Unfortunately, this precious portrait was afterwards sent to Madrid, where it is said to have perished in a fire. In Campo's engraving the youthful Duchess wears a jewelled cap and pearl necklace, with an ermine cape on her shoulders. Her serene air and thoughtful expression recall Holbein's famous picture, and give an impression of quiet happiness and content which agrees with all that we know of her short married life.
The change was great from Malines and Brussels, and Christina often missed her old playmates. But her simple, docile nature became easily accustomed to these new surroundings, and the affectionate little letters which she sent to her aunt and sister all breathe the same strain. "We are as happy and contented as possible," she writes to Dorothea; and when Camillo Ghilino was starting for Germany, she sends a few words, at her lord's suggestion, to be forwarded to Flanders, just to tell her aunt how much she loves and thinks of her.[109]
Certainly, when we compare her lot with that of her mother, and remember the hardships and sorrows which the young Queen had to endure, Christina may well have counted herself fortunate. Her husband treated his child-wife with the greatest kindness. Her smallest wish was gratified, her tastes were consulted in every particular. The rooms which she occupied in the Rocchetta, where his mother, Duchess Beatrice, had lived, were hung with rich crimson velvet; the walls of her bedroom were draped with pale blue silk; a new loggia was built, looking out on the gardens and moat waters. The breaches which French and Spanish guns had made in the walls were repaired, and the Castello resumed its old aspect. Three state carriages, lined with costly brocades and drawn by four horses draped with cloth of gold, were prepared by the Duke for his wife, and were first used by the Duchess on Ascension Day, when, ten days after her wedding, she made her first appearance in public. As she drove to the Duomo, followed by the Legate and Ambassadors, and escorted by a brilliant cavalcade of nobles, the streets were thronged with eager crowds, who greeted her with acclamation, and waited for hours to catch a sight of her face. On Corpus Christi, again, a few weeks later, the Duke and Duchess both came to see the long procession of Bishops and priests pass through the streets, bearing the host under a stately canopy from the Duomo to the ancient shrine of S. Ambrogio.
June, 1534] FRANCESCA PALEOLOGA
The popularity of the young Duchess soon became unbounded. Her tall figure, dark eyes, and fair hair, excited the admiration of all her subjects, while her frank and kindly manners won every heart. Although prices went up in Milan that year, and the tolls on corn and wine were doubled, the people paid these dues cheerfully, and, when they sat down to a scanty meal, remarked that they must pay for Her Excellency's dinner.[110] Fortunately, by the end of the year there was a considerable fall in prices, and a general sense of relief and security prevailed.
To the Duke himself, as well as to his people, the coming of the Duchess brought new life. For a time his failing health revived in the sunshine of her presence. He threw himself with energy into the task of beautifying Milan and completing the façade of the Duomo. At the same time he employed painters to decorate the Castello and Duomo of Vigevano, and an illuminated book of the Gospels, adorned with exquisite miniatures and bearing his arms and those of the Duchess, may still be seen in the Brera.
Hunting-parties were held for Christina's amusement both at Vigevano and in Count Massimiliano's woods at Cussago. Madame de Souvastre and most of the Duchess's Flemish attendants had returned to the Netherlands with De Praet, and Francesco took great pains to provide his wife with a congenial lady-in-waiting. His choice fell on Francesca Paleologa, a lady of the noble house of Montferrat, and cousin of the newly-married Duchess of Mantua. Her husband, Constantine Comnenus, titular Prince of Macedonia, had served under the Pope and Emperor; and her daughter, Deianira, had lately married Count Gaspare Trivulzio, a former partisan of the French, who was now a loyal subject of the Duke. From this time the Princess of Macedonia became Christina's inseparable companion, and remained devotedly attached to the Duchess throughout her long life. At the same time Francesco appointed one of his secretaries, Benedetto da Corte of Pavia, to be master of the Duchess's household, and to teach her Italian, which she was soon able to speak and write fluently.
The Milanese archives contain several charming little notes written in Christina's large, round hand to the Duke during a brief visit which he paid to Vigevano, for change of air, in the summer of 1535:
"My Lord and dearest Husband,