More about Lodovico Sforza ( )

Beatrice d'Este, younger daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, became de facto Duchess of Milan at the age of sixteen, bore two sons before she turned twenty and the following year, only hours after delivering a stillborn son, she died. What could possibly fill four hundred pages concerning such a short life? The truth is there is not much known about her except for the treasure trove of letters that were safely hidden away in various archives, that were written by her and to her and by a large number of other individuals with whom she lived and those family members and friends with whom she and others in her household corresponded. While this book purports to be a biography of Beatrice, it is in reality a biography of a bright few years when Fortune blessed the duchy of Milan.

Julia Cartwright's approach to this brief life was masterful. She used not only the letters, but the diaries of contemporaries and the memoirs of prominent diplomats and courtiers who were on intimate terms with Beatrice, her husband Lodovico Sforza and their extended family members. The story progresses chronologically, as it should, and fleshes out the events of the age and the people who participated in them. Cartwright gives us a feel for the childlike enthusiasm of Beatrice on the one hand, and her amazing level of education and maturity on the other. She was the daughter of a Duke, the granddaughter of the King of Naples, she married a Duke, and in her brief life she was on intimate terms with everyone who passed through the court of Milan, from popes and kings, to artists like Leonardo da Vinci — who was employed by Lodovico for sixteen years and completed The Last Supper the year after Beatrice's death — to poets like Ariosto and condottieri like Galeazzo di Sanseverino who embodied the very essence of chivalry both on the tournament ground and in the battlefield — and at court.

This book would have been nothing without the presence of Lodovico Sforza, one of the great men of the age. He has a tarnished reputation if one reads some accounts of his years as regent on behalf of a young Duke of Milan and then as Duke himself. However, through this more personal inquiry, Cartwright acknowledges the darker picture which may have been created by his political enemies, but at the same time she reveals a great lover and patron of the arts and higher learning, a devoutly religious man, an active correspondent with many friends and family members, and a loving husband and father. We also gain some insight into his motivations at times when momentous decisions were made. We get an inside look at court life and a feel for some of the prominent characters of the age: kings and cardinals, poets and painters, and courtesans and courtiers, the very "mirror of chivalry."

In short, a fan of the Renaissance will discover much of interest in this book. I did not expect to find such a rich treasure trove of information and insights and stories of the people who come to life in this treatment of the period. Highly recommended! ( )