On Saturday, the 25th of May, the Duchess of Ferrara, with her two daughters, Beatrice Duchess of Bari and Madonna Anna Sforza, and her son Alfonso, accompanied by a large retinue numbering in all 1200 persons, sailed down the Po into the Adriatic, on their way to Venice. Beatrice was accompanied by Antonio Trivulzio, Bishop of Como, Francesco Sforza and his wife, and several other Milanese gentlemen of rank, besides the four ambassadors already named, and in her train were the famous Flemish tenor Cordier and the other court singers of the ducal chapel. On the 20th the party reached Chioggia, where they were entertained in the houses of noble Venetian families, and on the following day sailed up between the islands, under the long sandy shore of the Lido, into the port of Venice. At Malamocco, the fort on the southern point of Lido guarding the entrance of the harbour, they were received by a deputation of patricians, while at S. Clemente the old Doge, Agostino Barbarigo, himself came out to meet them in the bucentaur, followed by an immense company of boats and gondolas in festive array.
"Of all cities that I have ever known, Venice is the one where the greatest honour is paid to strangers," wrote Philippe de Commines, when, a year and a half later, he came to Venice as ambassador from his most Christian Majesty. And on this occasion the welcome offered to the wife of the powerful Moro was grander, and the fêtes given in her honour were more splendid, than had been seen for many years.
"Never," wrote Taddeo de' Vimercati, the Milanese ambassador, "was lord or lady received with greater joy, or more magnificently entertained than the duchess has been on this occasion." And in his letters to his wife Isabella, the Marquis of Mantua, who had arrived at Venice three days earlier, and was among the spectators of his mother and sister-in-law's triumphal entry, dilates on the extraordinary honours that were paid them, on the vast concourse of people assembled to greet their arrival, and the exultation with which they were received. He describes the procession of barks and gondolas, filled with ladies in gay toilettes, that were seen rowing across the lagoon many hours before the arrival of the illustrious visitors, and tells how the old Doge—the same whose venerable figure is familiar to us in Giovanni Bellini's altar-piece, at Murano—made his way to S. Clemente early in the afternoon, and retired to rest for an hour or two, in a chamber prepared for his Serene Highness, until the Ferrarese bucentaurs were seen in the distance. Gianfrancesco dwells on the number and beauty of the gaily decorated barges and triremes, and describes the magnificent loggia hung with tapestries and wreaths of flowers which had been erected in front of the palazzo occupied by the Milanese ambassador, at the entrance of the Canal Grande. But what impressed him most of all were the thundering salvoes of artillery which burst from the fleet of galleys, from the arsenal and the Milanese embassy, at one and the same moment, as about five o'clock the Ferrarese bucentaurs reached Malamocco and entered the Venetian waters. "The whole air," he writes, "was filled with confusion, when these demonstrations of great rejoicing burst simultaneously upon our ears."
Isabella d'Este, who had herself lately returned from Venice and was now with her beloved sister-in-law, Elizabeth Duchess of Urbino, at the villa of Porto, devoured her husband's letters greedily, although she professed indifference, and wrote to her mother, "To me all these ceremonies seem very much of the same nature, and are all alike very tedious and monotonous."
There was one point, however, upon which Gianfrancesco confessed himself unable to gratify his wife and sister's curiosity. "I will not attempt," he says, "to describe the gowns and ornaments worn by these duchesses and Madonna Anna, this being quite out of my line, and will only tell you that all three of them appeared resplendent with the most precious jewels."[40] Fortunately, this omission was supplied by one of Beatrice's secretaries, Niccolo de' Negri, who, in a letter to Lodovico, informed him, on the day of her arrival at Venice, that the duchess wore her gold brocade, embroidered with crimson doves, with a jewelled feather in her cap, and a rope of pearls and diamonds round her neck, to which the priceless ruby known as El Spigo was attached as pendant. But the best account we have of Beatrice's visit to Venice is contained in four of her own letters addressed to her husband, which have been preserved in the archives of Milan. They were originally published twenty years ago by Molmenti, who, however, omitted some portions which are given here, and transcribed some of the dates incorrectly. Unfortunately, several of the letters in which Beatrice daily recorded the events of this memorable week for her lord's benefit are missing. But although the narrative is incomplete, it is none the less of rare value and interest. The first two letters after her departure from Ferrara are missing, but in their stead we have two notes from Lodovico, which show how tenderly he thought of his absent wife, and how carefully he followed her movements. On the evening of the 25th, he wrote the letter that has been already quoted, from Belriguardo; on the 26th, he sent her a second note in reply to the letters which he had just received. In one of these Beatrice had apparently given a lively account of her triumphs at cards in the games which she had played with her companions on board the bucentaur. Like Isabella d'Este and most of her contemporaries, the duchess was very fond of scartino and other fashionable card-games, and had the reputation of being exceptionally lucky. In the course of the year 1494, Lodovico informed Girolamo Tuttavilla, who was at one time treasurer to the duchess, that his wife had won no less than three thousand ducats, all of which she declared had been spent in alms. "When I remarked that this seemed a very large sum, the duchess confessed she had paid some of it to embroiderers and other craftsmen. Even then I fail to see how she could have disposed of more than a few hundred ducats. At this rate I fear she will be unable to buy lands or build new houses, but when you return from Naples, we must try and carry out some plans better worthy of your name."
On this occasion Beatrice seems to have won a considerable sum of money at the game of britino during her journey to Chioggia, and had apparently informed her husband of her good luck, for he writes in reply—
"My dearest Wife,
"It has given me the greatest pleasure to hear from your last letters that you have been winning your companions' money, and since I conclude you have been playing at buttino, I hope you will remember to keep account of your winnings, so that you may keep the money for yourself. But I only say this in case you win, as if you lose, I do not care to hear about it. Commend me to the illustrious Madonna Duchessa, our common mother, as well as to Don Alfonso and Madonna Anna, and salute all the councillors for me.
"Your most affectionate husband,
"Lodovicus Maria Sfortia.[41]
Belriguardo, 26th of May, 1493."