DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0013
PREFACE
ix
artists in her employment the most elaborate and
minute instructions. Braghirolli counted as many
as forty letters on the subject of a single picture
painted by Giovanni Bellini, and no less than fifty-
three on a painting entrusted to Perugino. Especial
attention has been devoted to this portion of Isabella’s
correspondence in the present work. The vast num-
ber of letters which passed between her and the chief
artists of the day have hitherto lain buried in foreign
archives or hidden in pamphlets and periodicals, many
of them already out of print. All these have been
carefully collected, and are for the first time brought
together here.
If Isabella was a fastidious and at times a
severe critic, she was also a generous and kindly
patron, prompt to recognise true merit and stimulate
creative effort, and ever ready to befriend struggling
artists. And poets and painters alike gave her freely
of their best. Castiglione and Niccolo da Correggio,
Bembo and Bibbiena, were among her constant
correspondents. Aldo Manuzio printed Virgils and
Petrarchs for her use, Lorenzo da Pavia made her
musical instruments of unrivalled beauty and sweet-
ness. The works of Mantegna and Costa, of Giovanni
Bellini and Michelangelo, of Perugino and Correggio,
adorned her rooms. Giovanni Santi, Andrea Man-
tegna, Francesco Francia, and Lorenzo Costa all
in turn painted portraits of her, which have alas !
perished. But her beautiful features still live in
Leonardo’s perfect drawing, in Cristoforo’s medal,
and in Titian’s great picture at Vienna. Nor were
poets and prose-writers remiss in paying her their
homage. Paolo Giovio addressed her as the rarest of
women; Bembo and Trissino celebrated her charms
ix
artists in her employment the most elaborate and
minute instructions. Braghirolli counted as many
as forty letters on the subject of a single picture
painted by Giovanni Bellini, and no less than fifty-
three on a painting entrusted to Perugino. Especial
attention has been devoted to this portion of Isabella’s
correspondence in the present work. The vast num-
ber of letters which passed between her and the chief
artists of the day have hitherto lain buried in foreign
archives or hidden in pamphlets and periodicals, many
of them already out of print. All these have been
carefully collected, and are for the first time brought
together here.
If Isabella was a fastidious and at times a
severe critic, she was also a generous and kindly
patron, prompt to recognise true merit and stimulate
creative effort, and ever ready to befriend struggling
artists. And poets and painters alike gave her freely
of their best. Castiglione and Niccolo da Correggio,
Bembo and Bibbiena, were among her constant
correspondents. Aldo Manuzio printed Virgils and
Petrarchs for her use, Lorenzo da Pavia made her
musical instruments of unrivalled beauty and sweet-
ness. The works of Mantegna and Costa, of Giovanni
Bellini and Michelangelo, of Perugino and Correggio,
adorned her rooms. Giovanni Santi, Andrea Man-
tegna, Francesco Francia, and Lorenzo Costa all
in turn painted portraits of her, which have alas !
perished. But her beautiful features still live in
Leonardo’s perfect drawing, in Cristoforo’s medal,
and in Titian’s great picture at Vienna. Nor were
poets and prose-writers remiss in paying her their
homage. Paolo Giovio addressed her as the rarest of
women; Bembo and Trissino celebrated her charms