- Beatrice d'Este
Beatrice d'Este (
June 29 1475 –January 2 1497 ), duchess ofMilan , one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the ItalianRenaissance , was the daughter ofErcole I. d'Este and younger sister ofIsabella d'Este andAlfonso d'Este .She was bethrothed at the age of fifteen to
Lodovico Sforza (known as il "Moro"), duke ofBari , regent and afterwards duke of Milan, and was married to him in January 1491.Beatrice married Ludovico in a double Sforza-Este wedding. Ludovico married Beatrice, while Beatrice's brother,
Alfonso d'Este , marriedAnna Sforza the sister ofGian Galeazzo Sforza .Leonardo daVinci orchestrated the wedding celebration.Beatrice and Alfonso’s sister,
Isabella d'Este (1474–1539) was marriedFrancesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua .She had been carefully educated, and availed herself of her position as mistress of one of the most splendid courts of Italy to surround herself with learned men, poets and artists, such as
Niccolo da Gorreggio ,Bernardo Castiglione ,Bramante ,Leonardo da Vinci and many others. Leonardo da Vinci presented her with a portrait of herself for her wedding gift, a beautiful piece of Renaissance art. In 1492 she visitedVenice as ambassador for her husband in his political schemes, which consisted chiefly in a desire to be recognized as duke of Milan.
On the death ofGian Galeazzo Sforza , Lodovico's usurpation was legalized, and after theBattle of Fornovo (1495) both he and his wife took part in the peace congress of Vercelli betweenCharles VIII of France and the Italian princes, at which Beatrice showed great political ability. But her brilliant career was cut short by death through childbirth, on the 3rd of January 1497 at the age of 22. The child was a stillborn son.Beatrice belongs to the best class of Renaissance women, and was one of the culture influences of the age; to her patronage and good taste are due to a great extent the splendour of the Castello of Milan, of the Certosa of
Pavia and of many other famous buildings in Lombardy. Afresco with her portrait faces Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. She is a central character inE. L. Konigsburg 'snovel ,The Second Mrs.Gioconda , in which Konigsburg credits her for being the inspiration for Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa".She is mother of:
*Massimiliano Sforza (1493-1530), duke of Milan 1512-1515
*Francesco II Sforza (1495-1535), duke of Milan 1521-1535
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