DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0042
8 COUNT BAUDASSARE CASTIGLIONE
family d Cristoforo's own portrait was introduced into
one of these groups, and the fine-looking courtier
standing behind the Marquis Lodovico's chair in the
act of receiving his lord's commands is our heros
grandfather. The intimacy which the young Cas-
tiglione brothers enjoyed with the Gonzagas was
strengthened by the marriage of the elder brother
with Luigia, or, as she is often called, Aloysia
Gonzaga. This remarkable woman, whose force and
elevation of character were destined to exert so great
an influence on her son's future, was the daughter of
Antonio Gonzaga, a descendant of Corrado, Podesta
of Mantua, and great-uncle to the Marquis Gian Fran-
cesco 1. Although only distantly related to the
reigning house, the members of this younger branch
of the family were recognized as kinsmen by the
reigning Marquis, and bore the title of
which gave them precedence at court next to the
princes of the blood. Antonio Gonzaga himself was
a brave soldier who received the honour of knight-
hood from the Emperor Theodore III., and his wife,
Francesca degli Uberti, a descendant of Dante's
Farinata, was connected with many illustrious Lom-
bard houses. Their daughter's marriage to the son
and heir of Baldassare Castiglione was celebrated
with great rejoicing in the summer of 1477. Soon
after this, Baldassare himself was sent to Tuscany to
arbitrate between the Florentines and Lucchese, and
decide a quarrel which had been referred to the Mar-
quis Lodovico. He returned home towards the end
of the year, and died a few weeks later, on January 14,
1478. His lord and master, Lodovico Gonzaga, soon
followed him to the grave, dying on June 12, at his
villa of Goi'to, deeply lamented by the subjects over
i BefTa-Negrini.
family d Cristoforo's own portrait was introduced into
one of these groups, and the fine-looking courtier
standing behind the Marquis Lodovico's chair in the
act of receiving his lord's commands is our heros
grandfather. The intimacy which the young Cas-
tiglione brothers enjoyed with the Gonzagas was
strengthened by the marriage of the elder brother
with Luigia, or, as she is often called, Aloysia
Gonzaga. This remarkable woman, whose force and
elevation of character were destined to exert so great
an influence on her son's future, was the daughter of
Antonio Gonzaga, a descendant of Corrado, Podesta
of Mantua, and great-uncle to the Marquis Gian Fran-
cesco 1. Although only distantly related to the
reigning house, the members of this younger branch
of the family were recognized as kinsmen by the
reigning Marquis, and bore the title of
which gave them precedence at court next to the
princes of the blood. Antonio Gonzaga himself was
a brave soldier who received the honour of knight-
hood from the Emperor Theodore III., and his wife,
Francesca degli Uberti, a descendant of Dante's
Farinata, was connected with many illustrious Lom-
bard houses. Their daughter's marriage to the son
and heir of Baldassare Castiglione was celebrated
with great rejoicing in the summer of 1477. Soon
after this, Baldassare himself was sent to Tuscany to
arbitrate between the Florentines and Lucchese, and
decide a quarrel which had been referred to the Mar-
quis Lodovico. He returned home towards the end
of the year, and died a few weeks later, on January 14,
1478. His lord and master, Lodovico Gonzaga, soon
followed him to the grave, dying on June 12, at his
villa of Goi'to, deeply lamented by the subjects over
i BefTa-Negrini.