DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0071
FRANCESCO GONZAGA
41
his parents of his indolence when he was a boy, but
Federico appointed one of the querulous old scholar’s
twenty-four children to be his son’s tutor, while
Colombino of Verona, the commentator of Dante,
instructed his two little daughters. After his visit
to Ferrara in 1482, he begged Duke Ercole to send
him L'Asino cT Oro, an Italian version of Apuleius’s
poem, and gave Isabella’s tutor Battista Guarino a
grant of wheat during the famine which prevailed
in that city. But when, in 1483, the said Guarino
applied for the post of tutor to his sons, the Marquis
replied that this was impossible, since in the first
place he could not afford to pay him a salary, and
in the second place his sons did not require a teacher.
Francesco, he explained, was already seventeen and
his own master, while Sigismondo, a boy of fourteen,
was studying at the University of Pavia, and Gio-
vanni, being only nine, was too young to need a
tutor. A year afterwards Federico died, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Francesco, the affianced
husband of Isabella d’Este.
Although small of stature, the young Marquis
was vigorous and athletic, and from early boyhood
showed greater inclination for manly sports and
exercises than for study. One of his first tutors
complained that he would never sit still and that it
was very difficult to induce him to fix his attention
on his book. Throughout his life he retained these
characteristics. He was passionately fond of hunting,
kept hundreds of dogs, and was especially proud of
his famous breed of Barbary horses, which carried off
prizes at all the races for which they were entered, and
were sent by their owner as presents to Kings and
Emperors. A brave soldier and shrewd politician,
41
his parents of his indolence when he was a boy, but
Federico appointed one of the querulous old scholar’s
twenty-four children to be his son’s tutor, while
Colombino of Verona, the commentator of Dante,
instructed his two little daughters. After his visit
to Ferrara in 1482, he begged Duke Ercole to send
him L'Asino cT Oro, an Italian version of Apuleius’s
poem, and gave Isabella’s tutor Battista Guarino a
grant of wheat during the famine which prevailed
in that city. But when, in 1483, the said Guarino
applied for the post of tutor to his sons, the Marquis
replied that this was impossible, since in the first
place he could not afford to pay him a salary, and
in the second place his sons did not require a teacher.
Francesco, he explained, was already seventeen and
his own master, while Sigismondo, a boy of fourteen,
was studying at the University of Pavia, and Gio-
vanni, being only nine, was too young to need a
tutor. A year afterwards Federico died, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Francesco, the affianced
husband of Isabella d’Este.
Although small of stature, the young Marquis
was vigorous and athletic, and from early boyhood
showed greater inclination for manly sports and
exercises than for study. One of his first tutors
complained that he would never sit still and that it
was very difficult to induce him to fix his attention
on his book. Throughout his life he retained these
characteristics. He was passionately fond of hunting,
kept hundreds of dogs, and was especially proud of
his famous breed of Barbary horses, which carried off
prizes at all the races for which they were entered, and
were sent by their owner as presents to Kings and
Emperors. A brave soldier and shrewd politician,