
and will, I hope, prove equally successful. To-morrow we are to have a
third. Our way of living is as follows. Early in the morning we go out
riding. After dinner we play at _scartino_, or else at 'raising dead
men' and '_l'imperiale_,' and other card games, till it is bed-time. The
players are, as a rule, the Duke and Duchess of Bari together, Ambrogio
da Corte, and some third man, whoever may happen to be present. To-day
your father the duke, Don Alfonso, and Messer Galeaz Visconti are
playing at pall-mall against Messer Galeaz Sanseverino, Signor Girolamo
Tuttavilla, and myself. The Duchess of Milan does not join us in these
games, and only appears at the theatricals. The Duke of Bari is more
devoted to the duchess than ever, and is constantly caressing and
embracing her. My lord your father is altogether intent on the comedies.
When they are ended, hunting-parties will begin, and we shall all be
ready for the quails."
These amusements were unexpectedly interrupted by the news of Duchess
Leonora's serious illness, a gastric affection which ended fatally on
the 11th of October. The death of this virtuous and admirable lady was
deeply lamented both by the members of her immediate family circle and
by the subjects to whom she had endeared herself by her goodness of
heart. Funeral orations in her honour were delivered both at Mantua and
Milan, and Ariosto pronounced a panegyric in verse over her grave. The
young Duchess Beatrice, who had been with her mother at Venice so
lately, wept bitter tears, and for several weeks could scarcely be
persuaded to leave her room. Some anxiety was felt respecting her sister
Isabella, who, after being married for three years, was now expecting
the birth of her first child, and during ten days the news was concealed
from her. But by the end of that time the Marchesa began to be uneasy,
and to inquire why she received no letter from Ferrara. Soon the sad
news reached her from Milan, "whether out of mere imprudence or by some
malicious design, we cannot discover," wrote one of her ladies to the
absent marquis. Isabella, however, showed her usual prudence and
self-control. After the first burst of grief, she bore her loss with
fortitude, and found distraction in putting herself, her rooms, and her
household into mourning. In her anxiety to appear elegant, even in her
grief, we find her asking Beatrice to send her some of the white lawn
veils that were made in Milan, since she could find none to her taste in
Mantua. And at the same time, she begged one of her friends at the
Milanese court to give her minute details as to the colour and material
of the mourning worn by the duchess. On the 25th of October, her
correspondent replied--
"Although I have not yet been able to see the Duchess of Bari, since she
still remains entirely in her room, yet, in order to satisfy your
Highness, I have made inquiries as to the kind of mourning that she
wears. Her Excellency is clad in a robe of black cloth, with sleeves of
the same, and a very long mantle, also of black cloth, and wears on her
head a black silk cap with muslin folds, which are neither grey nor
yellow, but pure white. She hardly ever leaves her room, and Signor
Lodovico spends most of his time with her, and they two and Messer
Galeaz have their meals alone in their rooms."[45]
A fortnight later, Beatrice roused herself from her grief to help her
husband in the preparations for his niece Bianca Sforza's wedding to the
Emperor Maximilian. The death of the old Emperor Frederic III., who
breathed his last at Linz on the 19th of August, and the elevation of
his son to the imperial throne, had hastened the development of
Lodovico's plans. The King of the Romans, as he was still called, until
he could be solemnly invested with the imperial insignia, now proposed
to send ambassadors to Milan, before the end of the year, to solemnize
his espousals with the Princess Bianca and bring his bride across the
Alps to Innsbrück. The date of the wedding was fixed for the last week
in November, and Lodovico prepared to celebrate the event with fitting
splendour. The widowed Duchess Bona was transported with joy at the
prospect of this exalted alliance, and forgave the Moro all his sins in
her delight at seeing her daughter become an empress. On her part,
Beatrice prepared to lay aside her mourning for the occasion, and appear
in a new and wonderful robe at her niece's wedding.
Accordingly she wrote to Isabella on the 12th of November, asking her
sister's leave to make use of a design for a new _camora_, which had
been suggested by Niccolo da Correggio.
"I cannot remember if your Highness has yet carried out the idea of that
pattern of linked tracery which Messer Niccolo da Correggio suggested to
you when we were last together. If you have not yet ordered the
execution of this design, I am thinking of having his invention carried
out in massive gold, on a _camora_ of purple velvet, to wear on the day
of Madonna Bianca's wedding, since my husband desires the whole court to
lay aside mourning for that one day and to appear in colours. This being
the case, I cannot refrain from wearing colours on this occasion,
although the heavy loss we have had in our dear mother's death has left
me with little care for new inventions. But since this is necessary, I
have decided to make a trial of this pattern, if your Highness has not
yet made use of it, and send the present courier, begging you not to
detain him, but to let me know at once if you have yet tried this new
design or not."[46]
The courier to Mantua brought back word that the marchioness had not yet
made use of Niccolo's invention, and begged that her sister would feel
herself at liberty to adopt the idea and "satisfy her appetite."
Beatrice ordered the _camora_ to be put in hand without delay, and
Messer Niccolo had the satisfaction of seeing the duchess appear in this
robe at the imperial wedding. The subject is of special interest,
because this same pattern is repeated in the sleeves of Ambrogio de
Predis' portrait of Lodovico's fair young daughter Bianca, which must
have been painted about this time, and was probably adopted at the wish
of Beatrice, who was fondly attached to her youthful step-daughter.
Again, this same linked tracery or "_fantasia dei vinci_," as it is
called in Beatrice and her sister's letters, is to be seen both in the
decorations that adorn the ceiling of a hall in the Castello of Milan,
and on the vaulting of the sacristy in St. Maria delle Grazie. And as
Mr. Müntz[47] has lately pointed out, this same interlaced ornament, or
_vinci_, in which the Belgian professor, M. Errera, sees a play upon the
great painter's name, forms the motive of the famous circular engravings
bearing the words "_Academia Leonardi Vinci_," which have given rise to
so many conjectures as to the existence of that mysterious institution.
All these repetitions of the pattern invented by Niccolo da Correggio,
and adopted by Beatrice d'Este for her wedding robe, show how
fashionable the _fantasia dei vinci_ became at the Milanese court, and
lead us to imagine that Leonardo himself may have had some part in the
original design.
On the 5th of November, Lodovico wrote a note to Vigevano, where he and
Beatrice had retired after Duchess Leonora's death, informing his
father-in-law that he was on the point of returning to Milan to receive
the imperial ambassadors, Gaspar Melchior, Bishop of Brixen, and Jean
Bontemps. These important personages arrived on the 7th, and were met by
Lodovico and his nephew, the Duke of Milan, at the Porta Orientale,
opposite the newly erected Lazzaretto, and conducted in state to their
rooms in the Castello. Here the German envoys were loaded with gifts,
and magnificently entertained during the next three weeks. The nuptial
ceremony was put off a week, to allow time for the arrival of the
special envoys whom at the last moment Charles VIII. had decided to
send, to do homage to his allies, and finally took place on St.
Andrew's festival, the 30th of November, in the Duomo of Milan.
The street decorations on this occasion surpassed anything which had
been seen before; the doors and windows were wreathed with ivy, laurel,
and myrtle boughs, and the walls hung with tapestries and brocades
embroidered with the armorial bearings of the different royal houses
connected with the Sforza family. The adder of the Visconti, the cross
of Savoy, and the imperial eagle were seen side by side with the
mulberry-tree and other favourite devices of the Moro and his race,
while all manner of strange and fantastic emblems were introduced by
private owners, and one house exhibited the effigy of a crocodile, "a
creature never before seen," remarks the historian, Tristan Calco, "in
our city." But the most striking feature of the whole was the triumphal
arch erected on the piazza in front of the Castello, and, by Lodovico's
orders, crowned with Leonardo's model for the colossal equestrian statue
of the great captain, Francesco Sforza. This clay horse, to which the
Florentine master had devoted so many years of arduous labour, and which
had cost him such infinite thought and care, was now at length
completed, and the Milanese poets with one voice celebrated the praise
of Lodovico, who had ordered the work,--
"Per memoria del padre un gran colosso;"
and the fame of Leonardo, whose rare genius had produced this unrivalled
statue--
"Guarde pur come è bello quel cavallo
Leonardo Vinci a farli sol s'è mosso
Statura bon pictore, e bon geometra
Un tanto ingegno rar dal ciel s'impetra."
So Baldassare Taccone sang in his poem on Bianca's wedding, while a
greater scholar, Lancinus Curtius, recorded the completion of the
long-expected work in the following epigram:--
"Expectant animi, molemque futuram
Suspiciunt; fluat æs; vox erit: Ecce deus!"
The court poet Taccone waxes eloquent over the splendour of the
procession, led by Messer Galeazzo, captain-general of the armies, and
the beauty of the bride, whose tall and slender figure showed to
advantage in her gorgeous apparel, with her long fair hair flowing over
her shoulders, as she rode through the streets bowing in response to the
enthusiastic cheers of the crowd. He paints the marvellous scene inside
the Duomo, where the venerable Archbishop of Milan sang mass in the
presence of the most brilliant assembly ever seen within its walls, and
the firing of guns and ringing of bells marked the moment when the
Bishop of Brixen placed the imperial crown on the bride's head. Taccone
describes the glittering array of chandeliers and vases, designed after
Signor Lodovico's favourite antique fashion, which adorned the high
altar, the blaze of a thousand wax lights which illumined the majestic
choir, the sweet perfumes of incense and celestial harmonies of the
music that filled the air. And, like a true courtier, he contrives to
make everything, decorations, music, and processions, redound to the
praise of the great Moro, the author of all the glories of Milan.
But we have an equally minute and perhaps more interesting description
of the scene from Beatrice's own pen, in a letter which she sent to her
sister Isabella from Vigevano on the 29th of December. The marchioness,
whose state of health prevented her from being present on the important
occasion, had begged her sister to send her full accounts of the
ceremony, but, owing to the _fêtes_ which followed the wedding and the
journey of the court as far as Como with the imperial bride, a whole
month elapsed before Beatrice was able to fulfil her promise.
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND DEAREST SISTER,
"I told you some time ago that I would let you have a full account of
the triumphant display held in Milan, at the marriage of her Most Serene
Highness the Queen of the Romans, and I certainly desired the chancellor
to send you this account. But since you write that it has never reached
you, the fault must rest with the said chancellor, and you must excuse
me for this apparent neglect.
"On the last day of the past month the nuptials took place, and in
preparation for this solemnity, a portico was erected in front of the
Chiesa Maggiore of the city of Milan, with pillars on either side,
supporting a purple canopy, embroidered with doves. Within the church,
the aisles were hung with brocade as far as the choir, in front of which
a triumphal arch had been erected on massive pillars. This was entirely
painted, and bore in the centre an effigy of Duke Francesco on
horseback, in his ducal robes, with the ducal arms and those of the King
of the Romans above. This triumphal arch was square in shape, and
ornamented with pictures of antique feasts, and the imperial insignia
and the arms of my husband were placed on the side towards the high
altar. Beyond this arch were steps that led up to a great tribunal
erected in front of the high altar. On the left was a small tribunal
from which the Gospel was sung, hung with gold brocade; on the right was
another, adorned with silver brocade; and behind these tribunals were
seats ranged in order and covered with draperies, for the councillors
and other feudatories and gentlemen. In the extreme corners of the choir
were two raised stages, one for the singers, the other for the
trumpeters, and in the space between were seated the doctors of law and
medicine, with their birettas and capes lined with fur, each according
to his rank. The altar itself was sumptuously adorned with all the
silver vases and images of saints which you saw in the Rocchetta when
you were at Milan.
"The street leading to the Duomo was beautifully decorated. There were
columns wreathed with ivy all the way from the bastions of the Castello
to the end of the piazza, and between the columns were festoons of
boughs bearing antique devices, and round shields with the imperial arms
and those of our house, and Sforzesca draperies were hung above the
street all the way from the Castello to the Duomo. Many of the doors had
their pillars wreathed with ivy and green boughs, so that the season
seemed to be May-time rather than November. On both sides of the street,
the walls were hung with satin, excepting those houses which have lately
been adorned with frescoes, and which are no less beautiful than
tapestries.
"On the morning of the day, at about nine o'clock, the reverend and
magnificent ambassadors of the King of the Romans rode to the church,
honourably attended by the Marchese Ermes, the Count of Caiazzo, Count
Francesco Sforza, the Count of Melzo, and Messer Lodovico da Fojano, and
took their seats on the grand tribunal, close to the small tribunal
covered with cloth of gold, on the left as you go in, this being counted
the most honourable place, as it is the Gospel side. At ten o'clock, her
serene Highness the Queen ascended the triumphal car which our dearest
mother of blessed memory gave me when I was at Ferrara, and which was
drawn on this occasion by four snow-white horses. The queen wore a vest
of crimson satin, embroidered in gold thread and covered with jewels.
Her train was immensely long, and the sleeves were made to look like two
wings, which had a very fine appearance. On her head she wore an
ornament of magnificent diamonds and pearls. And to add to the solemnity
of the occasion, Messer Galeazzo Pallavicino carried the train, and
Count Conrado de' Lando and Count Manfredo Torniello each of them
supported one of the sleeves. Before the bride walked all the
chamberlains, courtiers, officials, gentlemen, feudatories, and last of
all the councillors. The queen seated herself in the centre of the car,
the Duchess Isabella being on her right, and myself on her left. The
said duchess wore a _camora_ of crimson satin, with gold cords looped
over it, as in my grey cloth _camora_, which you must remember; and I
wore my purple velvet _camora_, with the pattern of the links worked in
massive gold and green and white enamel, about six inches deep on the
front and back of my bodice, and on both sleeves. The _camora_ was lined
with cloth of gold, and with it I wore a girdle of St. Francis made of
large pearls, with a beautiful clear-cut ruby for clasp. On the other
side of the chariot were Madonna Fiordelisa"--an illegitimate daughter
of Duke Francesco Sforza, who occupied rooms in the Castello,--"Madonna
Bianca, the wife of Messer Galeazzo; and the wife of Count Francesco
Sforza. The chariot was followed by the ambassadors who have been sent
by his Most Christian Majesty of France to honour these nuptials, and
after them came the envoys of the different Italian powers, according to
their rank, then the lord duke and my husband on horseback. These were
followed by about twelve chariots containing the noblest maidens of
Milan, who had been especially chosen and invited to attend the
solemnity, and the ladies of the queen, all wearing the same livery,
with tan-coloured _camoras_ and mantles of bright green satin. Both the
Duchess Isabella's ladies and mine were riding in these chariots. And as
we drove to the Duomo in this procession, all the shops and windows on
the road were hung with satin draperies and filled with men and women,
and it was impossible to count the crowds of people who thronged every
part of the streets.
"When we reached the gates of the Duomo, we alighted from the chariots
and found Madonna Beatrice waiting to receive the bride, with a number
of noble ladies, and we proceeded as far as the steps of the tribunal,
where the ambassadors of the King of the Romans advanced to meet the
queen, whom they conducted to her place on the great tribunal in front
of the high altar. Then we all took our proper places--that is to say,
the ambassadors mounted the tribunal covered with cloth of gold, the
queen was led to the tribunal of silver brocade, between the French
ambassadors, while behind them were seated the envoys of the other
powers, the duke and my husband, Duchess Isabella and myself. The other
honourable relatives of the bride occupied a lower range of seats, and
the central part of the tribunal was filled with a large number of
ladies. On the queen's side, the councillors, feudatories, and other
courtiers, officials, and chamberlains occupied the remainder of the
seats. As for the rest of the people, the church, which is a very large
one, could not contain them all.
"When we were all in our places, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Milan
entered in full vestments, with the priests in ordinary, and began to
celebrate mass with the greatest pomp and solemnity, to the sound of
trumpets, flutes, and organ-music, together with the voices of the
chapel choir, who adapted their singing to Monsignore's time. At the
singing of the Gospel, two of the priests in ordinary of the cathedral
bore the incense, the one to the ambassadors of the King Maximilian, and
the other to the queen, the duke and duchess, and my husband and myself,
who were opposite. The Pax was given, when the right time came, by the
Bishop of Piacenza to the king's representatives, and to us others who
sat on the other tribunal by the Bishop of Como. After mass had been
celebrated with the greatest solemnity, the queen rose from her place
between the ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty, and, accompanied
by the duke and my husband, Duchess Isabella and myself, and followed by
all the princes of the blood, advanced to the altar. The ambassadors of
King Maximilian advanced on their side, and we all stood before the
altar, where Monsignore the Archbishop pronounced the marriage service,
and the Bishop of Brixen first gave the ring to the queen, and then,
assisted by the archbishop, placed on her head the crown, which act was
accompanied with great blowing of trumpets, ringing of bells, and firing
of guns and shells. And the said crown was of gold, enriched with
rubies, pearls, and diamonds, set in the form of arches meeting in the
shape of a cross, and on the top of all was a figure of the globe,
crowned with a small imperial cross, after the pattern given by the
ambassadors, in obedience to the king's directions.
"After this, every one walked in procession to the gates of the Duomo,
the above-named feudatories bearing the train and sleeves. Then the
women, as well as the men, mounted horses, and a _baldacchino_ of white
damask lined with ermine was prepared, under which the queen rode,
preceded by the ambassadors and the whole court, with the duke and my
husband at their head. Next to the queen rode the ambassadors of her
husband the king, the Bishop of Brixen being on the left hand, outside
the _baldacchino_, and so the long procession moved towards the
Castello. All the clergy of the city of Milan, richly apparelled and
very devout in appearance, were drawn up between the Castello and Duomo,
both on the way thither and on the return journey. Messer Zoan Francesco
Pallavicino and Messer Francesco Bernardo Visconti acted as the queen's
staff-bearers, from the Duomo to the Castello. The _baldacchino_ was
carried all the way by doctors robed in the manner described above, and
behind the queen rode the duchess and myself, followed by the relatives,
courtiers, and invited guests, all on horseback. Then came the ladies of
the queen, those of the duchess, and my own, all sumptuously clad and
making a splendid show, and finest of all was the queen, with the
imperial crown on her head. Nothing but gold and silver brocade was to
be seen, and the least well-dressed persons wore crimson velvet, so that
the costumes were a marvellous sight, besides the infinite number of
gold chains worn by knights and others. All those who were present
agreed that they had never seen so glorious a spectacle. And the
ambassador of Russia, who was among the spectators, declared that he had
never seen such extraordinary pomp. The nuncio of His Holiness the Pope
said the same, as well as the French ambassador, who declared that,
although he had been present at the Pope's coronation and at that of his
own king and queen, he had never seen as splendid a sight. Your Highness
may judge from this how full of pleasure and glory these nuptials have
been. All the people shouted for joy, and so at length we reached the
Castello of Milan, where the procession broke up and the crowd
dispersed. I wished for your presence many times during the whole
ceremony, but since this desire of mine could not be satisfied, I
thought I would give you this account with my own hand. Commending
myself to your Highness as ever,
"Your sister,
BEATRIX SFORTIA VICECOMES ESTENSIS DUCHISA BRI.[48]
Vigevano, December 29, 1493.
To my illustrious lady and most dear sister the lady Isabella di
Gonzaga Estensis, Marchionissæ Mantuæ."
The splendours which Beatrice describes with so much enthusiasm did not
end with the bride's return to the Castello. Here Bianca's magnificent
trousseau was exhibited before the admiring eyes of the ladies of Milan.
It was valued at 100,000 ducats, and included not only rich clothes and
costly jewels, but gold and silver plate for use in the royal chapel and
on the dinner-table, altar fittings and bed-hangings, mirrors and
perfumes, and a vast store of fine linen, carpets, saddles and
horse-trappings of the most sumptuous description. The court poet goes
on to tell how Duchess Bona welcomed her daughter with tears of joy, and
how during the next two days high festival was held in the Castello.
There was a tournament, in which the "gran Sanseverini" once more proved
their valour, and Messer Galeaz as usual bore off the prize, followed
by much feasting and dancing, and a grand display of fireworks. "So many
torches and lights illumined the darkness of night, that all Milan
blazed as if the city were on fire."
On the third day after the marriage ceremony, the queen started on her
journey across the Alps, attended by Maximilian's ambassadors and a
numerous suite, which included her brother, Ermes Sforza; her cousin,
Francesco Sforza; the Archbishop of Milan; the poet Gaspare Visconti;
and the great jurist Giasone del Maino, as well as Erasmo Brasca, who
was to resume his post of envoy to the King of the Romans. The Duke and
Duchess of Milan, Lodovico and Beatrice, and Bona of Savoy all
accompanied Bianca as far as Como, where the bishop and clergy came out
to meet her, and conducted her in state to the cathedral. After a solemn
thanksgiving service, at which all the court assisted, the queen and the
German ambassadors spent the night in the episcopal palace, while the
other princes and princesses were entertained in the houses of
distinguished courtiers in the town. On the following morning the bride
took leave of her family, and embarked on a richly decorated barge
fitted out by the royal citizens of Torno and rowed by forty sailors,
while her suite followed in thirty smaller boats, painted and decked out
with laurel boughs and tapestries. Niccolo da Correggio, whose daughter
Leonora was one of the ladies chosen to accompany Bianca on her journey,
has described the beauty of the scene that morning, the blue waters of
the lake covered with glittering sails, the shores crowded with people
in holiday attire, and the joyous sounds of music that filled the air as
the gay _cortége_ left Como. The bridal party reached Bellagio in
safety, and after spending the night at the Marchesino Stanga's castle,
started on their journey towards the upper end of the lake. But hardly
had they left the shore, than the weather changed and a violent storm
scattered the fleet in all directions. The poor young queen and her
ladies wept and cried aloud to God for mercy, and their companions were
scarcely less terrified. Only Giasone del Maino preserved his composure
and smiled at the terror of the courtiers, who gave themselves up for
lost, while he exhorted the frightened boatmen to keep their heads.
Fortunately, towards nightfall the tempest subsided, and after tossing
on the waves for several hours, the queen's barge with part of the fleet
managed to put back into Bellagio. The next day a more prosperous start
was made, and on the 8th of December the party set off on horseback to
cross the mountain passes. But the hardships of the journey were not yet
over. A rough mule-track was the only road that led in those days over
the Alps that divided the Valtellina from the Tyrol, "that fearful and
cruel mountain of Nombray," as the Venetian chronicler calls the pass
now crossed by the Stelvio road. No wonder the sight of those
precipitous cliffs filled the Milanese ladies with terror, and they
shrank from exploring such barbarous regions in the depth of winter. One
maid of honour had to be left behind at Gravedona, unable to bear the
fatigues of the journey, and Bianca herself complained bitterly to
Erasmo Brasca of the hardships which she had to endure. "The queen,"
wrote the ambassador to Lodovico, "conducts herself well on the whole,
but often complains that I deceive her, by telling her, each morning
when she mounts her horse, that she will not find the road so rough
to-day, and then, as ill luck will have it, it turns out to be worse
than ever." At length, however, on the 23rd of December, the travellers
reached Innsbrück, and Bianca was kindly received by Maximilian's uncle,
the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, and his wife, with whom she spent
Christmas and beguiled the winter days with dancing and games, while
Erasmo Brasca went on to meet the King of the Romans at Vienna. Even
then some weeks passed before this laggard bridegroom joined his newly
wedded wife, and Erasmo Brasca's mind was sorely perturbed at his
prolonged delays and excuses. Bianca, however, whose childish mind was
easily distracted, found plenty of amusement in her new surroundings and
wrote long and affectionate letters to her uncle Lodovico, telling him
how she and the Archduchess Barbara had been dressing up their ladies _à
la Tedesca_ and _à la Lombarda_, and how the court painter, Ambrogio de
Predis, who had accompanied her from Milan to paint Maximilian's
portrait, had just made a picture of the archduchess, which greatly
pleased her. And she informs her uncle that the German princess had sent
to ask her for a portrait of Signor Lodovico, which she had been very
anxious to see and had studied with the greatest interest.
Finally, on the 9th of March, Maximilian arrived at the castle of Hall,
where his bride met him, and the marriage was at length consummated, "to
the confusion of all our enemies," as Brasca wrote triumphantly to his
master on the following morning. This union, in which Lodovico's friends
and foes alike acknowledged a master-stroke of successful diplomacy, was
not destined to prove a very happy one. From the first Maximilian looked
with critical eyes on this bride of twenty-one, who was thirteen years
younger than himself, and told Erasmo Brasca that Bianca was quite as
fair as his first wife, Mary of Burgundy, but inferior in wisdom and
good sense to that princess, adding that perhaps she might improve in
time. He treated her kindly to begin with, and gratified her by the
handsome robes which he gave her in order that she might appear attired
in German fashion at her coronation. Before long, however, he began to
find fault with her extravagant habits, and complained that she had
spent 2000 florins, presented to her by the city of Cologne, in one
single day. Brasca himself felt obliged to remonstrate with her on her
foolish tricks, especially for eating her meals on the floor instead of
at table, and other bad habits which annoyed the emperor, while the
violent friendship which she made with one of her ladies, Violante by
name, led to continual intrigues and quarrels. Maximilian soon began to
find her presence wearisome, and to leave her mostly to herself, and
when he found that his hopes of an heir did not seem likely to be
realized, he allowed the poor empress to lead a very dull and solitary
life. Left alone, as she often was for weeks, in the vast, gloomy castle
of Innsbrück, Bianca pined for the bright and sunny villas and palaces
of Milan, and looked back sadly on the gay years of her old life. She
was constantly writing affectionate letters to her uncle, asking him to
give places and pensions to her old friends and servants in Milan, and
begging him for portraits of himself and Beatrice, as well as for the
silks and feathers, the jewels and perfumes, with which her thoughts
were always busy.[49]
But, to do her justice, she proved a loyal friend to Lodovico in his
darkest days, and when his children lived in exile at Innsbrück, they
found a kind and loving protector in the empress during the few
remaining years of her life. From the year after her marriage her health
began to droop, and she became gradually weaker, until in 1510 she died
of this lingering illness, and was buried in the Franciscan church of
Innsbrück, where the bronze effigy of Maximilian's Lombard bride, robed
in the rich brocades which she loved so well, still adorns his sumptuous
mausoleum.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] Luzio-Renier. _op. cit._, pp. 380-382.
[46] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 383.
[47] "Leonardo da Vinci," by Eugène Müntz, vol. i. p. 226.
[48] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 388.
[49] F. Calvi, _Bianca Maria Sforza_