DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0148
114 ISABELLA AT MILAN
unhappy Duke Giangaleazzo, and the election and
proclamation of Lodovico in his stead—were fully
reported to Isabella by the Mantuan agent, Donato
de’ Preti. There had of late been some coolness
between Francesco Gonzaga and Lodovico, who,
not altogether without reason, suspected his brother-
in-law of being in secret correspondence with his
enemy, King Alfonso of Naples. But cordial
congratulations were addressed by the Marquis to
the new Duke and Duchess, and in January 1495,
he allowed his wife to accept her sister’s pressing
invitation to visit Milan. Here Isabella was
present at the birth of Beatrice’s second son,
Francesco Sforza, on the 4th of February, and held
the child at the baptismal font. A succession of
splendid fetes were given in her honour by Niccolo
da Correggio and other Milanese courtiers, and her
letters to Francesco and Giovanni Gonzaga dwell
with enthusiasm on the magnificent banquets and
pageants, and the wonders of painting and archi-
tecture that were displayed before her eyes in the
Castello and city of Milan. On the other hand,
her secretary, Capilupi, told his master how the
Marchesa herself had won golden opinions on all
sides. “ I wish,” he writes on the 28th of January,
“that Your Excellency could have been in a corner
of the room when my lady received the Venetian
Ambassador, which she did with so much grace and
gallantry, and with such alacrity in responding to
his salutation, that he confessed himself her willing
slave. In the same way she charms all who come to
visit her, but above all, the Lord Duke, who calls
her his dear daughter, and always makes her dine at
his table. In short, she does the greatest honour
unhappy Duke Giangaleazzo, and the election and
proclamation of Lodovico in his stead—were fully
reported to Isabella by the Mantuan agent, Donato
de’ Preti. There had of late been some coolness
between Francesco Gonzaga and Lodovico, who,
not altogether without reason, suspected his brother-
in-law of being in secret correspondence with his
enemy, King Alfonso of Naples. But cordial
congratulations were addressed by the Marquis to
the new Duke and Duchess, and in January 1495,
he allowed his wife to accept her sister’s pressing
invitation to visit Milan. Here Isabella was
present at the birth of Beatrice’s second son,
Francesco Sforza, on the 4th of February, and held
the child at the baptismal font. A succession of
splendid fetes were given in her honour by Niccolo
da Correggio and other Milanese courtiers, and her
letters to Francesco and Giovanni Gonzaga dwell
with enthusiasm on the magnificent banquets and
pageants, and the wonders of painting and archi-
tecture that were displayed before her eyes in the
Castello and city of Milan. On the other hand,
her secretary, Capilupi, told his master how the
Marchesa herself had won golden opinions on all
sides. “ I wish,” he writes on the 28th of January,
“that Your Excellency could have been in a corner
of the room when my lady received the Venetian
Ambassador, which she did with so much grace and
gallantry, and with such alacrity in responding to
his salutation, that he confessed himself her willing
slave. In the same way she charms all who come to
visit her, but above all, the Lord Duke, who calls
her his dear daughter, and always makes her dine at
his table. In short, she does the greatest honour