1493
On the 25th of January, at four o'clock on a winter's afternoon, Beatrice gave birth to a son in the Rocchetta of the castle of Milan.
"Signor Lodovico's joy at the birth of his first-born son is beyond all description," wrote Giacomo Trotti to his master, Duke Ercole. Duchess Leonora was present on the occasion, and herself announced the happy event in a letter to her daughter Isabella, who promptly sent a special envoy with her congratulations to the Duke of Bari and her sister. A fortnight before, Leonora had set out for Pavia, where Trotti had been sent to meet her, and crowds shouting Moro! Moro! had everywhere hailed her arrival. Three days later, she reached Milan in time to make the last preparations before the birth of her grandson. The child, a fine healthy boy, received the name of Ercole, in compliment to his grandfather, the Duke of Ferrara, but was afterwards called Maximilian, when the emperor became his godfather after his marriage to Bianca Sforza. The auspicious event was hailed with public rejoicings. The bells rang for six days, and solemn processions were held, and thanksgivings offered up in all the churches and abbeys of the Milanese. Prisoners for debt were released, and the advent of the new-born prince was celebrated with as great honour as if his father had been the reigning duke. Already some of the courtiers attached to Giangaleazzo's household began to whisper that the birth of Francesco, the little Count of Pavia, two years before, had been celebrated with far less pomp. But in the same week Duchess Isabella, who was residing in the Corte ducale of the Castello, gave birth to a daughter, who received the name of Bona, so that, as Lodovico informed the foreign ambassadors, there was double cause for rejoicings.
Full and elaborate details of the ceremonies observed on this occasion, and of the splendid fêtes that attended the recovery of the two duchesses, were sent to Isabella d'Este at Mantua by her mother's maid of honour, Teodora degli Angeli. Every particular of the decorations in the rooms of the Castello, the colour of the hangings and the draperies of the cradle, the gowns worn by the different princesses at their successive appearances in public, was faithfully reported for Isabella's benefit. On the eve of the young prince's birth, the sumptuous cradle and layette prepared for his reception were shown to the Ambassadors, chief magistrates, and nobles of Milan, and displayed on tables covered with gold and crimson brocade, lined with Spanish cat, in the Sala del Tesoro, adjoining Beatrice's rooms. All through the next fortnight costly gifts for the young duchess and her new-born babe were received from the magistrates of Milan and the chief towns of the duchy, and principal courtiers. On Sunday, the 4th of February, the ambassadors, councillors, magistrates and court officials, together with many noble Milanese ladies, were invited to present their congratulations to Beatrice, and that evening the gifts presented to her were publicly displayed in the Sala del Tesoro. The doors of the shelves along the walls were thrown open, and the splendid gold and silver plate, the massive jars, bowls, vases, and dishes, which they contained, were ranged in tiers on a stand, protected by iron bars and guarded by two men-at-arms wearing ducal liveries. The seneschal of Lodovico's household, Ambrogio da Corte, received the guests at the doors of the Rocchetta, paying each of them the honours due to his rank, and conducted them to the Sala del Tesoro. There they were received by stewards clad in silver brocade, who led them through a suite of rooms adorned with gilded columns and hung with white damask curtains richly embroidered with equestrian figures and other Sforzesque devices, into the presence of the duchess. This chamber was still more richly decorated than the others. "Indeed, it is calculated," writes the admiring maid of honour, "that the tapestries and hangings here are worth 70,000 ducats." Two pages guarded the doors, and within, near the fireplace, Duchess Leonora sat at her daughter's bedside, accompanied by two or three ladies. Beatrice's own couch was gorgeously adorned with draperies of mulberry colour and gold, and a crimson canopy bearing the names of Lodovico and Beatrice in massive gold, with red and white rosettes and a fringe of golden balls which alone was valued at 8000 ducats.
"All," exclaimed Teodora—"bello e galante, beyond words!"[32]
After paying their respects to the illustrious mother, the guests passed on into the room of the new-born child—la camera del Puttino. Here the walls were hung with brocades of the Sforza colours, red, white, and blue, and tapestries, embroidered with all manner of beasts and birds and fantastic designs. But the golden cradle itself, which had been made in Milan, was the most beautiful thing of all, with its four slender columns and pale blue silk canopy enriched with gold cords and fringes. "Truly rich and elegant beyond anything that I have ever seen!" writes the ecstatic maid of honour, whose eyes were fairly dazzled by the sight of all these splendours, and who, as she told Isabella, was lost in wonder and admiration at the magnificence of the Milanese court. After a glimpse of the royal infant, sleeping under his coverlid of cloth of gold, watched over by Beatrice's ladies, the visitors were conducted into Signor Lodovico's hall of audience, where he received the ambassadors and chief councillors, and through the adjoining room, occupied by his favourite astrologer, Messer Ambrogio da Rosate—"without whom nothing can be done here," remarks Teodora—back to the entrance hall, where the seneschal was in waiting to escort them to the gates.
Messer Ambrogio, as Teodora opined, had to be consulted before the duchess was allowed to leave her bed. This was on Wednesday, the 24th of February, on which day both the royal ladies issued from their rooms at the same hour. "Now at length," wrote the lively maid of honour to Isabella, "I am able to inform your Highness that the illustrious Madonna your sister has left her room, and those poor tormented souls whose task it has been for so many nights to bring in shawls to spread over the presents, are at last freed from their labours."
That same day, both the young duchesses went in state to S. Maria delle Grazie, to return thanks and praise to God for the birth of their children. The royal ladies rode in the Duchess of Ferrara's chariot, a sumptuous carriage hung with purple, and were accompanied by Leonora herself and five other Sforza princesses—Alfonso d'Este's wife, Anna; Duke Giangaleazzo's sister, Bianca Sforza; Signor Lodovico's daughter, Bianca, the youthful bride of Galeazzo Sanseverino; Madonna Beatrice—Niccolo da Correggio's mother—and Madonna Camilla Sforza of Pesaro. The toilettes worn on this occasion were exceptionally rich, as Teodora relates. "Our Madonna, Duchess Leonora, wore black, as usual, but was very gallantly adorned with her finest jewels. The Duchess of Bari had a lovely vest of gold brocade worked in red and blue silk, and a blue silk mantle trimmed with long-haired fur, and her hair coiled as usual in a silken net. Duchess Isabella wore gold brocade and green velvet enriched with crimson cords and silver thread, and a mantle of crimson velvet lined with grey silk. Both ladies were covered with jewels. Madonna Anna's camora was of cloth-of-gold with crimson sleeves, lined with fur and edged with gold fringe. One fine invention which I noticed was a new trimming made of grey lamb's wool, but there was no end to the variety of colours and fringes or to the beauty of the jewels."
After hearing a solemn Te Deum and other canticles very beautifully sung by the choir of the ducal chapel, the whole party drove to the house of Count Della Torre, who entertained the dukes and duchesses, ambassadors and councillors, and all the chief gentlemen and ladies of the court at a splendid banquet. On the following day the duchesses and princesses were entertained at a feast given by Niccolo's mother, Madonna Beatrice, in her rooms in the Castello, and appeared in fresh costumes and still more splendid jewels. On Friday no fête was given, but most of the youthful princes and princesses went out hunting in the park, and three stags were killed in the course of the day. Beatrice appeared in a riding-habit of rose-tinted cloth, and a large jewel instead of a feather in her silk hat, and rode on a black horse. Madonna Anna wore black and gold, with a pearl-embroidered crimson hat, and her sister Bianca also appeared on horseback, while Duchess Leonora spent the day with old Duchess Bona in her rooms.
On Saturday a fête was given at the house of Gaspare di Pusterla. Beatrice looked particularly charming with a feather of rubies in her hair, and a crimson satin robe embroidered with a pattern of knots and compasses and many ribbons, "after her favourite fashion," adds Teodora. It is these very ribbons that we still see to-day, both in the few portraits that we have of the short-lived duchess, and in the marble effigy upon her tomb. Isabella of Aragon appeared on this occasion, in a gown embroidered with books and letters, a favourite device of Renaissance ladies; while Anna Sforza was all in white, "because it was Saturday," explained Teodora, and she had vowed to wear no colours on that day for a certain number of weeks. This was a common practice with many Italian princesses who had lately recovered from illness or given birth to a child, and one to which we find frequent allusion in the correspondence of Isabella d'Este. On Saturday all the court attended high mass at S. Maria delle Grazie, and a last entertainment was given, this time by Duchess Beatrice herself, in the Rocchetta.
The next day, Lodovico took his wife and mother-in-law, with the Duchess of Milan and their other guests, to Vigevano, to enjoy a little rest and country air. But here fresh amusements awaited them, and the splendour of Beatrice's wardrobe and the treasures of her camerini filled the Ferrarese visitors with wonder and envy. On the 6th of March, Bernardo Prosperi wrote to tell Isabella that our Madonna had been conducted by the jester Mariolo over Beatrice's "guardaroba," and had seen all the splendid gowns, pelisses, and mantles which had been made for her during the last two years, about eighty-four in all, "besides many more," adds the writer, "which your sister the duchess has in Milan." The costliness of the materials, and the rich and intricate embroidery which covered satins and brocades, made Leonora exclaim that she felt as if she were in a sacristy looking at priests' vestments and altar frontals. After examining all of these fine clothes, the duchess was taken into two other camerini, where Beatrice, after the fashion of great ladies in those days, had collected her favourite books and object d'art. One cabinet was full of Murano glass of delicate shape and colour, of porcelain dishes, and majolica from Faenza or Gubbio. Another held ivories, crystals, and enamels engraved in the same style as Lodovico's vases in the treasury at Milan. Perfumes and washes filled another case, while a separate cabinet was devoted to hunting implements, dog-collars, pouches, flasks, horns, knives, and hoods for falcons. "There was, indeed," added Duchess Leonora's attendant, "enough to fill many shops."
The evenings at Vigevano were enlivened with music and singing, and, by Lodovico's orders, a band of Spanish musicians who had been sent from Rome to Milan by his brother, Cardinal Ascanio, came to play before Beatrice and her mother, who both admired the sweet strains of their large viols, and examined the shape and size of their instruments with curiosity. On Sunday theatrical representations were given, and Beatrice appeared in a wonderful new gown made of gold-striped cloth, with a crimson vest laced with fine silver thread "arranged," wrote an admiring lady-in-waiting, "in the most graceful fashion. This your sister wore," she adds, "because it was Carnival Sunday; but even now, although Lent has begun for most of us, Carnival is not yet over for these highnesses, since Signor Lodovico and his duchess, Messer Galeazzo, the Duke and Duchess of Milan, and many of their courtiers, have received dispensations from Rome to eat meat all the same."[33]
Meanwhile Beatrice's little son was growing into a strong healthy child, and her letters are full of the beauty and perfections of her precious babe. Again and again, in her notes to Isabella, she talks of "my son Ercole," with all a young mother's proud delight.
"I cannot tell you," she writes to her sister, "how well Ercole is looking, and how big and plump he has grown lately. Each time I see him after a few days' absence, I am amazed and delighted to see how much he has grown and improved, and I often wish that you could be here to see him, as I am quite sure you would never be able to stop petting and kissing him."
Isabella, on her part, wrote warmly to her sister in return, saying how much she longed to see her beautiful boy—"il suo bello puttino" and "not only to see him, but to hold him in my arms and enjoy his company after my own fashion."
Duchess Leonora returned to Ferrara at the end of another week, and one of Beatrice's first anxieties was to have a portrait of her child painted for her mother. On the 16th of April, she wrote from her favourite country house Villa Nova, where she had brought the babe to enjoy the sweet spring air—
Most illustrious Madama mine, and dearest Mother,
"Your Highness must forgive my delay in writing to you. The reason was that every day I have been hoping the painter would bring me the portrait of Ercole, which my husband and I now send you by this post. And, I can assure you, he is much bigger than this picture makes him appear, for it is already more than a week since it was painted. But I do not send the measure of his height, because people here tell me if I measure him he will never grow! Or else I certainly would let you have it. And my lord and I, both of us, commend ourselves to your Highness, and I kiss your hand, my dearest mother.
"Your obedient servant and child,
Beatrice Sfortia da Este,
with my own hand.[34]
To the most illustrious Lady my dearest Mother,
Signora Duchessa di Ferrara."
The baby's portrait was forwarded to Mantua for Isabella's inspection, together with a letter from her mother, saying—
"I enclose a drawing which has been sent to us from Milan, to show how well our grandson thrives, and certainly, if we have been already told how flourishing he is, this gives us a living witness to his beauty and well-being. And if you ask me whether the portrait is a good one, I need only tell you who has sent it and who is the master who has done this drawing, and then I am sure you will be satisfied."
Leonora's words excite our wonder as to who the artist could be whose name of itself would be enough to satisfy Isabella of the excellence of the work. As Signor Luzio has already remarked,[35] it is impossible to read these words without thinking that Leonardo must have been the artist employed by Lodovico on this occasion to take a sketch of his infant son. But the drawing of Ercole has vanished, and the painter's name remains unknown.
Another name which recurs frequently in Beatrice's letters to both her mother and sister at this time, is that of a Spanish embroiderer, named Maestro Jorba, noted for his rare skill, who was in the service of the Duchess of Ferrara, and was left by her at Vigevano in April, to design hangings and gowns for Lodovico's wife. On the 14th of March, Jorba was sent back to Ferrara with a letter from Beatrice to her mother, expressing her satisfaction with his work; and in April, Leonora sent her a new design for a camora which the clever Spaniard had invented.
"I have to-night," wrote Beatrice in reply, "received the design of the camora made by Jorba, which I admire very much, and have just shown it to my embroiderer, as your Highness advised. He remarks that the flowers of the pattern are all the same size, and since the camora will naturally be cut narrower above than below, the flowers ought to be altered in the same proportion. I have not yet decided what will be the best thing to do, but thought I would tell you what Schavezi says, and wait to hear what you advise, and then do whatever you think best."
Later in the same year, we find Maestro Jorba once more at Milan, working for Duchess Beatrice, much to the annoyance of her sister Isabella, who was anxious to secure the services of the skilful embroiderer, and offered him a salary of two hundred ducats a year if he would settle at Mantua. Jorba, however, seems to have preferred to remain at Ferrara, and only paid occasional visits to the princesses of Este at Milan and Mantua.
Throughout April, all the tailors and embroiderers, goldsmiths and jewellers, in Beatrice's service were busy making preparations for a visit which their mistress was shortly to pay to her old home. Before Leonora left Vigevano the Moro had promised to bring his wife and child to Ferrara in May, and had decided to send Beatrice to Venice, with her mother Duchess Leonora, who was going to spend a few days with her son Alfonso and his wife, at the palace of the Estes on the Canal Grande. He had further intimated his intention of paying a visit to his sister-in-law at Mantua on the way. Isabella, who had just accepted an invitation from the Doge, Agostino Barbarigo, to visit Venice for the Feast of the Ascension, was somewhat dismayed when the news reached her, and looked forward with no little alarm to the prospect of entertaining her splendid brother-in-law. She wrote off without delay to consult her husband on the subject—
"Madama sends me word that Signor Lodovico has decided to visit Ferrara in May, and gives me the list of the company who are to attend him, which I enclose for you to see. For my part I can hardly believe it, but shall be sorry if I am at Venice when such fêtes are being held at Ferrara. Your Highness must decide what you think is best for the honour of our house, since when I was at Milan Signor Lodovico told me that if he came to Ferrara he would visit Mantua on the way. No doubt you will do what seems to be most prudent, and will let me know your wishes. But perhaps I may be mistaken.[36]
"Mantua, 9th of April, 1493."
Isabella was still more disturbed when she heard that Lodovico intended to send his wife to Venice. Her pride shrank from the bare notion of appearing before the Doge and Senate at the same time as her sister, whose sumptuous apparel and numerous suite she felt herself unable to rival. "Nothing in the world," she wrote to Gianfrancesco, who was then at Venice as captain-general of the Republic's forces, "will induce me to go to Venice at the same time as my sister the duchess."
And she insisted on her desire to appear before the Doge, not as a guest and foreign visitor, but as a daughter and servant, begging that she might be treated without any pomp or ceremony.
Fortunately, whether from political motives, or from his usual attention to his astrologer's advice, Lodovico deferred his visit to Ferrara until the middle of May, and himself wrote a courteous letter to Isabella, expressing his regret that he would after all be unable to accept her invitation to Mantua, since he found himself obliged to visit Parma. The marchioness, thus happily relieved from her fears, set off for Ferrara on the 4th of May, and proceeded to Venice a week later, having doubled the number of her retinue, and strained every nerve to present an appearance which should not offer too marked a contrast with Beatrice's regal splendours.
FOOTNOTES:
[32] L. Porrò in A. S. L., ix. 327.
[33] Porrò, op. cit., p. 330.
[34] A. Venturi in A. S. L., xii. 227.
[35] Archivio Storico Lombardo, xvii. 368.
[36] Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 365.
CHAPTER XV
Lodovico's ambitious designs—Isabella of Aragon appeals to her father—Breach between Naples and Milan—Alliance between the Pope, Venice, and Milan proclaimed—Mission of Erasmo Brasca to the king of the Romans—Journey of Lodovico and Beatrice to Ferrara—Fêtes and tournaments—Visit to Belriguardo, and return of Lodovico to Milan—Arrival of Belgiojoso from France.