Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 14351) of the marble tomb sculptures, now in the Certosa di Pavia near Milan, by Cristoforo Solari, known as il Gobbo, (died 1540).

Note [301] page 153. Biagino Crivello was one of Duke Ludovico Sforza’s captains, and is mentioned (July 1500) in a list of Sforza adherents who had rebelled against Louis XII, and whose possessions were declared forfeit. The list speaks of him as keeping himself at Mantua and in Venetian territory, and as owning no attachable property in the Milanese. In April of the same year an ineffectual demand had been made upon the Marquess of Mantua for the surrender of Crivello and other chiefs of the Sforza party.

Note [302] page 153. The Duke, i.e., Ludovico Sforza, “Il Moro,” (born 1451; died 1508), was the fourth son of the Francesco Sforza whom Duke Federico of Urbino had helped to become Duke of Milan (and whose father, a peasant condottiere, Muzio Attendolo, became known as Sforza by reason of great personal strength),—and of Bianca Maria, a daughter of the last Visconti duke of Milan. Early noted for his physical and mental qualities, Ludovico read and wrote Latin fluently, had a tenacious memory, and was a ready speaker. He was tall and of strongly marked features. Unlike his horrible brother Galeazzo Maria, he shunned bloodshed. Banished from Milan after his brother’s assassination in 1476, he returned in triumph in 1479, and assumed the guardianship of his nephew Giangaleazzo, for whom he chose as bride his sister’s child, Isabella (see note [396]), daughter of Alfonso II of Naples. Having first sought the hand of Isabella d’Este (see note [397]),—who was already betrothed to the Marquess of Mantua,—in 1491 he married her younger sister Beatrice (see note [398]), whose influence is by some said to have led him to aggravate the humiliation of his young nephew and niece, the rightful duke and duchess. Being threatened by the latter’s father, the King of Naples, Ludovico invited Charles VIII to enter Italy (1494) and assert the Angevine claim to Naples. His unhappy nephew died the same year, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by the uncle’s order, who thereupon assumed the title as well as the despotic power of duke. Becoming alarmed at the rapid success of the French in Italy, he joined the league formed against them, and was afterwards punished for his treachery by being expelled from Milan by Louis XII and carried to France. It is said that at the time of his capture, the only favour he asked was to be allowed the use of a volume of Dante. He died a prisoner in the Castle of Loches, where, after a vain effort to escape, he was confined in an underground dungeon. At the height of his prosperity his revenues exceeded those of any Italian state except Venice. Policy and also his natural taste for intellectual pleasures led him to copy the Medici in their patronage of art and letters. He aspired to make his capital a modern Athens, and sought to attract men of fame and talent from far and wide. Both Leonardo da Vinci and the architect Bramante were in his pay.

Note [303] page 153. Cervia is a little town on the Adriatic (between Ravenna and Rimini). A Dominican, Tommaso Cattanei, was bishop of the diocese from 1486 to 1509. The pope referred to in the text was Julius II.

Note [304] page 155. ‘Montefiore Inn’ was a proverbial expression for a bad hostelry. The rustic inns of Italy at this period were usually wretched and for the most part kept by Germans.

Note [305] page 156. One Andrea Castillo was secretary to Leo X, and died in 1545.

Note [306] page 156. Cian identifies this Cardinal Borgia as the Francesco (born 1441; died 1511) who was raised to the purple by Alexander VI, and s’[s’] known as a schismatic.

Note [307] page 156. The modern form of ballatore is ballerino. Although the distinction is not free from doubt, there seems to be reason for believing that danzare was the term applied to the more stately forms of dance, while ballare was reserved for more animated movements. See note 147.

Note [308] page 157. The Bergamasque was and still is regarded as the rudest and most rustic of the Italian dialects.

Note [309] page 157. Except as applied to a small Tuscan stream or torrent (flowing near Acquapendente and Orvieto, and finally tributary to the Tiber), the name Paglia does not occur in modern Italian geography. In his autobiography, Cellini mentions crossing the little stream on his first journey from Siena to Rome. Later in the 16th century, Montaigne records (in his diary of a trip into Italy) having spent the night at “La Paille” (Italian, Paglia), and describes it as “a small village of five or six houses at the foot of several barren and ill-favoured mountains.”