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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9aa68eb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53961 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53961) diff --git a/old/53961-0.txt b/old/53961-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b7cce79..0000000 --- a/old/53961-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12637 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Milan, by Ella Noyes - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Story of Milan - -Author: Ella Noyes - -Illustrator: Dora Noyes - -Release Date: January 14, 2017 [EBook #53961] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MILAN *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - _The Story of Milan_ - - -[Illustration: - - _S^t. Roch._ - - _Fresco by Borgognone._ -] - - - - - _The Story of_ Milan - - - _by Ella Noyes, Illustrated by Dora Noyes_ - -[Illustration] - - _London: J. M. Dent & Co. - Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street - Covent Garden, W.C._ * * 1908 - -———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— - - - - - _All Rights Reserved_ - -———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— - - - - - “La cognitione del tempo preterito e del sito della terra è ornamento e - cibo delle menti umane.” - - LEONARDO DA VINCI. - -———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - - PAGE - - _The Ambrosian City_ 1 - - CHAPTER II - - _The Patarini_ 26 - - CHAPTER III - - _The Free City_ 42 - - CHAPTER IV - - _The Reign of Faction_ 62 - - CHAPTER V - - _The Visconti_ 86 - - CHAPTER VI - - _From Visconti to Sforza_ 116 - - CHAPTER VII - - _The Opening of the Gate_ 147 - - CHAPTER VIII - - _The Sorrow of Milan_ 189 - - CHAPTER IX - - _Art in Milan_ 208 - - CHAPTER X - - _The Duomo_ 224 - - CHAPTER XI - - _The Basilica of St. Ambrogio_ 256 - - CHAPTER XII - - _San Lorenzo. Romanesque Buildings_ 278 - - CHAPTER XIII - - _Gothic and Renaissance Buildings_ 302 - - CHAPTER XIV - - _The Brera Picture Gallery_ 335 - - CHAPTER XV - - _Other Galleries and Museums_ 352 - - CHAPTER XVI - - _The Castello_ 368 - - - _Table of the Visconti_ 392 - - _Table of the Sforza_ 393 - - _Appendix_ 395 - - _Index_ 397 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - _St. Roch, Fresco by Borgognone (Brera)_ _Frontispiece_ - - _The Duomo from Hotel Europe_ 3 - - _Atrium of St. Ambrogio_ 57 - - _Chiaravalle_ 70 - - _Via del Pesce_ 73 - - _Tower of S. Gottardo from the Cathedral_ 93 - - _The Snake of the Visconti_ 115 - - _Galeazzo Maria Sforza, by Piero Pollaiuolo _to face page_ 138 - (Uffizi, Florence)_ - - _Bridge over Naviglio near San Marco_ 141 - - _Canal, Via San Marco_ 155 - - _Canonica of St. Ambrogio_ 157 - - _Lodovico il Moro, by Boltraffio (Trivulzio _to face page_ 176 - Collection)_ - - _Scopetta of Lodovico il Moro_ 188 - - _Cupola of the Duomo, from the Roof_ 232 - - _Within the Duomo_ 237 - - _Putti, Guglia di Amadeo_ 249 - - _Giant Statues on the Duomo_ 251 - - _Side Aisle of Atrium, St. Ambrogio_ 262 - - _Capital in Atrium of St. Ambrogio_ 263 - - _Capital in Atrium of St. Ambrogio_ 264 - - _Ciborium, St. Ambrogio_ 267 - - _Sculpture on Pulpit in St. Ambrogio_ 273 - - _Chimney, Canonica of St. Ambrogio_ 277 - - _The Old Porta Ticinese_ 281 - - _Houses on the Naviglio_ 284 - - _Exterior of Portinari Chapel, St. Eustorgio_ 286 - - _Interior of St. Eustorgio_ 288 - - _Statue of Oldrado da Tresseno_ 298 - - _Palazzo dei Banchieri_ 300 - - _Doorway of Palazzo Borromeo_ 303 - - _Cortile of Palazzo Borromeo_ 305 - - _Last Supper, by Leonardo. Detail, Figure of _to face page_ 314 - Christ_ - - _Last Supper, by Leonardo. Detail, St. John, St. _to face page_ 316 - Peter and Judas_ - - _San Satiro_ 321 - - _Palazzo Visconti di Modrone—Garden on the 331 - Naviglio_ - - _Putto, Fresco by Bramantino (Brera)_ _to face page_ 336 - - _Madonna, by Mantegna (Poldi-Pezzoli)_ _to face page_ 356 - - _Portrait of an Unknown, by Ambrogio de Predis, (?) _to face page_ 363 - (Ambrosiana)_ - - _The Rocchetta, Castello_ 375 - - - - - PREFACE - - -Everybody has been in Milan, but who knows Milan? The traveller in -search of the picturesque and mediæval sees nothing to arrest him—except -comfortable hotels—in a city which seems to tell only of yesterday. A -glance at the Cathedral, at St. Ambrogio, at the most famous of the -pictures, and he hurries on. Yet a little longer stay reveals a wealth -of artistic interest in the many fine churches, in the rich galleries -and museums, and much also that is worth learning even in the outward -aspect of the city in the present day. The historic buildings have -mostly fallen, the old crooked ways have given place to broad -thoroughfares, the picturesque life of the past has been smothered by -the sombre bustle of modern commercialism. But her heritage of beauty is -to some extent inalienable. She remains always Italian. Colour and -atmosphere lend an indestructible charm even to her modernity. The warm -brick of the buildings against the limpid blue sky, the gold and grey of -sunshine and shadow, the shining canals that border some of the further -streets with a still and pensive melancholy, make a lovely and -characteristic harmony still, as in the days of the Quattrocentist -artists who painted them in the backgrounds of their Madonnas and San -Roccos. And there are some old streets left, mostly in the heart of the -city, such as the Via del Pesce and the Via Tre Alberghi, long cobbled -alleys ribboned with triple lines of pavement, where the tall houses and -bowed-out balconies of curious ironwork, rusted by age and weather, if -they cannot remember the days of Milan’s earlier glory, must have known -at least something of the sad centuries of bondage which followed, -before they shook to the roar of the Cinque Giornate sixty years ago. - -The compass of this small volume has made it impossible to tell -otherwise than summarily of the great past of this city and of her -artistic riches to-day. I have had to pass over, or barely mention, many -noteworthy things. I am especially sorry that I could not include the -places of interest in the immediate neighbourhood. A visit to the -Certosa of Pavia, which sums up all the aims and achievements of Lombard -Renaissance art, is necessary for an appreciation of the Milanese -sculptors and painters, while the associations of the famous building -with Gian Galeazzo Visconte and with the Sforza princes, make it a part -of Milanese story. The old Church of Chiaravalle, with its incomparable -Lombard-Gothic tower and its trecento frescoes, and picturesque Monza, -where that historic emblem and wonder of twelfth century goldsmiths’ -art, the Iron Crown of Lombardy, is preserved with other priceless -treasures, ought not to be missed by the traveller. - -The main facts of Milanese story are well known, and may be found, not -only in the native chroniclers and historians, but also in many modern -books dealing with Milan and with Italian history generally. Mongeri’s -_L’Arte in Milano_, and the writings of Count Malaguzzi Valeri, -especially his _Milano_ in the series “Italia Illustrata”, have been my -chief help in the topographical and artistic part of this book, and I -have also made use of the works of Signor Luca Beltrami, Mrs. Ady and -others. For the painters and pictures I have depended on Morelli, the -acknowledged authority on Lombard art, and have consulted besides the -writings of Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, of Mr. Herbert Cook, and other modern -critics. - - E. N. - - SUTTON VENY, WILTS, - _November 1907_ - -———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— - - - - - The Story of Milan - - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER I - _The Ambrosian City_ - - - “Verenanda est Roma in Apostolo. Sed nec spernendum Mediolanum in - Ambrosio.”—ARNULPHUS. - -Milan is to-day the most modern of Italian cities. Her Risorgimento in -the last century, accomplished with the pouring out of blood and the -efforts of a strenuous virtue, makes for her a mighty and sufficing past -in the near background, and she seems to stand wholly on this side of -it, triumphant and new-create. Neither Nature nor the further centuries -have, you feel, any longer part in her. Who of the numberless travellers -from the North, as they lose the vision of mountain, lake and green -champaign, just traversed, in the bustle and confinement of the crowded -streets, realises that this solid mass of brick and stone, this vast -hive of human beings, is the slow product of that enchanting country, of -its rivers and fertile soil, built up and moulded by human passion and -labour during thousands of years amid the changes and chances of -extraordinarily varied fortunes. Only when his eyes, lifted above the -regular roof-lines of the modern streets, light upon the Gothic -pinnacles of the Duomo, and a further acquaintance with the city -discovers, wedged among the growths of yesterday, the many relics of her -older past—the Castle of the fifteenth century Sforza, Renaissance -palaces and churches, St. Ambrogio and its compeers of the era of -liberty, a rare fragment of the older imperial civilisation—does he -become conscious of the long and painful course of the centuries, and -remember that he stands in the secular capital of Lombardy, on ground as -storied almost as the sacred dust of Rome. - -The name alone of Lombardy calls up visions of continuous strife. There -the nations who have made their grave in Italy lie most thickly. The -sunny fruitful plains at the foot of the barren mountains have been -fattened from the beginning by human blood. The _love of figs_—a phrase -which has passed into the language of the Icelanders as an expression -for all passionate appetite—has again and again impelled the peoples of -the grudging North to storm the barrier of snows and seek the delusive -land of promise beyond. Principalities and kingdoms have been founded -there one after another, only to perish in turn, as if the soft land of -morass and meadow were some unstable quicksand created for the engulfing -of men. Etruscans, Insubri, Latins, Visigoths, Lombards, French and -Spaniards, have come and gone, in the midst of an almost incessant -warfare. - -Yet through all the changes, a quiet, continuous labour was going on, -restraining and directing the courses of the rivers, draining the -marshes, taming the wild luxuriance of the land to fertile use and -order, and slowly building up out of the confusion of conflicting -elements the solid foundations of the present. - -[Illustration: THE DUOMO FROM HOTEL EUROPE] - -Seated in the centre of the plain which spreads out at the foot of the -Alps, and commanding the natural gateways between Italy and the -countries to north and west, Milan seems to have held from the first the -chief position among the cities of Lombardy. In the early centuries of -our era it was hardly less important in the North of Italy than Rome was -in the South. The line of the Po, cutting across the peninsula, or -perhaps more correctly, the Apennine chain, originally divided Italy -ethnologically and politically, a division which still endures to some -degree in the character and sentiments of the respective inhabitants on -either side. The Insubri, who drove out the Etruscans and settled in -Lombardy about the sixth century (B.C.), were a race of Gallic origin. -They had no ties of blood with the Romans, who subjugated them later, -and their country—called by the conquerors, Cisalpine Gaul—was as much a -foreign province of the Latin dominion as the Gaul beyond the Alps. On -the other hand their relationship and familiarity with that Gaul was so -close that it has influenced the sympathies of the Milanese people -throughout history, and has left a strong impress on their dialect. When -some centuries later the capital of the Empire was losing its -controlling power, and the bond uniting the members of that immense -artificial system was beginning to relax, Milan assumed an almost -independent position. As the seat of Diocletian and his colleague -Maximian, she could scorn abandoned Rome, looking with compassion from -her magnificent palaces and baths, her populous streets and mighty -walls, to the silent courts and colonnades of the Palatine Hill. -Constantine completed her severance from Rome by dividing Italy into two -separate portions of the Empire, and making Milan the capital of the -northern half, with a government distinct from Rome. The old racial -boundaries were thus restored, and on these lines were built up the many -later schemes for the foundation of a Kingdom of Italy. And on these -lines there rose within the new ecclesiastical empire which was shaping -itself out of the ruins of the old Roman system, an episcopal dominion -extending over all Lombardy, and virtually independent of the Church of -Rome. Many centuries were to pass, and fierce struggles to take place, -before the Church of Milan was brought into subjection to the Papal See. -This work of unification, accomplished chiefly by the potent mind of -Gregory VII. in the eleventh century, in association with a growing -instinct of nationality in the Milanese people themselves, was one of -the most important steps in the process by which the various and alien -elements of the great Lombard city were converted into a component part -of the Italian nation. - -We cannot pause to search into the origins of the city in that obscure -antiquity which Italian legend fills with the figures of diluvian and -Trojan heroes, on an equal plane of remoteness, or to inquire closely -into the mystery of her name, _Mediolanum_, as it is in the Latin -tongue, whence by derivation—influenced, doubtless, by the sweet -appellation _Mailand_, Land of May, which her green refreshing aspect -suggested to her Teutonic invaders—it has become Milano. The simplest -and most generally accepted explanation of the name is that it is a -bastard word, between Latin and Teutonic, signifying the Middle Land, -and suggested by the city’s central position in the Plain. - -We must take up our story at the beginning of that barbarian inrush -through the yielding barriers of the Empire, which by mingling the -vigour of new blood with the effete products of Roman civilisation, -generated the travail of mediæval Italy, and out of that travail a -nation. Milan had already a great past, closely bound up with the -vicissitudes of the later Empire. From Diocletian and Constantine -downwards she was honoured almost constantly by the presence of -emperors. Julian was proclaimed Cæsar within her walls. Many edicts of -Constantius were published there, Valentinian made his residence in the -city, and there Theodosius spent long periods, and there died and was -buried. The Empress Justina and her young son, Valentinian II., had -their seat in Milan, and the slothful and degenerate Honorius ruled from -its palace the Empire of the West, till frightened out by the Goths. The -wealth and luxury of the city in the fourth century, her culture, her -innumerable fine houses, her magnificent walls, built by Maximian, her -circus, temples, theatres, baths, are celebrated in a famous epigram by -the Latin poet Ausonius, who proclaims her the paragon of Rome. - -But at the end of this century the imperial era was rapidly declining -and giving way to a new order of things. A fresh period of irruptions -from the North was at hand, and within the ancient polity itself a new -organisation, the Christian Church, had arisen and was usurping -spiritual authority. Milan had been early conspicuous in the history of -Christianity. Legend names S. Barnabas himself as the founder and first -occupant of her See, and she had testified to the new faith in the days -of persecution by the blood of many martyrs. SS. Gervasio and Protasio, -the youthful warrior pair, SS. Nazaro and Celso, master and faithful -disciple, SS. Felix and Nabor, S. Valeria, San Vittore, and many others, -are recorded with picturesque and touching details in Milanese legends -and art. And in Milan the triumph of Christianity was first proclaimed, -since here Constantine subscribed his edict of toleration in 313. But -Christianity, established soon after as the State religion, had yet to -struggle with the difficulty of conflicting counsels and doctrines -within its own body. The tenets promulgated by the Council of Nicœa in -532 were by no means universally accepted by Christians in the fourth -century, and in North Italy the teachings of Arius were widely followed, -especially by the Gothic subjects of the Empire. Under the Empress -Regent Justina they were the religion of the imperial Court in Milan, -and the whole population was divided into fiercely hostile parties by -the doctrinal question. - -It was at this critical point of her political and ecclesiastical -destinies that there appeared in Milan one of those epoch-making -characters who from time to time arise at moments of hesitation in the -history of human communities, and apparently initiate and determine -their subsequent course. The great figure of her Bishop Ambrose, Saint -and Doctor of the Church, scourge of the Arians, subduer of emperors, -stands for Milan at the opening of a new era, to which his dominant mind -gives impress, direction and inspiration. From this time forward, Milan -is no more the imperial, but the Ambrosian city. Throughout her mediæval -existence the consecrating memory of St. Ambrogio, her patron and -protector, set like a spiritual jewel in a hundred exquisite and -devoutly fantastic legends, is present in her government, her struggles -for liberty, her art and peaceful industry, her daily life and the -peculiar ritual of her religious worship. - -In 374 Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, died. He had been an Arian. A great -contention arose between the two doctrinal parties over the choice of -his successor. The city was in a state of uproar, and it became -necessary to summon the Prefect of the province to restore peace. A -brilliant young advocate named Ambrosius, of a Roman family of high -standing in the official world, had been lately appointed Prefect. He -came to the capital and convoked a public assembly in the chief church, -to assist at the election of a bishop. It was impossible, however, for -the two parties to agree in a selection; the powerful Court influence of -the Arians being balanced by a preponderance of orthodox Catholics among -the people. Suddenly, above the angry noise of dispute which filled the -church, a clear voice, as of a child, was heard to pronounce distinctly -three times over the words, _Ambrose is Bishop_. The _nolo episcopari_ -of the young governor, vigorously expressed, and emphasised, according -to legend, by his flight from the city, nothing availed to save him from -the dignity which the unanimous will of the people now forced upon him, -and Ambrose, as yet unbaptized, was made Bishop of Milan. Whether the -apparent finger of Providence had been directed by some hidden -terrestrial agency, it is ungrateful to inquire. Ambrose, in deserting -the service of the decaying Empire for the government of the -metropolitan See of Lombardy, had undoubtedly found the right field for -his mighty energies. He was a great Christian, a man of profound -doctrine, of pure life and loftiest spiritual qualities. He was also the -most able of statesmen. None knew so well the power of this new polity -of the Christian Church amid the struggling confusion of forces in the -moribund Empire. He became paramount with his pupil, the young Emperor -Gratian, and used his influence to stamp mercilessly upon the last -embers of Paganism, overthrowing with unsparing arguments all the pleas -of the patrician Symmachus and the Conservative party in the Roman -Senate in favour of the preservation of the stately faith and customs of -their forefathers. The doctrinal unity of the Church itself was his next -great task. The Arian heresy was, as we have seen, strongly entrenched -in the palace of the Empress and her son, Valentinian II. Nevertheless, -Ambrose decreed a uniform orthodox worship in all the numerous churches -in the city. Justina protested, and demanded the use of the New Basilica -within the walls—the principal church in fact—for the Arians. This being -refused, she ordered the bishop to give up the Basilica Porciana, -outside the city. Ambrose meekly offered her his life and all his -possessions, everything except what she wanted, the church. “A temple of -God could not be given up by a priest.” Temporal arms were then moved -against him. But all the forces of the Empire together would have been -helpless against the martyr spirit of the Bishop. The Cathedral was his -fortress, and there he entrenched himself in the strength of his -holiness, surrounded by excited multitudes, whose ardour he inflamed by -fiery discourses, in which he likened the Empress to Eve bringing ruin -upon Adam, to Jezebel fighting Elijah, Salome destroying John Baptist, -till they vowed to die with him rather than suffer the temporal -authority to prevail over the spiritual. The very soldiers investing the -church, terrified by the dreadful anathemas pronounced upon them, rushed -in, not to do battle against the faithful, but to pray with them. For -days the people continued in the church with the Bishop, and on this -occasion, St. Augustine says, ‘It was first instituted that after the -manner of the Eastern Churches, hymns and psalms should be sung, lest -the people should faint through the weariness of sorrow’—a famous -evidence of the fact that St. Ambrose was the first to introduce the use -of music into the services of the Western Church. - -It is interesting to note in the midst of that vast crowd of now -nameless and forgotten individuals a figure well known to all times -since, the small quiet African mother, Monica, who had followed her son -across the terrible winter seas, resolved in her invincible spirit to -guide his seeking soul into the haven of the true faith. And Augustine -himself, the young professor just appointed to the chair of rhetoric in -Milan, must have been present too, gazing upon the surprising scene of -this persecuted but dauntless pastor and his devoted flock. Every -vestige of the _basilica nova intramurana_, where the great struggle -took place, is now long gone. But its place is still the place of -Milan’s Cathedral, the great Gothic Duomo of later times. And the -episcopal palace of to-day occupies the same site—or near it—of the -dwelling of Ambrose, where Augustine, his heart swelling with eager -questions, would often enter uninvited, as all might freely do, and -watch the holy man in silence, restrained from speaking by the fear of -disturbing him as he sat reading in his moments of leisure and preparing -himself to expound to the people. - -But it would be vain to seek to-day even for the place of that -fourth-century house upon the walls—Maximian’s walls—where Augustine -lodged with his mother and the marvellous boy Adeodatus, his son, fated -so early to die. Or for the little garden where he hid himself one day, -even from his faithful follower Alypius, and amid the throes of a -terrible spiritual anguish heard the unseen child’s voice chanting in -pure, untroubled tones, ‘_Take up and read, take up and read_,’ and -opening the volume of the Apostle saw the words which lifted his soul -out of the torture of conflicting desire into the serenity of faith at -last. Nor is any trace left of the original baptistery for males, on the -south side of the Cathedral, where the subsequent baptism of Augustine, -Adeodatus and Alypius, at the hands of Ambrose, was in all probability -performed. The place is occupied now by the Church of San Gottardo. - -The conflict between Empress and Bishop was won by Ambrose. Justina’s -efforts to depose him and set up a new bishop were completely frustrated -by his timely discovery of the bodies of the Milanese martyrs, SS. -Gervasio and Protasio, a miraculous event which raised him to an -invincible position in the opinion of all Christendom. The triumph of -the great bishop, though it savours now of bigotry, was of deep and -far-reaching significance. It was the revolt of the new and as yet -hardly tried Church against the ancient imperial authority. It pointed -to the future. It initiated that obstinate and long-continued struggle -between the temporal and spiritual powers which makes the history of the -Middle Ages in Italy. For Milan and for Lombardy it meant more; it was a -protest against the influence of the foreigner, against a strange -domination in thought. The Arian heresy was alien and unnatural to -Italian sentiment; its followers were chiefly among the large population -of Goths settled by this time in Italy. Ambrose, in rallying round him -the masses of the people and conquering the established powers, was in -fact appealing to the elements out of which the Commune of later days -was to develop—to those instincts of liberty and nationality of which -the Mediæval Church was to be the glorious guide and champion. - -The later and more famous triumph of Ambrose—when, before the doors of -the same Basilica Nova, he stood, armed only with the insignia of his -sacerdotal office, and barred the entrance of the sanctuary to the -blood-stained Emperor Theodosius, till, awed by his spiritual dignity, -the wearer of the purple sank before the white-robed priest and did -public penance for the massacre of Thessalonica—was another and greater -proof of the ascendency of the ecclesiastical over the imperial power. -But the significance of the scene reaches further, and embraces the -whole sphere of humanity. In standing bishop and kneeling king we see, -not the individuals and their immediate motives, ambitious, despotic, -superstitious, as they may partly have been, not even the struggle of -great transitory interests, but a wider, deeper, more enduring -principle—the recognition of the supremacy of spirit over brute force, -the victory of the Christian ideal of love and pity over the earthly -lusts of blood and revenge, of the religion which adores the helpless -Mother and Child over the deified Force of the ancient creeds. - -Ambrose was now the most powerful man in the Empire, ruling the minds of -men by the sheer strength of character and lofty virtue. The Barbarians -in their distant lands testified to the might of his saintliness—this -man who, as a Frankish king asserted with awe, _says to the sun, ‘Stand -still,’ and it stands_. The two young Emperors, Gratian and Valentinian, -were tools in his hands, and Theodosius himself had to acknowledge the -Church in the person of Ambrose as a twin power in the realm. When the -Bishop died in 397, he bequeathed to his successors an episcopal -dominion so strengthened by his powerful personality, and glorified by -the sanctity of his life and doctrine, that it was ever after associated -with his name, and known as the Ambrosian Church. With its numerous and -wealthy dependent bishoprics, its Arch-Pontiff or Pope, its cardinals, -as the chief clergy were called later, and immense hierarchy, its -peculiar liturgy and ritual, this Church was accorded the title of -Holy—_Santa Chiesa_—and acknowledged as self-governing by Gregory the -Great himself. - -The Milan of Ambrose and Augustine still belonged in outward aspect to -the imperial past. But a general decay, hastened by exorbitant taxation -and bad administration, was visible at this time throughout North Italy, -where many of the chief towns were, in Ambrose’s own words, _Corpses of -half-ruined cities_. At the opening of the fifth century the simulacrum -of Empire was attacked by the Goths under Alaric (402), and half a -century later (450) Attila, _Flagellum Dei_, passed with his Huns over -the face of Italy, uprooting the useless remains of the ancient world, -as a plough furrows a field for the new sowing. Milan came within his -course, but how deep and extensive was the ruin wrought by him there we -do not know. His was but the first operation in God’s tilling of that -rank soil for the new life it was to bear. In 538 the city suffered a -second and apparently more complete destruction, during the war of -Narses and Belisarius for the recovery of Italy from the Ostrogothic -dynasty established by Theodoric. Milan revolted from the Gothic King -Vitige and allied herself with the Eastern generals. Vitige despatched a -portion of his army, swelled by a host of Burgundians from the -mountains, ancestors, probably, of those Swiss who were to plague the -Milanese in later history. The city was closely invested, and after some -months, deceived in the expectation of succour from Belisarius, she fell -a victim to the revenge of the Goths. The historian Procopius describes -the three hundred thousand slain, the women sold as slaves, the -habitations razed to the ground, and his statement, in spite of obvious -exaggeration, is an indication of the awful havoc and desolation -inflicted upon the still soft, corrupt and luxurious city. - -This blow seems to have crushed the vitality of Milan. For centuries she -remained in a weak and depressed condition. During the Lombard -domination, which swept away the brief authority of the Eastern Empire -established by the arms of Narses, her pre-eminence in North Italy was -usurped by Pavia, which Alboin and his successors chose as the capital -of their new realm, now first called _Lombardy_. The broken palaces of -the once imperial metropolis no longer sheltered sovereigns. The Lombard -kings delegated their authority in the city to a governor, whom they -called _Duke_—whence the name _Cordusio_, still used in the centre of -the city, a corruption of Corte Ducis, the palace or judgment-hall of -the Duke—and only approached from time to time to hold a Diet within the -vast melancholy area of her deserted circus. Even the successors of St. -Barnabas and St. Ambrose abandoned her, and transferred the See to -Genoa, where it remained till the next century, diminished in power and -prestige by its exile from the city of the Ambrosian tradition, while -the Roman Pontiffs, throughout the two centuries of Lombard supremacy, -were quietly increasing their influence and making good that claim to -supreme spiritual authority before which the Ambrosian Church was in the -end to succumb. - -The return of the episcopal See to Milan indicates some degree of -revival in the city. But two hundred years more were to pass before her -Church resumed its old importance, and Milan her rightful rank in North -Italy. Under Charlemagne, who conquered Desiderio in 774, and created a -so-called Kingdom of Italy, Milan held only the third place among the -metropolitan Sees, yielding precedence after Rome to Ravenna. The -Frankish king, whose great scheme of a restored Roman Empire included a -united Latin Church under the Pope as supreme head, not only exalted the -spiritual authority of Rome over the other Sees, but even endeavoured to -suppress the peculiarities of the Ambrosian liturgy and force Milan into -uniformity with the rest of the Latin Church. He is said to have -descended upon the city and seized all the liturgical books, burning -some and carrying others away into Germany. But even his will was -helpless against the cherished custom of centuries. Some religious men, -so the chronicler declares, succeeded in hiding copies of the books, and -as soon as the Emperor had disappeared, they were unearthed and the old -rites resumed as before. - -The political changes of the ninth and tenth centuries favoured the -revival of the Lombard See. With the disruption of Charlemagne’s swollen -empire, and the removal of the temporal support, the spiritual -sovereignty of Rome and the unity of the Church broke down, at least in -practice, and the grand and comprehensive idea of a single rule of -Christendom under the twin sceptres of Emperor and Pope—that inspiration -of great minds in the Middle Ages—failed now, as later, of realisation. -Amid the ungoverned turbulence of the Roman nobles and citizens the -Papacy gradually sank to the lowest depths of corruption and impotence, -and any deference to its authority once paid by the Milanese primates -was soon forgotten. - -For a while the Carlovingian kingdom of Italy held together in spite of -constant wars, and under Louis II. Lombardy enjoyed a period of peace -and great prosperity. But after his death in 875, the country, rent by -the struggles of various claimants to the throne, and overrun by Huns -and Saracens, was gradually reduced to a state of chaos, out of which -the power of the feudal barons emerged as the only effective authority. -The Counts and Viscounts, as the imperial ministers were properly -called, lost their authority, or else preserved it as an hereditary and -almost independent right from father to son, fitting themselves as time -went on into the graduated order of the feudal system, which was -extending itself into the whole organisation of society. The one stable -power, that of the Church, based on an inextinguishable tradition, -became paramount in the city, and in virtue of its vast possessions -assumed the temporal as well as the spiritual dominion. By the tenth -century the Archbishops of Milan appear as great feudal princes, the -most powerful in North Italy, and practically independent of the -Emperor. This position was largely due to the spirit and ability of the -two great prelates of the previous century, Angilberto (824-59), and -Ansperto (868-81). Ansperto openly refused the obedience claimed from -him by John VIII. By assembling and presiding over the Diet of the -princes of North Italy at Pavia, which elected Charles the Bald as -successor to Louis II., and afterwards crowning the new monarch, he -arrogated the right of conferring the Crown of Italy independently of -the Papal approval. He appears in this election as a great temporal -prince, leading the North Italian States, and expressing the revolt of -Lombardy against the pretensions of the Pope in the Lateran to the -heritage of the power which once dominated the world from the Capitol. -Throughout the struggles of the next twenty years for the possession of -the throne, Ansperto’s support was always given in opposition to the -Pope. When summoned by John VIII. to a Council at Rome in 879, to answer -for his offences against the Holy See, he shut the door against the -papal legates, so that they were compelled to the undignified proceeding -of shouting the pontiff’s complaint through the keyhole; and he and all -his vast flock, which included, with the suffragan Sees, the whole of -Lombardy, were totally indifferent to the excommunication stammered -against them by the enraged and helpless Pope. - -Archbishop Ansperto was the chief restorer of the city as well as of the -Church of Milan. He rebuilt and repaired the broken walls, the buildings -ruined by the barbarians, and by his wise and resolute government gave a -much-needed security to the life and property of the citizens. It was a -greatly increased power which he transmitted to his successors, who -wielded it with the same autocratic spirit. In the confusion of the -Carlovingian break-up, when no one knew who was the rightful sovereign -of the old Lombard kingdom, or who held the prerogative of electing him, -the Archbishops of Milan assumed the part of king-makers, and laid the -Crown, now on the head of an Italian prince, now on that of some heir of -the Carlovingian tradition. The constant aim of the archbishops was to -increase and consolidate their power, and the weakness of the royal -authority gave them their chance. The story of the city in these two -centuries is chiefly composed of the contests of the Primates with the -successive wearers of the Lombard crown, who in their turn endeavoured -to tyrannise over the See by seizing the right to elect its occupant, -and filling it with their own rapacious and arrogant favourites. These -royal appointments were violently opposed by the people, so that the -city was distracted by constant schisms and civil warfare. From 948 to -953 the strife between Adelmano, the choice of the citizens, and -Manasses, an ambitious and intriguing foreign priest, whom Berengarius -had appointed to the See, filled Milan with tumult and bloodshed, during -which the Ambrosian Church was despoiled of much of its treasure. The -election in 953 of a third aspirant, Walperto, to whom the others gave -way, closed at last the miserable war. With the coronation of Otho the -Great (964) in St. Ambrogio, by this archbishop, who had crossed the -Alps in person to summon the German prince to the deliverance of Italy -from the cruel tyranny of Berengarius, a blessed period of peace and -consequent prosperity began for Milan, favourable to the development of -those popular forces in the city—hitherto depressed by constant terror -and insecurity—which were to make her history in the coming centuries. - -The peace, however, soon bred in the city a restless vigour which could -find no other vent than war. Under Ariberto d’Intimiano, who was elected -archbishop in 1018, Milan, now restored to undisputed pre-eminence over -her rival Pavia and the rest of the Lombard cities, started upon a -career of conquest. In Ariberto the archiepiscopal pallium cloaked a -potent statesman and warrior, who well knew how to defend that temporal -power which the ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages looked upon as the best -guarantee of their spiritual authority. When the Emperor Henry II., who -followed the Othos, died in 1024, and the uncertainty as to his -successor on the Lombard throne threatened new trouble to Italy, -Ariberto hastened to Germany, and on his sole authority, according to -one chronicler, though others say that he was supported by a party of -Italian magnates, offered the kingdom to Conrad the Salic. Two years -later (1026) he reasserted the right of the Primate of Milan to crown -the King of Italy, by laying the circlet on the new monarch’s brow -within the city itself. At Conrad’s subsequent coronation in Rome as -Emperor, the Archbishop of Milan was the most important of the imposing -company of ecclesiastical princes who attended on the occasion. His -dignified withdrawal from a contest with the Archbishop of Ravenna for -the place of highest honour was followed by a formal recognition of his -primacy in a Papal Bull, while with less self-restraint his vast train -of followers reduced the company of the Ravennese prelate to proper -submission by apostolic blows and knocks in the streets of Rome, amid a -tremendous uproar. Milan’s ecclesiastical superiority to Ravenna and all -other Italian Sees was thus triumphantly settled. - -Ariberto’s ambition for the glory and predominance of Milan was well -supported by the people. They followed the militant prelate with -enthusiasm to the subjugation of Pavia, which had refused to acknowledge -Conrad as king (1027), and a little later they made a furious assault -under his command upon the little neighbouring city of Lodi, and forced -its freedom-loving inhabitants to submit to Ariberto’s yoke and accept a -bishop of his choosing. Thus Milan, impelled by the pride and ambition -and necessity of expansion bred of strength and riches, was the first to -provoke that spirit of hatred and revenge among the sister cities of -Lombardy, which could only be expiated by centuries of bloodshed and -sorrow. - -But neither leader nor people had any doubt of the righteousness of -their military enterprises, which were indeed invested with a sort of -religious consecration. Ariberto instituted the use of a sacred Car in -times of war, which bore aloft in the midst of the host the tokens of -the Christian Covenant, the Cross and the Altar of Sacrifice, in -sanctifying association with the Vexillum of the city. Round these -emblems of their faith and of their existence as a community the citizen -soldiers would rally, bearing the Car forward to victory with -irresistible enthusiasm in moments of advantage, or defending it with -despairing resolve when defeat threatened. Thus was originated the -_Caroccio_, adopted afterwards by all the Communes of Italy—an exalted -and beautiful idea, which, though often debased by association with -enterprises of greed or revenge, became also the guide and inspiration -of the Lombard peoples in their noble struggle for liberty in the -succeeding centuries. - -That struggle was already foreshadowed in Ariberto’s time. The pride of -the Archbishop and the city which he governed soon came into violent -contact with the will of the Emperor. Conrad resented the prelate’s -increasing encroachment upon the royal prerogatives. Besides the -sovereign right of making war, the Archbishop claimed the privilege of -investing the bishops of his jurisdiction and the secular nobles also -with their fiefs. His assumption of autocratic authority provoked a -large party of the lesser nobles, who made an insurrection against him -in 1036, and being defeated and driven out of the city, united with the -aggrieved citizens of Lodi and broke into open warfare. A fierce battle -was fought at Campo Malo, in which Ariberto appears to have been -worsted. The Emperor, regarding the moment as favourable for asserting -his authority, crossed the Alps (1037) to restore peace. But on arriving -in Milan he did not find the humility and submission which he expected, -and offended, or perhaps alarmed, by the haughtiness of the Prince -Prelate and the excited temper of the populace, he retired to Pavia, and -there summoned Ariberto to appear before a Diet, to answer the -accusations of his enemies. The Archbishop obeyed, and without allowing -him time for defence, Conrad commanded his arrest. He was carried to -Piacenza and there kept in captivity. But Conrad had hardly reckoned -with the power which lay behind his great vassal. Instead of accepting -this chastisement with resignation, Milan broke into an uproar of -lamentation at the news of her pastor’s imprisonment. With fastings, -processions and litanies, with oblations, and benefactions to the poor, -the pious citizens hoped to propitiate Heaven on his behalf, while the -more worldly-minded sought to procure his rescue. At last, after two -months, Ariberto himself found a means of escape with the aid of the -Abbess of the great convent of San Sisto in Piacenza. This lady, at the -request of a trusty servant whom the prelate managed to send to her, -despatched to him twenty mules laden with divers kinds of delicate -meats, and ten waggon loads of wine, out of the goodly stores of the -convent. With these provisions Ariberto made a great feast for his -Teuton guards, who soon stupefied themselves with the good wine. The -Milanese chronicler Landolfo describes the scene—‘ ... They became -beyond measure intoxicated—persisting in their potations until the -middle of the night, and each one provoking his neighbour to drink more -and more.... They began to quarrel and threaten one another with rolling -eyes and terrible voices, and then to weep with thick tears pouring down -their faces, and so drunk were they with the wine that they did not know -what they were doing, and their limbs would not serve their office so -that they fell down prostrate. The servants of Ariberto, seeing them in -this plight, were immensely rejoiced, and carrying them away one by one, -laid them out on well prepared couches as if they had been dead men....’ -While the Teutons lay thus and ‘snored terribly,’ the prisoner slipped -quietly off to the river Po hard by, where he found a ship, sent by the -Abbess, in readiness for him. Into this he entered, and soon reached -Milan in safety, while his guards, awaking, half stupid from their -drunken slumbers, went seeking for him everywhere with hideous clamour. - -The fugitive was soon followed by the irate Emperor, with a great army, -and Milan was closely besieged. Mighty deeds of valour were performed on -either side, according to the Milanese chroniclers. But all the efforts -of the great Emperor and his hosts were unavailing against the city, -defended by its ancient Roman walls and by an enormous population. After -a few months he raised the siege, and endeavoured with equal futility to -overthrow Ariberto by deposing him and setting up another archbishop. -His persecution of Milan provoked, the chroniclers tell us, a signal -manifestation of the Divine wrath, in the person of St. Ambrose himself, -who appeared one day in the midst of terrible thunder and lightning as -the Emperor was listening to the Mass, and caused such consternation -among those present that many fell down dead. Thus, worsted by -supernatural as well as earthly means, Conrad retired to Suabia in 1038, -leaving the Archbishop master of the situation, and to all intents and -purposes potentate of Lombardy. - -But this crowning height to which Ariberto had brought the See of Milan -was the brink of a signal downfall. The greatest, he was also the last -of the strong ecclesiastical princes of Milan. Silently, steadily during -these last centuries of revived vigour and prosperity a new force had -been developing in the city, and acquiring conscious existence—the -People. The wars of Ariberto’s reign had endowed this force with the -knowledge of arms and a sense of its own power. It was the nameless, -irresistible will of the masses of the citizens which had carried -Ariberto to victory over the Emperor, and this very victory tended to -the undoing of the Archbishop and his order, by weakening the feudal -system with which the episcopal and aristocratic power of Milan was now -inextricably bound up. It had been the part of the Church of St. Ambrose -to give the consecrating impulse and inspiration to the revolt of the -new world against the decaying order of the Roman Empire, and under its -latest representative to lead the city, as we have just seen, to victory -over the Head of feudalism. But now in its turn this great force for -civilisation and humanity was to be corrupted by temporal power and -possession—to renounce its mission as guide and sanctifier, and assume -instead the part of opposition to the vital and progressive elements of -the community. Ariberto and his clergy were, in fact, the -representatives in Milan of feudalism and aristocracy. The hierarchy of -St. Ambrose was composed of the great nobles of the city, in whose -families the high ecclesiastical offices and benefices had became -hereditary possessions. These arch-Priests, arch-Deacons, Cimiliarchs, -Decumani—the Cardinals or Ordinaries, as the highest orders of the -clergy were called—were great feudal magnates, forming the strongest -class of the Milanese nobility. Ranged beneath them in ecclesiastic and -feudal rank were the lesser clergy, just as the secular aristocracy was -divided into the two degrees of Captains—_Capitani_—and their vassals, -called Vavasours—_Valvassori_. Below these came the undistinguished -masses of the people, merchants, artisans, and peasants, mostly serfs, -and all absolutely subjected to the arbitrary government of the nobles. - -The first revolt against this system was that already mentioned, which -resulted in the battle of Campo Malo, and arose within the privileged -class itself, being an attempt of the Valvassori and minor clergy to -shake off the heavy yoke of their feudal superiors. But a much more -fatal discord in the community began in 1042, when the whole populace -joined with the discontented Valvassori, and broke out into fierce -rebellion against the nobles. One Lanzone, a noble who had deserted his -own order, was their leader. A civil war raged for many months, filling -the streets with daily tumult and bloodshed, and at last the Archbishop -and the magnates were forced to abandon the city. Invoking the aid of -the nobles in the neighbouring communities, they returned with a strong -army and invested the city. The struggle was waged with hideous ferocity -on both sides, neither giving mercy to prisoners or wounded. The -besiegers built six great strongholds round the walls, commanding the -principal gates, and effectually shutting out all succour of food or -arms. Two long and terrible years went by, till the plight of the -citizens grew desperate. Pallid and lean from famine and sickness, still -they fought on with invincible souls, in the midst of the deserted -palaces and falling towers of this city which, the chronicler tells us, -no longer seemed, as of yore, the seat of noble kings, but rather a -desolate Babylon. At last Lanzone resolved to go to Germany and seek the -help of Conrad’s successor, Henry III. But the Emperor, mindful of his -father’s experience of Milan, would only grant it on condition that his -army should occupy the city, and that the people should swear fealty to -himself. But the new-born democracy, groping its way to liberty through -a thousand obstacles, instinctively rejected these conditions, -preferring its native tyrants to a foreign yoke. Lanzone skilfully used -the fear of imperial interference to persuade the besiegers to agree to -a reconciliation. Peace was concluded, all mutual wrongs being forgiven, -the nobles restored to their homes and possessions, and a share in the -government secured to the people. - -The one sacrifice offered upon the altar of this new covenant between -the classes was the leader Lanzone himself, who, at the first -opportunity, was arrested and put to death by the aristocratic party. -But his work was done, and the foundation of the future Republic had -been laid. Archbishop Ariberto, now ill and aged, had taken refuge -during the troubles at Monza, and returned to his own city, only to die -(1045). His career fitly closes with the first signs of the collapse of -the social order which he embodied. - - - - - CHAPTER II - _The Patarini_ - - - “Dicetur in posterum subjectum Romæ Mediolanum.”—ARNULPHUS. - -The revolt of the Milanese people against the nobles was associated with -the great agitation for the reform of the Catholic Church, initiated and -carried on in the eleventh century by S. Giovanni Gualberto, San -Romualdo and his disciple, Peter Damiano, and by the Cluniac monk, -Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII. This movement had its political -aspect. The spiritual supremacy to which these men aimed to restore the -dishonoured and discredited Papacy included domination over the temporal -powers. The first step to be accomplished was unity of government within -the Church’s own body, and the suppression of the virtual independence, -based on feudal dominion, of the great metropolitan Sees, Milan, Ravenna -and others outside Italy. Divining with sure instinct where the power of -the future lay, they allied themselves with those democratic forces to -which the Ambrosian Church was now fatally opposed, in a fierce attack -upon the great Lombard See. - -Much laxity of discipline prevailed among the higher clergy of Milan, -whose pride and splendour was famous throughout Europe. They lived like -great feudal barons; armed _cap à pie_, they led their vassals forth to -battle, nor in their domestic manners were they more rigid. They were, -moreover, obstinately attached by long custom to the two practices which -the severer spirits in the Church had condemned and fought against for -centuries, simony and marriage, both closely bound up with their feudal -constitution and polity. They stoutly maintained that the ordination of -married men as priests was sanctioned by St. Ambrose himself in his -writings, nor did they demur to the marriage of those already in Orders, -though the sentence of the great Doctor on this point was more doubtful. -In fact, they married with the same unconsciousness of sin as their -untonsured brethren did. The natural consequence was that the offices -and benefices of the Church were bequeathed from father to son, and -tended to become hereditary in certain favoured families. It followed as -inevitably that bishoprics, abbacies and all offices carrying with them -worldly possessions, came to be trafficked in like any other sort of -estates. The investitures of them were granted by the feudal superior -for fixed and regular fees, graduated according to the value of the -office, a practice resulting from the introduction by Charlemagne of the -system of feudal tenure into the ecclesiastical body politic. Thus there -were few among the dignitaries of St. Ambrose who had not paid, -according to the current price, for their spiritual rank and its -accompanying temporalities, and the possession of ecclesiastical -benefices, either to be held or disposed of at will, had become a form -of wealth which, vitiated though its origin might be, was wound in -inextricably with the complicated existence of Milanese society. - -It was natural that the successive decrees of the Popes from Clement II. -(1046-1047) onwards against simony and marriage should have been -disregarded in Milan. The renunciation of the benefices which provided -them with a livelihood, and the putting away of the wives and children -to whom they were bound by the ties of innocent and natural affection, -were sacrifices too hard for men whose vocation was rather worldly than -spiritual. Nothing less than a social revolution could overthrow the -rooted customs of the Ambrosian Church. - -Such a revolution, in the heaving and unstable eleventh century, was, -however, easily excited. The discontent of the lower orders with the -aristocracy increased as their lately-won privileges generated the -desire for a further share of power, and their particular animus against -the ecclesiastical nobles was strengthened by a deep and widespread -aspiration for religious purity and truth among many of the humblest -people. The agitation against the real and supposed scandals in the -lives of the clergy was taken up with fury in the poorest parts of the -city. - -A revolutionary party grew up, which became known among its opponents by -the opprobrious name of _Patarini_, a term used in Milan to denote -heretics, and derived perhaps from _Patari_, rag-sellers, who with their -customers represented the lowest class of the people. And though the aim -of the revolutionists was a social and moral, not a doctrinal, reform, -there probably prevailed much freedom of thought and religious opinion -among them. The heresy of the Catharists—better known under the name of -Albigenses, by which they were called later in the south of France—was -taking wide hold in North Italy at this time. The strange Manichean -ideas of these sectaries, who believed in a dual principle of good and -evil governing the world, must have found ready acceptance in -pessimistic souls who saw the pride and luxury of the great on one side, -and the misery of the oppressed and enslaved masses on the other. Their -ideal of extreme bodily purity, rising to an asceticism which, by -denying the flesh even the mere satisfaction of its needs aimed at the -liberation of the spirit from its thraldom to the Devil by the -self-extinction of the human race, contrasted their lives sharply with -the luxurious habits of the majority of the orthodox clergy, and by -sanctifying hunger and privation, gave a new dignity and self-respect to -the down-trodden poor. Moreover, their stern rejection of all pleasure -and selfish ambition gave them leisure and courage to devote themselves -to the sick and suffering, so that many joined themselves to their -company from the impulse of gratitude. They led in fact the evangelic -life, though their dark and despairing tenets were utterly alien to the -spirit of Christianity. They clung to their peculiar faith with a lofty -enthusiasm which persecution could not subdue. - -The confusion of the Catharists, or Catari, with the Patarini probably -arose from the similarity of the names, and the natural tendency of the -orthodox to confuse the different forms of thought outside their own -dogmatic boundaries. The Patarini sympathised with the Catharists only -in their practice of purity and evangelic simplicity of life. There is -little doubt, however, that the Catharists mingled with the poorer -classes of the city whence the Patarini were recruited, and must have -taken advantage of the confusion of ideas resulting from the revolt -against the old customs and authority to spread their doctrines. - -Among the Milanese clergy themselves there was a small party zealous for -reform. The first to raise open protest against simony and ‘concubinage’ -was one of these, a noble ecclesiastic called Anselmo da Baggio. -Ariberto’s vacant throne had been filled by the appointment of one -Guido, a creature of the Emperor Henry III., who in securing his -election, had partly recovered that sway over Milan which Ariberto had -wrested from Conrad. Guido was a weak man, with an uneasy conscience -himself about simony, since he had paid the usual fee to the emperor as -his feudal superior for the confirmation of his election. Thinking to -rid himself of the troublesome zeal of Anselmo, he procured his election -to the bishopric of Lucca, and thus endowed him with new power. Anselmo -was one of the principal allies and agents of Hildebrand, by whose -influence he was raised later to the papal throne, where, as Alexander -II., he was able to wield all the arms of Rome against his native -Church. Another leader of a more popular class soon rose up to take his -place in Milan, a certain deacon and student of letters named Arialdo. -This man became the soul of the movement. He was joined by Landolfo da -Cotta, one of the highest order of clergy, like Anselmo da Baggio. -Landolfo was a fiery and eloquent speaker, a zealot whose body was -consumed by disease and his soul by enthusiasm. The two went about -preaching in public places and stirring up the poorer classes, and soon -gathered together a formidable following. Invading the churches, they -drove the clergy from the altars, and pursuing them with contumely and -violence, sacked their houses and forced them to sign an engagement to -consort no more with women. The whole city was in an uproar; all the -sons of disorder rushed to join the rioters. Archbishop Guido summoned a -synod of his clergy at a safe distance from the city, and thence -fulminated an anathema against the ringleaders. Arialdo and Landolfo -immediately hastened to Rome to make their complaint before the throne -of Peter (1057). They returned accompanied by the Bishop of Lucca and -Cardinal Hildebrand himself, sent by Pope Stephen X. to examine into the -accusations laid against the Archbishop and his clergy. Their arrival -raised a new and tremendous uproar. The Milanese, deeply jealous of the -ancient episcopal glory and prerogatives of their city, rallied to the -side of their own clergy at this attempt of the Pope to interfere, and -the legates, having hastily and in secret condemned the Archbishop as -simoniacal, and all his practices as abominable, departed, leaving -matters worse than before. - -As soon as the Roman attack had been driven off, and the issue appeared -to be confined within the city, the masses again joined Arialdo. The -clamour of bells and trumpets filled the streets and called the people -to assemble in the great Roman theatre, where Arialdo and Landolfo -inflamed their minds to fury by discourses against the clergy. There -were daily riots in the streets. The clergy were supported by the nobles -and by all the peaceable spirits, who, however, had none of the energy -and zeal of their opponents, and soon wearied of the continual disorders -and tumults. The struggle continued with intermittent uproar, and two -years after the mission of Hildebrand, the Pope made a new attempt at -intervention (1059). This time with the Bishop of Lucca there came -instead of Hildebrand, whose soul contained no balm to pour upon angry -passions, the famous Peter Damian. The contemplative of Fonte Avellana, -fierce ascetic as he was, and inflamed with impatience and contempt for -luxurious priests, nevertheless possessed the gift of persuading and -winning men. The difficulties which had defeated the earlier legation -met him also. The Ambrosian clergy stood out for the ancient freedom of -their Church and Diocese and the independence of its jurisdiction. -Enormous crowds gathered round the episcopal palace, thirsting for the -blood of the new representatives of the papal pretensions, and the -popular fury rose to a height when at a great assembly which Peter -convoked to hear his message he placed the Archbishop of Milan on his -left hand, giving the place of pre-eminence on his right to the Bishop -of Lucca, as delegate of the Pope. But the sound of his voice calmed the -tumult as he rose and eloquently proclaimed the glory of the Ambrosian -Church and of the many martyrs who had sanctified it with their blood, -and so skilfully and with such moving words did he reprove its abuses, -that before long Archbishop, dignitaries and the whole immense throng of -clerics, trembling with emotion and penitence, were prostrate before the -altar, acknowledging their sinful practices and vowing to renounce them -for the future. The success of the preacher was confirmed by the -subsequent visit of Archbishop Guido to Rome, in answer to a summons -from Nicholas II. There for the first time in history the Primate of -Milan was constrained to promise obedience to the Pope of Rome, and to -receive from him the symbolic ring of investiture. - -This humiliation of their episcopal prince was a bitter grief to the -noble party in Milan. _Veneranda est Roma in Apostolo._ But Milan is not -to be despised in Ambrose, cries Arnolfo the chronicler. ‘It will be -said in future that Milan is subject to Rome.’ And though Rome had won a -lasting advantage, the moral effect of Peter Damian’s mission soon died -out. The old ecclesiastical system and usage was not so easily -overthrown. Two years later (1061) the conflict was resumed with new -fervour by the Patarini, encouraged by the accession of their ally, -Anselmo of Lucca, to the Papal throne. Moreover, a new champion of -reform had arisen in Erlembaldo, a warrior lately returned from a -pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and brother of the now dying Landolfo. Bold -as a lion, breathing out fire and slaughter against the Ambrosians, -Erlembaldo was a formidable foe for the timid Archbishop and his party, -who were inspired by no confidence in the virtue of their cause. He -appeared in the arena of conflict bearing the standard of the Church, -with which he had been solemnly trusted by Pope Alexander, who did not -hesitate to rekindle the flames of civil war in his native city. - -The cruel scenes witnessed before were now renewed in Milan. Blood was -spilt in the streets, churches were invaded and sacked, priests dragged -bodily from the altars, their houses burnt, their wives misused. But -when Arialdo and his lieutenant began to condemn the ceremonial usages -peculiar to the Ambrosian Church, the citizens turned against them, and -finding the opposition too strong, the two missionaries appealed to Rome -and procured the excommunication of the Archbishop. This only aggravated -the wrath of the Milanese. The Patarine leaders were abandoned by all -but a few of their most devoted followers, and when Archbishop Guido -appeared before the altar of the Cathedral Church with the Bull of -excommunication in his hands, the fury of the immense assembly knew no -bounds. The reformers were set upon in the sanctuary itself, and Arialdo -was so badly beaten that he was left for dead. Guido, taking advantage -of the momentary turn of the tide in his favour, laid an interdict upon -the city until it should rid itself of Arialdo. The zealot was forced to -fly, and a little later he fell into a snare which had been laid for -him, and was betrayed into the hands of the Archbishop’s niece, lady of -a castle on Lake Maggiore, by whose command he was carried in a boat to -a lonely island and there cruelly done to death. - -The cause of reform was thenceforth glorified by the memory and example -of a martyr. Arialdo was shortly afterwards canonised by Pope Alexander. -His loss inflamed his party to new zeal and drew to it a great access of -adherents. Erlembaldo and a priest called Liprando di San Paolo now led -the crusade, carrying it on with such fury of sword and fire that they -became virtual masters of the city. The Archbishop, wearied out by the -endless strife and the insidious attempts of Rome to depose him, -renounced his See, and the nobles, outnumbered by the rioters, abandoned -the disorderly city and sought peace and safety in their castles and -country palaces. - -The contest now centred on the election of a new Archbishop. Neither of -the rival claimants put forward by the two parties succeeded in -establishing himself on the episcopal throne. Chaos prevailed in the -Ambrosian Church. Erlembaldo, strengthened by the accession of -Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII., usurped the whole authority in the city -and throughout the archdiocese. He swept far and wide like an avenging -sword, driving priests from their benefices, and tearing them from the -altars. Half Lombardy cowered under his rude and noisy tyranny, and his -name became a by-word of terror throughout Italy. - -But two appalling conflagrations, which followed one another in 1071 and -1073, and laid waste the city, deprived the people of all heart for the -contest with the aristocrats. Moreover, Erlembaldo’s tyranny was -beginning to produce a reaction. The nobles, regaining courage, leagued -together for a great effort to liberate the city from his authority. By -means of promises and gold, they won a large number of the humble -citizens to their side, and at last they appeared one day in force in -the city, seeking their enemy. The populace, awed by their numbers and -magnificent martial array, were little disposed to face them. Followed -by a few only of the most faithful and zealous of the Patarini, -Erlembaldo, mounted upon his war-horse, and in full armour, upholding -the banner of the Roman Church, flung himself into the midst of his -foes, and fell, pierced by a hundred swords. - -With his death the war ended. There was none to take his place. The -city, exhausted by the long strife, was glad to rest. The nobles -returned to their homes and their old place in the city, and in spite of -the persecution which they had suffered for twenty years, the Ambrosian -clergy resumed their old practices to a large extent. - -Nevertheless, the design of the great Hildebrand was achieved. The -supremacy of Rome had been proclaimed, and acknowledged in the hearing -of the whole world. The prestige of the greatest of the provincial Sees -had suffered a blow from which it never recovered. So much was the -episcopal power of Milan weakened that Gregory VII. was able to subtract -many of its suffragan Sees and join them instead to other archdioceses; -and before the century was over, the victory of the Pope over the -Emperor Henry IV., in the famous quarrel of investitures, obliged the -Ambrosian See to yield temporal as well as spiritual allegiance to the -successors of St. Peter. - -And though the Milanese clergy still clung for a while to their wives, -and benefices continued to be bought and sold, these doubtful practices -fell more and more into disrepute. Simoniac ecclesiastics gradually -disappeared. The accusation of this sin was, however, long used by Rome -as a means of gaining further advantages over the See of Milan, or -driving out a prelate approved perhaps by the Emperor and obnoxious to -the papal interests. It was equally useful to the people in making new -encroachments on the privileges of the aristocratic clergy. - -The gradual concentration of authority in Rome was greatly assisted by -the influence of the monastic orders, who belonged as bodies to no -particular diocese, but looked to the Pope as their supreme head, and -were little disposed to be submissive to the prelates in whose -jurisdiction a monastery might chance to be. In 1130, Bernard of -Clairvaux and his white-robed monks—who seemed to the people, we are -told, wonderful as angels from heaven—appeared in Milan, and gave an -immense impulse to the monastic movement there. The rise of the -mendicant orders of St. Francis and St. Dominic a century later brought -a vast increase of strength to the Papacy. In Milan, as everywhere, the -friars gained immense influence among the masses of the people. The See -of Milan was by this time completely subjugated. It was greatly -diminished in wealth and importance. The Pope exercised supreme -jurisdiction in the archdiocese, and his legates constantly interfered -in the government, assuming the highest place and authority with the -acquiescence of the Archbishop. Deeply indeed had the See of St. Ambrose -sunk since the days of the great Ariberto! - -But the same movement which had defined the position of Rome, had by the -process of strengthening and raising the walls of the fold, thrust an -enormous number of Christians into the doctrinal wilderness outside, and -the Church was now menaced by the great spread and increase of heresy. -Heresy was, in fact, the fatal legacy of Hildebrand’s policy. While the -Papacy, absorbed in its struggles with the Empire, could spare no energy -to check them, the great sect of the Catharists, unhindered by worldly -ambitions, had been quietly growing in numbers and strength, till in the -twelfth century it was become a fully organised Church, divided into -dioceses and governed by its own bishops. These sectarians were now -generally called Patarini; the name of Hildebrand’s old allies had -become synonymous with the enemies of the Church. The deep gulf between -the Catharists and the orthodox Church was crossed by a chain of -religious associations which had sprung up all over Lombardy, in protest -against the luxury and scandalous manners of both clergy and laity, and -were founded, like the original Patarini, upon moral rather than -doctrinal principles. Many of them hovered indeed in thought upon the -vague borderland between orthodoxy and heresy, and were touched by that -Northern difference of religious sentiment which, after many temporary -ebullitions, produced at last the Protestant revolution. In the -thirteenth century fifteen different sects are enumerated in the -city—the Catharists, the Believers of Milan, the Arnaldists, followers -of Arnald of Brescia, the Poor Men of Lombardy, and others that were -mostly local varieties of the same sects. Poverty and humility were, as -their name denotes, the distinctive attributes of the _Poor Men_, while -their doctrine was suspect enough to forbid their adoption into the -Church. The large embrace of Rome succeeded, however, in enfolding -another association of kindred type, the Umiliati, or Humble Ones, which -was destined to become enormously powerful in Milan. - -This order is said to have been founded early in the eleventh century by -some Milanese nobles who had been captives in Germany, and who, -converted to serious thoughts by the weariness of confinement, vowed -that on their return they would live a holy and Christian life. It was a -society of men and women, living in their own homes with their families, -but distinguished from their neighbours by humility, industry and -devoutness. A century later, under the influence of St. Bernard, they -formed themselves into a regular order, with a rule obliging them to -strict moral virtue and to the observance of all religious duties. They -devoted themselves especially to the manufacture of woollen stuffs, one -of Milan’s chief industries. Very soon out of the first order a second -was formed, which adopted a monastic life of greater austerity, the men -and women, including many married couples, living side by side in -separate cloisters, and in course of time a third order arose, composed -of men only, who took sacerdotal orders, and were called Canons. Thus -the association, from a kind of religious guild, tended to develop into -a regular order. But its rule had never been fixed or confirmed by any -papal sanction, and it remained for two hundred years practically -independent of Rome. Nor were its doctrines during this time free from -unorthodox thought; we find the Umiliati included in the condemnation of -heretical sects uttered by successive Popes from time to time in the -intervals of their political cares. They shared the virtue of -simplicity, at least, with the various bodies of Poveri who hovered half -in and half out of the pale of Holy Church. - -In the latter part of the twelfth century the order—in obedience perhaps -to that widely diffused evangelical spirit which generated the great -Franciscan movement a little later—had been developing and spreading -very extensively. Its votaries went about preaching repentance in the -squares and open places of the different cities, and persuaded numbers -of noble persons, as well as plebeians, to abandon the sins of the world -and the flesh, and to live according to the pious and simple vows of the -order, either in monasteries or in their own homes. Their efforts were -opposed by the bishops and regular clergy, who were disposed to look -upon all zeal as heretical. But Pope Innocent III., recognising their -virtue and their influence on the people, resolved to secure the -somewhat loose orthodoxy of the brethren, and to direct their fervour -and piety to the service of the Church. He extended his favour to them, -and bestowed upon them the doubtful blessing of a formal rule, which, -with the privileges, included the restrictions and severe discipline of -a regular monastic order. This little pleased the Umiliati, and they -made a touching appeal to Innocent’s successor, Honorius III., to -relieve them from their new obligations, bringing forward an ancient -formula, given them, they declared, by St. Bernard, to the observance of -which they had already bound themselves. But the Pope absolved them -against their will from their old vows of obedience and insisted on the -observance of Innocent’s rule. - -Thus the death-blow was dealt to the original spirit of the institution. -After a short period of increased fervour and activity, in which they -became the terror of their old spiritual kinsfolk, the heretics, the -order followed the course of most other monastic bodies. Humility and -poverty were exchanged for papal favours and honours, and for rich -possessions, and before long corruption and laxity crept in among the -brethren. The sacerdotal order became the first and most important, -while those who followed the original rule of simplicity, humility and -purity, living in their own homes, were called the Third Order. The -brethren acquired in time great wealth from the woollen industry, which -they continued to pursue, and later on they were largely employed in the -public offices of the city, and especially in its financial concerns. -Thus they gradually became very powerful, and under the tyrannies of the -Visconti and Sforza, provided Milan with many great statesmen. In the -sixteenth century the vast possessions of the order, in the form of -commendas and prebends, etc., were practically owned by a few great -families, and the actual number of the brethren had fallen to less than -a hundred. Cardinal Carlo Borromeo procured the suppression of the -ancient brotherhood in 1570, on the ground of the vices and luxury of -its members. He risked his life by this step, since the degenerate -brethren were not ashamed to employ assassins to attempt the murder of -their spoliator. The possessions of the order were distributed among -other convents, and their principal House, the Brera, which had belonged -to them since the twelfth century, was handed over to the Jesuits. - -The desire to define and purify doctrine, and to strengthen the Church, -produced under a series of determined Popes a fierce outburst of -persecution in the thirteenth century. In Milan, where heterodox -opinions were held by many of the most powerful as well as the lesser -citizens, it was the signal for repeated bouts of civil war and constant -struggles between the Pope and the rulers of the city. The introduction -of the Dominicans into Milan in 1220 gave an enormous advantage to the -cause of orthodoxy. As soon as the people saw the Christ-like virtues of -poverty and humility and evangelising ardour, hitherto associated in -their minds only with the condemned Patarini, displayed by these -approved Catholic orders, they followed the Friars with enthusiasm, -careless indeed of doctrine, but believing and trusting those who lived -as they did themselves and mingled with them freely, understanding their -sorrows and needs. It is doubtful whether St. Dominic himself was ever -in Milan, but his famous disciple, Peter of Verona, was sent there in -1232 by the Pope, with full authority to search out and punish heretics. -Peter carried out his mission with merciless zeal. His name, made -terrible by its unsparing use as authority for the infliction of -torments and fiery death, came to be feared throughout Lombardy. So -bitter a hatred did he rouse by his stern interpretation of the awful -word, _not peace but a sword_, that he himself fell a victim to the -weapon of his predilection. On a morning in 1252, as he was returning on -foot with a single companion from Como to Milan, two assassins sprang -out upon him from an ambush and smote him to death with a sword. The -sword, transfixing his skull, is familiar to us all in mediæval and -Renaissance art as the ornament and emblem of the Saintly Inquisitor. - -The murder of Peter Martyr was not inspired by heretical revenge alone. -Motives of worldly policy had a share in the deed. The division of -orthodoxy and heresy virtually followed that between the two great -parties in the State, the aristocracy and the people, and the conflict -between them repeated to some extent the great Patarine struggle two -centuries earlier, though now, in the reversal of issues the Patarini -were associated with the aristocrats against Rome. The murder of Peter -was committed at the instigation of some of the nobles. The Archbishop -himself, Fra Leone da Perego, a Franciscan, a man of notable character -and ambition, who hated Peter, both as the agent of papal arrogance and -usurpation in Milan, and as the exalter of the rival order of the -Dominicans, was possibly not unaware of the plot. But the political -aspect of the doctrinal warfare belongs to an epoch which we have not -yet reached in our story of the city. It is enough to say here that the -murder of Peter of Verona was of the greatest service to the cause of -orthodoxy and the Church. It excited universal execration of the -heretics, and the Dominican, elevated to the ranks of the Martyrs, was -far more powerful with his cloven brow than even when alive. From this -time forward heresy rapidly lost ground, and with the gradual quieting -of party passion, under the domination of a single family in the city, -it lost all political force, and died away in insignificance and -oblivion, till the great reawakening of religious controversy in the -sixteenth century. - - - - - CHAPTER III - _The Free City_ - - - “... Venne il dì nostro - O milanesi, e vincere bisogna.”—CARDUCCI. - -After the blows and humiliation which the Milanese Church suffered in -the eleventh century from the united attack of Rome and the people, it -was no longer able to stem the popular movement towards freedom. -Throughout the long civil war the incipient Republic had been developing -and gradually limiting, more and more, the domination of the archbishop -and the nobles. This process, which was being repeated everywhere in -Lombardy, was greatly favoured by the weakness of the Empire during the -long minority of Henry IV. The cities, freed from the intervention of a -foreign suzerain, were able to shake off to some extent the rule of -feudalism. The great war waged later by Gregory VII. and his kindred -spirit, the Gran Contessa Matilda, against Henry IV. and the claims of -imperialism, promoted, with the power of the Papacy, the freedom of the -Communes, and showed in these two great elements of the national life -unity of aim, Italy’s best defence against the stranger. - -By the end of the eleventh century Milan was, in all its external -relations, practically a free city, owning little more than nominal -allegiance and a ceremonious reverence to the Emperor, and allying -herself now with him, now with his resolute foe Matilda, or defying the -one and the other, as it pleased her best. Within the community itself -the principle of popular freedom and representation was recognised in -the government, and by means of constant insurrections the lower orders -had forced the nobles to recognise their rights. The Commune, whose -birth historians have dated from the great revolution of 1066 when -Lanzone kept Archbishop Ariberto and the nobles in exile for three -years, was now in full being. The institution about this time of -elective magistrates, whose title of _Consuls_ revived the old Latin -tradition of the city, marks the emancipation of the young Republic from -the archiepiscopal despotism. But the share of the ordinary citizens in -the privileges of this Constitution was still much restricted. The -Consuls appear to have been chosen exclusively at first from the higher -class, whose hereditary habit of authority fitted them to govern, and -under a constitutional form these officials tended to repeat the old -aristocratic oligarchy. But the nobles had no longer any legal support -in their attempts to tyrannise, and the whole system of government was -in a state of flux, and subjected to ceaseless modifications and change -by the continual revolts of the people, who, by the simple force of -numbers, made their strength felt, and vindicated their growing -pretensions to a larger part in the affairs of their city. - -The same vitality which had won Milan her own freedom impelled her to -the oppression of the weaker communities around her. Her first -fulfilment of this tragic law of progress was the destruction of her -neighbour, Lodi, a strong and flourishing community, whose rivalry was a -constant menace to her own trade and prosperity. There was a -long-standing hatred between the two cities. The times lent abundant -pretext to the Communes to make war upon one another. The quarrel -between Empire and Church entangled them all in its immense web. Each, -in embracing the one or the other cause, was guided by its local -sympathies and antipathies, and reflected the general strife on a -smaller scale in its relations with its neighbours. - -In 1111, Milan, ally of the Church, scarcely waiting till Lodi’s -protector, the Emperor Henry V., had turned his back for the time on -Lombardy, attacked the smaller city in full force, and ruined it to the -foundations. The miserable inhabitants, sternly forbidden to rebuild -their old homes, made poor little hamlets in which to shelter themselves -in the vicinity, and there dragged on a poverty-stricken existence under -the oppressive yoke of their conquerors, who jealously deprived them of -every means of recovery. Yet the wonderful vitality which animated these -young Italian communities preserved Lodi from utter despair, and -smouldered in her, ready to burst out in revolt on the first -opportunity. - -Milan’s next enterprise was the subjugation of Como, which was fast -developing into a rich and powerful community, strong in the possession -of a lake navy. That city, however, resisted with great vigour, -retaliating with frequent success upon her aggressors, and before she -was finally subdued the war dragged on for ten years. Nearly all the -North Italian cities united with Milan against her, and she was finally -captured and burnt down in 1127, and her inhabitants compelled to swear -fealty to Milan. During the quarrel for the Empire between Lothair and -Conrad, after the death of Henry V., and the preoccupation of each of -those monarchs in turn with the affairs of Germany, the great Lombard -city pursued her sovereign way unchecked. Pavia, the old royal city, and -her chief rival, whose subjugation was to cost Milan yet three centuries -of almost ceaseless warfare, now felt, as often before, the strength of -her arm, and was compelled to bow to her will in the general councils of -Lombardy, and, with powerful Cremona and the rest of North Italy, to -follow her lead. - -But the aggressive and tyrannic conduct of the great city was preparing -for her an awful day of retribution. In 1152, the death of the Emperor -Conrad and the election of his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa, opened a -new era for Italy. The young monarch, half barbarian, half Paladin, was -resolved to restore the power of the Empire in Italy. The first step -towards this end was the reduction of the chief vassal, Milan, to the -obedience which she had so long forgotten. Her sins against her -neighbours gave him a pretext. One day, at a Diet at Constance (1153), -two citizens of Lodi, bearing heavy crosses upon their shoulders, to -signify the grievous afflictions which Milan had put upon their -community, entered the hall, and kneeling before the Emperor, besought -his protection and help. Frederick, having listened to their tale, swore -to punish their arrogant and usurping foe. He straightway despatched an -envoy, named Sicherius, to the Milanese, commanding them to cease from -oppressing Lodi. But so little was the distant power of the Empire -feared, in comparison with that of the great Lombard city near at hand, -that when the two Lodigiani, who had undertaken their mission without -the knowledge of their fellow-citizens, returned home, and proclaimed -the benevolent intentions of the new monarch, the people were -inexpressibly dismayed. With woeful countenances they execrated the -‘most stupid men’ who had brought them into this plight, and when -Sicherius appeared shortly after, they entreated him to abandon his -journey, lest he should bring the vengeance of Milan upon them. The -envoy, however, not daring to disobey the imperial mandate, proceeded on -his way, and presented his letters in Milan. The Consuls read them, -flung them on the ground, and stamped them under foot, imperial seal and -all, with fury and contempt. Sicherius himself escaped with difficulty -from their hands. Returning to Lodi, he told his tale, and the unhappy -citizens prepared themselves for immediate ruin. - -But Milan, having recovered calmness and begun to contemplate her rash -act with some trepidation, spared them for the time, and awaited the -development of events. This was not slow. Frederick, deeply offended, -descended upon Lombardy in the following year, with an enormous host, -fully resolved to humble the arrogant Milanese. He held a great Diet at -Roncaglia. Hither with the rest of the princes and magnates of Italy -came the Consuls of Milan, and offered all the ceremonial tokens of -submission and reverence. But the impossibility of reconciling the -differences between the monarch and the Republic quickly became evident. -Milan utterly refused to release Lodi and Como from her rule. The -Emperor soon proceeded to open hostility against the city. But he found -his task no light one. Milan’s sister communities were still withheld by -fear from lending aid to her foe, whose glittering show of authority -they held for transitory and insubstantial. Even Lodi was only persuaded -with difficulty to forswear her forced oath of fealty to her oppressor -and give credence to Frederick’s promises of protection. Her diffidence -was well justified. Frederick contented himself with besieging and -destroying Milan’s faithful ally, Tortona, capturing a few outlying -castles and laying waste her territory, and then, intent on compelling -Pope Hadrian to confirm his election by crowning him in Rome, he passed -on southwards (1155). The defiant Milanese immediately proceeded to -rebuild Tortona and to wage fierce war with the Pavesi, who, true to -their traditions, had given enthusiastic obedience to the new -representative of the Empire. Meanwhile Frederick, having received the -imperial diadem, made his way back through the eastern parts of Italy, -translating his heroic aspirations into a reality of fire and blood and -spoliation, and finally, having exhausted his treasury, returned into -Germany. His unlucky protégés of Lodi were abandoned to the mercy of -their enemies. Their villages were surprised and captured by the -Milanese, and the people compelled to flee in the darkness of night. -‘Who, seeing the women stumbling along the way, with their little ones, -some in their arms, some clinging to their garments, some falling behind -wailing—who seeing them fall into the ditches in the darkness and the -rain, would not have been sad and moved to compassion? Who would not -have been melted into tears?’ cries the chronicler Morena. Many died -from the hardships which they suffered, and the rest took refuge in -hamlets and in friendly Cremona. For the second time the Milanese -destroyed their homes and razed their city to the ground. - -The other allies of the Emperor also suffered the vengeance of the -arrogant city. Novara and Pavia and other communes had to lament defeat -and devastation. Thus Milan prepared for the new coming of the Emperor, -who, all well knew, was but biding his time and gathering strength for -the work of punishment. In 1158 he crossed the Alps again, followed by a -mighty host of vassals. He proceeded directly against Milan. The -citizens, who had fortified themselves during his absence with an -immense fosse and huge earthworks which enclosed a much wider circuit -than the old walls, calmly awaited his attack. With his company of -tributary kings and princes and archbishops, the Emperor sat down with -all solemn preparation round the city. To each gate was allotted a -prince in command of an army. Seeing the magnificent array and the -determined purpose of the invader, Milan’s fickle allies, one and all, -sent their forces to join him, anxious to propitiate the stronger party, -and not unwilling to strike a blow at their domineering leader. No less -than a hundred thousand fighting-men surrounded the city. Milan was -confronted with the fate which she had pitilessly inflicted on others. -Struck by sudden dismay, or persuaded by treacherous counsels, she had -hardly endured the siege for a month before she surrendered and humbled -herself to acknowledge the supremacy of the Emperor. Satisfied with her -prompt submission, Frederick confined his revenge to the exaction of his -full imperial rights, a penalty grievous enough to a community so long -accustomed to complete freedom. She was compelled to take the oath of -fealty to the Emperor, to restore to him the _regalia_—which consisted -chiefly of the produce of certain taxes—to renounce all pretensions of -sovereignty over Lodi and Como, and to accept an imperial legate as her -supreme magistrate. - -Frederick’s victory was, however, little more than a mockery. Milan’s -vitality and spirit of independence were too strong to be so easily -subdued. As soon as the Emperor had passed on to another part of Italy, -she boldly broke the newly-established peace and assaulted the German -garrisons left behind in Lombardy. Her example fired many of the other -cities to violate the obedience which they had sworn to the Emperor, and -the whole of North Italy was soon in arms again. Too rashly, however, -had the Milanese disregarded the nature of him whom they were defying. -Vowing to accomplish his purpose without mercy this time, Frederick -hastened back. Before attacking Milan again, he encamped before her -devoted ally, the small city of Crema, which, after a siege conducted -with barbarous ferocity, he captured and burnt. Still delaying his -vengeance on the chief offender, he spent two years in laying waste the -Milanese territory and capturing her castles, and having effectually -destroyed her sources of supply, he sat down once more (1161) before the -city marked by his implacable will for destruction. - -The siege lasted for seven months. No noble deeds of valour and chivalry -distinguished the German Paladin’s emprise; he accomplished his work by -the slow and cruel hand of famine. Every gate was closely blockaded, and -all compassionate bearers of food from outside to the starving people -were almost without exception captured, and either ruthlessly scourged -or maimed of the right hand. Frederick showed the besieged none of the -respect due to gallant foes. He strung up his prisoners on gallows, -nobles and plebeians alike, in the view of their kinsfolk and friends -within, or sent them back sightless into the city. Within the walls, -hunger reached such a pitch that in their madness husbands and wives, -fathers and sons, turned upon one another. The hideous selfishness of -bodily need disfigured the gaunt faces in the streets, while the -spectacle of the mutilated wretches who had passed through the Emperor’s -hands, breathed into all hearts dreadful apprehensions of their future -fate. In their despair the people cried out for surrender, and at last -the Consuls, aware of the inflexibility of the foe, and fearing that to -resist longer was to sacrifice the entire people to the extremity of his -vengeance, threw themselves upon the mercy of the Emperor, and -surrendered the city at discretion (1162). - -The scenes which follow paint vividly for us the tragedy of the great -city’s downfall. The magnitude of the punishment which Frederick meted -out to Milan invests him with a kind of sublimity. This was his -opportunity to deliver a blow which should resound to the four corners -of the earth, and accomplish, once for all, by the horror of its mere -narration, the subjugation of the rest of rebellious Lombardy. None knew -better than this mediæval monarch how to surround his revenge with all -those awful aspects and illusions of terror that impress the minds of -men. Day after day, processions of citizens, with bowed heads, and ropes -round their necks, presented themselves before him at his command, as he -sat enthroned in state in rebuilt Lodi, the Empress Beatrice at his -side, his vassal kings and princes on either hand, and still the doom of -the city remained unspoken. The eight Consuls—some of the noblest -patricians of Milan—came, holding their naked swords in their right -hands, and swore to do the will of the Conqueror. Next appeared three -hundred cavaliers, and kissing the Emperor’s foot, delivered up to him -the Milanese standards; while to Mastro Guitelmo, a man much revered by -his fellow-citizens, was committed the bitter charge of laying the keys -at his feet. Still another mark of humiliation was demanded of them, and -a day or two later came the Sacred Car itself, with the banner of the -Cross, and all the most venerable insignia of the Republic, to be -surrendered for the completion of Milan’s shame. - -Then at last the voice from the throne spoke, commanding that beside -every gate of the city the fosse should be filled up and the walls -destroyed, so that he might march in in triumph. Milan—who for centuries -had proudly claimed the right of keeping all sovereigns excluded from -the enclosure of her walls—was now herself to lay low her defences to -admit a victorious monarch. A few days later Frederick made his entrance -with his army over the ruined walls, and the dreadful fiat went forth, -dooming the great city to complete destruction. The inhabitants were -ordered to quit their homes, taking with them what they could carry. No -entreaty, no tears, even of his own followers, could move Frederick’s -resolve. The piteous spectacle of the outcast people, huddled in masses -outside the walls in the bitter cold of March, homeless, not knowing -where to go, and uttering loud lamentations, could not change his -inexorable purpose. With an extremity of cruelty he committed the work -of ruin to Milan’s neighbours and bitterest foes—the men of Lodi, Pavia, -Novara, Como, Cremona—all burning to retaliate a thousand wrongs. They -threw themselves with fury upon the doomed buildings, each community -satiating its vengeance on the quarter facing towards its own city. In a -very few days an incredible amount of destruction was wrought. But it -was the work of months to raze to the ground the towers, the fine -palaces and public buildings, many of them surviving from the days of -the Roman Empire, and the crowded habitations of a vast population. The -churches and religious houses alone were spared, and for a while the -campanile of the Cathedral, a tower of admirable beauty and height, -which had not its like, they say, in all Italy, still rose untouched -above the ruins, a beacon of consolation to the despairing people. But -at last, the implacable decree of the conqueror pronounced its sentence, -and that, too, fell. Finally not more than a fifth part of the fair -city, which men called the flower of Italy—the May City—was left -standing. - -From the spectacle of burning Milan, which he watched with his own eyes, -the magnanimous Avenger passed on with his Empress to celebrate the -Feast of Olives at Pavia! Frederick was now the dread of all Italy. The -trembling cities of Lombardy crept to his feet and kissed them. The -crown of Italy, hitherto withheld from him and now conceded by fear, was -set upon his head. As for the Milanese, crowded in the poor villages and -suburbs around their ruined city, and barely able to exist, they were -fain to accept any conditions which he imposed. - -But the great Emperor’s fortunes had reached the flood, and the turn was -at hand. To have made his triumph enduring he must have exterminated all -Lombardy. While the Milanese people breathed, the Republic lived in -spirit, only awaiting the least relief from the pressure of the -conqueror to take substance once again. And now that its sins and -arrogance had been wiped out by such an awful expiation, the hatred and -jealousy of the sister Communes changed to compassion. The deep roots of -a common nationality began to stir. Moreover, all were enslaved alike, -all groaned together under the intolerable oppression of the imperial -officers who had been substituted for their old system of -self-government. ‘They who had been used to live without restraint at -ease and in liberty, and to dispose of their own affairs according to -their will, held this bondage as the deepest shame, saying among -themselves that it was better to die than to suffer such shame, such -dishonour,’ writes Morena. Ground down with grievous and irregular -taxation, their noblest citizens flung as hostages into the governors’ -dungeons, their industry and commerce strangled, they began to regard -war even with the terrible Barbarossa as preferable to this degradation -and slow ruin. Their spirit of revolt was encouraged by that great -counterbalancing power to the Empire, the Papacy, which after a period -of schism and depression was lifting its head once more. In Alexander -III., now completely victorious over the rival Pope Victor, nominated by -Barbarossa, the Communes found that inspiration and direction which it -was Rome’s traditional part to give to the cause of freedom and -nationality. The papal excommunication laid upon their oppressor gave -the consecration of a religious cause to rebellion. Fomented by secret -emissaries from Rome, the movement grew and gathered head. Disturbances -broke out everywhere in North Italy, and culminated in a meeting of -envoys from five Communes—Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, Mantua, -Ferrara—with the delegates of Milan at a convent near Bergamo (1167), -and the formation of a defensive alliance, which was to become the -famous Lombard League. The first thing resolved on by the allies was the -rebuilding of Milan and the protection of the city from every foe until -she should grow strong enough to defend herself. A week or two later the -unhappy Milanese, huddling together in their wretched hovels, and -momentarily expecting a second destruction from their old enemies of -Pavia, were rejoiced at the sight of the horsemen of Bergamo, with their -banner displayed, riding swiftly to their succour. Troops from the other -friendly cities followed. The Milanese were solemnly conducted into -their ruined city on the 27th April 1167, and the work of restoration -began. With marvellous rapidity new walls and dwellings grew up. -Gathering confidence and strength every day, the League soon broke into -active hostility against those communities which remained faithful to -the Emperor, and the castles occupied by his garrisons. Lodi was -compelled by force to join the new fellowship. Fresh accessions came -continually, and by the end of the following year the League numbered -twenty-three cities, all sworn to resist the usurpations of the emperor -with the sword. Pavia, almost alone, remained aloof, faithful to her -hate of Milan. - -Frederick, returning hastily from a campaign against the Pope, found his -castles captured, Milan re-risen defiant from her ashes, and all North -Italy armed against him. The Emperor was not equal to this new -situation. His former triumph had, in fact, only been achieved by the -aid of a part of the cities themselves, and his German levies, -diminished by fighting and pestilence, were powerless to contend with a -vast hostile combination of all together. His army and his very person -were in utmost peril. There was one way only of salvation for -him—retreat. In a manner very different to the majesty of his coming, -with furtive haste, unknown even to his allies, he stole back to Germany -early in 1168. - -Six years passed before the Emperor felt himself strong enough to -confront his rebellious vassals again. In his prolonged absence the -Lombard League had acquired mighty strength. Milan had arisen from her -chastening of shame and sorrow stronger and more honourable than before. -Renouncing her old vexatious claims upon her smaller neighbours, she now -contented herself with the dignity of leadership among the Communes. The -League gathered itself together to meet the new onslaught of Barbarossa, -and though he spread terror and desolation throughout the land, his -effort to subdue the steady resistance of the cities was fruitless. His -purpose was contrary to the laws of nature, and the stars in their -courses fought against him. Pavia, Como and the Marquis of Montferrat -supported him alone of all North Italy. In May 1176, impatient to strike -a crushing blow against the rebels, Frederick was marching with new -reinforcements from Germany to join his Lombard allies when, a few miles -from Milan, between Busto Arsizio and Legnano, he encountered the -Milanese army, which had come forth with the Sacred Car in its midst to -stay his progress. A great battle took place. Driven back at first by -the Teuton cavalry, the Republican soldiers, who had taken a desperate -vow to conquer or to die, rallied around the Caroccio, and fought with -such obstinate courage that they beat back every assault of the foe, and -at last, with a sudden rush, utterly routed them and drove them into -flight. The slain, the captives, and the fugitives drowned in the Ticino -could not be numbered. The monarch’s treasure-chest fell into the hands -of the victors, and a more precious booty still, his shield, his banner -and his lance. His very person was missing after the battle, and the -Empress, waiting in the Castle of Baradello, clothed herself in black -and mourned him for dead. He had, however, escaped in safety, and a few -days later made his way to Pavia. - -The splendid victory of Legnano decided once and for all the fate of -Lombardy. Frederick realised at last the strength of the despised -citizen forces, and condescended to seek for peace. In the following -year (1177) at Venice was held that famous meeting of Pope, Emperor and -the Consuls of the Lombard Communes, at which legend and art express the -humiliation of the invader and the triumph of Italy, by picturing the -monarch prostrate beneath the foot of the Pope. A truce of six years was -agreed upon at this Congress, and at the end of that period the famous -Peace of Constance (1183) finally confirmed to the cities all the -privileges for which they had so nobly fought. The right of -self-government, of war and peace, the possession of the regalia, with -other minor prerogatives, were secured to them in perpetuity, and the -only dues to be paid by them to the Emperor were a ceremonial fealty, an -annual tribute, certain supplies when he visited the country in person, -and the acceptance of his legate as the ultimate judge in the courts of -judicature. - -Thus did Lombardy win freedom. For reborn Milan, her new position and -dignity was signalised in 1186 by the appearance of her late foe and -oppressor in the character of a gracious guest, and the celebration of -the marriage of his son, Henry, King of the Romans, with Constance of -Sicily, in the basilica of St. Ambrogio. But the narrow crooked streets -that had grown hastily up around the churches, and the few surviving -fragments from the destruction of 1162, were no image of the imperial -Milan of the past, nor did the fair words and mutual promises of -friendship which passed between Frederick and the citizens express the -real feelings of either party. When, sick at the failure of his worldly -projects, the yet vigorous warrior turned his ambition to that holier -enterprise, the conquest of the Sepulchre of Christ, and leaping one hot -day into an insignificant stream in Syria, was drowned in its shallow -flow, all Milan broke into rejoicing. Nor was there ever kindness -between the Republic and his descendants. The Milanese consistently -opposed and thwarted the policy of Henry VI., and after his early death -did their utmost to depress the House of Suabia by warmly supporting -Otho IV. against the interests of Henry’s infant son Frederick. - -During the reign of Otho, while the political field was divided between -him and the young Suabian prince, the disputed imperial authority had no -power to harm, and Milan was free to resume the interrupted process of -development and expansion. As before, this process was not a peaceful -one. The subsidence of the Teutonic flood had left behind bitter dregs -in Lombardy in the shape of new causes of feud and animosity between -individual Communes. Relieved from the pressure of Frederick’s tyranny, -the cities readjusted themselves on the lines of their former divisions. -The Lombard League broke up into warring elements, and the restless land -fermented with a cruel internecine strife. - -[Illustration: ATRIUM OF ST. AMBROGIO] - -But when, some years later, Frederick II., grown to manhood, had cast -off the bondage in which the Pope had fettered his youth, and seated on -the imperial throne proved himself indeed _the third blast of Suabia_, -heir in spirit as in blood of his mighty grandsire, the Communes proved -true to one another, and to the newly threatened cause of freedom, and -the great Lombard League, with Milan at its head, sprang to life again -to face the tyrant. During the long and desolating wars which -Frederick’s ambition inflicted upon North Italy, Milan steadfastly -fought against him, even when most of her fellows had been induced by -fear or self-interest to desert the good cause. Late in 1237 her army, -which had marched to the aid of the Brescians, was surprised by the -imperial host at Cortenuova and suffered a crushing defeat. Multitudes -of her soldiers perished, and the Sacred Car itself, stuck fast in -morasses, had to be abandoned in the retreat. Its defenders were able, -however, to save the Cross and Banner, and break the car to pieces. -Frederick’s exultation over these fragments, upon which he bound the -captive Podestà of Milan, Pietro Tiepolo, son of the Doge of Venice, and -dragged him, in imitation of a Roman triumph, through the streets of -Cremona, is a measure of the importance which he attached to his victory -over the Lombard city. - -With the defeat of Cortenuova the cause of the Communes seemed lost. All -trembled beneath the heel of the conqueror, save Milan and the ‘lioness’ -Brescia, and one or two others. To the Emperor’s summons to surrender at -discretion the Milanese returned messages of defiance. They had the -support of the Pope, whose emissaries, the mendicant friars, mingled -everywhere with the masses of the people, exhorting them to resistance. -In 1239, Gregory proclaimed a crusade against the oppressor, whose -destruction thus became a sacred obligation upon the faithful. The Cross -and the Sceptre, irreconcilable emblems, now confronted each other with -a clear and definite issue. - -A year and a half passed after Cortenuova before Frederick actually -invaded the Milanese territory. The Republic, heartened by the -magnificent example of Brescia, whose successful resistance to a nine -months’ siege had delayed the Emperor’s designs against the chief city -and greatly dimmed his military glory, went boldly forth to meet him. A -noble of gigantic stature, named Ottobello da Mandello, towering in his -mail of proof over friends and foes alike, led the citizen knights -undauntedly against Frederick’s Saracen troops from Sicily, whose dark -faces and infidel garb, joined to ferocious courage, made them a name of -terror throughout Italy. With the Milanese fought Gregorio da -Montelungo, papal legate, and the Franciscan Fra Leone da Perego, -afterwards Archbishop of Milan, besides a great number of friars, Minor, -Preaching and Umiliati, _who not only, girding themselves with swords -and putting on helmets, displayed the false image of soldiers_, but also -excited the citizens to the conflict by promising absolution to all who -offended the person of the Emperor or of any of his followers, as -Frederick himself complained in a letter to the King of England. No -regular pitched battle, however, took place. The Republicans fought with -the stratagem of those attacked in their own country, and by cunningly -entangling the enemy amid their streams and canals, opening dams and -loosing the waters upon him, plunging him into hidden pitfalls, and -surprising him with sudden attacks in his most embarrassed moments, -drove him by the aid of sword and flood out of their territory. - -Six years later (1245) the Emperor again invaded the Milanese country, -which in the meanwhile had been laid bare by a desolating war of several -years with his ally, Pavia. But fortune was still against him. His son -Enzo, newly created King of Sardinia, encountering a citizen force one -day, ventured himself too boldly in single combat with a Republican -knight, and was overthrown and made prisoner. Frederick, having obtained -his release, withdrew his army, and made no further attempt to subdue -the great Lombard city. - -Thus was Milan’s account with the House of Suabia closed for ever. With -the failure of Frederick’s fortunes and his death in 1250 was -extinguished the last appearance of that great mediæval idea—the Holy -Roman Empire—as a dangerous element in Italian politics. The imperial -tradition might linger on and cause a temporary disturbance from time to -time in the peninsula, influencing the vicissitudes of its internal -quarrels, but it had no longer power to revolutionise or molest the -settled constitution of the free Lombard Communes. The mediæval triumph -of Italy over the foreigner was accomplished. In the course of the last -two centuries, Milan, in whose development is mirrored that of all -Lombardy, had completely asserted and defined her nationality. In her -Church, in her constitution, law and sentiment, she was now one at last -with the rest of Italy. It remained for her, leader in the long struggle -now happily determined, to produce in the epoch of Strong Men which was -about to succeed the epoch of the People, the man strong enough to -overthrow all rivals and to weld the many independent cities and States -of the peninsula into a united Italy under an Italian king. How she -tried to do this and failed will be seen later. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - _The Reign of Faction_ - - - “Factions alone are the cause of our great ills.”—PRATO. - -So wrote a Milanese chronicler in the sixteenth century. Had the people -but one mind, he adds, assuredly no city would be more pleasant and -fortunate than theirs. His complaint holds equally good for the -thirteenth century. The presence of a foreign invader did indeed produce -a temporary union of heart and hand, and so far the earlier generations -show a noble contrast to their descendants of three hundred years later. -But even while Frederick II. was still in the land, and in response to -opportunities of selfish advantage offered by alliance with him, there -were constant defections from the League, and we find the whole of North -Italy seething with the warfare of city against city. After his death, -when the mutual rage and hate was no longer checked by any fear of a -general oppressor, the strife was continued with worse fury under _the -diabolical names of Guelf and Ghibelline_, to use the expression of a -contemporary writer, the divisions between city and city being repeated -within each community itself. The Lombard scene dissolves into a -whirling confusion of fratricidal war, in which beneath the -cross-currents and blind purposes of individual passion and greed, we -may distinguish the two steady principles of the Church and democracy on -the one side, and the aristocratic and feudal element, deriving its -right from the Empire, on the other. In Milan the issue, which had long -before defined itself as a struggle between nobles and people, remains -fairly clear. The plebeians had forced their way more and more into the -government. Their right to share in the election of the Consuls had been -long conceded, and some among them had even taken a place in that august -body. In 1198 they had acquired the strength of union and organisation -by forming themselves into an association calling itself the _Credenza -di Saint Ambrogio_, with elective magistrates and officers of its own, -and a certain share in the government and the revenues of the community. -This body consisted of the lesser trades and guilds, but excluded the -mass of poorer artisans and labourers. The merchants, bankers, traders -in wool, etc., had their corporation also; the lesser nobles were banded -in a society called the _Motta_, and the great nobles formed the -_Società dei Gagliardi_, so that no less than four _factions_ existed in -Milan at the opening of the thirteenth century, besides the populace, -which threw its weight on one side or another, with the quick -inconsistency of irresponsibility and impulse. Each faction had its -separate claims and ambitions, but the tendency of the three lower ones -was to unite against the great nobles, who, amid continual uproar and -conflict, were gradually stripped of their exclusive power and -privileges. And in 1258 the last and most sacred enclosure of their -caste was stormed and carried by the Vulgar: a decree of the Republic -threw open the highest offices of the Ambrosian Church to plebeians. The -twelfth and thirteenth centuries were, in fact, the Epoch of the People, -and though all classes, high and low, fought loyally together against -Barbarossa and Frederick II., it was the democratic preponderance in the -city which determined its steady opposition to the imperial pretensions. -The same principle threw Milan on the Guelf side, which she upheld with -ardour in the general Lombard warfare, manifesting her party zeal -especially in a fierce intermittent war with Pavia. That city was as -necessarily Ghibelline, though the party cry on either side was but the -excuse for the efforts of the one to hasten and the other to delay the -inevitable absorption of the lesser by the greater. - -With the power of the people was associated as of old the predominance -of papal influence in the city and the depression of the archiepiscopal -See. St. Peter had now completely subjected St. Ambrose. The assumption -of supremacy in temporal as well as spiritual matters on the part of the -Popes, their constant interference by means of legates, the activity of -their innumerable and ubiquitous agents, the friars, had indeed reduced -the seat of Ariberto to comparative insignificance, while the decay of -feudal power and the depression of the aristocracy had robbed it of its -wealth. But even assisted by the Pope, and at the height of their -strength and triumph, the popular forces were impotent to establish any -enduring order in the city. The nobles were still too powerful to submit -peaceably to political inferiority. Moreover, as the offices and honours -once confined to them became open to all, the successful and wealthy -plebeians tended to join the upper class, which began to lose -distinction of race in that of wealth and ability. The aristocracy, thus -continually replenished with new blood, received fresh vigour and life, -and the old divisions gradually merged into two classes, the _milites_, -who fought on horseback and in armour, and the _plebs_, or general mass -of citizens, who, little trained and lightly armed, accompanied the -horsemen into battle on foot. The struggle between these two radical -orders transformed Milan’s short period of republican liberty into a -scene of anarchy and civil warfare, leading to the inevitable end of -faction and strife, the tyranny of an individual. - -Already by the end of the twelfth century the struggle of the factions -over the annual election of the Consuls occasioned so much tumult and -bloodshed, that the citizens in despair agreed with one accord to submit -themselves to the government of a Podestà chosen from outside. But this -device for peace ended by aggravating the strife. The faction uppermost -for the time appointed a fierce partisan from another city, perhaps the -leader of an exiled faction, who embroiled Milan with his own Commune, -and exalted his sympathisers within her walls at the expense of the -other party. The general discontent and disorder was reflected in -constant changes in the Constitution. In the absence of any stable -principle of government the power tended to fall into the hands of -individuals. This was the opportunity of the nobles, from whose order -the leaders of men naturally sprang. Taking advantage of the forces -ready to their hands, these put themselves at the head of aristocrats or -plebs, without much regard for principle, and in so doing resumed their -ancient pre-eminence in the community, and initiated the new Epoch of -Great Men, which was to succeed the failing Epoch of the People. - -This process, at work throughout Lombardy, is shown in the second half -of the thirteenth century in Milan by the gradual narrowing of the -general party issue into a struggle for predominance between two great -Houses, who represent and sum up in their mutual quarrel the diverse -aims of the factions, and divide the community into two sharply defined -and bitterly hostile bands, which fall inevitably, though by no means -very precisely, into the wide general division of Guelf and Ghibelline. -These were the Houses of the Della Torre, or Torriani, and of the -Visconti. - -In the race for supremacy the first far outstripped the second. The -Della Torre were country nobles, who had, however, long been subjects -and citizens of Milan, and though living usually on their estates in the -Valsassina, they often appeared in the city and took part in its -government and politics. They are named among the Capitani—the great -secular nobles of Milan—from early in the twelfth century. They had from -the first aided and protected the cause of the people against their own -order, and it was this sympathy which lifted them to greatness on the -democratic wave of the thirteenth century. - -The power of this House in Milan arose first out of the gratitude of the -city for the compassionate succour which Pagano della Torre, head of the -House in 1237, gave to the wounded and starving fugitives from the -disastrous battle of Cortenuova, whom he sheltered and tended in the -Valsassina, and afterwards helped to get back safely to Milan. The -Commune rewarded him with offices and with gifts of houses, and from -that time the Torriani became regular inhabitants of the city and the -principal leaders of the people’s faction. - -Pagano _the Good_ himself died in 1241, but left a numerous kindred to -inherit his popularity. In this year Frate Leone da Perego was elected -Archbishop of Milan. The new Primate secretly aspired to raise his See -to its old power and importance, and to shake off the tutelage of the -Pope, and though but a year or two before he had fought loyally, as we -have seen, beside the papal legate in the ranks marshalled against -Frederick II., he now put himself at the head of the aristocratic party, -and even invoked, it may be suspected, the aid of the powerful forces of -heresy. But against the nobles was ranged Martino della Torre, nephew of -Pagano, as leader of the people, who, in 1249, elected him their head -with the title of _Anziano_,—Ancient—of the Credenza, and the Franciscan -Leone was more than matched by the Dominican Pietro da Verona, whose -zeal, sanctity, and awful inquisitorial powers were the strongest -support of the Papacy in Milan. The murder of the Inquisitor in 1252 was -almost certainly prompted by partisan motives. But it failed signally in -its political as in its sectarian purpose, and for Papacy, people, and -the Dominican Order alike, the bloody crown of the Martyr became an -emblem of united strength and triumph. His death was followed by -insurrections of the people. After a few years of comparative peace -under the strong Podestà Manfredo Lancia, the feud between the two -parties broke out afresh, and the Archbishop and nobles were driven out -of the city. The following year a reconciliation took place (1257), and -was solemnly confirmed in a treaty called the ‘Peace of St. Ambrose.’ In -this the privileges already won by the popular party were formally -conceded to them. All dignities and offices in the Commune, from the -highest minister down to the town-trumpeter, were to be equally divided -between the nobles and the Plebeians. Both sides swore to observe the -peace in perpetuity. Yet two months later it was broken, and the nobles -once more banished by the all-powerful Della Torre. They united with the -Ghibellines of the other cities, and even treated with the terrible -Ezzelino da Romano, whom the trembling populations of North Italy -believed to be the son of the Devil. They promised him the Lordship of -Milan if he would aid them, and in 1259, the last desperate year of his -evil course, the Trevisan chief, issuing forth from Brescia, made a -sudden stealthy dash with his famous horsemen upon the city. Martino -della Torre, deceived as to the invader’s movements, had led the -Milanese to meet him in another direction, and the city was undefended -for the moment, and must have fallen into Ezzelino’s hands had not -warning reached Martino just in time for him to hasten home and man the -walls, thus defeating Ezzelino’s purpose. - -The growing power of the Della Torre began before long to rouse -suspicion and distrust in Rome, in spite of their steady championship of -the popular cause. The hold of the Papacy upon Milan was in fact -somewhat uncertain. The people still remembered with pride the ancient -tradition of their Church, and were inclined at times to resent the -constant interference of the Pope and his inquisitorial friars. In this -feeling lay the possibility of a union between the Archbishop and the -democratic party, which it was the policy of Rome to avert, even at the -cost of prolonging and aggravating the miserable state of civil war in -Milan. On the death of Frate Leone in 1257, the Della Torre sought to -raise Raimondo, a son of Pagano the Good, to the archiepiscopal throne. -Their intention was defeated by the opposition of the nobles, secretly -instigated by Urban IV., and after some years of controversy over the -vacant seat, Urban, thinking to hold the balance of parties in his own -hands, appointed to it Otto Visconte (1263). The paradoxical spectacle -of the Pope raising a Ghibelline noble to power, and the noble accepting -it from the Pope—one of those strange eddies constantly occurring in the -political current of the day—was completed by the alliance of the Della -Torre with the celebrated Captain, Oberto da Pellavicino, protector of -heretics, close comrade once of Ezzelino and the Ghibellines, and mortal -foe of the Church. Into the hands of this typical figure of the North -Italian drama, Martino, pressed by the hostility of the nobles and the -secret machinations of the Pope, had in 1259 surrendered the Lordship of -Milan for five years. Under his leadership the Torriani oppressed the -friars, drove out the papal legate, Cardinal Ottaviano da Ubaldino, and -on the elevation of Otto Visconte to the See, seized upon all the -episcopal territories and revenues, and kept the new prelate for years -out of his ecclesiastical capital. Pope Urban retaliated with spiritual -thunders, and Milan lay long under the heavy spell of the papal -interdict. - -The Visconti and the Torriani were already deadly foes. The House of the -Snake, which in Archbishop Otto, was now about to begin its great -ascent, to the overthrow and destruction of the Tower of its rivals, -probably derived its origin and name from one of the Viscounts of the -Carlovingian rule, who had succeeded in converting the territory -entrusted to his administration into an hereditary appanage. It was, in -any case, of great antiquity in the city. The famous cognizance which -its later career invested with a peculiar terror, is said to have been -won by a noble crusader of the House, also an Otto, in single combat -with a Saracen, who carried a shield emblazoned with the device of a -seven-coiled serpent devouring a child. Otto slew the Saracen and -adopted the device, which he transmitted to his descendants, and with it -who knows what mysterious and persistent curse of guile and cruelty? - -It is with Archbishop Otto, however, that the real fortunes of the House -begin. Strong, crafty and determined, with a power of biding his time -observable in a singular degree in all the notable members of his race, -Otto was the right man to foster and direct the gradually reviving power -of the nobles in Milan and lead them to victory over the Della Torre and -the people. But for fifteen years he fought and intrigued in vain, -leading his fellow-exiles and the forlorn hope of the Ghibelline party -in Lombardy against the swelling tide of Guelf success, which the death -of Ezzelino da Romano, the overthrow of the House of Suabia in Manfred -and Corradino, and the ascendency of Anjou in the South, had brought to -the full. The domination of the Torriani seemed to become every day more -assured. Heads of the Lombard League, Martino and his family were -all-powerful in North Italy. They drove the Ghibellines out of the -surrounding cities, and established their own sympathisers in power -everywhere. Many of the Communes accepted the actual sway of the great -House. Martino died in 1263, and was buried in the Monastery of -Chiaravalle. He was succeeded by his brother Filippo, on whose death, -two years later, Napo, a son of the good Pagano, assumed the -chieftainship. - -[Illustration: CHIARAVALLE] - -Meanwhile the capital itself, spared, under the protection of these -great lords, the bloody succession of sieges and captures which laid -waste its neighbours, where the more evenly balanced parties caused -revolutions with bewildering frequency, increased rapidly in wealth and -luxury. The narrow, tortuous streets overflowed with the full, -rich-coloured, sharply chequered life of the thirteenth century. Some -terrible scene of Ghibelline prisoners slaughtered in the market-place, -and dragged, mangled and bleeding, at the tails of horses through the -streets, with yelling crowds of children after them, is succeeded by a -May-Day holiday, when the most illustrious youths and maidens of the -city, splendidly adorned, ‘weave joyful dances’ beneath pavilions spread -in all the open spaces. And the blue sky roofing the sunny squares is -suddenly darkened by the smoke ascending from the death-pyre of a -heretic, while lean mendicant Brothers look on with triumph, certain -that the cry which comes from that breaking chrysalis is the voice of -the Devil discomfited. Now troops, knights and men-at-arms in clanking -armour, with tattered banners held high, trample in over the drawbridge, -returning from some exploit against the Ghibellines. Or it is a -multitude of moaning Flagellants, in white shrouds stained with blood, -whose self-inflicted lashes can scarcely fall fast enough to keep time -with the pangs of their guilty consciences, as they hurl themselves -against the gates, which the stout captains of the city keep shut, -judging that fifteen different sects within their walls are enough, -without admitting these crazy penitents to upset the unsteady minds of -the people. - -The narrow streets were filled with the hum of busy industries. Fine -palaces and comfortable dwellings abounded, with wells and mills and all -the necessaries of a prosperous existence. But wealth and its pleasant -habits were causing the Milanese to forget the liberty for which they -had once made all sacrifice. That word of sinister omen—_Signore_—was -heard without protest among them. They had granted the title voluntarily -to Martino della Torre, and both he and Filippo called themselves -Perpetual Lords of Milan. The people preferred a domination which at -least secured them peace, to the loss and suffering caused by continual -civil struggles. Moreover, absorbed in trade and in peaceful industry, -they had no time or inclination for the rapidly developing art of war, -and a class of highly trained professional soldiers, fully equipped with -weapons and armour, who engaged themselves for hire to any Commune, were -superseding more and more the old city militia, composed of all the -able-bodied men. These mercenaries, who owned no allegiance except to -the master who paid them, lent enormous power to the ruler of a city, -who, by means of them, was able to overawe discontent in the people. -Thus, aided by the conditions of the times, the Torriani gradually -established a virtual despotism over Milan, though careful not to alarm -the popular mind by any grander sounding titles. It was not long, -however, before they abandoned even this degree of caution, and in 1273 -Napo persuaded the Emperor Rudolph to grant him the title of Imperial -Vicar of Milan, thus obtaining a legal sanction for his usurpation. - -[Illustration: VIA DEL PESCE] - -Napo was a wise and prudent man, but in this step he went too far. The -Della Torre fortune was even then on the wane. The Milanese might -rejoice in the peace which despotism bestowed, but they loudly resented -being called upon to pay for it by new and heavy taxation, and all the -lovers of liberty feared the novel and arrogant title of Imperial Vicar. -Among the supporters of the ruling House themselves, the long course of -power enjoyed by the Torriani had bred envy and enmity. Dissensions -arose, and the discontented were punished by spoliation and banishment. -Numbers abandoned the party and joined Otto Visconte. Tumults shook the -city once more, and sedition secretly gathered head. Napo, feeling his -power slipping from him, used the cruel and tyrannous measures of -despair to save himself and his House. Otto and the exiles, on the other -hand, braced by adversity and clinging together in a determined band, -were daily gaining strength. They were aided by the other Ghibellines of -Lombardy, especially by the Pavesi, and with continual attacks and raids -upon the Milanese territory they strove to vex and weaken the party in -power. Nevertheless, for some years still their cause seemed hopeless. -The Della Torre, who had cast off Oberto da Pellavicino when they were -strong enough to do without him, had reconciled themselves with the -Papacy in 1274, and their great prestige was apparently strong enough to -defy defections and subdue discontent. - -But time and circumstance were steadily undermining the great House, and -with a sudden crash it fell. On a certain January night in 1277, the -wife of Matteo Visconte was delivered, we are told, of her first son, -who, because he was born _ad cantu galli_, as the cocks were -crowing—heralding a false dawn, as their habit is in winter -midnights—was named _Galeazzo_, first of the many of that name who were -to crow over Milan. It was at this very moment that Otto Visconte—who, -with his great-nephew, father of the new-born babe, and the rest of his -kinsmen, had been making desperate attacks upon various points in the -Milanese country, with little success so far—was creeping stealthily in -the darkness, at the head of a strong body of fighting men, towards -Desio, a village ten miles from Milan, where the Della Torre, disdainful -of their oft-beaten foe, were sleeping encamped, with but a small force -and under a careless watch. Awakened by the noise of attack, these -latter rushed to arms; but too late. The enemy was in their midst. -Francesco della Torre, son of Napo, fell pierced with wounds. The chief -himself, overthrown in his weighty armour, lay grieving helplessly upon -the ground, and with a crowd of sons and kinsmen was made captive. All -was over. Otto Visconte rode victorious at last into Milan, where the -citizens, who had heard of the discomfiture of their lords as they were -starting with the Caroccio to the rescue, suited their faith to the -occasion, and with immense applause and jubilee proclaimed the prelate -Lord of Milan. - -Thus, by the hazard of a moment’s battle, the long supremacy of the -Torriani was overthrown. Napo was imprisoned in the terrible Tower of -Baradello, whose ruins still crest a hill a mile or two on the Milanese -side of Como. Here, within the bars of a cage, the once mighty chief -languished for a year and a half till he died. - -Meanwhile, the change of ruler had brought the city none of the relief -from war and its burdensome cost, which the people had fondly expected. -The kinsmen and adherents of the exiled family in the city were very -numerous and strong, and the whole Guelf party in Lombardy was anxious -to bring about the restoration of the Torriani. The new Lord of Milan -was attacked with fury, and could only maintain himself by the energetic -use of the sword, and by those same methods of proscription and -banishment with which his predecessors had made themselves odious. - -Otto was now, however, an old man, and worn out by the ceaseless -struggles of his life. His mind was beset with the fears and suspicions -of one who, under the stress of ambition, had himself practised overmuch -deceit and treachery, and some years before his death, in 1295, he had -surrendered the chieftainship to the young and ambitious Matteo. With -extraordinary prudence and sagacity, Matteo steered his way amid the -rocks and stormy waves of his course, beating back the open attacks of -his enemies, matching their plots and snares with an invincible -subtlety, and so ingratiating himself with the citizens by a show of -moderation, piety and benevolence, that in a few years his somewhat -unstable authority had transmuted itself, in accordance with the -apparent will of the people, into virtual sovereignty. By force of craft -rather than arms he had made himself master in Como, Alexandria, Novara -and the Montferrat territory, and his conciliatory policy towards the -opposite party won for him enormous influence as arbitrator in the -disputes which ever racked Lombardy. He even propitiated Pope Boniface -VIII. by politic concessions, which in no way lessened his own power. In -1294 his gifts and flattery prevailed upon the Emperor Adolfo to grant -him the potent title of Imperial Vicar of Lombardy. - -But the stealthy march of the Visconte’s ambition did not go unchecked. -His pretensions roused the Guelf party to new efforts against him, and -the impetuosity and recklessness of his sons as they grew up wrecked his -careful plans, and excited once more to fiery heat those party passions -which it was his aim to smooth and allay. His love for the splendid -Galeazzo, born at the cock-crow of the Viscontean day, was the father’s -undoing. In pursuance of his policy of tranquillising the party strife -which forbade all stable and settled government in North Italy, Matteo -made a marriage for this son with Beatrice d’Este, widow of Nino -Visconte, Judge of Gallura, and sister of the Marquis of Ferrara, -recognised chief of the Guelf party in Lombardy. The marriage was of -evil omen for the Visconti. We all know those sad words on the little -durability of woman’s love which fall from the ghost of the forgotten -husband in the _Purgatorio_.[1] - -Footnote 1: - - Canto viii., vv. 73-81. - -The foreboding of disaster which they contain was justified; for though -in the end the Viper was able to give Beatrice as fine a sepulture as -the Cock of Gallura could have done, yet the events which soon fell out -might well have made her regret the _bende bianche_ which she had -exchanged for the bridal garland. The marriage, far from reconciling the -two political parties, had only thrown together a pair of extremely hot -and indiscreet heads in Galeazzo and Azzo VIII. of Ferrara. The vast -ambitions which both were suspected of nourishing roused the fear of -Guelfs and Ghibellines alike. Appointed Captain of the Milanese people, -Galeazzo only succeeded in alienating the citizens and strengthening his -enemies by his injudicious and unfortunate military enterprises. The -Torriani and their partisans, who had long suffered eclipse, had begun -to regain influence and allies, and a formidable league was formed in -Lombardy to overthrow the Visconti. A long struggle followed, and day by -day Matteo’s power waned in the city. The people, whose inveterate -distrust of the nobles his sagacity and conciliatory measures had been -unable to overcome, grew more and more discontented. Jealousy of the -Visconte’s power, and resentment at his policy towards the Guelfs, had -alienated many of the nobles themselves. The day came when Matteo -perceived that his position was no longer tenable. Without waiting for a -catastrophe which might have ruined his House for ever, he quietly -abandoned the city to his foes and took his departure (1302). - -The Guelf supporters of the Della Torre now entered Milan, and were -received with a great outburst of popular joy. A short period of anarchy -followed, caused by the nobles, who had helped to drive out the -Visconti, but had no desire to see the Della Torre in their place. After -a few months, however, the sons of Napo succeeded by the favour of the -lower classes, to whom their name was still dear, in restoring -themselves to power, while in all the surrounding cities, whose fortunes -were always bound up with Milan’s, their partisans drove out the -Ghibellines and reinstated the Guelfs. - -Mosca, Guido, and Enrico della Torre now ruled the city, at first with a -show of deference to the will of the Republic, but after a few years -with a sovereignty fuller than that which the Visconti had enjoyed. The -people were, in fact, accustoming themselves to a single rule. In 1307 -Mosca died, and Guido assumed sole authority. Meanwhile the Visconti -were dispersed in various directions. Galeazzo and his wife Beatrice had -taken refuge with her kindred at Ferrara, and the other sons of Matteo -had found places of safety where the powerful alliances of the family -secured them from pursuit by the Della Torre. The shrewd chief himself, -after vainly attempting to reverse the fortune of war, had withdrawn to -a remote country villa on the Lake of Garda, and having apparently -renounced all public activity, was passing his time in the innocent -pastimes of fishing and thinking. But his keen eye watched every -movement on the field of politics. He had spies and agents everywhere, -and was but waiting the moment for a spring upon his foes. With cynical -satisfaction he noted the inevitable course of the new tyranny in Milan; -the jealousy and suspicion awaking within the city itself, and in the -subjects and allied communities around at the growth of Guido’s -despotism, the disloyalty of his near kindred and dependants, greedy for -a share of power, and all the embarrassments of a chief in whom a noble -and generous temper was not seconded by the sagacity and self-control -which distinguished the observer himself. An oft-told story relates that -Guido, at the height of his prosperity, sent a messenger to his fallen -rival to ask him derisively how he fared, and when he hoped to see Milan -again. Matteo was wandering beside the lake, discoursing with a -companion. ‘You see how I live,’ he said to the envoy, ‘suiting myself -to my fortunes. Tell your Lord that I am waiting till the sins of the -Torriani have reached the measure of mine to return to my country.’ The -expectation of the philosopher was justified as time went on, and Guido -began to resort to cruel and oppressive means of preserving his power. -In 1309 he imprisoned his cousin Cassone, Archbishop of Milan, and his -nephews, the sons of Mosca, on suspicion of plotting against him, and -was only withheld from further revenge by the protests of his own -friends. The subsequent banishment of these kinsmen, who thenceforth -sought his ruin, helped to prepare the disasters which were soon to fall -upon his House. - -The Guelf party was indeed fast losing its hold once more on Lombardy, -owing to the hostile feeling in the cities towards King Robert of -Naples, who, as champion of the Church and head of the Guelfs, was -seeking to establish his sovereignty over North Italy. At the same time -a new turn of the wheel was preparing in Germany, where, in 1310, Henry -of Luxemburg was elected Emperor, and immediately manifested his -intention of descending into Italy to exercise the imperial authority -for the purpose of restoring order and peace in the factious Communes. - -Matteo Visconte in his hut of exile saw that his moment was come. With -characteristic insight he gauged the noble soul of the new Emperor, with -its lofty ideals and conviction of a divine mission as peacemaker. His -agent, Francesco Garbagnate, made his way to the imperial Court, where -he insinuated himself into Henry’s favour, and ever at his ear whispered -of the woes of Lombardy, and of Milan, the splendid city, groaning under -a despotic oppressor; of thousands of exiles languishing in poverty; of -their chief, patiently enduring his evil fortunes without attempting -retaliation or revenge. - -The anticipation of the Emperor’s coming was by no means so pleasing to -Guido della Torre and his friends. The mere thought of this spectre of -imperialism, which, when men believed it was well laid at last, ever -rose to disturb the settlement of the turbid elements of Italian life, -seems to have stirred the Republican chief to uncontrollable -indignation. ‘What have I to do with Henry of Luxemburg?’ he cried, -stamping furiously, in a great assembly of his party convoked to deal -with the situation. To his experienced and unillusioned mind the -Emperor’s purpose was simply the exaltation of the Ghibellines and the -destruction of the Guelfs. With passionate entreaties and prophecies of -impending peril, he sought to raise a league against Henry, but nearly -all his former supporters and allies, tired of his ascendency and afraid -of the King of Naples, had pledged themselves to welcome the new-comer. - -In November 1310 the Emperor arrived at Asti, whither almost all the -magnates of North Italy, both Guelf and Ghibelline, hastened to do him -homage. One day there entered the Court a man who, by the simplicity of -his attire and following, appeared a person of little consequence. -Throwing off his hood and cloak, he ran and knelt before the Emperor, -and kissing his feet, saluted him as the longed-for peacemaker and -consolation of the exiles, and implored his compassion. The suppliant -was Matteo Visconte, who, for fear of his enemies, had come thus -disguised and secretly. Henry welcomed him with the greatest kindness, -and having listened earnestly to his recital of the wrongs which he and -his had suffered, promised to give them speedy relief. Matteo then -turned to some of the Guelf nobles present, his fiercest enemies, and -with the most admirable display of a meek and forgiving spirit, offered -to embrace them. But they, knowing well the perfidy of his fair seeming, -repulsed him with scorn and heaped revilements upon him. To all of which -the Visconte replied with perfect mildness and goodwill, pointing to the -Emperor—‘Here is our king, who is come to give us peace; the end of all -our woes is at hand.’ His foes, perceiving how completely he had put -them in the wrong and won the Emperor’s confidence by his show of -magnanimity, began to misdoubt them of the future and wish that they had -heeded Guido della Torre’s warnings. The game was now, in fact, despite -Henry’s good intentions, in the hands of the wily Ghibelline chief. -Besides all the barons and magnates of his own faction, the exiled -Archbishop Cassone della Torre and a number of other Milanese Guelfs, -whom Guido had offended by his tyranny, ranged themselves under Matteo’s -leadership, and by the advice of this greatly preponderating section of -his Italian vassals, Henry was persuaded to turn his steps early towards -Milan. - -He sent officers before him to prepare for his reception in the ruler’s -palace, which as sovereign he expected to occupy. But he had forgotten -Milan’s traditional privilege of keeping the Emperor outside her gates. -Relying upon this, Guido della Torre refused to give up the palace. -Nevertheless Henry proceeded on his way, and as he neared the city, the -Milanese, who had heard the rumour of his great goodness, came forth in -multitudes to meet him. At his right hand rode Matteo Visconte. The -obsequious bearing of the Ghibelline chief contrasted strangely with the -grudging welcome offered by the Lord of the city, who appeared last of -all to greet the monarch, and forgot to lower his standard before the -Imperial Eagles. This omission was roughly remedied by some of the -German soldiers, who seized the defiant banner and flung it in the mud. -His pride met only a mild rebuke from the Emperor, who, having entered -in state with his queen, took up his abode in the archiepiscopal palace. -At first all went well. The Archbishop and all the other exiles were -restored to their homes and possessions, and Henry made the Visconti and -Torriani swear perpetual peace. The reconciliation was celebrated in the -eyes of all the people by a ceremony in the Piazza of St. Ambrogio, -where the Emperor appeared seated on a great throne, with the members of -the two rival Houses placed side by side at his feet. An Imperial Vicar -was appointed to keep peace in the city, and the factions in the -neighbouring Communes having been pacified in like manner, Henry was -crowned in Milan by Archbishop Cassone, amid extraordinary joy and -festivity. - -Not for long, however, did the lion and the lamb thus couch together. -Even while the Emperor still lingered in Milan, suspicion and discontent -began to seethe among the citizens. The old fear and hatred of the -Empire, which still lived in the descendants of Barbarossa’s victims, -was fanned by the heavy exactions of the imperial officers, who demanded -an enormous sum as a coronation gift from the already exhausted -citizens. The German troops were also a continual vexation to the -people. The Torriani did all they could to foster the growing spirit of -revolt. Guido and his cousin the Archbishop forgot their feud in their -common desire to get rid of the Emperor, and the Visconti themselves -were found ready to sympathise with the general discontent. It was -rumoured in the imperial palace that Galeazzo Visconte and Francesco -della Torre had been seen joining hands in sign of amity at a meeting -outside the gates. But whatever the other members of his House might be -doing, the Head of the Visconti sat aloof, peacefully unconscious, -apparently, of what was going forward. - -Henry and his ministers grew uneasy, as the hostility of the city became -ever more visible and menacing. At last, on a day in February, the storm -burst. The whole of Milan rose suddenly in wild tumult, crowding and -clamouring round their old leaders, the Torriani, who appeared with all -their followers in full armour in the market-place. Before long Galeazzo -Visconte also arrived upon the scene, mounted on his war-horse and -arrayed for battle. But to the surprise and dismay of the conspirators -he ranged himself with the imperial troops, who came charging down upon -the Torriani and their disorderly host. Meanwhile, at the first sound of -tumult, the Emperor, suspecting treachery, had despatched officers to -arrest Matteo Visconte. They found that veteran sitting in the quiet -loggia of his palace, most innocently occupied in reading a book. -Hastening with them to the Court, he cast himself down before the -Emperor, protesting his perfect loyalty and innocence of all offence, -and offered his best services to aid in subduing the rebellion. The -adherence of the Visconti was the Emperor’s salvation. By the powerful -assistance of Galeazzo and his followers, the Germans, after a brief, -fierce battle, completely overcame the rebels. The Torriani perceived -too late that they had been outwitted and ruined by the cunning of the -rival House, on whose help they had been led to depend. Simone and -Francesco, Guido’s sons, fled at a gallop out of the city, while the old -chief himself rose with difficulty from a bed of sickness and crept over -a garden wall into the precincts of a nunnery, whence he was able after -a while to escape into safety. Their adherents were put to the sword, -and their houses were sacked and utterly destroyed by the Germans, who -with vindictive fury, swept through the streets, slaying and spoiling -without mercy. - -Thus was the power of the Della Torre in Milan for ever overthrown. The -Visconti, having cleverly disposed of their rivals, had now to rid -themselves of the Emperor, in order to regain their old sovereignty. -Henry, vexed at the bloodshed which had already stained his fair white -banner of peace, and beginning to realise the secret strength of the -spirit of faction, sent Matteo and Galeazzo into exile, lest he should -appear to have favoured the Ghibellines in the late affair. But the fall -of the Torriani had filled the Guelfs with distrust and fear of him. He -passed on his way, to find the cities of Lombardy arming against him and -his task of peace-making growing more and more difficult of -accomplishment. Hardly was he gone from Milan before the Visconti -returned, and in a very short time Matteo succeeded in making himself -once more all-powerful. A year later the wisdom of the Milanese Serpent -appeared to have completely charmed the Imperial Eagle, when in return -for a timely supply of gold to support the Emperor’s enterprise, Matteo -won the legal confirmation of his authority over the city, with the -title of Imperial Vicar of Milan. - - - - - CHAPTER V - _The Visconti_ - - - “Maudire la puissance, c’est blasphémer l’humanité.” - -The Visconti had now firmly established their dominion in Milan, a -dominion destined, in the story of the unstable mediæval governments of -Italy, to be equalled by few in duration, and by none in extent. For -good or for evil the great city, with her command of the chief passes of -the Alps for war and commerce, her wealth as the capital of the vast -alluvial plain of Lombardy, was delivered into the hands of a race -singularly fitted to use these natural advantages for the creation of a -mighty State. The Visconti, as a family, were characterised by -exceptional ability and tenacity, and above all, by a subtlety of brain -and suppleness of conscience which, under the stress of ambition or -necessity, induced a perfidy so quiet and so effectual that the Snake -upon their shields became for all Italy a symbol of their political -methods, and an object of horror and fear. The vices and weaknesses -which ruined other Italian dynasties seemed to have little power over -these Milanese princes. Hot and rash of blood in the earlier -generations, they rarely allowed passion to override prudence; those of -them who did were quickly rooted out. Even that most fruitful disorder -in a reigning House, the jealous rivalry of its own members, could not -avail to overcome their political coolness or sagacity, or sunder their -union against a common enemy. With time this self-control became a habit -of cold and passionless judgment, all-powerful in the management of men -and States. Even the fatal weakness of remorse and superstitious fear, -to which they were all prone, could not undermine them; they were able -to parry their consciences, and delay repentance until their successors -were old enough to carry on their unscrupulous policy. Nor did the -arrogance and cruelty which tyranny bred in this sovereign race prove -their overthrow. In spite of its record of crime, no retributive -catastrophe ended the dynasty. It died out of itself, and we shall see -the last of the Visconti sink into the grave under the burden of an -empire greater almost than any other in Italy. - -_Il Gran Matteo_, as posterity named the founder of the dynasty, was the -prototype in character of all the great sovereigns who were to follow -him. He ruled from the cabinet rather than from the saddle. Statecraft -was his victorious weapon, and his calculating and passionless nature -had its complement in a humanity remarkable for his time. But it needed -not only his incomparable prudence and foresight, but also the strong -arms of his three elder sons, Galeazzo, Marco, and Luchino, to assure -his dominion and restore it to its old extent. The remaining years of -the chief, as head of the Ghibelline party in North Italy, were spent in -a constant warfare with the Guelfs and their allies, King Robert of -Naples, and the Church. The awful papal ban fell again and again upon -the Visconte and his subjects. Nevertheless Piacenza, Bergamo, Lodi, -Como, Cremona, Alexandria, Tortona, Pavia, Vercelli, and Novara were -brought one by one beneath his sway by the victory of diplomacy or arms. -His success was embittered, however, by estrangement from his beloved -first-born, Galeazzo, who coveted his father’s supremacy, and jealously -resented the rivalry of his brother Marco. But Galeazzo’s hot temper had -been chastened by exile and time, and in spite of their mutual anger, he -supported his father’s policy with a wise loyalty. - -The fortunes of the Guelf party sank low before the rapid growth of the -Viscontean power. Its hereditary leaders in North Italy, the Marquises -of Este, were entangled in an unnatural struggle with the Papacy, which -was itself enfeebled by the exile of Avignon, and by the operations of -its own selfish greed. But in 1319 the party gathered itself together -once more for a mighty effort to overthrow the Ghibelline domination in -Milan. The Cardinal Legate, Beltrando del Poggetto, in the name of Pope -John XXII., formed a great league of the Guelfs against the Visconti, -and hurled at them afresh the spiritual weapons of the Church. Matteo -was summoned repeatedly to answer for his sins at the feet of the Pope. -In 1322 he was cited finally before a tribunal of the Inquisition at -Alexandria. Instead of him, his son Marco appeared there at the head of -an army with banners spread. The Inquisitors hastily retreated to -Valenza, where in security they solemnly cursed Matteo for twenty and -five different crimes and heresies, and invoked every conceivable -penalty upon him and his House, even to the fourth generation. Full -remission of sins was offered to all who took arms against them. - -The old Ghibelline chief, weakened by age and bodily infirmity, quailed -before this onslaught. Many of his own adherents and kinsmen were -deserting him. Milan, trembling under the ban of the Church and excited -by the papal agents, was verging on revolt. Matteo summoned the -offending Galeazzo, forgave him, and resigned to him the chieftainship. -Retiring to a village at a little distance from the city, he died -shortly after, full of years and sorrow. - -Galeazzo and his brother Marco, bitter rivals, forgot for the time their -mutual wrongs, and with the other sons of Matteo stood up in manful -union against their foes. For fourteen days they concealed their -father’s death from the Milanese, while Galeazzo calmed the city by -conciliatory measures, and assumed the supreme power. The storm broke -heavily upon them now. Immense numbers from all North Italy joined the -standard of the Legate, which, impiously displaying the Cross in a -worldly quarrel was carried towards Milan, with the avowed purpose of -overthrowing the Visconti and restoring the Torriani. Monza and Piacenza -fell (1323), and the capital itself was attacked, the suburbs sacked, -and the walls closely blockaded. The straits of the Visconti appeared -desperate. But the brothers fought with invincible spirit, and they were -supported by the Emperor, Louis of Bavaria, who sent succour from -Germany. The papal army itself began to dissolve through rivalries and -dissensions, and sickness. The siege was soon raised, and early in the -following year (1324) the Visconti took the offensive and inflicted a -signal defeat upon the allies at Vaprio. Their fortunes now revived. -Within the next few years they recovered many of the lost cities of -their father’s State, and the Pope, realising the impossibility of -overthrowing them, began to listen to emissaries from Galeazzo with -suggestions for peace and reconciliation. - -But the desire of the Visconte for a settlement of the long and -exhausting strife was baffled by his own party and his own household. -The other Ghibelline chiefs, especially the great Can Grande della -Scala, viewed unwillingly the increase of the Milanese power. Marco -Visconte, a splendid warrior, more skilled and daring in arms than any -other Lombard of his day, but unlike the rest of his House none too -wise—_savio non fu troppo_, says Villani—could not brook his elder -brother’s supremacy. Their kinsman Lodrisio fiercely resented his own -subordinate position. The citizens groaned under the heavy taxes exacted -to pay Galeazzo’s great army of German mercenaries. Complaints of the -Visconte’s arrogance, and information of his negotiations with the Pope, -were carried by intriguers to the Emperor. - -Louis descended into Italy early in 1327, at the general call of the -Ghibellines. Galeazzo Visconte alone was silent, foreseeing that the -Emperor’s appearance would inflame anew the partisan strife. Louis -appeared shortly in Milan, followed by the Ghibelline lords of North -Italy, chief among them Can Grande. He was received with great homage -and ceremony and crowned in St. Ambrogio by two schismatic bishops, who -alone dared to anoint his excommunicated head. The Visconti appeared to -enjoy his full favour, and as vassals of the Empire were confirmed by -him in various honours and privileges. But intrigue was busy at work, -and the fair seeming was suddenly broken by a tragic event, if the -chroniclers tell us true. Stefano, the youngest of Galeazzo’s brothers, -as he was offering the cup to the Emperor at the banquet one night, was -called upon by the suspicious monarch to taste the wine. Having put his -lips tremblingly to it, he was struck with mortal sickness, and died -shortly after. This evidence of intended treachery naturally inflamed -Louis’ resentment against his hosts. The next day he summoned Galeazzo -to a council, and seizing as a pretext the refusal of the prince to -demand an enormous coronation gift from the almost revolting citizens, -he arrested him, with his son Azzo and his brothers, all except Marco. -The Visconti, surprised, could make no defence, and were carried off to -Monza and thrown into the dungeons of the Castle there which Galeazzo -himself had lately built. - -Thus did the Visconti once more lose Milan. A governor, appointed by -Louis, reigned in their stead. Marco, if he owed his escape to -disloyalty, soon rued his mistake. The ruin of his house involved him -too, and he wandered in poverty and exile. Louis’ high-handed act was, -however, displeasing to many of his Ghibelline supporters, and he found -it prudent to release Galeazzo at the end of a year, at the request of -Castruccio, Lord of Lucca, the most powerful member of the Ghibelline -party at that time. The Visconte, broken by his sufferings in prison, -and unable to recover his State, joined his friend Castruccio, and died -a few months later. His son and brothers succeeded soon after, through -the intervention of Castruccio, in making their peace with the Emperor. -For the promise of sixty thousand golden florins, Louis granted to Azzo, -the dead prince’s heir, the title of Imperial Vicar of Milan, and the -Visconti once more took possession of the city with the full approval of -the people (1329). - -Once restored to power, they were at little pains to pay the stipulated -sum to the Emperor, who by this time was fast losing prestige in Italy. -They reconciled themselves with the Church instead, and when the enraged -Louis presented himself with an army beneath the walls of Milan, he was -received with derision and jeers. The Emperor, enfeebled by the contempt -and desertion of nearly all his partisans, was helpless against the -renewed strength of the great Milanese House. He was glad to compound -with Azzo and to reconfirm him in the position of Imperial Vicar. - -From this moment began the unbroken prosperity of Matteo Visconte’s sons -and of the great city which they ruled. Secure in the weakness of both -Empire and Church from further interference, Azzo was able to devote -himself to the expansion and development of his State. The short reign -of this prince, who had won great fame for his prowess in the Tuscan -wars with Castruccio, was wholly fortunate. The menace offered to its -prosperity by the rebellious attempts of his uncle Marco was overcome by -the death of that turbulent warrior, who was killed in 1329 apparently -by a fall from a window in his nephew’s palace, though it was generally -believed that he had been first strangled and then flung out by order of -his kinsmen. The other enemy within the House, Lodrisio Visconte, was -not so easily disposed of. Abandoning Milan, he allied himself with the -Scaligeri of Verona, with whom the Visconti had come into inevitable -collision, now that the weakness of their common Guelf foe had left the -field of North Italy open to the rival ambition of these two great -Ghibelline powers. In 1339 Lodrisio, with forces supplied by Martino -della Scala, invaded the Milanese territory, and approaching the -capital, spread terror and desolation everywhere. At Parabiago they -encountered the Milanese, under Luchino Visconte, who, after a -tremendous struggle, won a complete victory. Lodrisio was captured with -his two sons, and imprisoned in a strong castle. A few months later Azzo -died of gout, at the age of thirty-seven. In the brief years of his -reign he had completely restored the power and prestige of his House. He -left Milan fortified by new walls, beautified by new palaces, churches -and towers, a city fairer and greater than that ruined by Barbarossa, -and full of a rich, industrious and joyous life. - -Azzo had no heir. He was succeeded by his uncles, Luchino, and the -ecclesiastic Giovanni, who was now Archbishop of Milan. The two brothers -thus held the whole dominion, spiritual as well as temporal. They worked -together with rare unanimity for the aggrandisement of their House and -State. Luchino pressed with his arms energetically against the -Scaligeri, whose empire was fast receding before the attacks of the rest -of the Ghibelline powers of North Italy, who in uniting with the -Visconti to crush this predominant member of the party, were but -smoothing the way for the rise of a State destined to be far greater -than Verona ever was. The Milanese prince added many cities to the -dominion of his House, and was the first to carry the fear of the -Visconti across the Apennines into Tuscany, where he had almost acquired -Pisa when recalled to Lombardy by the outbreak of war there. - -[Illustration: TOWER OF S. GOTTARDO FROM THE CATHEDRAL] - -Luchino was a careful ruler, thoughtful for the welfare and progress of -his subjects, and just towards the lower classes. He promulgated new -laws for the protection of the poor and weak, and for the encouragement -of industry, and refrained from excessive taxation. Nevertheless, he had -the same violent temper as his elder brothers, Galeazzo and Marco, and -soon developed the characteristic vices of tyranny—lust, cruelty and -suspicion. In Giovanni, on the contrary, all the rarer qualities of the -Visconti appeared, the subtle brain, the self-control and power of -biding their time, combined with a benignity which was never disturbed -except to good purpose, so that while steadily pursuing ends as vast and -ambitious as his brothers’, he still kept the respect and love of the -people. He well knew how to influence the course of events without -falling foul of his suspicious brother. - -The younger princes of the House, however, the three sons of the dead -Stefano, were less cautious, and soon incurred the wrath of their -despotic uncle. He discovered, or perhaps invented, a conspiracy on -their part to oust him from power, and drove them mercilessly into exile -and poverty. The eldest, Matteo, took refuge with his wife’s family, the -powerful Gonzaga of Mantua, but Bernabò and Galeazzo had to fly to -France to escape from the tyrant’s snares. A confederate in their plot, -Francesco della Pusterla, head of one of the great Milanese Houses, -whose wealth and influence were necessarily a menace to the power of the -Visconti, was betrayed into Luchino’s hands and beheaded, with his sons -and his beautiful wife Margherita, who, according to the chroniclers, -had rejected the unlawful love of the tyrant. - -Luchino is said to have come himself to an unnatural death in his old -age, through poison administered to him by his third wife, the young and -lively Elisabetta della Fiesca, in whose hearing the suspicious husband, -enraged by a report of light conduct on her part, had declared that he -would light a fine fire and do the greatest act of justice which he had -ever done in Milan. The accusations against this lady may, however, have -been trumped up to justify the persecution which she and her son, -Luchino Novello, and all the dead tyrant’s children, who had grown too -arrogant for the peace of the State, had to suffer from the Archbishop -after their father’s death. Giovanni imprisoned or banished them all. -Towards his other nephews, the banished sons of Stefano, whom misfortune -had chastened, Giovanni used a different policy. He won their loyalty -and obedience by recalling them from exile, granting them lands and -honours and making them his heirs, and about this time he obtained a -solemn act from the General Council of the people, still nominally the -ultimate authority in the community, recognising him and his nephews -after him as the true, legitimate and natural Lords of the city, -district, diocese and jurisdiction of Milan. Thus was the hereditary -dominion of the Visconti—already an established fact—formally legalised -by the will of the Commune. - -Under the able rule of the Archbishop the power of the Visconti advanced -steadily, but more by the gentle pressure of a scheming and cunning -statesmanship than by the brute force of arms. His apparently peaceful -temper had lulled the jealousy and fear of the other powers, when in -1350 they were thunderstruck by his secret acquisition of Bologna—the -great object of contention between the two parties in North Italy—which -Giovanni de’ Pepoli sold to him for a large sum. Corio, the fifteenth -century historian, relates that Clement VI. sent a legate to the -Visconte to demand its restoration to the Holy See, and to bid him -renounce either the spiritual or temporal jurisdiction of Milan, since -his exercise of both together was a scandal to Christians. The -high-hearted Archbishop for answer unsheathed his sword in the midst of -the Cathedral, and raising the Cross in his other hand, cried—_This is -my spiritual weapon, and with this sword will I defend my temporal -empire undiminished_. Summoned to defend his contumacy before the Pope, -he sent his people to Avignon to provide lodgings and victuals for -twelve thousand horsemen and six thousand foot soldiers. But when -Clement heard of these preparations he called the envoys, and hastily -reimbursing them with their charges, sent them back with a message to -Giovanni excusing him from coming. Later historians throw doubt upon -this circumstantial tale. And certainly it seems strange that the Pope -should condemn the union of spiritual and temporal dominion. There is no -doubt, however, that the Papacy was powerless to check Giovanni’s -ambition, and was glad to confirm him in possession of Bologna for a -price. - -Giovanni’s method was to inflame by unseen agencies the party spirit in -the cities which he coveted, and when both factions were exhausted, to -step in with his money-bags and quietly establish his own dominion. Thus -by a skilful manipulation of the vast wealth with which Milan supplied -him he succeeded with little expenditure of blood in embracing more and -more territory within his coil. In 1353 Genoa was yielded to him, and -Milan for a short time became a naval power, defying the fleets of -Venice. The importance of securing maritime outlets for a commercial -community turned the Archbishop’s attention on the seaport of Pisa also. -But here Florence interposed a barrier against both fraud and force, and -though he plagued the Tuscan Republic grievously by invading her -territories, raising the Barons of the Apennines against her and -intriguing with her foes in Pisa and Lucca, she successfully prevented -him from gaining a footing in Tuscany. - -While the Visconti were thus extending their dominion far and wide and -creating a sovereignty more powerful than any in Italy, the capital -itself was making corresponding strides in wealth and civilisation. The -strong and single government, though involving so much cruel sacrifice -of rival interests and pride, and carried on by crafty and often -iniquitous means, was for the general advantage of the people. The -citizens lacked only freedom, and this very lack saved them from the -awful faction struggles which hindered the progress of the neighbouring -Communes. Under Azzo, Luchino and Giovanni Visconte, the city enjoyed an -unexampled length of peace. No hostile banner was seen from the walls, -no blood was spilt in fratricidal strife within. The Visconti employed -foreign and professional troops in their wars, thus weaning their -subjects from the habit of arms, dangerous to a tyrannic supremacy, and -sparing them for more profitable work. All classes, noble and plebeian, -engaged in commerce and industrial arts, and produced an ever increasing -flow of wealth, wherewith these princes were able to pay handsomely for -the hired support of their tyranny. Finding no opportunities of sedition -or turbulence, the more restless spirits abandoned the city, and, -joining the bands of military adventurers which roamed the country, they -fought for any prince or community that chose to hire them. The general -security of life and property in the Milanese State was assured by the -severe and, on the whole, impartial justice of Luchino and his brother, -and the wise statutes which they formed aided the development of trade -and industry. Safe from depredating troops and robber bands, the fertile -territory was brought to high cultivation, and wildernesses, untilled -before, now submitted to the husbandman. The engineering art was -actively practised in draining and irrigating the country and connecting -the city by canals with the great river waterways. - -One of the chief sources of Milanese wealth was the breeding of -war-horses in the rich and well-watered pastures round the city. At the -same time the Milanese merchants were travelling all over England, -France and Flanders, buying fine wool, ‘with which in this city,’ says -the fourteenth century chronicler Fiamma, ‘very fine and beautiful -clothes are woven in great quantities and dyed with every different -colour and sent to all parts of Italy.’ Silk was also manufactured here -after 1314, when the silk-weavers of Lucca, disturbed by the invasions -of Uguccione da Faggiuola and of Castruccio, abandoned their city for -Milan. The constant wars abroad encouraged the armourer’s craft, of -which Milan became one of the greatest centres in Europe. With wealth, a -love of luxury and the soft pleasures of life grew in the people. Fiamma -notes with disapproval the changes in the antique costume, the -superfluous embroideries, the gold and silver and pearls, and the broad -fringes used in dress, the richness of the meats, and the esteem in -which masters of the culinary art were held, things conducive, according -to him, of the soul’s damnation. - -Both Luchino and Giovanni lived much in the sight of their subjects, -keeping open Court and sharing in the public feasts and pleasures. The -benevolent Archbishop was much beloved. One of his first acts of -undivided sovereignty had been to release Lodrisio Visconte from the -dungeon in which he had dwelt ever since Parabiago, a resounding -generosity which covered many quiet deeds of harshness and oppression. -He died in 1354, leaving his dominions to Matteo, Bernabò and Galeazzo -II., to the entire exclusion of Luchino’s sons. - -The new sovereigns had much ado at first to preserve their great -heritage. Many cities, patient under the Archbishop’s yoke, rebelled -against his successors, including Bologna. The Guelf enemies of Milan -tried to enlist the new Emperor Charles of Bohemia against the Visconti; -but that monarch preferred the large sum which they offered him for his -sanction of their rule as Imperial Vicars, rather than the hostility of -princes who could assemble six thousand men-at-arms and numberless foot -soldiers beneath his window as a spectacle for his entertainment when he -visited them in Milan. The Gonzaga of Mantua, once their allies and now -their bitterest foes, leagued, however, with the Church and the -hereditary foes of the Visconti and dealt them some heavy blows. The -German company which the Mantuan princes employed invaded the Milanese -territories under the formidable Count Lando, and penetrated nearly to -the capital. But the citizens, in spite of their softness and lack of -military practice, went forth with the courage of despair and defeated -and drove away the Count, who was greatly surprised, since he _nothing -esteemed the Milanese_. In other directions the Visconti suffered great -losses. Genoa revolted in 1356, and to secure peace they were compelled -to surrender Parma and Asti two years later. - -The eldest brother, Matteo, had died in 1355. Weak, injudicious and a -glutton, he was only a hindrance to the progress of his House. General -report laid his death to his brothers’ charge. Bernabò and Galeazzo made -a fresh division of the State, and Milan itself was split up between -them. They worked together, however, with a single aim, in spite of -mutual hatred and jealousy, to repair the losses of their State. Pavia -had set up a free government, headed by the friar, Giacomo de’ -Bussolari, who, an earlier Savonarola, sought to purge his city from -tyranny and sin at once. Steadfastly beset by Galeazzo’s army, it had to -yield at last to famine and sickness. Further afield Bernabò spent years -in a desperate struggle to recover Bologna, under a tempest of papal -anathemas, and though baffled himself, he prepared the way for his -successor. He was constantly in fierce conflict with the Marquises of -Este, whose rebel kinsmen he sheltered while they employed Luchino’s -disinherited sons against him. Galeazzo on his side had to sustain the -assaults of Savoy and Montferrat, which came near to ruining him. - -But multitudinous and determined as their enemies were, the inimitable -statecraft which was the Viscontean heritage, backed by their vast -resources, enabled them to restore their power and to make Milan feared -and respected everywhere abroad. These princes rarely took the field -themselves, but entrusted their enterprises to the foreign companies by -whom the Italian wars were now chiefly waged. These bands of hardy and -unscrupulous adventurers, who were proof against the enervation which -wealth and civilisation had induced in the Italians, were become -powerful factors in the politics of the country. Most formidable of all -was the company of Sir John Hawkwood. These English mercenaries, says -Azario, were more excellent robbers than any of the other plunderers of -the Lombards. By day they mostly slept and waked by night. And so -diligent and skilful were they in capturing towns that their like had -never been seen. After suffering much from Hawkwood’s zeal against him -in the service of the Pope, Bernabò bribed him to his own side; but -after a few years the great captain, faithful only to caprice, suddenly -deserted the Visconte, with disastrous results to the latter. Later on, -Bernabò tempted him again by the gift of one of his own daughters in -marriage, with a large dowry. Nevertheless, the later part of Hawkwood’s -career was spent in the pay of Milan’s inveterate foe, Florence. - -Milan, unaffected by the quarrels of her sovereigns, was now the -richest, most populous and luxurious city of Italy. The capitals of the -great European kingdoms had no such splendid palaces, such comely-paved -streets, such fair-fountained gardens and pleasaunces trodden by -beautiful exotic beasts and birds, as this seat of citizen princes. The -Visconti assumed the dignity and state of royalty. Galeazzo was himself -married to a princess of the ancient House of Savoy, and both brothers -pursued the sagacious policy of making alliances for their children with -the sovereign Houses of Europe. Bernabò made statesmanlike use of his -ten daughters and five sons by his wife Regina della Scala, and his -score or so of illegitimate children, wedding them, according to the -conditions of their birth, to royal princes and great Italian -potentates, or to lesser nobles and successful soldiers, such as -Hawkwood and Count Lando. Galeazzo married his one son and daughter with -even greater splendour, and endowed them so lavishly that it was almost -the ruin of his State. For his heir, Gian Galeazzo, he obtained the hand -of Isabella de Valois, for a sum of five hundred thousand florins. The -maiden Violante he gave to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III., -with two hundred thousand florins and many fair lands and castles in -Piedmont. - -This last marriage was celebrated in 1368, with unexampled magnificence. -The bridegroom arrived in Milan accompanied by the Sire le Despencer and -a train of two thousand Englishmen. A splendid cavalcade went forth to -meet him. First came Galeazzo himself, who was said to be more beautiful -in person than any other man in Italy, wearing, as his custom was, a -wreath of roses on his flowing golden hair, and attended by his greatest -vassals. With him was his wife, Bianca of Savoy, and his -daughter-in-law, the young French Isabella, and other noble ladies, -followed by eighty damsels apparelled in scarlet, with sleeves of white -cloth embroidered with trefoils, and girdles so richly worked that their -worth was eighty florins each. Gian Galeazzo, a boy of fifteen, came -next, leading a company of knights on steeds caparisoned as if for a -joust, and after these followed the officers of State and of the -household with their pages, all gorgeously arrayed. At the marriage -feast the very meats were gilded, and with each of the sixteen courses -splendid gifts were offered to the guests—highly-bred hounds with velvet -and silken collars and leashes of silk; falcons with chains of gold and -hoods of velvet, and silver buttons enamelled with the Snake; richly -ornamented saddles and other horse furniture; suits of armour fashioned -by the famous Milanese smiths; brocades of gold and richest silk, silver -flagons worked with enamel, silver-gilt basins, mantles and doublets -thickly sewn with pearls for the prince, and seventy-six splendid -coursers and war-horses, each more generous, beautiful, and gorgeously -caparisoned than the one before; and last of all twelve fat oxen. -Galeazzo and the bridegroom sat at one table with the noblest of the -guests, among whom was Messer Francesco Petrarca the poet, in the most -honourable place. At another were placed Regina della Scala and a number -of ladies. Such scenes as these are dimly pictured for us in primitive -frescoes here and there, in which we see assemblages of ladies in -jewelled robes and lofty peaked head-dresses, and gentlemen -correspondingly fine stiffly seated at narrow boards, or pacing with -slow and stately step through the dance within some spacious pillared -hall. - -Though extravagantly lavish for State purposes, the Visconti did not -keep open Court like their predecessors. No tables were set out in the -streets for the common people on holidays, no oxen roasted whole or -wine-vats broached for all who liked to drink. The chroniclers complain -of the avarice of their Lords. The taxes were continually increased. -Pressed by the huge cost of their wars and their alliances, the Visconti -were in fact always in need of money, and so assured was their supremacy -in Milan, that they no longer feared the discontent of the citizens. -With the development of their despotism the social gulf between the -Visconti and the rest of the community had grown wide. Both brothers -were proud, suspicious and cruel. But the severity of the silent -Bernabò, and his terrible fits of rage and strange capricious temper, -made him the most feared. He was laudably resolved to maintain justice -and order, so that a man might go unarmed through any part of his -dominions, and to suppress the old faction hatreds, but his methods were -intolerably harsh. No one was allowed to call himself Guelf or -Ghibelline on pain of having his tongue cut out. To be found abroad in -the city at night, for any reason whatever, was to lose a foot, and so -forth. Moreover, on mere suspicion people were put to cruel death or -torment. This arbitrary severity was, however, of little avail, and -crime was far more rife in the city than before Bernabò’s time. The -tyrant’s passion for dogs was as extravagant as his disregard for human -suffering. He had five thousand hounds, which his subjects were -compelled to keep and tend for him, and if one were found to be either -too fat or too lean for the chase, or to have come to any harm, woe to -its guardian. Every sort of game was sacred to the prince’s sport, and -the peasants who slew wild boars or other forest creatures for food -during a severe famine, were hanged or blinded. Two Franciscan brothers, -who dared to expostulate with the prince for his harshness, were burnt -as heretics, an act something ironical on the part of one who himself -spent nearly all his life under the ban of the Church. There was a -certain grim humour in some of Bernabò’s fierce deeds, as in his -treatment of two dignified Benedictine abbots, who were sent to treat -with him by the Pope. The prince met them on a bridge over the Lambro, -where, with due reverence, they presented to him the pontifical Bulls. -Bernabò read them, and looking up, eyed the legates grimly, and asked -them whether they would prefer food or drink. Perceiving a sinister -meaning in the question, the trembling clerics glanced at the deep river -flowing beneath, and said that they would rather eat. Whereupon the -papal missives, parchment, seals, silk cord and all, were crammed down -their throats. - -Galeazzo was not so capriciously cruel as his brother, but his rule was -equally oppressive. To add to the afflictions of the people, the country -was devastated by the foreign Companies, who robbed friends and foes -alike; and years of famine and pestilence came, which their Lords took -no more thoughtful measure to relieve than hanging some of the chief -ministers. To both brothers clings the horrible reproach of a decree, -condemning prisoners of State to the so-called Quaresima, a series of -tortures lasting forty days. Yet Galeazzo was conspicuous for domestic -virtues, and both princes were very devout, and founded many churches -and convents, and gave largely in alms. One has to remember in judging -these sovereigns that the Florentine chroniclers, who have always held -the ear of the world, hated them as the enemies of their city. They -depict them as barbarous and ignorant tyrants, sunk in gross vice. Yet -Petrarca, the recognised sovereign of thought and letters in fourteenth -century Italy, spent several years at Milan, in the service first of -Archbishop Giovanni, and afterwards of Galeazzo, and speaks of the city -and its Lords with great affection and respect. The high honour which -the Visconti paid to the poet shows their regard for the things of the -spirit. Their capture of Petrarca was felt to be as great a triumph as -the conquest of a province. Boccaccio and other Tuscan writers inveigh -fiercely against their countryman for his adherence to the Visconti, -pretending that he who loved freedom had been deluded by the vulgar -worship of riches and luxury, and had become a slave. But Petrarca, -whose close acquaintance could judge better of his hosts, probably -appreciated the large and far-reaching political ideas which were the -heritage of the Visconti, and perhaps saw in Milan a hope for Italy, -outside the conception of the Florentines, the possibility of a larger -freedom in national union, which should restore the successors of the -Romans to their lost glory. - -The Visconti, moreover, took great pains to advance learning and culture -in their dominions. They founded the University of Pavia, the once -celebrated school of jurisprudence there having long decayed, and richly -endowed its chairs, and it was Galeazzo who started the famous library -at Pavia, to which all students were allowed access. Bernabò was -something of a scholar himself, and had studied the Decretals in his -youth; but the anxiety of constant wars and the cares of State hindered -him from doing all that he would willingly have done for the -intellectual welfare of the capital. - -The bitter jealousy which prevailed between the two brothers divided -them much in later years, though it could not disunite them in the face -of their foes, and Galeazzo had left Milan and removed his Court to -Pavia, though still keeping his share of the government of the capital. -He died in 1378. His son, Gian Galeazzo, was delicate of constitution, -of retiring habits, and much given to study. The gentleness with which -he began to rule, remitting taxes and seeking to propitiate his -subjects, excited the scorn of the grim Bernabò, who readily accepted -the proposal of the young widower—Isabella de Valois having died—for the -hand of his daughter Caterina, thinking thus to get an extra hold upon -him. Little did the veteran prince suspect that this mild recluse, who -was hardly ever seen out of his palace at Pavia, was the very -quintessence of that subtlety, tenacity and ambition which had made the -House of the Visconti the most dreaded in Italy. Gian Galeazzo’s genius -for statecraft had been carefully trained by his father. While Bernabò -regarded him as of little account, he was strengthening his position -both at home and abroad by quiet diplomacy, and evolving mighty schemes -in his mind, while he patiently waited the ripe moment for their -accomplishment. - -There is nothing more dramatic in all the sensational story of mediæval -Italy than Gian Galeazzo Visconte’s sudden spring to power. Seven years -had passed since his father’s death, and Bernabò’s tyranny had grown -ever more oppressive, in sharp contrast to his fellow-ruler’s. One day -in 1385 Gian Galeazzo set forth from Pavia for Milan, escorted by four -hundred men-at-arms, having announced his intention of visiting a holy -shrine near Varese and his desire of embracing his honoured uncle on his -way. He had arranged not to enter the capital, but to skirt the walls -till he reached the castle beside Porta Giovia, recently built by his -father. Laughing at the young man’s caution and his pusillanimity in -bringing so large an escort, the elder Visconte sent two of his sons on -ahead, and swinging himself into the saddle, galloped off, with two or -three servants only, to meet his nephew. The two Sovereigns had but -exchanged greetings when, Gian Galeazzo signed to the captain of his -escort, Jacopo dal Verme, who laid his hand upon Bernabò’s shoulder, and -in a moment the tyrant found himself a prisoner. With his sons he was -hurried into the Castle of Porta Giovia. Gian Galeazzo entered the city -and was received with immense joy. Not vainly had he counted upon the -terror and hatred which his uncle had excited. The people, rushing to -the houses of the fallen tyrant and his sons, sacked them from end to -end, fired and tore them down, and razed them to the ground. In a -General Council of the citizens the sole and absolute dominion of Milan -was unanimously conferred upon Gian Galeazzo and upon his male heirs. - -Bernabò was removed soon after to the Castle of Trezzo, and died seven -months later, of poison, it was said. His sons, except the two captured, -had fled in all directions, and were doing their utmost to raise help -against the usurper. But so perfectly had Gian Galeazzo conceived and -accomplished his great stroke, and with the exercise of such consummate -diplomacy and such victorious arms did he secure himself afterwards, -that not one of Bernabò’s children, in spite of their princely -alliances, were able, with all their constant efforts, to overthrow him -or recover any part of their heritage. - -The usurper’s one excuse for his treachery was that his uncle and -cousins had been openly intriguing against him. Immediately after the -capture of Bernabò he drew up a solemn indictment against him, charging -him with a catalogue of appalling crimes, and with insidious designs -against his, Gian Galeazzo’s, life, and sent it to all the Courts of -Europe. This characteristic attempt to give legal justification to his -action deceived nobody. Italy at large regarded the young ruler with an -admiration and dread which events soon proved well-founded. The brain -which had shown such sovereign dissimulation cherished ambitions before -which whole cities and states were to fall. It was not long before his -schemes began to be fulfilled. The story of Gian Galeazzo’s military -enterprises is one of almost unbroken conquest. He was no soldier -himself, but he knew how to choose his generals, and he got the best out -of them by interfering with them little and rewarding them very -generously. The chaotic state of Italy at the time gave him his chance. -So extraordinary was his success, that he was regarded as something -almost diabolical. It seemed to his terrified enemies that he fascinated -those whom he marked for destruction, so that they fell with eyes open -into his snares. Francesco da Carrara, Lord of Padua, was persuaded to -aid him to overthrow the Scaligeri of Verona. That city having been -conquered in 1387, Gian Galeazzo picked a quarrel with his ally, -besieged and captured Padua (1389), and sent Francesco to die in the -dungeons of Monza. Master now of Verona and Padua, the Visconte had -touched the Adriatic shore. Meanwhile Mantua and Venice looked on -stupidly and awaited their own destruction as if paralysed. General fear -possessed Italy at the rapid progress of the conqueror, who, unseen -himself, directed his instruments with such unfailing insight to his -desired ends. The Visconte’s policy was to strike at the weak first and -gradually prepare the way for greater enterprises. The Church was at -this time in the throes of the Great Schism, and Gian Galeazzo, -protesting conscientious difficulties in deciding to which Pope he owed -spiritual obedience, played them against one another, while he seized -the papal fiefs in the Romagna. His armies climbed the mountains and -poured into Umbria and Tuscany. Aroused at last by the example and -exhortations of Florence, Italy shook off her stupor, and a general -effort was made to stem the advance of the Visconte. Yet still he crept -on, remedying the checks to his arms by his stealthy diplomacy. The King -of France, in answer to the appeal of Florence, sent an army to invade -his States, but it was routed by Jacopo dal Verme, and Charles VI. was -himself converted into an ally by the Visconte’s flatteries and -promises. In 1399 he triumphed over Florence again by acquiring Pisa, -without a blow, from Gerardo d’Appiano, while Perugia, Siena and Assisi -submitted to his generals. - -Already in 1395 Gian Galeazzo’s great increase of power and prestige had -been marked by his elevation to a new dignity. His untiring -negotiations, backed by the offer of an enormous sum, persuaded the -Emperor Wenceslaus to constitute the Milanese State, including a number -of conquered cities, into a Duchy, and to invest the Visconte and his -male heirs with it in perpetuity. The ceremony of investiture took place -in the Piazza of St. Ambrogio, where upon a great throne the imperial -legate robed and crowned the new duke in the sight of all the people, in -the midst of every pompous circumstance, while in the basilica -afterwards the Bishop of Novara, destined to become Pope Alexander V., -preached the sermon and lauded the subject of his oration for his -illustrious blood, his conspicuous beauty of person and the virtuous -tranquillity of his mind. - -Gian Galeazzo was as great an administrator as statesman and conqueror. -By wisdom, economy, careful distribution of taxation and supervision of -finances, he relieved the people from the cruel and ill-considered -burdens imposed by the bad management of his predecessors, while -increasing his own resources enormously. He was the very genius of -order. He saw that the law was properly and effectively carried out, -justice done to all, and perfect rule maintained throughout the State. -It was by his generous, just, and wise government of the cities which he -conquered that he consolidated his vast dominions. - -In these favourable conditions Milan flourished exceedingly, and could -contribute without overwhelming distress her share of the duke’s annual -revenue of twelve hundred thousand florins, and of the extra levies for -special purposes, amounting sometimes to eight hundred thousand florins -in one year—sums far exceeding those commanded by any other Italian -prince. - -Gian Galeazzo’s rule, though sometimes oppressive, was not carried on by -the harsh methods of his predecessors. Violence and wanton cruelty were -probably repugnant to his sensitive physical temperament and despicable -to his unimpassioned mind. He was never bloody, except for a purpose, as -in the awful sack of Verona after her revolt and recapture in 1390. But -for a refined and ingenious cruelty which exercised itself in long -worming plots ending far off in some unexpected catastrophe, Gian -Galeazzo seems to have had an artistic predilection. It was he, men -said, who by Iago-like suggestions drove Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua to -slay his wife Agnese, one of Bernabò Visconte’s daughters, in a frenzy -of jealousy, that he himself might be first and loudest afterwards in -proclaiming the innocence of the lady and exciting general execration of -the murderer. The beheading of young Obizzo d’Este at Ferrara has been -also attributed to evil suspicions which the Milanese prince instilled -into the Marquis Alberto for political ends. The Visconte’s influence is -plainer still in the hideous treachery and ingratitude of Jacopo -d’Appiano, who, with a kiss of peace, slew his protector and friend, the -noble Pietro Gambacorti, and made himself Lord of Pisa for Gian -Galeazzo’s benefit, as very shortly appeared. - -The Duke’s piety was as marked as his less estimable characteristics. He -did not doubt his own righteousness or hesitate to invoke the aid of -Heaven for all his enterprises. He was assiduous in his devotion to the -Saints and observance of the Church’s rites and ceremonies. The -Cathedral of Milan, the vast Certosa of Pavia, and many other great -buildings, were planned and founded by this prince. These works were not -done solely for a spiritual reward, but also to proclaim his own glory -to the world and to encourage art and industry. All Gian Galeazzo’s -greatness of spirit showed in his buildings. His engineering schemes -were as mighty and daring in conception as undaunted and patient in -accomplishment. To subdue Padua and Mantua he undertook the gigantic -task of diverting the Brenta and Mincio. But here he measured himself -too audaciously against natural forces. One night the Mincio, ‘in -piena,’ hurled its waters at the huge dam and swept away the work which -had cost untold labour and gold. - -With all his occupations of war and statesmanship, Gian Galeazzo found -time to continue his father’s patronage of Letters. He had as a youth -studied deeply himself in the University of Pavia. An early fresco at -Pavia, now long lost, represented him as a child standing in a crowd of -nobles and distinguished men in his father’s palace, and in answer to -the question, who was the greatest man present, pointing to the poet -Petrarca. This allegory recorded the honour which he paid all his life -to intellect and learning. He called the greatest scholars to the Chairs -of the University, including Emanuel Chrysoloras, who thus brought to -Milan the newly reviving knowledge of Greek. He made these men his -councillors and familiar associates. They read poetry to him and -discussed the new discoveries of antiquity, so that his castle has been -called a temple of wisdom. Architecture, sculpture, painting were -equally fostered by him. There was no sort of human activity which he -did not seek to stimulate for the advantage and glory of his State. - -Though its operations meant destruction to lesser powers, Gian -Galeazzo’s brain was essentially kingly and creative. This was the -moment in Italy of the formation of great States. The old faction -struggles of the era of freedom had come to an end with the -establishment of tyrannies, and of these the lesser were now being -swallowed up by the greater. In this process Milan under the Visconti -was the leader. Its natural outcome seemed to be the foundation of a -great settled kingdom in the peninsula, like France and England in the -North. The patriotic spirits of the time dreamed of such a kingdom as -the redemption of Italy from her woes of constant dissension and -warfare. The idea took practical shape in the mind of the great Matteo’s -descendant and heir, in whom character and circumstance united to carry -the large political thought and ambition of the Visconti nearest to its -supreme fulfilment. And it was to Gian Galeazzo that the dreamers looked -for the realisation of their desire, as perhaps Petrarca had looked to -the earlier generation. Fazio degli Uberti, the fourteenth century -Florentine poet and exile, who lived long at the Viscontean Court, in -one of his canzoni makes Rome cry— - - ‘O figliuol mio, da quanta crudel guerra - Tutti insieme verremo a dolcie pace - Se Italia soggiace - A un solo re....’[2] - -Footnote 2: - - ‘Oh my son, from what cruel warfare - Should we come all together to sweet peace - Could Italy be subject - To one sole king....’ - -To such a single crown Gian Galeazzo undoubtedly aspired. And though he -was defeated in the end, it was by no mortal means. All the efforts of -the hostile league of Florence, Venice, the Pope, and the lesser Italian -Princes, could not hinder his advance. His dominions at the beginning of -the fifteenth century embraced nearly the whole of Lombardy and the -Romagna. The Umbrian cities Perugia and Assisi were his. Lucca, Pisa and -Siena obeyed him. The tide of his success crept on. He foresaw and -discomfited every move of his opponents. In 1401 Bologna, long an -obstacle in his path, was surrendered to him by the Bentivogli. His -bravest and most obstinate foe, Florence, lay virtually at his mercy. On -every side of her he was supreme. Cut off from all help she waited his -deadly attack. The moment of his triumph was at hand. - -In July 1402 the Duke instructed his armies to close round the city of -the Arno. Retiring from Milan, where the plague had appeared, to his -villa at Melegnano, he had the mantle, sceptre and diadem prepared for -his coronation as King of Italy. He had nothing to fear now from mortal -enemies. There was one power only which his arms and calculations could -not defy. On the 10th of August he was seized with the deadly contagion, -and a few days later he died, at the age of 49. - -Who can tell the thoughts of the man as he lay on his death-bed, in his -hands at last all that he had laboured for day and night without -ceasing, and they powerless to close upon it. Who can measure the -passion of that defeated brain? His death caused infinite joy in -Florence, and in Italy generally. Yet there were many who, with an -anonymous poet of the time, wept for the loss which had deprived - - ‘questo emisfero - de quel che col pensiero - Sanar volia l’italico payese.’ - -Their lament was justified. The direct result of the tyrant’s death was -the release of all the elements of disorder and reaction in Italy, the -revival of angry faction, the break-up of a great organised State among -a host of greedy and warring pretenders, and the terrorism of military -adventurers over the whole country, ending in the establishment of a -dynasty in Milan destined to sell Italy to her final shame and ruin. -What if Gian Galeazzo had lived a few years longer? Florence would -probably have fallen before him, Florence whose incurable spirit of -individualism had been the one barrier between him and his ambition. But -was that single little torch of liberty, which itself was soon to waver -and be spent, worth the sacrifice of a united and peaceful Italy, strong -enough to resist all outside foes, forward enough to lead all Europe in -the path of progress? - -Yet if that noble fruition of art and civilisation which glorifies the -fifteenth century in Florence was conditional on her independence, then -Italy through all the tears of her after centuries of sorrow and -humiliation might well answer Yes. - -[Illustration: THE SNAKE OF THE VISCONTI] - - - - - CHAPTER VI - _From Visconti to Sforza_ - - - “Una città corrotta che vive sotto un principe ... mai non si può - ridurre libera.”—MACCHIAVELLI. - -Gian Galeazzo’s three sons by Isabella of Valois had died in infancy, -leaving him with one daughter only, Valentina, whom in 1387 he had -married to the Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI. of France, an -alliance of immense immediate advantage to the Visconti, but of fatal -issue for Milan and Italy generally, in days beyond even his far vision. -After some years of marriage, his second wife, Caterina Visconte, had -borne him a son, whom he had named Giovanni Maria, decreeing that every -one of his descendants should thenceforth bear the name of Maria, as a -token of his gratitude to the Virgin, to whose intercession he -attributed the birth of his heir. A second son, Filippo Maria, was born -later. At the time of the Duke’s death the elder was only fourteen, and -the younger ten. In addition to their youth, they had the enduring -disadvantage of issuing from parents both of the same stock, which -already, in the ferocity and capriciousness of Bernabò and the physical -timidity and weakness of Gian Galeazzo himself, had shown signs of -vitiation. This taint in the blood became in Giovanni Maria a moral -disease, amounting to mania, and in his brother an exaggerated -misanthropy and timidity. - -Giovanni Maria succeeded to the dukedom, and Filippo became by his -father’s will Count of Pavia, which had been erected into an appanage of -the sovereign House. The charge of the young Duke’s person and state -immediately became the object of a wild scramble among the different -parties in the city. The dead man’s will, appointing his widow regent, -was utterly disregarded, and she and her adviser, Francesco Barbavara, -were driven out by Estorre and Carlo Visconte, two of Bernabò’s sons, -who now reappeared after long exile, hoping to recover their heritage. -The Duchess died in 1404, poisoned, it was believed, by her son. But -this unhappy lady, who had seen her father entrapped and murdered and -her whole family ruined by her husband, and whose sons were now helpless -in the hands of robbers and foes—who had been driven hither and thither -in the whirl of faction and was already paralytic—might well sink -beneath her sorrows, without the help of this unnatural crime, which -there seems to have been no better reason than his general wickedness -for laying to the young Duke’s charge. - -Meanwhile Bernabò’s sons were swept away by other faction leaders, to -return and be again overthrown, as the fortunes of the struggle surged -backwards and forwards. One after another of Gian Galeazzo’s great -captains snatched and held the city for a time. Now Ottobuono Terzo—now -Carlo Malatesta—now Facino Cane, the most famous of them all, ruled in -the name of the utterly incapable Prince, while out of the ruins of Gian -Galeazzo’s vast State, which Venice, Florence and the Church had -hastened to dismember, each faithless governor seized some remaining -fragment wherewith to create a small independent dominion for himself. -Thus while the great Duke’s conquests, further off, were quickly lost, -cities close to the capital and long subject to the Visconti fell to -these lesser depredators. Pavia and other towns were captured by Facino -Cane, who kept the young Filippo a virtual prisoner, and Monza became -the stronghold of Estorre Visconte and his spirited sister Valentina. - -The confusion and struggle in Milan continued throughout the ten years -of Giovanmaria’s reign. The condition of the city was lamentable. Peace -and order were destroyed, and the names of Guelf and Ghibelline were -heard again in the streets, inflaming household against household and -awakening the horrors of civil war. The Duke made no attempt to rule for -himself. His only share in the government was the execution of State -prisoners, whom he caused to be torn to pieces, under his own eyes, by -dogs trained for the purpose. The extraordinary passion for dogs, -together with the hatred of humankind, visible in Bernabò and others of -the Visconti, had become an extravagant ferocity in this degenerate -member of the race. The story of Milan during his reign is like some -dreadful dream, in which, when sleep has fallen on the incessant riots -and fighting, through the darkness of the night stalk the awful figures -of the maniac Prince, gloating in his sport, and his huntsman, Squarcia -Giramo, beside him, with their terrible hounds in leash, on the scent of -human blood. - -The Duke’s appetite for blood was rewarded with Dantesque fitness. He -died in 1412, suffocated in his own blood in the precincts of the -palace, under the daggers of three Milanese nobles, who had sworn to rid -the world of a monster, and his body, lying in its blood in the -Cathedral, whither it had been carried and left alone by the general -horror, had for its only pall blood-red roses strewn upon it by a -harlot. - -At the moment of Giovanmaria’s murder, Facino Cane, who for some years -had dominated Milan, lay on his death-bed. Filippo Maria Visconte, whose -youth had passed in confinement at Pavia, now found himself at one -stroke free, and in nominal possession at least of the Dukedom. He was -twenty years old. The astute young man’s first step was to marry -Beatrice Tenda, Facino’s widow, through whom he became at once master of -Pavia and the State which the Condottiere had conquered for himself, and -of Facino’s fine army and immense treasure. He then led his troops to -Milan, where his entry was opposed by Estorre Visconte and a strong -faction. The great stronghold of Porta Giovia was, however, held for the -legitimate prince by the Castellan, Vincenzo Marliano, who roused the -citizens against Estorre. That brave soldier, the Hector of his race, -was overthrown, and he and his nephew Giovanni Carlo, with all their -supporters, were compelled to fly after a few days. The young Duke -marched in without opposition and was received with enthusiasm by the -people. - -The city felt at once the presence of a master. Order was restored, -factions calmed, peaceful industry protected, and punishment inflicted -on Giovanmaria’s murderers. Filippo proceeded to engage the most -successful Condottieri of the day to defend and restore his State, -seconding their valour and generalship in the field by the most careful -and industrious diplomacy in every Court of Italy and the principal -European kingdoms. The rebel Visconti were subdued by the death of -Estorre and the surrender of Monza (1412), which the brave Valentina -relinquished, making honourable terms for herself and the remaining -descendants of Bernabò. Lodi, Como, Piacenza and Brescia were recovered -in the course of a few years, and in 1422 Genoa was won. Filippo’s rapid -progress awakened the old terror of the Snake once again in Italy. The -third Duke of Milan had indeed many of the successful qualities of his -race, the craft, the patience, the untiring industry. But they were -vitiated by his timidity of mind and body, which made him both -suspicious and superstitious. Supremely perfidious himself, he dared -trust no man, and constantly laid snares for his own agents, and ended -by falling into them himself. Thus in 1424, fearful of the glory of his -great general, Carmagnola, who had been the chief means of restoring his -fortunes, he offended and alienated the Condottiere, with disastrous -consequences. In his fear and dislike of all men he shut himself up in -the innermost recesses of the Castle of Porta Giovia, and maintained as -many precautions as if he dwelt in a city of traitors. He tolerated few -persons around him, except his astrologers, who ruled him through his -fears. He dared take no step without consulting them. He was never seen -by his subjects except upon some rare State occasion, surrounded by -guards, or when some peasant, working in the solitary fields, spied him -slipping hastily in his barge along the canals between Milan and his -favourite country palace of Abbiategrasso. - -This dark habit of life made him odious to the sunny-tempered Milanese. -They shuddered at this pale fat man, who increased their horror by -condemning his own wife to death in 1418. To Beatrice Tenda and her vast -dowry Filippo owed almost entirely his possession of the Dukedom. Her -years much exceeded her second husband’s, though the Duke, like his -father, had never been young. Because he was tired of her, or because -she was cross and avaricious, as the chroniclers variously aver, or more -probably because she had served her purpose and was no longer of any use -to him, Filippo accused her of infidelity. She was arrested and carried -to the Castle of Binasco, together with her supposed lover, a handsome -young knight, Michele Orombello, who had solaced her dreary existence -with his skill upon the lute, and after having resisted torture -inflicted to make her confess herself guilty, she was beheaded. -Orombello and two of her ladies shared her fate. Ten years later the -Duke married, for political reasons, the Princess Maria of Savoy. This -poor lady was hardly less to be pitied than Beatrice. The Duke neglected -her himself, yet jealously kept her secluded from all but her own women, -allowing no man to appear in her presence. Meanwhile Agnese del Maino, -the lady who had secured the tyrant’s affections, reigned in the Castle -as his wife in all but name. Filippo’s love for Agnese, a woman of -spirit and culture, and his devotion to the daughter she bore him, his -only child, Bianca Maria, were human traits in his otherwise unamiable -character. Though no lover of learning, Filippo continued, as much as -circumstances allowed, the Viscontean patronage of culture and letters, -the tradition that had descended from his ancestors, the hosts of -Petrarca. He kept up the University of Pavia and called great scholars -to its chairs. The celebrated humanist, Pier Candido Decembrio, was for -many years his secretary. He employed artists of renown, including -Brunelleschi and Pisanello, in various works. To his daughter the Duke -was careful to give the scholarly training which with the revival of -learning had become a necessary ornament for the women as well as the -men of the great Italian Houses, and Bianca Maria added the -accomplishments of Latin and Greek to the beauty and spirit with which -nature had endowed her. - -But the Duke had neither means nor leisure amid the struggles of his -ambition and the pressure of his fears for much attention to the -peaceful arts. He was entirely occupied in redeeming his heritage and -preserving it from the greed of Venice, the inveterate hate of Florence, -the envy of the smaller States, and, from what he feared most of all, -the ambition and intrigues of the Condottieri in his own employ. The -fortunes of Italy were now, in fact, in the hands of the great military -adventurers. After a century and a half of physical lassitude, during -which her wars had been carried on by foreign mercenaries, she had bred -a race of warriors who had learnt their craft so well in the camps of -the German and English Condottieri that they had now superseded the -foreigners. With hosts of trained and disciplined soldiers at their -command, who knew no faith except to their leader, they took service now -with one sovereign, now with another, and with their fickle arms and -policy made and unmade States at their will. Facino Cane and Jacopo dal -Verme had already played their parts, to the disruption of the Milanese -State. Carmagnolo, after serving Duke Filippo for many years, went over -to Venice, and for long balanced the two States one against the other, -by his crafty conduct of the war, till he fell a victim to the superior -cunning of the Doge and his councillors in 1432. And now, in the midst -of the noise of battle and the ferment of intrigue, in which all the -years of Duke Filippo were wrapped, the great name of Sforza is first -heard in Milanese story. - -With the first Sforza and his son Francesco on the one side, and Braccio -Montone and Niccolò Piccinino on the other, the age of the Condottieri -culminated. The whole of Italy was plunged into strife by these great -leaders, in whom the old faction divisions of the country were revived, -and cities and States split up once again into hostile parties, Guelfs -and Ghibellines reappearing under the new names of Sforzeschi and -Bracceschi. These rival forces were at once the salvation and the -torment of Duke Filippo. The hope of succeeding to the heirless man’s -dominions—an elevation not beyond the attainment of an obscurely born -individual, in an age and country in which men made themselves, and -everything was possible to strength and ability—was a bait which drew -them to his service; and with all his cunning and perfidious diplomacy -he manipulated them for his own advantage, pitting them against each -other, now encouraging one, now compassing his downfall by means of -another. But they, too, were cunning. It was a game of wits, and Filippo -often found himself outdone. Yet to the very end, though plagued, -cajoled and defeated on all sides, he succeeded in circumventing all the -efforts of either party to seat itself securely in Milan, preferring, -with his strange spite towards mankind, to leave his kingdom to anarchy -rather than adopt an heir. - -In spite of him, however, destiny had raised up in a rustic race hailing -from Cotignola, in the Romagna, a regenerator for the worn-out tyranny -of the Visconti. Muzio Attendolo, the founder of the Sforza family, is -pictured by legend as a peasant boy, who, when twelve years old, flung -his woodman’s axe into a tree, and ran away to the wars. He appears to -have been really the son of a small landowner, rich only in the -possession of a progeny mighty in number and in strength. The name of -Sforza is said to have attached itself to him, in consequence of some -signal effort of his extraordinary strength and will. These qualities, -joined to his great energy, raised him to the highest military fame. His -life was chiefly spent in the wars of Naples and the Church, but he had -just accepted service with the Duke of Milan, when one day he plunged -into a swollen river, under the arrows of the enemy, to save a drowning -boy, and sank beneath the weight of his armour (1424). - -His son, Francesco, though only twenty-two, took command of his army, -and soon showed equal valour and much greater ability. Engaged, in 1425, -by Duke Filippo, he rapidly became a power in Milan, where he struggled -with the rival Condottiere, Niccolò Piccinino, for supremacy in the -councils of the Prince, and in the favour of the people. In 1432, -Filippo gave him the highest mark of favour by promising him the hand of -Bianca Maria, and with all solemnity the little girl of eight years old -was betrothed to the great general. But no sooner had the Duke thus -exalted Sforza, than he hastened to depress and humiliate him in every -way. Niccolò Piccinino was given the chief command of the Visconte’s -forces, and Francesco was fain at the time to abandon Milan, and his -hopes of eventually possessing the Dukedom in his promised wife’s right, -and to accept the standard of Pope Eugenius IV., Filippo’s bitter enemy. -For many years the brilliant genius of Piccinino and the subtlety of the -Duke were victorious over all enemies, and baffled every effort of -Sforza to obtain his little princess and regain his footing in Milan. -The climax of Filippo’s success came in 1435, when his Genoese fleet -defeated the Neapolitans at Gaeta, and brought back captive the Kings of -Naples and Navarre and a great company of lords and gentlemen. The Duke -on this occasion completely belied his usual character and astonished -the whole world by his kingly spirit. He received the two monarchs with -the utmost honour, and immediately granted them their freedom. Moreover, -he entertained them and their trains for a whole month, with great -splendour and a joyous festivity, rare indeed in Milan during his reign. -His generosity was doubtless calculated; in Alfonso of Naples he -disarmed an enemy and made a lasting friend, and by cunningly rousing in -that monarch a hope of succeeding to the Milanese state, he raised up an -aspirant who might be useful as a weapon against the conflicting -pretensions of Piccinino and Sforza. - -Before long, however, fortune turned against the Duke. Sforza, at the -head of the League of Venice, Florence and the Church, routed his -generals and captured his provinces and cities. In this predicament, -Filippo appealed to the great Condottiere’s ambition, and allured him -once more by offering him his bride at last with a rich dowry of -territory and gold. Francesco thereupon ceased to press the attack upon -him, and the war became little more than a languid pretence. Having thus -nonplussed his foes, who were completely dependent on the caprice of -their general, the Duke, with his interminable negotiations, continually -delayed the accomplishment of his promise, and meanwhile secretly -endeavoured in every way to entangle and overthrow Francesco. In this he -was only baffled by the almost equal craft and caution of his would-be -son-in-law. - -But as time went on, the Duke began to grow old and to weary of the -eternal struggle. He was oppressed with languor and excessive fat. The -fear of total blindness came upon him. Nearly all Italy was armed -against him. The parties in the State grew ever more clamorous, his -captains more unmanageable. Each of the latter seized upon one of his -cities and domineered over it as its Lord. Disasters accumulated upon -him in the field. Piccinino’s daring raid into Florentine territory, in -1439-40, ended in the great defeat of Anghiari, and Sforza, enraged by -the Duke’s duplicity, was capturing his cities for the League and -devastating his territories far and wide. Meanwhile, the peace which all -Italy sighed for was delayed by the great Condottiere, who, having -triumphed over all his rivals, would not sheath his sword till he had -secured Bianca Maria and the enormous dowry which he demanded with her. -At last, yielding to the persuasion of his only friend, Niccolò III. of -Ferrara, the general peacemaker, Filippo agreed to the marriage, and the -maiden of seventeen was conducted to the city of Cremona, which was to -be her rich portion, by the fatherly Marquis Niccolò, and there wedded -to her mature bridegroom. - -Sforza’s purpose was, however, only half accomplished. Though the lady -was won, the Dukedom remained to be secured. But he had to reckon with -his father-in-law’s antipathy, doubtless originating in a deep-seated -pride of race, and also with the hostile party—led by Niccolò Piccinino -and his sons—which was all-powerful in Milan and virtually ruled the now -decrepit Filippo. The Milanese armies before long moved once more -against Sforza, who retaliated by accepting the command of the Venetian -forces and carrying fire and sword right up to the walls of Milan. The -terrified Filippo was compelled to seek reconciliation with his offended -son-in-law, and to the chagrin of Venice, Sforza abandoned her side in -the hour of success and rapidly won back for the Visconte the Milanese -territories which he had just conquered for the Republic. At this -juncture the Duke, plagued by the irreconcilable importunities of the -two parties, used the only resource left to him wherewith to baffle them -both. Without confirming his promises to Sforza he fell sick, and, -obstinately refusing all remedies, let himself die (1447), reiterating -with his last breath a wish that after his death everything might fall -to ruin. - -And so it did. The city was immediately plunged into confusion and -uproar. Pretenders sprang up on every side, and the old faction trouble -threatened to overwhelm all order. The cities subject to Milan rebelled, -and once more the great State of the Visconti broke up into independent -fragments. Meanwhile, in the midst of the tumult in the capital itself, -the beautiful word Liberty, still remembered from the glorious days of -Milan’s Republican freedom, was breathed by a few noble and -disinterested citizens. It was acclaimed by the people, who thought it -meant relief from taxation, and was accepted by the various factions, -each hoping to make profit out of it. Amid enormous enthusiasm the -Golden Republic of St. Ambrogio was constituted, and the supreme -authority delegated to a few leading men, who were called Captains and -Defenders of the Liberty of Milan. - -The first act of the Republic was to sweep away the Castle of Porta -Giovia, stronghold and symbol of hated tyranny. The people exulted to -see it fall, but many thoughtful men, remembering the predatories who -coveted the rich city, were dismayed. Nor did the new Constitution -prosper. The Milanese had lost all capacity for self-government under -the long-continued despotism of the Visconti. ‘Nothing could make Milan -free,’ pronounced Macchiavelli later, ‘being altogether corrupt, as was -seen after the death of Filippo Visconte, when desiring to establish -liberty she neither was able, nor knew how, to maintain it.’ The tyranny -of hostile factions triumphed over the best intentions of the -Republicans, and the thoughtless people arrayed themselves one against -another, behind leaders whose only aim was to subjugate them. Those who -had really pure motives were drawn hopelessly into the whirlpool, and -the Defenders of Liberty oppressed each other, and the citizens -generally, with every cruelty and injustice. - -Meanwhile the Duchy was claimed by the Guelf party for Alfonso of -Aragon, on the strength of a will which his supporters had extracted -from the dying Filippo. A pretension—first threat of the misfortune that -was to fall later on Milan—was also advanced by the Duke of Orleans, son -of Filippo’s sister, Valentina Visconte. The Emperor claimed the Duchy -as a vacant fief. More dangerous than any of these pretenders was -Venice, greedy to extend her empire. But strongest of all was the -resolution of Francesco Sforza, who mended the flaw of illegitimacy in -his wife’s claim by the strength of his good sword. General of the -Milanese armies at Filippo’s death, he used his power to defend the -State from the attacks of Venice, and to subdue it gradually to his own -sway. But his enemies were strong. The Piccinini, Francesco and Jacopo, -warred against him with arms and intrigue, in alliance with the old -Guelf faction. They held Milan against him, but their councils were -confused by passion and divisions, and the great general drew steadily -nearer to the city. He defeated the Piccinini in the field, and -outwitted their perfidious diplomacy with an equal craft. He leagued -with Venice and Florence against the new Republic, defeated the Duke of -Savoy, whom Filippo’s widow, Maria of Savoy, had enlisted against him, -and cutting Milan off from all friends or help, laid siege to the -capital itself. - -Yet still the citizens clung to their illusion of liberty, and -obstinately refused to submit to a new master. Amid fierce tumult they -appointed fresh magistrates from the lowest ranks, persecuted and -proscribed the nobles, and put an enormous price on the head of the -‘perfidious’ Francesco Sforza, decreeing death to any who breathed his -name without a curse. But their resolution was useless. For some time -they kept the invader at bay with great spirit, aided by his party foes; -but the death of Francesco Piccinino at this juncture was a serious blow -to the defence. All trade was stopped by the siege, and general ruin -threatened this community, long used to wealth and ease. The city was -now reduced to grievous straits by famine. The desperate struggles of -the democratic leaders, Gio. Ossona and Gio. da Appiano, to maintain -their rule by blood and torture in the face of the growing discontent -and the ceaseless intrigues of Sforza’s partisans, made them odious to -all. Tumults broke out, and everywhere, says Corio, were heard -lamentations, weeping and cries. The Captains of Liberty were no longer -feared or obeyed. When in desperation they began to parley with Venice, -the citizens unanimously agreed that submission to Sforza was a lesser -evil than falling into the jaws of San Marco, and a rising of -Ghibellines and friends of the Condottiere succeeded in sweeping away -the Republic of St. Ambrogio, and opening the gates at last to the -victorious Francesco, and to a new era of peace, prosperity and -servitude (1450). - -Amid the wild applause of countless thousands, the great warrior rode -in, followed by his soldiers, whose necks and shoulders were hung round -with loaves of bread. _It was a fine thing to see_—in Corio’s -words—_with what eagerness the people snatched off the bread, and with -what voracity they devoured it_. So enormous was the throng, all -shouting Sforza and Duca, that the conqueror and his horse were -literally lifted up and carried on men’s shoulders. But even yet one or -two, among them the high-hearted Ambrogio Trivulzio, opposed his -entrance, demanding of him guarantees for the liberty of the city. They -were overpowered, however, by the multitudes, and Francesco Sforza was -proclaimed Duke by general consent of the citizens. - -Milan had immediate consolation for her lost liberty. By the wise -provision of the conqueror, such generous abundance flowed in after the -herald loaves of the soldiers, that in three days it seemed as if there -had been no siege at all. Order was restored with a firm and kindly -hand, and the splendid feasts and tournaments, continuing for nine days, -and drowning the memory of past afflictions, hid no cruel deeds of -vengeance upon the Duke’s political opponents. - -Italian historians generally agree in a favourable estimate of Francesco -Sforza. Corio, the historian, whose father was a gentleman in the -service of the Sforza, and he himself from his youth up, attached to the -ducal household, describes the first Duke as _liberalissimo_, full of -kindness, a lover of justice and religion, and declares that none -observed faith better than he. This last, in fifteenth century Italy, -was not saying much. More impartial writers, while praising his courage, -ability and general humanity, recognise that his triumph was due as much -to perfidy and political suppleness as to valour. He was a man of his -time, and his moral standard was that expressed by Macchiavelli later, -who, writing of the Sforza, excuses him on the ground that great men are -ashamed to lose, not to gain, by deception. - -As Duke of Milan, Francesco still resorted to the same practices. The -long tyranny of the Visconti, the strange cruelties and mysterious -misanthropic habits of the later princes, the intercourse of the last -Duke with astrologers and necromancers, which had wrapped him in a sort -of diabolical atmosphere, made the idea of a despot repulsive and awful -to the people, apart from their fear of oppression. But the brave, -robust presence, the frank and genial manner of this lord of the -battlefield and camp, _who nothing esteemed astrologers_, did much to -overcome their prejudices, and his rejection of the gorgeous symbols of -sovereignty prepared for his entry as _superstitioni dei Re_, and unfit -for a simple soldier, was carefully calculated to win their confidence. -But he dared not trust them. No sooner was he seated on the throne than -with false assurances that his only motive was the safety and -embellishment of the city, he began to rebuild the castle of Porta -Giovia, and to fortify it with enormous walls, and with two huge round -towers commanding the habitations of his subjects themselves, an ever -visible warning against rebellion. The Milanese, however, made no -attempt to shake off the yoke. The bulk of the people resumed with joy -their industrial occupations, too content with relief from immediate -afflictions to question of the future. They might well, too, recognise -that submission to the successful soldier was Milan’s only hope of -salvation as an independent State. - -In Italy, as a whole, the elevation of Francesco Sforza meant the boon -of peace. It enrolled on the side of order and stability the chief -element of disturbance in the country. For more than a century continual -strife had been kept up by the Condottieri in their own interests. But -now that the greatest of them all had attained a solid throne, the era -of their irresponsible energies was over. The splendid title and wealth -of the Visconti, and the immense resources of the Lombard capital, -united with the military skill and renown of the Sforza, could -consolidate and safeguard once again that great empire of the Snake, -whose decrepitude had been the chief opportunity of the Condottieri, and -the provocation of the late wars. On the part chosen by Milan depended -largely the fate of the whole peninsula. The far-eyed ambition of the -Visconti had chosen war. The new dynasty, on the contrary, preferred to -develop the vast wealth of the State which it had won rather than -increase its bounds, and was content to relinquish for the sake of peace -all pretensions to the cities once belonging to the Visconti, and now -usurped by Venice. Neither Francesco nor his successor sought the -aggrandisement of their dominions. And where the Visconti, aggressive -though they were, had studied the peace of Italy in the larger sense, -they were nobly followed by the two first Sforza. Gian Galeazzo’s -national policy—Italy for the Italians—his care to keep those Alpine -gates, whose keys had been committed to Milan’s charge, locked against a -possible invader, was adopted and carried on by the Sforza, through -nearly half a century; and when it was reversed, and the flood of -disaster and ruin let loose upon the country by Francesco’s younger son, -the brilliant prince to whom Fate had denied no gift except just those -two qualities which had made the Visconti great—judgment and knowledge -of men—there is reason to believe that fear rather than ambition was the -motive. - -During the last century of the Viscontean domination, Milan, which had -suffered little herself from the wars of Gian Galeazzo and Filippo -Maria, and had never been taxed beyond her strength by those able -tyrants, had grown into an enormous centre of trade. The rich produce of -the East, transmitted from Venice and the other Italian ports, and the -exports of the country itself, passed through the Milanese warehouses to -the marts of the North. The Milanese woollen fabrics clothed all -well-to-do Europe, and her smiths forged the panoply of the knights and -men-at-arms on every battlefield and in every jousting-list of -Christendom and of civilised Heathenesse as well. So great were the -workshops of the master armourers that two of them alone are said to -have armed on one occasion four thousand horsemen and two thousand foot -soldiers for Duke Filippo in the space of a few days. The abundant -products of the fertile plains around flowed into the capital, and with -increasing population and wealth new industries arose, adding to the -general prosperity, so that this city could with ease keep up an army -which would have beggared Venice or Florence. In her almost -inexhaustible resources lay the secret of her power in Italy, and of her -great influence even in the Councils of Europe. - -The new Duke laboured to breed, by all the arts of peace, yet greater -wealth, and to secure its full advantage for the State. Especially he -desired that Milan should have a due share in that splendid patrimony of -light and learning which Italy was now inheriting across the chasm of -the Middle Ages from her rediscovered Past. This man of war, bred up -from childhood in the camp, entertained all the liberal ideals of the -day. He particularly honoured virtuous and learned men, Corio tells us, -and to his encouragement of art the city owed many beautiful buildings. -In his patronage of the humanities, as in all his affairs, the Duke was -nobly supported by his wife, Bianca Maria Visconte. This lady—_donna -d’animo virile_—had been from their marriage-day the prop of his -ambition and resolve. Her invincible spirit had never allowed him to -flinch a moment from his task of conquest, had restored his courage -under misfortune, and had even inspired him by donning helmet and -cuirass, and herself leading troops to his succour on the battlefield. -Aided by her clever mother, Agnese del Maino, Bianca Maria had acted for -him in critical moments in his absence, with invariable constancy and -promptitude, so that he was wont to declare that he had more confidence -in her than in his whole army. In the acquisition of Milan she was his -chief councillor, and now that the throne of her ancestors was won, she -claimed her full share of it. One may suspect that this conqueror of -men—not alone in history—was somewhat mastered by the young woman at his -side. Bianca Maria is celebrated by the chroniclers for her goodness. -‘This lady,’ says Cagnola, ‘in piety, compassion, charity, and beauty of -person, as well as every other virtue, surpassed all the women of our -age, and was the splendour and mirror of all Italian women.’ - -Francesco left the government of his sons entirely to this notable lady. -She herself superintended their Greek and Latin studies. But instruction -in the art of ruling was the chief feature of her training, and that -famous pedant, Filelfo, the Florentine, who was one of their tutors, had -to remember that his task was to form princes, not merely men of -letters. She was careful to have them taught chivalrous exercises, -habits of courtesy, and the good manners proper to princes; and so -rigorous was her discipline that no boys were ever better behaved than -the ‘fantastick’ of after days, Galeazzo Maria, and he who was to betray -Italy, Lodovico il Moro. - -With the change from the worn-out domination of the Visconti, rooted in -the Middle Ages, to the rule of the soldier of fortune, who owed his -success to personal genius and character, the Renaissance era, that -opportunity of individual talent, may be said to have opened in Milan. -The aspect of the city soon showed the operation of a new vitality and -enthusiasm, in the splendid buildings which now arose, and in the -activity of all artistic and industrial employments. But Duke -Francesco’s designs for the improvement of his State were hampered by -the last convulsive struggles of the long-continued wars of North Italy. -It was some years before Venice, Savoy, and the rest of Milan’s enemies -were quieted and propitiated by the arms and the prudent diplomacy of -the new ruler, who with time found means of overcoming all the dangers -which threatened him. An alliance with Louis XI. of France protected the -Duke from the pretensions of Orleans. With Cosimo de’ Medici he -maintained a loyal friendship, and thus disarmed Florence, and with -Naples he concluded a treaty of peace, which was sealed by the marriage -of his daughter Ippolita to King Ferdinand’s son, Alfonso of Calabria. -Francesco was well aware, however, of the secret hostility harboured -against him by a strong party in the city, and was ever on his guard. -The death of Jacopo Piccinino, in 1465, rid him of the last survivor of -the great family of Condottieri, who had been his most formidable foes -and rivals. Historians have charged Francesco with a share in the horrid -deception by which this brilliant captain was decoyed to his destruction -at the hands of Ferdinand of Naples. - -A year later (1466), when the Duke himself died, his dynasty seemed to -be securely founded in Milan. Yet, in the absence of the heir, the -Duchess and her councillors hastened to put the Castle into a state of -defence, and to take every precaution against rebellion. Galeazzo Maria, -was hurriedly summoned from France, where he was fighting for Louis XI. -in the Barons’ War. His return was accomplished with the utmost speed -and secrecy, and the story of his passage through the dominions of -Savoy, disguised as the servant of a travelling merchant, the attempt to -capture him as he passed by a certain castle in the mountains, his -escape into sanctuary, and thence, after three days’ concealment, into -the fastnesses of the hills, where by difficult ways he was conducted -into his own territory, strikes at once that note of romance and -extravagance which accompanies the strange personality of Galeazzo Maria -Sforza throughout his short course to the grave. - -Once in his own dominions the new duke had nothing to fear. The habit of -servitude had become only too confirmed in the Milanese, and they sealed -their submission to the House of Sforza by accepting Francesco’s son -without protest as their Lord. Galeazzo, born too late to remember aught -but the triumphant days of his House, or to have known any interruption -in the flattery, servility and fear which waited on princes in the -fifteenth century, found himself at twenty-two monarch of a great State -and vast riches, lord of the lives and destinies of large populations, -and master, in all the vigour and freshness of his youth and of the -unexhausted Sforza blood, of that incomparable treasure of delight and -varied human experience which the Renaissance of learning, of knowledge, -of beauty, had added to the heritage of power bequeathed to the Italian -tyrants by their immediate ancestors. Is it a wonder that the princes of -that bright new day, in all the pride of the restored faith in human -greatness and possibility, should have believed themselves more than -men, and like the old Roman emperors, whose histories they read and -whose heirs they considered themselves, should have assumed the proud -appellation of _Divi_—Gods? These favourites of Time and Fortune lacked, -however, one thing: that discipline of the will—more rigorous than the -self-mortification of the apostles of asceticism—which the religion of -beauty and joy requires in its followers. - -In Galeazzo Maria Sforza the characters of a Renaissance tyrant appear -in an exaggerated light. A strain of the bizarre, inherited from his -Visconte ancestors, working in the strong new blood of the Sforza, -produced in him an extravagance of temperament which ruled all his -thoughts and acts. He had been instructed in the new learning by Filelfo -and other humanists of repute; but from the classic example and precept -thus set before him by men who themselves often abused the ideals which -they taught his unbalanced nature had learnt only licence. His hot -passions, romantically shown in youth by his love for Lucrezia -Landriani, and his adoration of the child she bore him, that famous -Caterina, afterwards Lady of Forlì, developed rapidly into unbridled -lust. His vanity was nothing less than preposterous, and his care for -his tall and splendid person, and in especial for his beautiful white -hands, was a sort of idolatry. His insatiable appetite for gorgeous -surroundings and rich display glutted itself with an orgy of colour and -ornamentation, rioted in costly fabrics and priceless gems and gaudy -equipages. Never before in Italy had such pomp been seen as accompanied -his journey, in 1471, to visit Lorenzo de’ Medici, who, as head of the -Florentine Republic, had been entertained a short time before in Milan. -With him went his consort, the beautiful Bona of Savoy, the princess who -was to have married Edward IV. of England, had not her fickle suitor -fallen in love with Elisabeth Woodville instead. Bona became Galeazzo’s -wife in 1467. - -Besides his Duchess, all the great feudatories and ministers of State, -arrayed in cloth of gold and silver, accompanied the Duke, himself a -magnificent figure in royal crimson. The courtiers wore velvet and -finest silk, the dresses of the chamberlains and pages were exquisite -with needlework, the lackeys were in silk and cloth of silver, and the -very cooks and scullions in velvet and satin. An immense train of -horses, with trappings of silver and gold, carried grooms in silken -liveries of the Sforza colours, purple and white. Mules, with housings -of white and purple damask embroidered with the devices of the Sforza in -silver, bore litters hung with gorgeous stuffs, and containing beds of -cloth of gold. Huntsmen leading five hundred couple of dogs, falconers -with highly trained hawks upon their wrists followed, and a host of -trumpeters, pipers, musicians and jesters played their lively part in -the procession. The description of this gallant train, winding out in -all its fresh new bravery into the green Lombard plain from the serrated -walls and gates of the mediæval city, in the radiance of a May morning, -suggests something of what Milan once was and of the lost beauty of -Renaissance pageantry. The luxury and extravagance of the Milanese -visitors greatly impressed the Florentines, and, according to -Macchiavelli, helped to corrupt them and induce them to abandon their -sober habits for pleasures and vanities. - -Galeazzo’s love of decoration vented itself in the adornment of his -palaces with paintings and works of art. He employed a host of artists, -and in his impatience and excitement demanded miracles of them. He would -have marble palaces and painted chambers rise as at the stroke of a -magician’s wand; and an oft-told tale relates how he commanded a certain -artist to decorate a whole wall with portraits of the ducal family in a -single night. And woe to those who displeased him. The glittering, gaudy -figure of this prince, with the great black eyes and hawk nose, and the -white effeminate hands, dressed in the motley parti-coloured dress, red -and white, used by the Dukes of Milan, moves through the pages of -history in an alternation of black shadow and garish light. He was -pointed out in whispers as the murderer of his own mother. It is true -that his imperious temper had quickly resented Bianca Maria’s attempt to -share in the government and to retain the power which her influence on -her husband had given her. A short struggle had ensued between the -mother and son, and ended by the defeated Duchess resolving to withdraw -to her dower city of Cremona and there exercise her lawful authority. -But neither did this division of the State suit the new Duke, and he -detained her in the Castle of Melegnano, where, devoured by anger and -grief, she fell sick after a few months and died, poisoned, according to -common belief. But the accusation appears to rest only on Galeazzo’s -general reputation for wickedness, and the ingratitude and want of -filial piety which he had already shown himself capable of towards his -mother. He is not a singular instance, however, of a young sovereign -disagreeing with a dominant queen-mother. With as scant evidence, the -death of his first betrothed, Dorotea Gonzaga, which freed him to make -the more advantageous alliance with Bona, is laid to Galeazzo’s charge. - -[Illustration: - - GALEAZZO MARIA SFORZA, BY PIERO POLLAIUOLO (UFFIZI, FLORENCE) - - _To face p. 138_] [_Alinari, Florence_ -] - -To such a personality as this prince’s, so conspicuous and so frenzied, -legend readily clings, even in his own lifetime, and the imaginations -which peered into the secrets of his dungeons carried, perhaps, some of -their morbid visions with them. We must, however, believe the -contemporary writers, who record hideous deeds committed by the Duke -even in the light of day, grim pranks of punishment and devices of -cruelty inflicted upon offenders, under his own eyes. There was a -strange touch of imagination in his adjustment of torments to offences, -and often a kind of wild justice and sympathy for the oppressed, -horribly manifested, as when he punished a priest, who had refused the -funeral rites to a poor man, by burying him alive in the same grave as -the corpse. Galeazzo Sforza was in fact an embodied paradox—a monster of -vices and virtues, as he has been called, or better still, in his -daughter Caterina’s word, a ‘Fantastick.’ This mad, bad prince had the -theoretic admiration of his age for virtue, and was possessed with a -very rage for cultivating it in his subjects. Abuses, such as bribery of -magistrates, corruption in the public administration, oppressive -restrictions on trade and commerce, were vigorously put down. He allowed -none but himself to take money from petitioners, or to seize other -people’s property. His passion for justice and good government had -planted so many gallows in his realm, that when his young bride came to -Milan she trembled at the spectacle and fell on her knees, imploring -pardon for prisoners and offenders, a boon immediately granted to her -compassionate beauty. Though greedy of treasure and guilty of robbing -his rich subjects, Galeazzo was punctual and exact in paying his -servants—a rare virtue in an Italian prince. So trustworthy was his word -as a sovereign that men regarded it as if it had been money. He had -great personal attractions, was merry, affable and familiar with those -around him, and willingly gave audience to his subjects. The courage -which the populace expect of a prince was conspicuous in him—_a man who -never knew fear_, as his fearless daughter Caterina proudly describes -him. - -Better still, Galeazzo Sforza knew men. No one of proved worth and -activity had to fear his caprices. Cecco Simonetta, his father’s -faithful minister, was retained in the highest offices throughout his -reign; and his chief engineer and architect, Bartolommeo Gadio, kept -undisturbed command of the great works of the Castello. Nor did the -Duke’s heated temper affect his political judgment. He reconciled -himself with Savoy, and with Lorenzo de’ Medici and Ferdinand of Naples -formed that triple alliance which gave Italy her most splendid period of -peace. In the cordial relations which he maintained with France he never -forgot Milan’s appointed task of guarding the gate of Italy. Within his -own dominions he held party passions in check, and followed his father’s -prudent policy of employing in the important offices of State foreigners -like the Sicilian Simonetta, and men who owed everything to the House of -Sforza, and of diminishing the influence of the great nobles. - -[Illustration: BRIDGE OVER NAVIGLIO NEAR SAN MARCO] - -With peace without and order within, the tide of prosperity rose ever -higher in the populous city. The vast lands of the Duchy were everywhere -being brought to full fertility by irrigation works and the draining of -wastes. Palaces surrounded by beautiful gardens and fruitful orchards -and vineyards were springing up where before had been wilderness. Great -schemes for new waterways between the different cities of the State were -in hand, and all the immense increase of the country’s resources, -resulting from improved agriculture and greater facilities of traffic, -flowed by a thousand streams into the coffers of the capital. An -extraordinary vitality seemed to possess all classes in this morning of -the Renaissance. The larger horizons revealed to the spirit by the -revival of ancient literature and thought, the multiplicity of new -interests created by increased knowledge, the joy of the release from -the mediæval sense of guilt and sorrow, gave to this age the vigour and -enthusiasm of a regenerated world. Milan was one vast hive of vivacious -energies, busy in commerce, in art and all kinds of handiwork, in -learning, poetry, music. The Duke’s excited spirit was eager for all -intellectual and artistic novelties. His Court was thronged with -scholars and philosophers. Not content with the magnificent library of -Pavia, he formed a fine collection of books in Milan, and -printing-presses were set up in the city at this time. But above all -else Galeazzo loved music. Milan had been from early times the resort of -troubadours, minstrels and those skilled in ‘divers musicks,’ but never -before had such beautiful singers been heard there as the Duke summoned -from Flanders and all parts of Europe to compose the choir of the ducal -chapel in the Castello. Music and the chase were Galeazzo’s favourite -diversions; and the vast hunting-grounds and deep forests of the Duchy, -full of wild boars and stags and all sorts of beasts and birds, the wide -meres and watery channels crowded with waterfowl, were continually -visited by gallant hunting and hawking trains. The picturesque interest -of that far-off princely life, rich in all the adornments of rarest art, -and fresh with the springing joy of that hopeful age, is enhanced for us -by its dimness. It has all the poetic charm of a half-obliterated -fresco. These historic figures appear to our vision in that stiffness -and innocence and decorative grace, that mingling of mediæval romance -and Renaissance beauty with which they were doubtless represented by the -primitive painters who covered the walls of Galeazzo’s palaces in Milan -and Pavia with scenes of the ducal life—frescoes, alas! long perished. - -The picture of the city at this time would be bright indeed but for the -plague-spots of vice and cruelty in the ruler, and of corruption in the -people. Acquiescence in tyranny, and the new luxury of life, had bred -effeminacy and servility in the citizens. But there were some among them -who could not forget their shame. This motley prince, himself an early -and crude product of the still undisciplined spirit of the Renaissance, -was destined to perish by the operation of that same spirit. The very -arrogance of blood and brain which drove him to excess swelled the -indignation of the youths who assembled in the school of the humanist -Cola Montana, and followed the finger of their preceptor as he pointed -with scorn to the spectacle of the Duke passing with extravagant pomp -across the Piazza dell’ Arengo, and to the obsequious train of nobles -and magistrates in gorgeous attire attending him, and contrasted the -degradation and pusillanimity of these courtiers with the noble -simplicity of the Carthaginian and Roman patriots who had won immortal -fame by giving their lives for their country. Cola, who was himself -secretly envenomed against the Duke on account of personal wrongs, never -ceased to hold up before his pupils the example of Brutus and the lofty -ideal of virtue and self-sacrifice which inspired their classic -ancestors. Inflamed by his eloquence and by a mingling of pedantic pride -and youthful enthusiasm, these sons of fathers who remembered the brief -hope of the Ambrosian Republic formed a resolution to rid the State of -the monstrous tyranny which oppressed it. Girolamo Olgiati, Gio. Ant. -Lampugnano and Carlo Visconte were the chief conspirators. The lofty -indignation of the two latter was aggravated by personal grievances, but -the motives of Olgiati, whose sensitive mind had been moulded for years -by Cola Montana, seems to have been pure of all egoism except a -beautiful self-conceit. They communicated their plot to a few trusty -comrades, and went about the city secretly stirring up discontent. In -spite of the general prosperity poverty existed, and it happened that -the season had been bad and scarcity threatened. The populace could not -see beyond this immediate evil, and all groaned together under the -taxation which they supposed went only to provide for the limitless -luxury of the Court. Many citizens were hereditary Guelfs and foes of -the Sforza. The idea of rebellion was familiar enough in every North -Italian city, and the conspirators received so much sympathy and so many -promises of adherence that the excited vision of young Olgiati pictured -the whole city awaiting the signal of the great deed to rise and set him -and his fellows at the head of a Republic as noble as those of -antiquity. Day and night Lampugnano’s house was crowded with enthusiasts -for liberty. All preparations were made for the rising, deputies were -appointed to ensure the safety of the city in the confusion which was -sure to follow the overthrow of the government, and the day and the -particulars of the great act of judgment on the tyrant were carefully -arranged. - -On St. Thomas Day (1476), Duke Galeazzo entered early in the morning -into his capital, after a short victorious campaign against the -encroachments of Burgundy in the mountains of Savoy. Let it be -remembered of him that his last deed was thus to beat back invaders of -Italy. As he rode to Milan from his Castle of Abbiategrasso, in the -bitter cold which had numbed the streams and fogged the air, three -ravens slowly rose and flew across his path, one after the other, -uttering hoarse croaks. The Duke seized a gun and fired at these evil -augurs, and was half-minded to turn back. He went forward, however, but -a heavy presentiment of ill had fallen on his soul. As he rode in, -welcomed by the nobles who had thronged the city to do him homage, the -conspirators noted his heavy countenance, and knew that the hour was at -hand. Instead of mirth he carried gloom into the Castle, all prepared -for his coming, and though it was the season of joy, he ordered the -ornaments of the chapel to be draped in black, and bade the Flemish -priest, Cordiero and his thirty fellow-singers from beyond the -mountains, chant every day in the Mass a verse from the Office of the -Dead. Nevertheless the great Christmas festivities took place as usual, -and the tall figure of the Prince, robed to the feet in crimson damask, -and accompanied by the fair Duchess and a crowd of nobles, stalked -gesticulating though the splendid chambers of the Castello, vaunting, in -the midst of a strange and mournful oppression, his own magnificence, -and the glory and enduring strength of his House. - -The next day was the Feast of St. Stephen. Very early in the morning, -Gio. Antonio Lampugnano and Girolamo Olgiati knelt and heard Mass -together, like knights entering into battle. A great crowd gathered in -S. Stefano, where the Duke was to attend Mass later. Some of the -conspirators mingled with the people, while the three leaders waited in -a house close by. The slow moments passed. At last the appointed hour -arrived and the procession was at hand. Girolamo, in his confession, -tells the rest in breathless words. _Soon a noise; it is the Prince. We -hide our daggers, and in an instant stand in the church. The Duke -passes, I transfix him, he falls and expires._ - -Corio, who was one of the Duke’s chamberlains and was present in the -church, describes how Galeazzo entered between the Ferrarese and Pisan -Envoys, preceded by a pompous train of guards and servants. The writer -saw the daggers flash from the little group of conspirators and bury -themselves in the gaudy body of the Prince, and heard his one cry, _O -Nostra Donna!_ as he fell back in a pool of blood. In the uproar which -immediately arose, Lampugnano was killed as he fled through the press of -shrieking women; but Girolamo and Carlo Visconte, with their -accomplices, succeeded in escaping from the church. The mangled body of -the tyrant was carried into the adjoining Canonica, and its gory dress -was exchanged for a robe of white cloth of gold, and all the ducal -ornaments and insignia set upon it. Meanwhile Girolamo, hounded by the -rage and terror of his father out of his home, whither he had fled, took -refuge with a priest and waited in violent agitation, his exalted brain -seething with hopes and fears. The people must be even now rushing to -arms. His friends must be coming to find him and place themselves under -his command. They would sack the palaces of Cecco Simonetta and the -hated ministers, seize the gates, abolish the taxes, proclaim a glorious -Republic. The hours went by and nothing happened. Hearing a great noise, -he looked eagerly out and saw the lacerated remains of his comrade -Lampugnano being dragged along by yelling children with every hideous -insult. - -Hope began to desert him. He was sought, not by friends and admirers, -but by officers of justice, and fleeing miserably from one refuge to -another, was soon captured. In his dungeon, the mind of the young man—he -was twenty-three—maintained its exaltation, though it was a wonder, says -Corio, that amid such torments as he underwent, the afflicted spirit did -not abandon the agonised body. He managed to compose a long relation in -Latin of all the circumstances of the plot, a document of poignant human -interest which shows the effect of the prevailing enthusiasm for -antiquity upon a serious and lofty soul. Even at the last frightful -moment, when the iron of the executioner was at his breast, the fainting -youth had courage to animate himself in the tongue of Brutus and Cato -with the words—_Collect thyself, Hieronimo. The memory of thy deed shall -live long. Mors acerba, fama perpetua!_ - - - - - CHAPTER VII - _The Opening of the Gate_ - - - “Il Duca perse lo Stato e la roba e la libertà, e nessuna sua opera si - finì per lui.”—LEONARDO DA VINCI. - -If the great movements of history could ever be said to turn on the -existence of an individual, one might regard as the paradoxical result -of Galeazzo Maria’s death the loss of Italy’s freedom. The young -Milanese Brutus, in his noble rage against tyranny, little foresaw the -three centuries of dark and hopeless servitude which by the -unimpassioned workings of fate his blow would indirectly bring upon his -country. The exclamation of the cynical Sixtus IV. at the news of the -murder—_To-day is the peace of Italy dead_,—showed a clearer vision. The -scheming Pope saw and gauged the unstable elements in the situation—the -ambition of Naples and Venice, the helplessness of Duke Galeazzo’s -ten-year-old successor, the contagion of disorder throughout Italy; -remembered the aggressive Turk in the east, the adventurous Frank in the -north, and forthwith set to work to precipitate the inevitable upheaval -in the interests of his own family. - -The trouble ahead was, however, as yet hidden. Milan kept calm. The -air-bubble expectations of the conspirators had perished at the touch of -reality. There was no attempt at a rising. The widowed Duchess assumed -without opposition the supreme authority as regent for her son, the -child Gian Galeazzo, with Cecco Simonetta as her chief minister. The -dead Duke’s brothers, Sforza, Duke of Bari, and Lodovico il Moro, were -absent in France, Ascanio the priest in Rome. But the situation was -pregnant with danger, as Simonetta well knew. He suspended all Galeazzo -Maria’s works of embellishment in the city, set the engineers and -builders to construct new defences, threw a strong garrison into the -Castle, and adopted every precaution against revolt. The chief menace -came from the nobles of the old Ghibelline party. They hated Simonetta, -who was a Sicilian and the creature of Francesco Sforza, with no -interest apart from his master’s House, which he strengthened by -depressing the great feudatories. The veteran minister was unpopular -with the people too, because he was a foreigner, and because of the -heavy taxes. Sforza and Lodovico, hurrying back from France, and joined -by Ascanio, found a powerful party, headed by the fiery and restless -soldier, Roberto di San Severino, ready to support them in overthrowing -the government. But Simonetta was on the watch. He seized one of the -chiefs of the disaffected party, and filled the city with troops. San -Severino promptly fled to Naples, and the three princes retreated to a -little distance, ready to escape. Their youngest brother, Ottaviano, a -youth of eighteen, who was involved in their plot, also rode hastily out -of the city, and finding himself pursued, leapt into the swollen Adda, -and was washed off his horse and drowned. A formal decree banishing the -elder princes was issued, and for the moment the danger was over and -Simonetta triumphed. - -Naples, however, ambitious for a foothold in Milan, embraced the cause -of the exiles, and sent San Severino with an army to worry the ducal -territories. The brothers themselves, from their different places of -refuge, kept up communications with their partisans in the city, and -intrigued against the government. Simonetta’s power depended upon the -will of the Duchess Bona, a lady ‘of little good-sense,’ according to -Commines. Though she left the guidance of affairs entirely to the -minister, his influence could not compete with the charms of her -handsome Ferrarese secretary, Antonio Tassino, to whom she could deny -nothing. The inordinate presumption of this favourite soon conflicted -with Simonetta’s authority. Lodovico Sforza, who far away had eyes and -ears everywhere, was quick to profit by the dissension between these two -powers at Court. The death, in 1479, of the elder brother Sforza—from -excessive fat—helped to clear the path for the ambition of the Moro, who -was now created Duke of Bari by the King of Naples, in succession to -Sforza. To him the rebellious spirits in Milan looked henceforth as -their leader. A number of the great nobles, the Borromei, the Da -Pusterla—those old foes of the Dukes of Milan—the Marliani and others, -aided the upstart Tassino to turn the Duchess against her husband’s -faithful old servant. Beatrice da Este, wife of Lodovico’s half-brother -Tristan, and other ladies in her intimacy, plied her with complaints of -Simonetta, and entreated her to dismiss him and recall the banished -Moro, who with the mercenaries of Naples was now preying on her -territories. Tassino whispered the same persuasions between the -endearments which she permitted from him. At last, one day Lodovico -himself knelt before her, having at great risk returned to the city and -made his way secretly through the gardens into the Castello. Heedless of -his disobedience to her decree of banishment, the thoughtless woman -received him with the utmost joy, and the whole city burst into a frenzy -of welcome. Simonetta’s clear vision read the future. _Most illustrious -Duchess_, said he, _I shall lose my head, you your State_. Deaf to his -warning, Bona committed the government to her brother-in-law. Three days -later Simonetta was arrested and carried to the Castle of Pavia, where, -after he had lain a whole year in captivity, he was brought to trial, -before one of the most vindictive of his personal enemies, on a charge -of enormous crimes against the ducal House. He was tortured, and finally -beheaded in the Castle yard. For putting him to so merciful an end, Bona -took much credit to herself in an official notification of his trial and -death sent to the various Courts of Italy. - -The minister disposed of, the turn of the favourite came. From being -Lodovico’s ally and tool, Tassino was now become a serious hindrance to -Lodovico. His arrogance was overweening. He had boundless power over -Bona, and was rapidly making himself absolute master in the palace. The -crisis arrived in a struggle over the Rocchetta, the inner Keep of the -Castle of Milan, which, with its strong garrison and impregnable -defences, gave its commander virtual dominion of the whole city. Tassino -persuaded the Duchess to appoint his father as Castellan, in the place -of Filippo Eustachio, who had been put in charge of it by Duke Galeazzo. -But Filippo, a staunch adherent of Lodovico’s, disobeyed her repeated -commands to give up the keys, and sturdily resisted all her efforts to -remove him, defying her threats and sentences, until the Moro had -prepared a swift and sudden stroke. One day, at Lodovico’s bidding, -Filippo and Gio. Francesco Pallavicino entered the apartments of the -little Duke, at an hour when most of his attendants were out of the way, -and snatching up the child, carried him across the narrow bridge which -led from the Corte Ducale into the Rocchetta, and delivered him into the -custody of his uncle. With the person of the sovereign in his -possession, behind the defence of drawbridges, portcullises and -artillery, and a strong body of soldiers faithful to himself, the Moro -could dictate terms to the Duchess. She had no alternative but to -surrender to him the regency and the guardianship of her son. As for -Tassino, seeing himself overreached, he fled incontinently, to escape a -worse fate, and stripped of everything but his perfumes and ivory combs, -which were bundled after him, he disappears ignobly out of history. -Bereft at once of lover, son and sovereignty, Bona was a piteous figure -of helpless rage and grief. She declared she would abandon the Duchy, -even if she had to climb out of the windows and cross the moat at the -risk of her life. Lodovico, however, gently detained her in the Castle -of Abbiategrasso, a virtual prisoner, until the subsidence of her -shallow passion enabled her to submit to the new order of things and -settle down, without power or authority, to a quiet life with her -children, in the Castello of Milan again. - -Thus, by a series of successful palace intrigues, Lodovico Sforza made -himself supreme in Milan. He had still, however, to cope with the -resentment of the nobles who had helped him to power, and now found -themselves denied any share in it. Like all usurpers, Lodovico found -ingratitude necessary to self-preservation, and from the first he -studied to depress his more powerful subjects, choosing foreigners and -men of modest degree as his ministers and advisers. Roberto di San -Severino with many other nobles now took up arms against him. But they -were completely defeated by Constanzo Sforza, an able general and a -kinsman of the reigning House, and the turbulent San Severino, -transformed into the Moro’s bitterest foe, quitted the Duchy, and went -off to serve Venice in the war against Ferrara. - -The masterly craft by which Lodovico Sforza had achieved his triumph, -roused the admiration and fear of all Italy, which increased as, with -the progress of time, he became the most conspicuous figure in Italian -politics. About the enigmatic personality of this prince, history has -confused our minds with contrary judgments, which romance has translated -into a various caricature. His peculiar association with Italy’s -greatest glory and greatest shame has thrown an exaggerated light and -shade upon his memory. The Italian historians of this period make him -the scapegoat for that calamity of Italy, which no one man, but the -ancient and inherent sin of the whole nation, brought about. -Guicciardini, while recording his many virtues of mind and heart, is -glad to believe him guilty of the worst crimes of ambition and perfidy, -and to discover in him a fatal self-conceit. Paolo Giovio speaks of him -as _born for the undoing of Italy_. Modern inquirers have modified the -traditional view of the Moro, by showing the baselessness of some of the -worse charges against him, and by a diligent prying into all the details -of his domestic existence, they have at once humanised and belittled the -old picture of the man. Yet still the real Lodovico seems dark to us. It -is not for nothing that the name of _il Moro_—the Moor—given to the -dark-skinned boy in his childhood, has clung to him through history; it -shows the conviction of his contemporaries and of posterity that it -fitted not only his bodily appearance, but the complexion of his soul. - -By his actions he must be judged. In the Italy of the Quattrocento, to -do evil that good might come was excellent morality. The best men -practised it, and differed only from the worst in the ends they pursued. -Lodovico’s usurpation of power had its immediate justification in the -salvation of the State. The prestige of his name, and his fine -statesmanship, could alone avert the civil war and anarchy which Bona’s -government was leading to, and oppose a barrier to the greed of Venice -and Naples for Lombardy. The deposition of a weak woman by a strong and -able man was an act unsingular in a country where beneath all law and -convention reigned the tacit conviction that character was the true -legitimacy. Once in power, he found that internal peace necessitated the -sacrifice of the turbulent elements of which he had served himself to -climb, and personal ingratitude became a public virtue. Freed from the -prepotence of these restless spirits, the citizens could pursue their -occupations undisturbed, and the prince could devote himself to his -great schemes for the improvement of agriculture, the facilitation of -commerce and the humanising of the people. It is these things—in which -he carried on the noblest tradition of the Sforza domination—which are -the Moro’s apology for much wrong-doing; it is these and not his -ceaseless political activity, and immense prestige as a statesman, which -make the story of Milan great during his reign, a period brilliant, -joyous and prosperous beyond compare. - -Though in title only regent for the young Duke, Lodovico was absolute -sovereign. His extraordinary activity, resource and subtlety, backed by -the boundless wealth of Milan, soon made his influence felt abroad. For -the first year or two his cares at home kept him from interfering much -in general affairs. The balance of power in Italy, deprived of the -weight of Milan, wavered in consequence, and Sixtus IV., Naples and -Venice did their utmost to swallow up Florence. The safety of the great -Tuscan Republic, secured partly by the courage and address of Lorenzo -de’ Medici, but more by the timely knock of the Turk at the door of -Italy, at Otranto, was further assured by the fast-rising power of the -new ruler of Milan, who by uniting his State in 1484, in a fresh -alliance with Florence and Naples, restored to Italy that equilibrium -which had been first established by his great father, Francesco. - -The eleven years that followed the Peace of Bagnolo (1484-95) were the -most splendid in the history of mediæval Italy. They were the -culmination of a great ascent, preceding as great a downfall. Pressing -upwards through the continual struggles, amid the phantoms and shadows -of the earlier centuries, the chosen spirits of humanity had at last -emerged upon a height, where, as in the light of unclouded morning, the -whole world seemed spread out before and behind them, heaven itself -within their reach, the gods themselves their fellows. In the general -material prosperity out of which the fine flower of Italian civilisation -in the Quattrocento had sprung, as in the cultured and artistic joy of -life which was its highest expression, Milan, led by Lodovico Sforza, -held a foremost place. Whatever may have been his secret motives, this -prince exerted himself ceaselessly to conceive and carry out projects of -enduring benefit to the country. Summoning the greatest brains in Italy -to his service, he set on foot immense hydraulic works, by means of -which wildernesses were converted into fruitful tracts, and new ways -opened for the passage of merchandise and general traffic. He widened -his father’s famous canal, the Naviglio Martesana, and the Naviglio -encircling the city, employing the inventive genius of Leonardo da -Vinci, to overcome the difficulty of the different levels by a system of -locks, still existing in Milan to this day. He joined these canals with -the ancient channel between Milan and Pavia, thus forming a navigable -waterway between the Adda and the Ticino. Large districts hitherto -unfertile owed their after prosperity to this enlightened ruler. He -fostered agriculture, founding model farms and introducing improved -breeds of cattle and horses. His pleasaunces and orchards round the -Castello at Milan, and his country palaces and villas were so beautiful -and fruitful that they were called earthly paradises. After a brief half -century of the Sforza rule, the Duchy of Milan was become a vast garden, -supporting an enormous population of hardworking peasants. Commerce -flourished more than ever, every way being opened to it by wise and -considerate measures. In the higher branches of industry the Moro’s -vitalising interest and enthusiasm was as effective. His splendid -patronage of art and letters made this city of prosperous traders the -richest centre in Italy of the æsthetic culture of the Renaissance. -Attracted by his liberality and large ideas, the rarest genius of the -age was at his command. Bramante of Urbino spent many years at Milan, -building cupolaed temples and colonnaded palaces, and transforming the -old mediæval city of the Visconti into the fair Renaissance vision of -the Moro’s desire. For Lodovico and for Milan, Leonardo da Vinci did his -greatest works. Perugino painted for the Moro the splendid Madonna with -the Archangels, now in the National Gallery, and in the stimulating -atmosphere a number of native artists of considerable distinction sprang -up. Lodovico equally favoured men of letters and scientific inquirers. -He invited them to Milan, and gave them great rewards, and did his -utmost by grants and personal care to raise the University of Pavia and -the schools founded at Milan by Galeazzo to a flourishing condition. - -[Illustration: CANAL, VIA SAN MARCO] - -But the merits of the Moro’s government were obscured to the people by -his tyrannic methods. The peasants, groaning under the oppression of -forced labour and of heavy and unjustly distributed taxation, were too -preoccupied by their immediate grievances to care for the rich harvest -which would ensue some day from the sacrifice of their sweat and their -scanty gains. In their belief the Prince sought only self-glorification -and the increase of the already fabulous ducal treasure. Their simple -lamentations sound in the pages of the chroniclers like a dull -threatening undertone in that wonderful symphony of rich and various -instruments which the life of the Milanese Court was at this time. - -[Illustration: CANONICA OF ST. AMBROGIO] - -One of the worst characteristics of a tyrant was, however, conspicuously -absent in Lodovico Sforza. He was not cruel. Galeazzo’s horrible ways of -enforcing the law no longer prevailed. The gallows vanished; fragments -of quartered traitors adorned the gates no more, and such pains as -justice or policy necessitated were administered out of the sight and, -if possible, knowledge of the Moro. Even Guicciardini describes the Moro -as _mild and merciful_. The sight of bodily suffering hurt his -fastidious delicacy, his love of fair and seemly appearance, his fine -sensibilities. His shrinking from blood was perhaps a sign of what may -explain much that seems dark in his history—fear; of the decadence which -fatally awaits races risen too swiftly to greatness. However that may -be, his mildness did not win the hearts of the people for a sovereign -who addressed them from behind the protection of iron bars and never -admitted them to free and friendly audience. An ever-widening gulf -divided their lives of elemental want and passion from the exquisite -existence of subtle and various delight within the impassable walls of -the Castello. It was for the Moro, we remember, that Leonardo sketched -the plans of an ideal city, with an upper system of streets in which the -sovereign and his chosen society of nobles and courtiers might pass, -uncontaminated by the breath and odour of the multitudes below. - -To the princes of the Quattrocento the people were but the necessary -foundation of existence, ‘the mud on which proud man is built.’ And how -incomparable was the fair fabric, so based, and composed of all the -rarest elements of life. The story of the Moro’s Court is well-known to -English readers. The joyous figures that peopled it are familiar to us, -and the gorgeous pageants, the processions of princes and potentates and -fair ladies, the stupendous display of wealth and beauty, the tourneys, -feasts and dances, are tales oft told in biography and romance. In 1489 -the long arranged marriage of the young Duke with Isabella of Aragon, -granddaughter of King Ferrante of Naples, was celebrated with -extraordinary pomp, and two years later the festivities were renewed for -the double nuptials of the Regent himself with Beatrice da Este, -daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, and of her brother Alfonso, -heir-apparent of Ferrara, with Anna Sforza, sister of Gian Galeazzo. All -these splendours were far overpassed, however, in 1493, when the Moro’s -diplomacy was rewarded by an imperial alliance for the House of Sforza, -and Bianca Maria, the Duke’s remaining sister, rode forth from the -Castello in a chariot of gold to her marriage with the Emperor -Maximilian. The imagination reels with the descriptions of the rich -robes and jewels, the pavilions and triumphal arches, the garlands, the -blazoned hangings, the allegorical masques, the noise of music and of -applauding crowds on these occasions. One would feel that Milan must -have suffered an intolerable surfeit of colour and delight, did we not -know that the gorgeous riot was shaped into symmetry and order by the -supreme decorative taste of the Italian Quattrocento. All the beautiful -neo-pagan conceits, the new vision of the gods of Olympus granted to -that age, inspired these brief spectacles. Leonardo—Bramante—fashioned -those gorgeous edifices of an hour, built up that wonderful seeming, -ephemeral as the glories which it celebrated, and stayed those passing -moments for ever in the history of the world. - -Though it was the desire to outdo every other princely Mæcenas which -impelled Lodovico to bid highest for the services of great artists and -scholars, it was not merely his liberality which held such a man as -Leonardo at Milan, but rather his large appreciation, his sympathy with -great and original ideas, his rare wisdom in leaving genius free to work -in its own way. He had this, moreover, in common with that unique among -the sons of the Italian Renaissance, that he, too, was a far seeker and -the designer of things never to be finished. Leonardo came to Milan -about 1483. There exists a copy, apparently in his own handwriting, of a -letter recommending himself to the Moro, in which he enumerates all his -qualifications for employment, beginning with his skill in the invention -of military engines, and ending with his capacity to carry out any work -in sculpture or painting _as well as any other man, be he who he may_. -Vasari tells us that on his arrival in Milan he offered Lodovico a -silver lute which he had fashioned himself in the form of a horse’s -head, and in such a manner that in beauty and sonority of tone it -surpassed every other instrument at the Court, and that the prince -quickly became enamoured of his admirable gifts and conversation. The -more intimate knowledge of the man revealed in his own notebooks has, -however, changed the traditional picture of Leonardo as a fine courtier -and brilliant wit and conversationalist, the centre of attraction at the -Court, enjoying great revenues from the Moro and dissipating them in -splendid living. We see him, instead, secluded with his pupils in the -pleasant home which Lodovico gave him on the outskirts of the city, -beside the Castello gardens, poring over some problem of construction or -hydrostatics, striving to create a flying-machine or other novel engine. -Or passing rapidly, according to his mood, from modelling the great -horse to his painting in the refectory of Sta. Maria della Grazie, or -tracing the exquisite contours of those beautiful favourites of the -Moro, Cecilia Gallerani and her successor, Lucrezia Crivelli, mocked and -allured in each shadowy face by that inscrutable smile of woman in which -the secret of life seemed to hide itself. He evidently cared little to -mingle with the social life of the Court, where perhaps he was neither -able nor willing to express to a circle, alive to intellectual interests -but enslaved by pedantry and charlatanism, those occult thoughts which -even in his writings he hid in left-handed hieroglyphics. Yet he must -have been a familiar presence in the palace, where he was constantly -summoned for some work which to us seems strangely disproportioned to -his genius—the arrangement of the water-supply for the Duchess’s bath, -the designing of triumphal arches for a wedding pageant, or the costumes -and accessories of some spectacular joust. Whatever it was, he did it -with the interest of one for whom there is no great nor small, and for -whom a moment as much as countless centuries holds eternity, and little -things and big manifest alike the divine law of necessity. - -Leonardo’s figure overshadows for us all others of Lodovico il Moro’s -Milan. There were many others besides him, however, of highest -reputation at the time in the chosen circle of the Court. The Moro, in -his care for the intellectual improvement of his subjects, imported -poets from Tuscany to teach them the art of composing sonnets. Ancient -prejudice against all things Lombard withheld many of Leonardo’s -countrymen from accepting the Sforza’s offers of honours and emoluments. -But the sunshine of Court favour, come whence it might, was greedily -accepted by the Florentine Bernardo Bellincione, whose gift for -stringing together appropriate and flattering verses secured him the -position of Court poet for many years at Milan. Nor could any small -local passion restrain that bare-boned vagabond genius, Antonio -Camelli—called il Pistoia after his native city—from quenching his -perennial famine at the ducal table. But though he played the fool to -amuse his patrons, il Pistoia was of much rarer stuff than Bellincione. -Behind his cloak of buffoonery the tragedy of a serious and prophetic -spirit hid itself, and a fine satire inspired the sallies of his -fantastic muse. An irrepressible sonneteer, he poured forth streams of -verse at Milan. A number of his sonnets allude to the politics of the -day, and are of great interest. - -These professors of poesy were very successful in propagating their art -in Milan. Francesco Tanzi, one of the many versifiers at Court, declared -that after the example of Bellincione, Milan was full of sonnets, and -all the rivers and canals ran with the water of Parnassus. The poetic -frenzy had invaded the whole of society, so that every young knight who -desired the favour of ladies and princes had needs be skilled in making -rhymes and improvising to the music of his lute. A flourishing school of -poetry rewarded the Moro’s patronage and encouragement, and its most -distinguished graduates were young nobles of the first rank—Gaspare -Visconte, of the same stock as the old ducal House, and Antonio di Campo -Fregoso, of a famous Genoese House. A singer of older and still higher -repute in the ducal circle was that mirror of the graceful and cultured -chivalry of the day, Niccolò da Correggio, who as the son of Beatrice da -Este, wife of Tristan Sforza, was constantly at Milan, in devoted -attendance upon his cousin, the younger Beatrice da Este. Marchesino -Stanza, Girolamo Tuttavilla, Galeazzo di San Severino, Galeotto di -Caretto, a lettered noble and chronicler of Montferrato, all swelled the -tuneful choir. The Moro himself is said to have included sonnet-making -among his myriad activities. Around these distinguished figures hovered -a host of lyrists of various rank and accomplishment, both natives and -pilgrims attracted from afar to this now famous shrine of the Muses. Men -of other occupations added their voices in moments of leisure. Among -these was Bramante, who, in the intervals of his labours as architect, -engineer, painter and master of revels, competed eagerly for the laurel -wreath. - -The chief theme of their song, and the object of the gallant adoration -and service of all, was the younger Beatrice da Este, who at fifteen -came to Milan to be the Moro’s bride. To this child of tuneful Ferrara, -trained from childhood upwards in all the æsthetic traditions of its -famous Court, an atmosphere of poetry, music and art was as natural as -the air she breathed. With that full and eager vitality which she shared -with her father, Duke Ercole, and her sister, Isabella of Mantua, she -sought all beautiful and joyous things. In the Court of her rich and -indulgent lord she could satisfy every desire. For the rich equipment of -her person and her surroundings she had the rarest talent at her -command. Leonardo da Vinci devised curious girdles for her. That finest -of goldsmiths, Caradosso, carved the beautiful gems which she wore, and -spent his most delicate workmanship on pax or reliquary for her oratory. -To create her presentment in marble she could choose a Gian Cristoforo -Romano, most cultured and graceful of young sculptors. Her love of sweet -melody was fed by the crowd of skilled musicians who frequented this -Court, where their art was traditionally welcome. Besides the Flemish -priest Cordier, and the other ultramontane singers of Duke Galeazzo’s -celebrated choir, there were here the viol player, Jacopo di San -Secondo—the Apollo of Raphael’s Parnassus—whose strains were able to -soothe the Moro in moments of fever and pain, Atalante Migliorotti, the -friend and companion of Leonardo, and others numberless, nameless to us -now. An incomparable craftsman, Lorenzo di Pavia, made instruments for -her of purest tone, in cases of ivory and ebony most exquisitely worked. -She played herself upon these, and had a sweet voice. Many a time with -her devoted knight, Galeazzo di San Severino, model of all fashionable -graces, and himself an accomplished singer, and her favourite Daino, -most musical and delightful of fools, she and her ladies would make -harmonious concert. As became a daughter of Este, Beatrice extended a -princely patronage to scholarship and serious literature. Her secretary, -the learned Vincenzo Calmeta, tells us that she engaged men suitably -gifted to read aloud to her the _Divina Commedia_ and the works of other -Italian poets. She would give serious attention to literary debates, -such as the lively poetic contention we read of between Bramante and -Gaspare Visconte, on the respective merits of Dante and Petrarca. - -Such encounters of sharp-sworded wit, so much in vogue at that time, -were conducted at Milan with less pedantry and self-conceit than in -Courts ruled by more strictly humanistic traditions. A freedom, gaiety -and freshness animated the intellectual atmosphere here. The Moro’s -extraordinary activity of mind and wide interests, Beatrice’s ardour, -and capacity for enjoyment, fired all around them. The Duchess’s -eagerness for culture was tempered by her love of sport and outdoor -life. Her hawks and her hounds were a primary passion in this Ferrarese -princess, and many a fair morning was passed in adventurous chase of the -wild creatures in her husband’s vast hunting demesnes. She was a -splendid horsewoman, and had unbounded courage. The lively sports in -which she indulged with her ladies and cavaliers were not always of a -refined order. The gaiety of the fifteenth century was ministered to by -jests and practical jokes of incredible coarseness, and by all the -obscenities of the allowed fools and monstrosities of nature who capered -in grotesquely brilliant garb round every Renaissance princess. Yet into -this full life the Duchess herself carried a redeeming innocence. In -spite of her free intercourse with the young nobles, no lightest shadow -ever rested on her fair fame. - -The society in which she passed her bright, pure existence had, however, -but lately had Galeazzo Maria for leader and example, and had forgotten -all moral restrictions. When Beatrice came first to Milan she found her -husband’s mistress, the beautiful poetess Cecilia Gallerani, installed -in the palace itself. The whole of Milan was rotten beneath its fine -vestures and its art and learning. Wealth and luxury had encouraged the -love of pleasure natural in the people, and the ideal of freedom in -thought and manners, the search for novel experience and sensation, the -worship of the new old gods, born of the revived knowledge of antiquity, -had induced immorality and corruption more than elsewhere in this city -where voluptuous tastes were not restrained, as in the Florentines, by -natural temperance. Everywhere in the midst of the joyous revels lust -and evil passions were heaping up sins ready for the retribution to -come. Corio, an eyewitness of these times, preludes his story of the -great catastrophe by a vivid picture, adorned by the fashionable pagan -conceits, of Milanese life during these years before the fatal 1495, -when it seemed to the city and its Lord that everything was more firmly -established in peace than ever before. No one thought of other than -accumulating riches. Pomps and pleasures ruled the hours. _The Court of -our princes was splendid exceedingly, full of new fashions, dresses and -delights. Nevertheless, at this time virtue was so much lauded on every -side that Minerva had set up great rivalry with Venus, and each sought -to make her school the most brilliant. To that of Cupid came the most -beautiful youths. Fathers yielded to it their daughters, husbands their -wives, brothers their sisters, and so thoughtlessly did they thus flock -to the amorous hall that it was reckoned a stupendous thing by those who -had understanding. Minerva, she too, sought with all her might to adorn -her gentle Academy. Wherefore that glorious and most illustrious Prince -Lodovico Sforza had called into his pay—as far as from the uttermost -parts of Europe—men most excellent in knowledge and art. Here was the -learning of Greece, here Latin verse and prose flourished resplendently, -here were the poetic Muses; hither the masters of the sculptor’s art and -those foremost in painting had gathered from distant countries, and here -songs and sweet sounds of every kind and such dulcet harmonies were -heard, that they seemed to have descended from Heaven itself upon this -excelling Court._ - -We who know the after days of Milan watch the golden hours gliding by -towards the darkness ahead, and the glory centring round the two doomed -figures of Lodovico and Beatrice is pregnant for us with tragedy and -grief. Corio continues with a description of these princes, _in this so -vain felicity_, passing their time in divers pleasures, and speaks of -the magnificent jousts and tournaments and military shows, and of the -homage paid by the poets to the Moro as Lord both of war and peace. Yet, -he adds, with all this glory, pomp and wealth, which seemed as though -nothing could be added to it, Lodovico, not content, or unaware of his -felicity, must needs reach higher still, that his fall might be the -greater. And the chronicler, preparing himself to compose the cruel and -unheard-of tale, fears that compassion will not suffer him to arrive at -the piteous end without tears. - -The Moro’s power was in fact unstably based. His was the right of -natural ability to rule. But beside him the lawful sovereign had grown -to manhood during these years. Gian Galeazzo Sforza—the engaging little -boy reading Cicero in Bramantino’s fresco, now in the Wallace -Collection—showed with advancing years little desire or capacity to -govern. Amiable, weakly, and self-indulgent, he was perfectly content to -leave the power to his uncle, for whom he had a love and admiration -which are a touching element in the relationship of the two men—usurper -and legitimate prince. Had they only been concerned, the Moro’s peculiar -difficulties might never have arisen. He seems to have regarded himself -sincerely at first as the vicegerent of his nephew. _Dum vivis tutus et -laetus vivo. Gaude, fili, protector tuus ero semper._ These words, in -the mouth of nephew and uncle, are the motto on a miniatured page in the -_History of Francesco Sforza_, by Gio. Simonetta, printed in 1490. The -picture shows Lodovico and Gian Galeazzo kneeling on the edge of a lake; -in the midst of the water a ship with a youth in it and a Moor at the -helm, and in the background a mulberry-tree (_moro_) spreading wide -branches. This allegory—one of many such that we read of—may have -expressed some real affection as well as self-exaltation in Lodovico, -though after-events give it a strange irony. - -But the respective marriages of the two princes introduced another -element into the situation. Beatrice da Este was not only the joyous -spirit of festival and sport and all artistic delight, but a woman of -strong character and intelligence. She quickly gained influence over her -husband, and asserted herself in State affairs. The very narrowness of -her youth and sex gave her power over the complex and wide-minded Moro, -who adored her spirit and courage, and yielded to her as his great sire -Francesco had yielded to Bianca Maria. Beatrice wanted the semblance as -well as the substance of sovereignty, and the birth of her son, in 1492, -added the new ambition of a mother to her desire. Isabella of Aragon, on -her side, had a royal spirit; her soul swelled with rage and offended -pride when the regent showed no intention of relinquishing the -government to her husband. In vain she urged Gian Galeazzo to assume his -rights; her exhortations only passed straight from the confiding boy -into Lodovico’s ears. Her sense of wrong was further exasperated by -Beatrice, who usurped the homage and consequence which should have been -Isabella’s as consort of the sovereign. The rivalry between the -princesses began very soon after Beatrice’s appearance on the scene, and -that playful boxing-match of which we read, in which the Duchess of Bari -knocked down her of Milan, was the symbol of a contest which involved -fatal issues reaching far beyond the two women themselves. - -Influenced by his wife’s ambition, and the birth of his son—also perhaps -by the impossibility, when the hour came, of relinquishing the sweets of -power and sacrificing his vast projects and the fruits of his past -incessant labours to the claim of mere primogeniture represented by the -feeble and already failing Gian Galeazzo—Lodovico was evidently -scheming, after 1490, to make himself Duke of Milan. From the time of -the Moro’s marriage the ceremonial homage which had been paid till then -to the young Duke was gradually lessened. The tutelage which had been -proper in his boyhood was now used to emphasize his incapacity. No -single office or dignity was at his disposal. Ministers of State, -captains of fortresses, generals and magistrates, all were appointed by -Lodovico. At no point did his subjects come into contact with their real -sovereign. He was dependent for all supplies upon the Moro, who kept -absolute control of the immense Sforza treasure. The birth of his heir -was but scantily celebrated, while that of Lodovico’s a little later was -made the occasion of the most pompous rejoicings. The halls of the -sovereigns in the Corte Ducale were gradually deserted, while Lodovico -and Beatrice’s apartments in the Rocchetta were thronged. The -self-seeking courtiers knew well where their devotion was most -profitably placed. Besides, it was melancholy in the chambers of a -sickly prince and a sad princess ever brooding over her wrongs. The two -appeared less and less in public, and finally retired altogether to the -Castle of Pavia, and their pathetic figures were almost forgotten on the -joyous stage of Milanese life. - -But they existed—a constant menace to the Moro, a weapon for his -thousand enemies in the State, and for jealous Italy outside. Isabella’s -piteous complaints to her grandfather, whom she implored to right her -husband, inflamed the long-standing Aragonese hatred of the Sforza. The -other powers—Venice, baulked in her greed of conquest by the strong hand -of the Moro, and ever nervous for the cities which she had wrested from -Milan in Filippo Maria’s time; Pope Alexander VI., who allowed no -gratitude to the Sforza, although through Cardinal Ascanio they had been -the means of his election, to interfere with his schemes for a new -Borgian Italy; Florence, politically and commercially jealous of the -Lombard State—all would have gladly seen the Moro overthrown and Milan -depressed. - -During these years of peace and of expansion for Milan, the suspicious -fear with which the disproportionate prosperity of one power was always -regarded by the rest of Italy had concentrated itself upon Lodovico -Sforza. His extraordinary success and untiring activity, his powers of -intrigue, his ability and resource, were the theme of every tongue. The -extravagant adulations of his Court poets were repeated and unwillingly -credited throughout Italy. With the vast wealth of Milan at his command -what might he not do? Fear of Milan was an old habit. Was it she that -should give Italy a master after all? Was this dark prince, mysteriously -potent, to be the destroyer of her liberty at last? - -Had men looked more closely into the monster of their imagination, they -might have perceived that it was not Lodovico’s ambition that was most -to be apprehended. The fatal situation which now developed seems to have -been the product of two opposing fears. The Moro’s faith in himself and -in his good fortune was a superstition which supported itself upon the -lying prophecies of the astrologer ever at his side, and was at the -mercy of every ill omen. His intrigues were often the devices of a man -on the defensive, rather than the confident moves of a conqueror. To -give a colour of justification to his now almost complete usurpation, he -set casuists to work and evolved a specious doctrine, pronouncing -himself lawful successor of his father, as the first son born to -Francesco after he became Duke of Milan. By means of this argument, and -the better persuasion of an enormous gift of gold, he obtained from the -Emperor Maximilian the promise of the investiture of the Duchy, an -obsolete legality which neither Francesco or Galeazzo had troubled to -obtain in confirmation of the right won by the sword. These devices, -however, aroused only derision and scandal in his own country, nor could -they quiet his own uneasy mind. He felt Italy against him and was -afraid. His particular dread of the House of Aragon never slept. Though -old King Ferrante urged with pathetic sincerity the maintenance of the -league which had preserved the peace of Italy for so many fortunate -years, he might at any moment be succeeded by Alfonso of Calabria, who -did not disguise his hatred of the Moro and his longing to right his -daughter and son-in-law. Lorenzo de’ Medici had died in 1491, and peace -was already threatened by the injudicious policy of his son Piero. The -covetousness of Venice, the faithless selfishness of the Pope, completed -a situation of general peril, which might easily beget a great -combination to crush Lodovico and reinstate Gian Galeazzo, to be -followed by a scramble for the States which all knew the young Duke -incapable of governing. - -The Moro resolved to anticipate the blow. With fatal confidence in his -power to control the force which he was evoking, he opened the gate -which it was Milan’s sacred duty to keep shut against the foreigner. He -invited Charles VIII. of France to lead an army into Italy against the -Princes of Aragon, and to recover the Kingdom of Naples for the House of -Anjou. - -Lodovico’s act did not perhaps at the time wear the magnitude of guilt -which subsequent events gave it. Italy was so disunited, so lacking in -any general principle of patriotism that her various tyrants had not -scrupled to appeal at times to France or the Empire in their needs. Men -were used to sporadic attempts of the Princes of Anjou to overthrow the -Aragonese dynasty in Naples. But now that the Angevin claims were vested -in the King of France, such attempts must be more perilous for Italy. -Naples was not the only State to which France had pretensions. Louis of -Orleans—next in succession to the throne of France after the sickly -Charles and his infant son—claimed the Duchy of Milan itself through his -ancestress Valentina Visconte. The success of the French enterprise in -Naples could scarcely fail to be followed by a vindication of this other -claim. Nothing but that strange and fatal belief in himself, which not -only inspired Lodovico but had infected his contemporaries, could have -blinded the Moro to the madness of his proceedings and induced Venice, -Florence and the Pope to abet his projects at first by forming a new -league with him and abandoning Naples to its fate. There was some -strange glamour about this remarkable man which deluded his own -generation. The Renaissance spirit felt itself represented and fulfilled -in him. Its boundless confidence in human possibilities was exemplified -by the reputation of almost superhuman powers with which it invested -Lodovico Sforza. _God in Heaven and the Moro on earth_, so dared il -Pistoia to sing, and the prince to hear. The tragic fall which awaited -this exaltation is a part of the inward as well as outward history of an -age when pride built so high, only to be smitten with incompleteness. -Strangest of all, perhaps, was the self-deception of Lodovico himself, -shown by the persistence in him, throughout his hopeless captivity, of -this superstitious faith, after it had utterly failed him in the crisis -of his life, so that in his last moments, in his prison at Loches, he -could attribute his overthrow to nothing less than the direct -intervention of God, to punish him for his sins, _since only the sudden -might of destiny, he said, could have subverted the counsels of human -wisdom_. - -In inviting Charles, Lodovico doubtless thought to produce a temporary -diversion, which should weaken Naples and produce a political upheaval, -amid which he should be able to secure the ducal throne, and once seated -in it, readjust by adroit diplomacy, the balance of power in the -peninsula after the retirement of the invader in due course. But he had -left out of account the respective conditions of France and Italy—the -pent-up military fury in the noble classes in the first country, which -raged for an outlet, the fatal weakness of disunion in the second, and -the enervation which peace and unparalleled prosperity had produced in -its people. He may have hoped to achieve his ends by the mere threat of -French invasion, and counted on the indecision of the young king and his -own subtle craft to keep the matter from going any further. Charles, -however, whose weak head swam with the flatteries of venal councillors, -and with romantic ideas imbibed from the tales of the Paladins, was -easily persuaded to undertake the conquest of Naples as a preliminary -step to the redemption of Christendom from the Turk. - -But the preparations for the expedition were very dilatory, and more -than two years passed before they were completed. During this time of -suspense Italy was full of doubts and fears. Lodovico’s allies began to -hesitate, and there were daily shiftings of policy in the various -States, now in favour of Naples, now of France, all actuated by -self-interest, which guided them finally in this crisis of their -country’s fate to a despicable neutrality, waiting upon events. The -Moro’s own policy was shifting and tortuous, even displaying at times an -anxiety—little credited by his neighbours—to save Naples from the -catastrophe which he himself was bringing upon her. Already he was -working for a reaction against the French in the event of their success -in Italy. But his advances to the opposite party won for him only the -distrust of his friends, and in France many warned Charles of the folly -of relying upon this man, _homme sans foy, s’il voyoit son profit pour -la rompre_, as Commines pronounces him. - -Meanwhile, careless apparently of the future, Italy continued her wild -dance of pleasure. In Milan, gaiety and licence reigned supreme. Yet -there are many signs that a sense of sin and of a reckoning at hand had -begun to awaken. The sonnets of il Pistoia grew grave with prophecies to -laughing Italy of the much weeping which time would soon draw from her, -and of the shortness of the hours between her and her immense, -irreparable sorrow. The superstitious Moro himself must have been shaken -by the blind friar who is said to have appeared in the Piazza of Milan -at the time of his negotiations with the French King, crying—_Prince, -show him not the way, else thou wilt repent it_. From Florence came the -echo of Savonarola’s annunciation, _Gladius Domini super terram cito et -velociter_. More poignant still to ears that could hear was the -tremulous voice of the octogenarian King of Naples, warning Pope and -Moro, again and again, of the peril clear to the terrible prevision of -the dying—_He who will may begin a war, but stop it, no!_ - -But the voices cried in the wilderness. King Ferrante’s was spent by -death early in 1494, and in the following autumn Charles appeared at -last at the head of a splendid host, and was welcomed with immense pomp -and revelry by Lodovico and Beatrice at Pavia. There in the Castle the -young Duke lay dying. The King visited him, and the piteous spectacle -roused the sympathy of the monarch and his followers, for whom the -person of legitimate sovereignty had a sacredness unfelt by the -Italians. Charles was, however, much embarrassed by the Duchess -Isabella, who besought him to have mercy on her father, the King of -Naples. _She had better have prayed for herself, who was still a young -and fair lady_, observes Commines. - -The invaders passed on, finding their path cleared before them, and -their progress already an assured triumph. Their cruelty when they had -first entered the country had terrified all inclination to oppose them -out of the Italians. Piero de’ Medici’s shameful surrender, Florence’s -welcome, the inactivity of the Pope, the speedy fall of Naples, all the -details of the pitiful story are well-known. Charles had not gone far -when Gian Galeazzo died. The cruel report at once arose, and was widely -believed by both French and Italians, that Lodovico had had him -poisoned, and the Moro’s memory has come down to our day loaded with -this detestable sin. Modern inquiry has, however, shown how little -foundation there is for the charge, disproving the preliminary -accusations against Lodovico of starving and ill-treating the ducal -couple, and making it clear that Gian Galeazzo was surrounded by -physicians and carefully tended. It is evident that Lodovico’s -temperament was incapable of such a crime—that he would have been -repelled by the mere idea of murdering this nephew whom he had brought -up, and who loved him with a pathetic fidelity to the last. Gian -Galeazzo’s longing on his death-bed for the uncle, who was far away, -riding in splendour beside the French King, his touching questions to -one of Lodovico’s gentlemen whether he thought his Excellency the Moro -_li volesse bene_—loved him, Gian Galeazzo—and whether he seemed sorry -that he was ill, go far to dissipate the cruel suspicion. Nevertheless, -the young Duke’s death relieved Lodovico’s conscience of its last -scruple with regard to the Dukedom. He hastened back to Milan and had -himself invested with the ducal mantle, cap and sceptre, in the midst of -a stupendous pomp. - -Meanwhile, the success of the French was producing the result -anticipated by the Moro. Venice, awaking to the danger which the -terrible prestige of the conqueror’s arms meant for all Italy, was ready -to listen to Lodovico’s proposals for a remedy. The invaders were now to -add to their experience of Italian pusillanimity an acquaintance with -the craft which had superseded brute courage in this advanced nation. -Scarcely had the French King turned his back on Lombardy, when the -Venetian ambassadors were treating with the new Duke of Milan for an -alliance against him. A few months later, Charles and his knights, sick -with the Southern delights of their newly-conquered realm, and longing -like homesick children for France, found their return barred by a -powerful coalition of their late ally with Venice, the Emperor, the King -of Spain, and nearly all the minor States of Italy. The story of their -homeward march, more like a flight, need not be repeated here. At the -approach of the French to his dominions, the faithless Lodovico trembled -in his palace, in spite of the mighty host of allies which was awaiting -them, while his people, beside themselves with fear of the cruel -Northerners, and exasperated by the grievous taxation imposed upon them -to oppose this evil which the Moro had himself provoked, murmured -against him as the murderer of Gian Galeazzo, and the oppressor of the -widowed Duchess and her son. Lodovico well knew that he could not lean -upon his subjects in adversity. But the battle of Fornuovo (1495) -relieved Lombardy of all fear of the French for the time, though the -Italians let slip their chance of annihilating the hungry and enfeebled -enemy, and crushing the Northern terror for ever. The irresistible -conqueror of a year back, having with miraculous good fortune escaped -with the best part of his troops to Asti, was compelled to negotiate for -peace with Milan and Venice. At the meetings of the Duke and the -Venetian Ambassadors with the representatives of Charles, Lodovico was -accompanied by his young wife, who took part in all the discussions, and -astonished everybody by her intelligence and wisdom. All through this -critical period of the French invasion, Beatrice was the true helpmeet -of her husband, sustaining by her courage and will his more sensitive -temperament under the fears and doubts which assailed it. - -Peace at last concluded, the French finally made their way home, leaving -so weak a hold on Naples that the Aragonese quickly reinstated -themselves. In the universal joy at the disappearance of the invaders it -appeared to all that the Moro had saved Italy. His prestige, of late -clouded, was now more brilliant than ever. Securely seated on the ducal -throne, strong in the new alliance in which his initiative had bound -Italy, he seemed indeed to have succeeded in all his calculations and -schemes. Those seeds of future danger—the fatal knowledge of Italy’s -weakness, which the French had acquired, the declaration of the Duke of -Orleans, that he should return to conquer his rightful heritage of -Milan—were unheeded. In his new exaltation the Moro vaunted himself the -child of fortune, and believed himself to be, as astrologers, poets, -courtiers, ambassadors told him, arbiter of the destinies of Italy, and -incarnation of almost divine wisdom and prudence. He put his trust more -and more in destiny, and prompted by his venal astrologer, Ambrogio da -Rosate, thought to read in the stars his triumph. As if blinded by the -gods in preparation for the sacrifice, he passed all bounds in his -arrogance. The old jealousy and distrust of his fellow-sovereigns now -revived with new force. His jester’s vainglorious trumpeting—_the Pope -is my chaplain, Venice my treasurer, the Emperor my chamberlain, and the -King of France my courier_, was repeated in every city of Europe, as if -Lodovico himself had seriously spoken it. The many guests at the -Castello of Milan told everywhere of the painting on the walls there, -depicting Italy as a queen, and the Moro, with a _scoppetta_—his -personal emblem—brushing the dust from her robes, whereon were inscribed -the different Italian cities. These boasts of exaggerated -self-confidence rankled in his contemporaries. But while they hated him, -they feared him too. More than ever now all Italy waited upon his -motions. - -[Illustration: - - LODOVICO IL MORO, BY BOLTRAFFIO (TRIVULZIO COLLECTION) - - _To face p._ 176.] [_Anderson, Rome_ -] - -The months that followed the conclusion of peace with Charles were -joyous beyond compare. In the summer of this year (1496) the Duke and -Duchess had a meeting with the Emperor, and returned loaded with -honours, which added a new lustre to Lodovico’s fame. - -Suddenly, at the height of his fortune, Fate struck her first blow at -the Moro. Beatrice died (1497). - -The golden days of Milan changed all at once to gloom. Silence shut down -upon the dancing and sweet music. The Duke, to whom even his children -and State seemed no longer worth living for, sat for nine days in a -darkened chamber alone, refusing all comfort, while in Sta. Maria delle -Grazie the monks chanted incessant masses for Beatrice’s soul. The Moro -was overwhelmed. _He who had ever lived happy, now began to feel great -anguish_, says the Venetian Sanuti. The fabric of his dreams had crashed -upon him. What were kingdoms to him without that clear-sighted and -dauntless spirit at his side? Not only was his strong affection rent, -but his profound faith in his good fortune was awfully shaken. As if the -evil augury had to declare itself unmistakably, on the night of -Beatrice’s death a large part of the walls of the vast pleasaunce which -he had created round the Castello fell with a great crash, ruined by no -storm or wind, or agency perceptible to human sense. From this moment, -so much is man’s destiny affected by his own spirits, all Lodovico’s -misfortunes began. He entered on that downward course which was to drag -so much to ruin with it—and to the husband’s loss of the blessing of -this Beatrice, the poet of the Italian Renaissance ascribes not only the -fall of Moro, Sforza, and Visconte Snake together, but the captivity of -Italy. - - ‘Beatrice bea, vivendo, il suo consorte, - E lo lascia infelice alla sua morte. - Anzi tutta Italia, che con lei - Fia trionfante e senza lei, captiva.’[3] - -Footnote 3: - - Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, canto xlii. - -The gate which the Moro had thought to shut so easily upon the departed -stranger was once more ajar. A second French expedition threatened -Italy, and Milan in particular. Early in 1497, the great captain Gian -Giacomo Trivulzio, head of the party in Milan hostile to the Sforza, and -a bitter personal foe of the Moro, who had abandoned his country and was -high in the French service, made a raid into the ducal dominions. At the -same time his partisans stirred up the discontent of the people, and -inspired their volatile minds with desire for a change of masters. And -soon the League began to show its internal weakness. The interests of -the two chief parties in it were fatally opposed. Venice found her -designs on Pisa thwarted by Lodovico and in her rage began to ponder the -advantages of making friends with the French. Out of the struggle for -Naples now renewed between the French garrison and the Aragonese she -might by a prudent policy, when both combatants were exhausted, secure -the sea-kingdom of the South, and might not a second descent of the -French King, lasting long enough to overthrow the Sforza and no more, -put rich Lombardy at last within her reach? With such hopes the grave -senators flattered their ambition and forgot their faith to Italy. The -Pope, for his own interests, had turned his back on the Sforza, and was -parleying with the common foe, while in Florence the Frate and the -people still looked to Charles for the establishment of the Kingdom of -God on earth and the restitution of Pisa. - -The King, however, swayed by opposite counsels, let the months go by, -and the Moro, with desperate trust in his own statesmanship, still hoped -to save his Dukedom. In spite of his anxieties and embarrassments, his -unconquerable instinct of order maintained the fair aspect of his -dominions. But on the great artistic projects of his triumphant days an -arresting spell was laid. The resources of the State were exhausted in -war and defensive preparations. The people were already taxed to -rebellion, and no supplies were forthcoming for his painters and -sculptors. Leonardo asked in vain for the bronze for casting the statue -of Francesco Sforza. The clay model, raised in front of the Castello in -1493, on the occasion of Bianca Maria’s marriage with Maximilian, had -remained there since, and it seemed more and more likely that this high -thought of prince and artist combined would never take on any but an -ephemeral form. - -The brief, uneasy quiet was broken by a stroke of fate. Charles VIII. -died suddenly (1498), and was succeeded by the Duke of Orleans. Louis -XII. had no sooner ascended the throne than he announced his immediate -intention of invading Milan. - -Once more put to the trial, Italy proved again unfaithful to herself. -And the pity of it was that the fault lay in her long-rooted political -conditions, not in the will of the people. The sentiment of patriotism -was strong in the country, and _bon italiano_ was the current expression -for one who hated and opposed the French. Yet it could not avail to -overcome the conflict of interests among the different States, which -was, after all, the blind continuous struggle of the national instinct, -whether represented for the moment by Republic, hereditary tyrant or -military usurper, towards the creation of a single and united kingdom. -This time Venice was the arbiter of the situation. Answering the Moro’s -piteous and self-humiliating appeals for help and protection only by -cruel taunts of perfidy, the Republic concluded an alliance with the -French (1498). - -The Moro’s old disloyalties were now repaid to him tenfold. He looked -round him in vain for a friend. The reward of usurpers and short -tyrannic dynasties based on force, not love, met him in an alienated -people, who refused to endure hardship or make sacrifices to save him, -but looked instead to any change of government as desirable. His armies, -composed chiefly of foreigners, were undisciplined and rebellious, -serving only for pay. They were badly generaled by the Duke’s -favourites. Lodovico, with all his ability, had little judgment in his -choice of servants. He was led by his affections, which betrayed him. -Chief among his trusted officers were the San Severini brothers—the -Conte di Caiazzo, Galeazzo, famous champion of the tourney-lists, and -the Moro’s son-in-law, and the gruff Gaspare, better known as Fracasso. -They were the sons of Roberto di San Severino, but Lodovico had kept -them always beside him and heaped honours and places upon them. -Galeazzo, the prime favourite, had the chief command of his army. -Francesco Bernardino Visconte, Antonio Maria Pallavicino, Antonio -Trivulzio and the rest, all were alike unprepared in heart to sacrifice -themselves for the sovereign in whose sunshine they had warmed -themselves. The slight tie that bound together the various elements of -the State could not endure against fear, ambition, greed and hereditary -hate. The situation was further aggravated by the arrogance and -exactions of the ducal favourites which excited the rage of the people -and increased Lodovico’s unpopularity. - -Events moved rapidly. In March 1499 the treaty between France, Venice -and the Pope was publicly proclaimed. Louis was to conquer Milan, and -Venice, as the price of assistance, was to share the spoils. Florence -was nominally the Moro’s ally, but had neither means nor will to help -him now. Naples was too weak to count, and Lodovico’s one friend, the -unstable and spendthrift Maximilian, gave only empty promises. The Duke -was left to make his desperate defence alone. In spite of his energetic -preparations the presage of doom lay heavy on his soul, and affected all -around him. He believed that Fortune, once his friend, was now contrary, -and that God was angry with him. - -In June the French army arrived in Asti, and immediately invaded the -ducal territories. Every obstacle fell before them. Treachery and fear -delivered castles and cities one after another into their hands. The -Conte di Caiazzo made secret terms with them, and withdrew his troops -from action. The rapid progress of the invaders brought them soon to the -strong city of Alessandria, in which Galeazzo di San Severino and the -main Milanese army lay to check their advance upon the capital itself. -Here they met a promise of resistance, but the place had not been -besieged many days when for some extraordinary and unexplained reason it -was delivered to them. Some say that Galeazzo was seized with despair, -others that he was deceived by a forged order to retire. Anyhow, one -morning before daybreak he stole out with a few other nobles and -galloped to Milan, and his army, when they found their general gone, -incontinently fled in all directions. - -No obstacle now remained between the enemy and Milan. With the same -fatal spirit of despair which had undermined the whole defence, Lodovico -gave himself up for lost. Though his great Castle at Milan was the -strongest fortress in Europe, its garrison nearly three thousand, its -artillery enormous in number and size, its munitions of war and all -necessaries infinite, he could see no salvation except in abandoning the -city and seeking aid in person from the Emperor. There may have been -something of the instinct of bending before the storm in his decision. -He knew that he could not hold the city, where the insurgent mob was -already sacking the palaces of his favourites. If the citadel only stood -firm, however, there was every chance of some revolution of the -political wheel carrying him back before long. But blinded again by -affection, he made a fatal mistake in his choice of a Castellan. In -spite of many warnings he confided the entire command of the castle to -one Bernardino da Corte, whom he had brought up from childhood and -loaded with favours, charging him to guard it faithfully against the -enemy, and promising to relieve him before three months were past. - -Lodovico Sforza’s departure from the city which his father had won and -he himself had ruled gloriously for many years; the tears and kisses -with which he parted from his little motherless sons, sending them -before him into Germany; his last visit, attended by weeping monks, to -the tomb of his wife in Sta. Maria delle Grazie; his rapid ride out of -the city next morning, after a night of fever and anguish, accompanied -by a very few friends and followers, while the people’s cry changed from -‘Moro, Moro’ to ‘Franza, Franza,’ even as he passed—these things are all -recorded with deep compassion by Corio, whose chronicle sadly concludes -with this downfall of the House which he had served from boyhood. - -Behind Lodovico’s back, amid the flames and smoke of the burning -palaces, the streets and squares broke out into a garish splendour of -decoration to welcome his conqueror. Four days later Gian Giacomo -Trivulzio rode in at the head of the French, amid the wild enthusiasm of -the mob. The General, elated at his triumphant return to his native -city, promised them anything and everything in the name of their rich, -powerful, and all benign new master, the King of France. They believed -that the millennium was come. - -They soon learnt their mistake. Meanwhile, Fate had dealt the decisive -blow to the domination of the Sforza. The rock of their fortunes, the -impregnable Castello, provided by the extreme care and thought of the -Moro with every necessary for a lengthy siege, was after a few days -basely sold to the enemy by the traitor Castellan. On reception of the -news in his distant retreat Lodovico is said to have remained as if -mute, and to have finally uttered these words only—_Since Judas was -there never a greater traitor than Bernardino Curzio_. - -This condemnation was echoed by the whole world, and with especial -emphasis by the French themselves, who were amazed at such treachery and -cowardice. But the Castellan was not the only traitor. Bernardino Fr. -Visconte and others of Lodovico’s great ministers were his accomplices, -and partakers of the spoil. Hardly was the old master gone, ere they -bent before the new. Louis XII. followed his army in person to Milan, -and entered in great state, wearing the ducal beretta, and greeted by -the same artistic demonstrations of joy and loyalty as had so often -celebrated the pompous occasions of the Moro’s rule. After a short stay -he departed to France, leaving Trivulzio as governor, an imprudent -choice, which inflamed the old faction spirit. Most of the nobles were -Trivulzio’s hereditary enemies. They began at once to scheme his -overthrow, aided by the French guards, who could not bear to see Gian -Giacomo preferred before them to such high place. In the populace -discontent soon reawakened. They found themselves in worse case than -before. Their master was different, but the taxes remained the same, and -in addition they had to endure the cruelties and excesses of the French -troops. The partisans of the Sforza worked insidiously upon their minds -and excited them to cries of ‘Moro, Moro,’ once again. The city seethed -with intrigue and sedition. Every day tumults arose, and the brave -Trivulzio, beset with snares and embarrassments, tried vainly with his -frank methods and simple soldier’s choler to rule this mass of -conflicting passions, greeds, sufferings and cunning ambitions. - -While the way was thus being prepared in Milan for his restoration, -Lodovico, in his exile at Innsbrück, was using every means to accomplish -it, even to the desperate expedient of inciting the Turk to attack the -Venetian State. At the same time he gathered together a strong body of -Swiss and German mercenaries, and prepared to start for Italy as soon as -he learnt from his friends in Milan that the moment was come. The French -strength in the Duchy had been greatly diminished by the departure of -large detachments for Naples and the Romagna, when the report ran -through Milan that the Moro was come back and had retaken Como (1500). -The whole city was immediately in an uproar, and the mob surged round -the palace of the governor, who, after vainly endeavouring to quiet -them, was forced to hide from their insults and threats. A few days -later he left Milan. Immediately after, Lodovico’s forerunners, Cardinal -Ascanio and two of the San Severini, rode in at the head of four -thousand Swiss. Messer Galeazzo, flowering once more in the sunshine of -his Lord’s success, had arrayed himself all in white, with a great -feather on his head, and a pair of shoes on his feet much more fitted -for the service of Venus than of Mars, as a sarcastic chronicler -observes. The Duke himself followed a day later and re-entered his -capital in state. But his triumph was only apparent. The Castello was -now the bulwark of his enemy. It stood with its huge bastions and vast -squares of parapets furnished with a thousand engines of war, frowning -over the defenceless city. Even as the Moro paced in stately procession -through the streets the bells rang out, and a terrified cry arose that -the French had sallied from the fortress. The Duke was not strong enough -to attempt its reduction, and unwilling to face the constant peril of -its presence, he left the city, which he was never to see again, and -removed to Pavia. - -The same sickness of doubt, indecision and fear, the same presentiment -of failure which had attended the Moro for so long, now seemed to attack -this great adventure for the redemption of his fortunes. He neglected to -strike a decisive blow at the French before they could be reinforced, -and contented himself with retaking a few cities with as little shedding -of blood as possible. In vain Fracasso and his bolder captains exhorted -him to more energetic steps. His fierce Swiss mercenaries, to whom he -refused the satisfaction of sacking the conquered towns, grew violent -and rebellious. His treasury was exhausted, nor could all the expedients -of Cardinal Ascanio in Milan, even the appropriation of the treasure of -the Duomo and the other great churches, raise enough money to content -the voracious Swiss, of whom new hosts were continually swarming into -the city on their way to the camp, clamouring for employment and pay. -The citizens, terrified by these rude allies, squeezed of every penny to -supply the Duke’s necessities, found their plight worse than ever. -Hearing of the great reinforcements even now pouring down from the -mountains to swell the French army, they trembled with fear of the -consequences of their rebellion against Louis XII. In Novara, where the -Moro now lay, despair and confusion prevailed among the leaders, while -the temper of the Swiss mercenaries grew daily more ominous. - -The French army, gradually increasing in number and strength, was -encamped at Mortara, a few miles away, and constantly made bold dashes -up to the very walls of Novara. A battle could no longer be avoided. On -the 4th of April the enemy advanced to within a mile of Novara and -challenged the Italians to the combat. Lodovico’s army issued forth in -noble array, but it was nothing more than hollow show. The whole of the -Swiss, who formed its greater part, refused to fight, on the pretext -that they could not shed the blood of their fellow-countrymen engaged in -the French ranks. Their leaders had in fact secretly treated with the -enemy. Returning into Novara, followed in wild confusion and panic by -the rest of the army, they proceeded to arrange terms of capitulation -with De Ligny, the French commander. The promises, entreaties, tears -even of the unhappy Moro, could not move them from their purpose. All he -could obtain was a promise that they would carry him into safety -disguised in the midst of their ranks when they abandoned Novara. And -even this small mercy was a sham and a treachery. Someone among them -warned the French generals of the arrangement, and a careful scrutiny of -the troops, as in accordance with the agreement with the French they -marched out unmolested, soon detected the Duke by his well-known -features and complexion and the undisguisable height and majesty of his -person. With him were captured also Galeazzo di San Severino and one or -two other nobles. - -Thus unbloodily, as if by the decree of Fate, fell Lodovico Sforza. We -watch his dark and mournful figure—more dignified in adversity than when -tossed amid the rude and difficult circumstances of active war—as it -passes slowly out of Italy in its vesture of tragedy, conducted with -respectful compassion by the chivalrous French, taunted and reviled by -his own countrymen. It bears a significance reaching far beyond the -immediate event and the immediate victim. So much was passing away with -it. Italy, that fair queen whose robes the too-aspiring Prince had -desired to brush free from every stain, was a captive with him, befouled -and bloodied by the ignorant barbarian, and all the joy and exaltation -of her wonderful Quattrocento was to fail, and her new-found strength -and hope, with its sky-aspiring projects but half realised, to be bound -down in the sad fetters of disillusion, despair, and a new spiritual -tyranny, while the grand ideal of the Renaissance was to travel away -with her freedom and find its perfect fulfilment elsewhere. - -As Lodovico Sforza was the first to utter the fatal invitation to the -French, he was fitly the first scapegoat. But, not alone in his sin, he -was not alone in the punishment. If we condemn him for starting the ruin -of his country by delivering Naples to Charles, what shall we say of -Venice, Florence and the Pope, who each for their own selfish interests -completed it by selling Milan to Louis? The inexorable retribution did -not fail to fall upon them also. The first years of the sixteenth -century are its history. Alexander, dying, dragged down that son and -that earthly dominion for which he had given his soul. Venice, shaken -nigh to destruction in her turn, by an iniquitous combination, had to -forget her wide dreams of empire and be content with a narrow liberty, -passing into stagnation and decay. Julius, continuer of Alexander’s -worldly policy, may well have seen with prophetic eye, when death called -him too, his unaccomplished scheme of a renovated Church,—Papacy and -Empire in one, head of a new heaven on earth, which should lay the sword -of temporal and spiritual victory at the feet of the purified Venus, -Madonna with her Son upon her knee, shrink to the monastic ideals and -the rigid excluding tyranny of the Catholic reaction. Last of all, -Florence, most constant of the lovers of liberty, with her most -melancholy fall filled up the cup of expiation and sealed the final -subjugation of the country. - -[Illustration: SCOPETTA OF LODOVICO IL MORO] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - _The Sorrow of Milan_ - - - “Il povero Milano cridava, pensando di poter cridare, ma fu - una mala cosa per Milano.”—BURIGOZZO. - -At Novara, Milan lost her independence for ever. The restoration of the -Sforza, witnessed twice over in the first thirty years of the sixteenth -century, was a mere puppet-show, barely concealing the hand of greater -Powers behind. The Gascon archers, who from the Castello walls amused -themselves by shooting to fragments the great clay model of ‘the Horse,’ -had ruined as effectively the fair social fabric, as unique, as fragile, -and as incomplete, which Leonardo’s work symbolised in the person of its -founder, Francesco Sforza. - -With the captivity of Lodovico began in fact that long foreign -subjugation of Milan which was to endure into modern times. Her -vicissitudes during the short period that still comes within the scope -of our mediæval story are too sad to linger over. Reoccupied by the -French after Novara, the city was mulcted in an enormous sum as the -penalty of rebellion, and instead of the comparatively mild régime under -a native governor, first instituted by Louis, she had to suffer the iron -rule of a foreign viceroy, whose aim was to stamp out every spark of -free and patriotic aspiration in the people. - -But for several years Milan enjoyed at least outward peace, under the -triumphant Lilies, governed in succession by the Cardinal de Rohan, the -Sieur du Benin, and Charles d’Amboise, Sieur de Chaumont, the last of -whom ruled from 1505 to his death in 1511. In 1509 domination of the -French was shaken by a sudden reversal of policy on the part of Pope -Julius, who, having used their aid to humble Venice, suddenly made -friends with that Republic, and loudly roared to all Europe his -intention of driving the French out of Italy. The immediate result for -Milan was a great inroad of Swiss allies of the Pope, under that -terrible peasant priest, the Cardinal de Sion, and the devastation of -the fair Lombard provinces. The French, whose forces were weakened by -dispersion in various directions and could ill resist this furious -onslaught, endeavoured to dismay their adversary by raising a so-called -General Council for the reform of the Church, in the shape of a few -partisan cardinals, who sat solemnly in the Duomo at Milan and -pronounced futile sentences of excommunication and deposition against -the bellicose Pontiff. - -But Julius, strong in alliance with the Emperor and the King of Spain, -laughed at the feeble thunders of his rebellious sons. The French found -better aid in the military genius of Gaston de Foix, the King’s nephew, -who succeeded Chaumont as Governor of Milan and commander of the army in -1511. With a stern and silent rapidity which amazed all Italy, the young -general of twenty-two swept through Lombardy, retaking lost cities, -relieving those beleaguered, and carrying his arms against the Papalists -and Imperialists right up to Ravenna, where he routed them utterly in -the famous battle of Easter Day, 1512. The victory, however, issued -fatally for the winners. The hero of it was borne dead from the field in -slow and mournful procession back to Milan, followed soon after by his -paralysed army in retreat before the renewed hosts which the inactivity -of the new French commander, Palissy, had allowed the dauntless Pope to -collect. Pressed on all sides in the Duchy by the Swiss, Palissy was -unable to maintain his position there either, and continuing their -retreat the French passed away over the Alps, abandoning all their -conquests in Lombardy, except the fortresses of Milan and Cremona. - -And now once more a Sforza was proclaimed Lord of Milan, amid the -thunderous rejoicings of the people. But the son of Lodovico and -Beatrice, Massimiliano, whom the Pope and the Cardinal de Sion, for -their own political purposes, lifted to the throne of his ancestors at -this juncture, was nothing but the feeble tool of those two potentates, -a helpless and rotten bark tossed amid the storms of those contentious -times. For the little authority which he wielded, he was utterly unfit. -Bred up in exile at the Emperor’s Court, he had no affection for his -country, and regarded his new sovereignty merely as an opportunity for -extravagant pleasure and dissipation. The maintenance of his luxurious -Court, and of the huge army necessary to defend the State, demanded -enormous sums, to raise which he recklessly alienated the ducal -revenues, and continually imposed unexpected taxes on his subjects. To -satisfy rapacious allies and favourites, he flung away his fiefs, -seeming, as a chronicler says, to follow the proverb—_The fewer -possessions, the fewer cares._ While the light-minded youth forgot all -duties and cares of State, in feasting, jousting and the dance, the -resentment of the people was rising against him, his ministers and -captains were intriguing with his foes, and the roar of the great guns -at intervals from the Castello might have reminded him that the key of -Milan was still held by the enemy, and that Louis in France was quickly -preparing an expedition to reconquer Lombardy. - -The first attempt of the French in 1513, under Louis de la Tremouille -and Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, met, however, with an unexpected and signal -defeat from the Swiss at Novara, which drove them back over the Alps. -This was followed by the capitulation of the French garrison in the -Castello of Milan, and Massimiliano seemed now firmly established in his -seat. But Julius II. was dead, and the whole political scene had shifted -once again. The Venetians were now ranged with France against the Papal -League, and the accession of Francis I. to the French throne, early in -1515, raised up against the Sforza a young and enthusiastic foe, who was -undaunted by the sad experiences of his two predecessors in their -Italian ventures. The King hastened to raise an enormous army, with -which he crossed the mountains in person, and, skilfully guided by -Trivulzio, surprised and made captive Prospero Colonna, general of the -ducal forces, who was awaiting him in a strong position. Advancing -unopposed, almost up to Milan, Francis seemed about to complete a -bloodless conquest, when a sudden rising of the Milanese themselves, and -the arrival of a great force of Swiss to the aid of the Duke, checked -his progress. And now at Marignano (Melegnano) outside Milan was fought -that mighty battle (14th September 1515), not of men, but of giants—as -the veteran Trivulzio affirmed—in which the fierce and stubborn Swiss -and the gallant French contended all one evening and again the next day, -till seven thousand of the mountaineers lay dead upon the field, and -their brave comrades, utterly exhausted, were forced to give way and fly -into Milan. - -At news of the defeat Massimiliano retired into the Castello, abandoning -the city to the enemy. Here he might have held out awhile, but his -spirit was too small, and by the advice of Girolamo Morone, one of the -most astute statesmen of that day, and the chief stay of this generation -of the House of Sforza—who counted on the existence of a more promising -younger brother, Francesco—the incompetent prince renounced his Duchy to -the French King for a large pension. Retiring to France, this elder son -of the Moro disappears ingloriously out of the story of Milan. - -The Duchy remained for the next six years in French possession, and was -ruled with comparative justice and beneficence by the Constable de -Bourbon, till the just, generous, and propitiatory impulses of the new -sovereign yielded to indifference and forgetfulness, and it was -abandoned to the cruel and arbitrary government of the Sieur de Lautrec, -brother of the King’s mistress, the Comtesse de Châteaubriant. His -tyranny helped to provoke another revolution in 1521, when the young -Emperor Charles V. united with Pope Leo X. in a new _Holy_ League, and -proclaiming his right to Milan as an imperial fief, sent an army to -invade the Duchy. Lautrec, having executed some of the noblest citizens -on suspicion of intriguing with the Imperialists, abandoned the city, -leaving the Castello garrisoned, and took up his stand four miles from -the city, at the Bicocca, where he suffered a tremendous defeat, which -lost Milan again to France. This turn of the tide carried Francesco, -Lodovico’s second son, to the ducal throne. The wild joy with which the -oppressed and suffering Milanese greeted this new Sforza, in whose name -they trusted with touching hopefulness for a return of the old glory of -their city, was not wholly misplaced. Duke Francesco II. has left a -memory of good repute. The misfortunes of his reign were not due to his -faults or weaknesses, but to the political circumstances of the time, -which deprived him of all real power, and made him a mere pawn in the -great game played between Charles V. and Francis I. with Italy for -stake. Milan was, in fact, dominated by the Spaniard, and the presence -of a great army of these foreigners was a crushing burden upon prince -and people. Though there to defend the city, they wrought little less -destruction and cruelty than the French, when the latter returned as -enemies in 1523, and advancing close to the capital, spread havoc and -desolation all around. Though unable to take Milan, they established -themselves in some of the neighbouring towns, and the approach of -Francis himself with a large army in the following year (1524) drove the -Duke into flight. The city, bereft of half its population and garrison -by a terrible pestilence, was utterly unable to make any defence against -the French monarch. Francis, having entered Milan in triumph, passed on -to besiege Pavia, which kept him heroically at bay through many months. - -Meanwhile the Emperor was rapidly gathering force for the relief of his -vassal State. From Naples came Lanoy with the garrison of that province; -from Germany the ferocious giant Fründsberg, leading twelve thousand -lanzknechts; while mercenaries from every part swarmed to the camps of -Charles’ other commanders, the Constable de Bourbon and the Marquis of -Pescara. This horde of hungry and rapacious villains, whom the Emperor -left to gather supplies and pay out of the unfortunate country which it -passed through, swooped down upon the gallant army of the King, which, -falsely secure in its vainglory and sense of personal valour, allowed -itself to be entrapped in the Park of Pavia, and on 24th February 1525, -that vast and exquisite pleasaunce, created for the summer dalliance and -the gay winter sports of the Dukes of Milan, became an awful red-mown -field of all the chivalry of France. Never, perhaps, was such an -oblation of knightly grace and virtue poured out to Death as on that -day. One after another the gentlemen of France fell around their King. -The famous veterans of the Italian wars died together with the youngest -scions of their Houses, new come to this fatal Italy. Among many -Milanese nobles who also fought in the King’s ranks and fell was -Galeazzo di San Severino, who, after mourning for his friend and lord, -the Moro, through several years of exile, had taken service with the -conqueror and risen to the position of Grand Ecuyer of France. - -_Madame, tout est perdu sauf l’honneur_, wrote Francis to his mother. -Among other things the Duchy of Milan, but just retaken, was lost again, -and this time for ever. Monseigneur le Roy being a prisoner at -Pizzighettone, his army destroyed and the survivors of his gentlemen -confined in different fortresses, Duke Francesco returned again under -the imperial protection to his capital. But though he was beloved by his -people, his restoration meant a renewal of the intolerable Spanish -tyranny, and fresh exactions for the benefit of the Emperor’s treasury, -worse than any the city had ever suffered before. The Duke himself -groaned under a slavery for which the empty title and insignia of -sovereignty little compensated him. - -And now at the very height of Charles’ success, there seemed to come a -hope of freedom for his oppressed vassal. Italy and the whole European -world had been startled by the overwhelming victory of Pavia, and began -to fear the further advance of a conqueror whose triumph was a menace to -all. Pope Clement VII., whose projects for the aggrandisement of the -Medici were hampered by Charles’ predominance in the peninsula, seized -the opportunity to draw the Queen-Mother of France, Henry VIII. of -England, Venice and the smaller Italian States into a vast alliance -against the Emperor. This seemed the moment for Milan to throw off the -yoke of Spain, and Francesco, or rather his chancellor, the able and -faithful Morone, entered into secret relations with the League. He was, -however, betrayed by the Marquis of Pescara, whom he had endeavoured to -seduce from allegiance to Charles. Morone came near to losing his head, -and the Duke himself was denounced for high treason to his feudal Lord, -and was forced to take refuge in the Castello, where he was closely -blockaded by Pescara and De Leyva; while the miserable citizens, who had -found the Spanish troops intolerable enough as their allies and -defenders, had now to suffer unspeakable things from them in the -character of conquerors. - -For many months the Duke held out in the hope of the relief promised by -the League, till provisions grew short and famine appeared at hand. -Meanwhile the city, driven to frenzy by its oppressors, rose again and -again in desperate tumults, which were quelled each time by the Spanish -generals with treacherous promises to relieve the general misery, and -followed by severities and outrages more dreadful than ever, till the -fair city became a very hell of slaughter, lust and rapine. In vain the -forces of the League, under the brilliant young Giovanni de’ Medici, -approached to the Duke’s succour. They were driven back by the -Imperialists, and Francesco was at last forced by extremity of want to -surrender the castle and abandon the city altogether (1526). - -But the League was daily growing in strength and soon returned to the -attack. The Imperialists were closely besieged in their turn in Milan, -till the descent of Fründsberg with fresh hordes of mercenaries -compelled the assailants to retire and concentrate themselves on the -defensive against the once again overwhelming Imperialists. Lombardy was -now become the complete prey of the occupying armies. The ferocious and -undisciplined hosts that nominally served the Emperor no longer heeded -the commands of a master who gave them no pay, and was himself far away -in Spain. They were practically an independent robber horde, following -whom, and going where, they pleased, supporting and enriching themselves -on plunder, torturing and murdering peasants and citizens without -distinction, to squeeze from them their last possession. It meant -nothing to the soldiers that Charles was entering into negotiations for -peace with the League. Nor could their captains control them. The -Constable de Bourbon, who became Governor of Milan for the Emperor in -1526, promised the afflicted people to move the army from their midst, -but even if he had been sincere, he could not have kept his word. Yet -the army loved him above all their other leaders, this rebel and exiled -prince of France, who was an adventurer like themselves. - -Before long Milan and the country round was changed into a bare desert, -out of which even Spanish cruelty could no longer extract a subsistence. -The thought of the unvisited regions farther on began to spread and -agitate among the famished hordes; the names of Florence and Rome, -cities of untold riches, were breathed from one to another, and as one -man they rose at the offer of the Constable de Bourbon to lead them -southwards. As a swarm of locusts lifts from a devastated plain, they -swept suddenly away on the awful, irresistible course which ended in -that final catastrophe of the Middle Ages, the Sack of Rome. - -This tragic event, though hardly a part of the pious Emperor’s plans, -made the last link in the chain which Spain was forging round Italy. -Neither the Pope, nor Francis I., who had regained his liberty early in -1526, were able to offer any further serious resistance to the -conqueror, though for some years yet the French continued to make -desperate efforts to regain Milan, and the city had to endure both the -tyranny of the Spanish governor, De Leyva, and the horrors of blockade. -The Treaty of Barcelona between the Pope and the Emperor, and the peace -signed by Charles and Francis at Cambrai—that _Paix des Dames_, arranged -by the most famous ladies of France and Italy—followed by the Congress -and Coronation of the Emperor at Bologna in 1530, secured peace at last -for the tormented country by laying the destinies of Italy finally in -the conqueror’s hands. Francesco Sforza, who threw himself on the -Emperor’s mercy, was graciously pardoned and reinstated in his Dukedom. -The return of this amiable prince inspired a faint joy in the exhausted -people, and gradually, in spite of the enormous subsidies exacted by the -Emperor, and the burdens imposed to drive off the attacks of the -independent condottieri and pirates who ranged the disordered country, a -certain amount of life and activity crept back into the cruelly-wronged -city. - -Such consolation and remedy for her wounds as his fettered powers and -grave embarrassments allowed, Francesco administered, introducing order -into the wild confusion of the government, and reviving trade and -industry by careful regulations. But what a changed Milan from that in -which his father and mother had reigned gloriously, in beautiful -stainless palaces, surrounded by the finest productions of art, was this -wrecked, defiled and devastated city, in whose deserted streets and -suburbs nettles grew rankly, and wolves, grown used to feed on human -flesh, roamed at will, attacking armed men, and snatching children from -their mothers’ arms! ‘What an incredible evidence of the change of -fortune,’ writes Guicciardini, ‘to those who had seen her not long -before overflowing with inhabitants, and not only full of all gaiety and -delight from the natural inclination of her inhabitants to feasting and -pleasure, but because of the wealth of her citizens, the infinite number -of her shops and industries, the delicacy and abundance of all the -things which form man’s food, the superb apparel and equipages and -sumptuous adornments of both her women and her men, more flourishing and -happy than any other city of Italy.’ - -There is an interesting record of these years of tribulation in the -chronicle of a Milanese mercer named Burigozzo, who, sitting in his -dark-browed shop, set down from day to day, as they passed before his -eyes, the vicissitudes of _el povero Milano_. His quaint simplicity and -patriotic grief make his tale very moving. It is a picture of confusion, -tumult and misery, relieved at first by brilliant gleams, such as the -hollow pomps and glories of the entries of kings and conquerors, but -darkening ever to a more tragic gloom and terror and despair as it -passes from the milder sufferings of the period of French occupation to -the unspeakable horrors—_cose da non dire_—committed by the Spaniards -and lanzknechts of Pescara and De Leyva. All the great events of the -time are made vivid to us in his pages. We hear the ceaseless noise of -battle outside, the guns of the Castello, often directed upon the -terror-stricken city itself, roaring continually and answered by the -great bell of the Duomo sounding _a martello_, to summon the citizens to -arms. These, maddened by exactions and cruelty, or inspired by hope of -driving out oppressors, or excluding assailants, gather in thousands at -the call. Suffering has made them merciless, and they attack and butcher -parties of mercenaries in the streets. Once they make a holocaust of the -old wooden Campanile of the Duomo, with a whole company of Spaniards -within it. And through the streets, crowded with blaspheming and bestial -soldiery, we see endless processions pass, white-robed children, men and -women with bare feet and clad in sackcloth, monks, friars, all the -hierarchy of the Cathedral, filling the air with penitential wailings -and cries of _misericordia_, as they wind from the Duomo to St. Ambrogio -to implore the help of the great patron saint of the once fortunate -Milan. Churches crowded with suppliants; the excited populace pressing -round some upstart prophet—some fierce bearded monk who drives the timid -priests from altar and pulpit, and calls upon the people in the name of -Christ to slaughter the French. In street and temple alike confusion and -foulness, where so shortly before the genius of order had presided. Then -upon the uproar falls the sick and heavy silence of the pestilence, and -the mercer’s tale moves as with a hushed step, while, imprisoned for a -whole month within his house, he watches his children die, himself by -the grace of God untouched and well—while no sound is heard but the -carts going by laden with the sick, and the ceaseless _campana del -corpo_—while the graveyards spread and double in extent round the -numberless churches. A hundred thousand persons perished, he tells us, -during the summer months of 1524. - -As the picture unrolls itself before us we are fain to turn away from -the spectacle of anguish and all abomination during the hideous years of -the Spanish occupation after 1525. The city preyed upon by the fiendish -mercenaries, the people outraged, pillaged, and tortured till they -yielded up their last mite of buried treasure. Multitudes flying from -their homes to avoid worse things and sheltering in the country round, -though that was infested by human beasts and wild ones only less cruel, -or worse, stopped and bound, little children and all, by their ruthless -tormentors, to prevent their escape. And withal siege, starvation; _such -a leanness of men from hunger as was an anguish to witness_, the little -bread which they possessed seized by the governor, the dying poor driven -into so-called refuges, whence every days scores were carried out dead. - -But the story of these thirty years is not entirely of gloom. If we turn -from the people to the great Milanese nobility, we see a different -aspect of life, no less tragic in a sense, but brilliant enough and -glorified by the fine culture and rare artistic taste of the age. Within -their sumptuous palaces and wide secluded gardens, defended by great -names and powerful interests from the intrusions of marauding soldiery, -or in pleasant country villas beside the lakes and placid rivers of -Lombardy, whither they retired when pestilence or famine held sway in -the city, they created for themselves that unreal world of ladies and -cavaliers, arms and love, of which Ariosto sings. It was during these -years that the courtly Dominican friar, Matteo Bandello, was Prior of -the Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, and was collecting in the most -elect circles those gay and scandalous tales, which, retold by his witty -pen with introductions describing the circumstances in which he heard -them, give a vivid picture of the incomparable cinquecento society of -Milan, with its fine literary accomplishment, vivacious wit and over -liberal manners—a society presided over by such gracious figures as -Ippolita Sforza, the lady of Bandello’s own particular adoration, and -Cecilia Gallerani, the Moro’s old favourite. Ippolita, a granddaughter -of Duke Galeazzo Maria, was married to Alessandro Bentivoglio, a son of -the deposed Lord of Bologna. She and Cecilia, now the Contessa -Bergamini, and Camilla Scarampi made up a trio of Milanese poetesses and -literary connoisseurs of finest discrimination and judgment and of wide -renown. Apparently careless of the woes of their country, these ladies -and others of their rank, with the graceful cavaliers and dilettante -ecclesiastics who made their court, occupied themselves in romantic -vanities, in amorous intrigues, and in learned and philosophic -dalliance. Close relations united them with the other courts and -aristocracies of North Italy, and the famous Marchioness of Mantua, -Isabella da Este, was often the centre and queen of those elegant -gatherings of beauty and wit and gallantry described by Bandello. -History shows us that most typical lady of Italian society dancing with -the King of France at the great ball which the usurping monarch gave in -1507, in the Castello of Milan, in the very halls where her sister and -brother-in-law had once reigned—a spectacle significant of fallen Italy. -Like the princes of the neighbouring States, the great nobles of Milan, -once powerful in the story of their city, had lost all patriotic and -independent spirit. The severe repression of party-passion, that -unfailing symptom of vigorous life in an Italian community, by the -French conquerors in 1500, reduced them to idleness and political -nullity. They made friends with the new powers and entered their -service, but they had no longer any real influence on affairs. The -revolutions which placed the Sforza princes on the ducal throne in turn -afforded the nobles opportunities of intrigue and brought home to them -the terrible realities of foreign subjugation. In 1521, for example, -those who had embraced the side of the old dynasty suffered the -reprisals of the savage Lautrec, and on mere suspicion Milan was -desolated of its noblest inhabitants by summary executions, banishment -and forfeiture. These families were, however, restored to their old -position by the elevation of Francesco Sforza to the Dukedom, and they -made no attempt to rebel against the Imperial Eagle, which was their -real master. When the intolerable persecution inflicted by the Spanish -and German mercenaries from 1525 to 1529 maddened the people to repeated -insurrection, not one of the nobles came forward to give them courage -and to organise and direct their undisciplined efforts to effective -action. A certain Pietro della Pusterla, of a House which through all -the story of Milan had been distinguished as leaders of popular -movements, seems to have assumed some authority over them, but even he -abandoned them in the hour of need and danger. - -These futile attempts exhausted the last remains of aspiration for -liberty and self-government in the broken-spirited Milanese. They made -no attempt to rebel against the settlement of 1530, which resigned them -finally into the Emperor’s hands. Though utterly dismayed—_tutto -smarrito_, says Burigozzo—by the heavy fine inflicted by Charles as a -penalty for the rebellion of the Duchy, they resigned themselves to -_patientia_ and hope for better days to come. - -Much _patientia_ was necessary before those days came. The country round -was depopulated, and it was long before the old abundance flowed again -into the city. There were times when bread lacked and the people -murmured against the helpless Duke. Prices remained very high and there -was little trade. A visit, however, from Charles V. in 1533, expected -with fear and dismay by the citizens, to whom his name was only -associated with ravaging lanzknechts and Spaniards, brought them, to -their joyful surprise, good luck—a great influx of custom and rich -payment for their goods, instead of robbery. - -In 1534 a brief reflection of its old glory brightened the city on the -arrival of a bride for the Duke, the sixteen-year-old Cristina of -Sweden, whose portrait by Holbein is in the National Gallery. The -streets and squares were magnificently decked for her reception. The -young princess, whose countenance, says the chronicler, was more divine -than human, rode in under a golden baldaquin, surrounded by twelve of -the noblest gentlemen of the city, so splendidly arrayed that each -appeared an Emperor, and with such great white plumes in their caps that -her Excellency seemed to move in the midst of a forest. The joy with -which she was greeted was, however, shallow enough, and changed quickly -to groans when the money for the Duchess’ maintenance had to be squeezed -out of the people by a special tax. - -The fine bridal feast was soon followed by a still more pompous, but -lugubrious pageant, when eighteen months later (1535), the last Duke of -Milan was carried to his tomb in the great temple founded by the first -Duke, Gian Galeazzo Visconte. Always delicate of constitution, and worn -out by the great anxieties of his life, Francesco fell a victim to a -severe illness in 1535. He left no child to inherit the ducal throne. - -There still survived, however, a Sforza, Gian Paolo, son of the Moro by -Lucrezia Crivelli. This prince set off immediately for Rome, to press -the Pope to support his claim to the Dukedom. But on his way he was -seized with sickness and died. Men said that he was poisoned by those to -whom his existence was an inconvenience. - -Thus was spent the dynasty of the Sforza, and Milan devolved as a vacant -fief to the Empire. This great city, once the seat of Roman Emperors, -the crowning place of Carlovingian and German monarchs, the capital of -North Italy, and for centuries the heart of the most powerful -principality in the peninsula, was now to sink to a mere provincial -position, to become an impotent fragment of dismembered and captive -Italy. - -We need not occupy ourselves with the further vicissitudes of the city -under the now settled dominion of Spain, which all the chivalrous and -repeated efforts of France in the sixteenth century was unable to -overthrow. It is enough to note her transference from Spanish to -Austrian rule after the War of Succession in the early years of the -seventeenth century, and her continued subjection to the House of -Hapsburg—with the brief Napoleonic interruption of 1796 to 1815—till in -1848 she rid herself by insurrection of the Austrian garrison, and ten -years later became free and national at last as a member of the new-born -Kingdom of Italy. - -Her mediæval life ended with her mediæval liberty. Its robust passions, -its vigorous and restless activity of body and mind, the sense of human -power, the wide-ranging speculation, the audacious flights of the -spirit, which mark its florescence in the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries, turned to weariness, disillusion and despair. Individuality -lost itself in the bonds of convention and submission. In art, in -literature, everywhere—decay. On thought, on science, the blight fell. -The same hand which had stilled the political aspirations of Milan was -laid heavily upon her soul. The prepotence of Spain and the revival of -dogmatic zeal in the Papacy meant the employment of every engine of -oppression against that spiritual freedom which Italy had used both for -good and for evil. The Holy Office was set up in the Convent of Sta. -Maria delle Grazie, and our friend Burigozzo lived long enough to see -the pitiful ceremonies of the public recantations and penances of -heretics before the door of the Duomo. But the most powerful agent of -the Catholic reform in Milan was the famous Cardinal Archbishop, Carlo -Borromeo, known to religious history as San Carlo. As Ambrose stands at -the entrance of Milan’s mediæval era, with back turned upon the ruined -Empire behind, and strong gaze broadening down the centuries of new -faith, new hope, new ideals, so Carlo Borromeo stands at its close, as -sternly facing towards the past, and closing the door upon the new world -of thought and knowledge beyond. Her independent story is consecrated at -its beginning and at its end by the mighty personality of a saint, who, -whatever his influence upon her actual progress, gives by his example of -will, of courage, and of spiritual exaltation, an everlasting -inspiration to mankind. - -Carlo Borromeo was a scion of the great patrician family of that name in -Milan, founded far back in the mists of mediæval antiquity by a certain -pilgrim, the _buon romeo_ from whom it took its name. The House was -conspicuous in the story of the city, and was foremost in consequence -and in wealth in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Carlo was born -in the ecclesiastical purple. His uncle, Pius IV., of the Milanese House -of Medici, created him a cardinal in 1559, at the age of nineteen, and -heaped benefices upon him. In 1560 he became Archbishop of Milan on the -retirement of Cardinal Ippolito II. d’Este, who had occupied the See for -a great number of years in succession to his uncle Ippolito I. The young -Cardinal was now wealthier than any other prince of the Church. A few -years later, however, he renounced all his benefices, _which having he -was great, and casting away, greater_, as his biographer observes. He -retained the Archbishopric only, and taking up his abode in the city, he -devoted himself to the government of his diocese, with an immense zeal -and fervour of reform. The Jesuits, the Teatini, and other of the new -and reformed orders which sprang up in obedience to the religious -impulse of the time, were introduced by him into Milan, and he -suppressed the immensely wealthy and influential order of the Umiliati, -and alienated its revenues to the support of the new communities and to -the furtherance of his great schemes. An ascetic of purest and most -exemplary life, he indulged as representative of the Church in a -boundless pride and pomp. He was a despot, and his despotism opposed -itself to all independence of thought. He extended his ecclesiastical -jurisdiction to its utmost limits, and seizing delinquents almost under -the nose of the civil authorities, filled the dungeons of the episcopal -palace with them. His imperious will came into conflict with the -governors, but his powerful influence in the bigoted Court of Spain gave -him supremacy, and he was in fact the ruler of Milan. His splendid -temper of Milanese patrician vented itself in grandiose schemes for the -building, restoration and ornamentation of churches and religious -institutions. But as his authority was exerted to suppress all -individuality and spontaneity in literature and thought, so his rich -patronage was lent only to the decadence in art. A nobler manifestation -of the man was seen during the pestilence of 1576, when, with heroic -self-forgetfulness, he fulfilled his duty as chief pastor of the -afflicted people, succouring them by every means in his power. His -exalted figure, with cross borne high, leading processions of penitent -and supplicatory citizens through the streets, is one of the saintly -pictures of history. - -Carlo Borromeo died in 1584, having lived but just forty-six years. -Beyond him is the long sleep of Milan. Under the pall of stillness her -historic virtues lie dormant, her historic names inglorious. But not -dead. When the long-deferred moment of the awakening comes, the old -courage, the old faith, the old sense of fellowship arises stronger and -more lively than before, and the names of old resound again among the -champions of Lombard and Italian freedom, in the prisons of repressive -tyranny, round the barricades of the Cinque Giornate, on the fields of -Custozza, Novara, Solferino, side by side with the patriots sprung of -the nameless blood which long ago watered the rich tilth of Legnano. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - _Art in Milan_ - - - “Cosa bella mortal passa e non d’arte.”—LEONARDO DA VINCI. - -The Milanese as a people do not take a great place in the story of -Italian art. They show at no time the spontaneous artistic character -which was the blessed birthright of the Florentines, Sienese, Umbrians, -Venetians. They granted, however, splendid hospitality to the art of -others. Talent of every kind was attracted to this wealthy and luxurious -city, and the concourse of foreign artists roused and developed -considerable industry in the natives from early times. - -Lombardy, and in particular Milan, its principal city, were exposed to -influences which did not reach further south. The strain of northern -blood in the people, derived from their Gallic origin, readily received -the impress of the ultramontanes who flowed down throughout the -centuries into the fertile plains of Po and Ticino, and the thoughts and -ideas which they brought, assimilating with the natural instincts of the -soil, and with the ancient traditions of the Latins, resulted in an -artistic character which is quite Italian, though very different from -the more southern populations. It lacks their spontaneity and daring, -their lofty imagination and idealism, has little of their sense of -beauty, falls short in sheer ability. But it is distinguished by -sincerity, a love of realism, a humble and zealous industry, and also by -certain marked and inveterate mannerisms. And though the Milanese, or -rather the Lombards who peopled the wide Duchy of the Visconti and -Sforza, remained always very receptive, looking for a lead, and owing -their strongest artistic impulses to some genius from abroad, their work -keeps always its strong native character. - -Milan’s greatest moment was one in her art, and in her public life. The -same spirit of freedom which stood up to Barbarossa and Frederick II., -raised her incomparable brick buildings of the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries. In this development of architecture on the large and -reasonable lines of the old Roman building, modified by the mystic ideas -and melancholy sentiment of the North, and by the capabilities of the -rich and plastic material yielded by the alluvial soil, Lombardy shows -the highest result of the mingled elements of her artistic life. When no -longer inspired by freedom, architecture was still fostered in Milan by -ostentatious tyranny, and continued to be the most genial art of the -people. In the fourteenth century, the Visconti raised beautiful -churches and palaces, but the builders inclined more and more to abandon -the national traditions for Gothic lightness and grace. In the crowning -work of the Cathedral, the false Gothic ideal finally triumphed. The -classical revival, which followed under the Sforza and filled the city -anew with churches and palaces, was communicated to Milan by Tuscan -architects. It was cherished by the eclectic spirit of princes and -nobles, and owed nothing to popular impulse. But in adapting her -peculiar material, brick, to the new style, Lombardy gave it a local and -special character, and only when the vulgar exaggeration of the classic -fashion overwhelmed Italy in a general flood of baroque extravagance, -did Lombardy lose architectural individuality. - -Sculpture, as the handmaid of architecture, was also actively practised -in Milan from the twelfth century onwards. The same masters from the -shores of Como, from the valley of Antelamo, close to Maggiore, from -Campione near Lugano, who carried the Lombard or Romanesque style all -over North Italy and into Tuscany in the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries, built her churches and carved upon the façades mystical -figures and devices. The Romanesque sculpture remaining in Milan is very -rude, and the names of its authors are in few cases remembered. In the -fourteenth century the family or guild of masters from Campione is -prominent in the records of Milanese architecture and sculpture, and -individuals are distinguished by name. Under the guidance of the Pisan -sculptor Giovanni di Balduccio, one of the ablest of Nicola Pisano’s -followers, who worked long in Milan, these Campionese produced -numberless sepulchral monuments, a few of which survive still in the -churches and museums. The Pisan traditions appear in them, modified by -the native character. The classic nobility and severity, the ideal grace -of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano degrade into heaviness and coarseness in -these ruder and more realistic hands, and the forms learnt from them are -remoulded according to certain inveterate predilections which persist -always in Lombard sculpture. - -At the end of this century, artistic industry received an extraordinary -impulse throughout the Visconte States from the splendid patronage of -Gian Galeazzo. His vast new foundations, the Duomo of Milan, the Certosa -of Pavia, his mighty engineering enterprises, gave endless employment to -workers in stone. In this fervour of activity Lombard sculpture began to -evolve clearly its special character, and agreeably to the gorgeous -tastes of the Prince, which became a tradition for his successors, a -love of excessive and exaggerated ornamentation appears, and marks it -henceforth. - -After Gian Galeazzo a lull came in art with the civic confusion of Gian -Maria’s few years, and the continuous wars of Filippo Maria’s -thirty-five. This period represents the pause between the mediæval era -and the Renaissance in Milan. The building and decoration of the -Cathedral was continued slowly by men whom the old principles no longer -inspired, and the new had not yet reached. No great names occur in the -host of craftsmen engaged in the work. The Campione fraternity was still -represented, and continued to exist for a long time, though its -traditions were dying out, and Jacopino da Tradate, who worked in the -earlier half of the century, was a sculptor of some power. - -The triumph of Francesco Sforza in 1450 began a new era of prosperity -for Milanese art. A long peace, a succession of sovereigns in whom a -policy of splendour was assisted by stupendous wealth and a genuine love -of beauty and culture, the concourse of strangers of genius to their -Court, bringing the inspiration of the great classic revival from -Tuscany and Central Italy, roused the Lombards to an enthusiasm and -activity which carried them to their highest pitch of achievement at the -end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Brunelleschi, employed by -Filippo Maria to build a fortress, Antonio Averulino, known as Filarete, -whom Francesco Sforza summoned to design the Ospedale Maggiore and to -assist on the Castle, Michelozzo, builder of the beautiful Portinari -Chapel, and finally the great Bramante, twelve years resident in the -city in the Moro’s days, and Leonardo da Vinci himself, master of all -the arts and sciences, were their guides in the new or rediscovered -mysteries of architecture. Giuniforte Solari, and Pietro his son, -architects of the Duomo, Certosa, and many of the churches and convents -raised everywhere by Francesco and Bianca Maria in the ardour of their -piety and the joy of their newly-won glory, show the transition from -Gothic to the Renaissance style, slowly accomplished however, for the -Lombards were tenacious of their local traditions and not ready to -accept new ideas. Even in the next generation of builders, Amadeo, -Dolcebuono, Cristoforo Solari, Briosco, and the rest, all nursed in the -precepts imparted by the Tuscans, and fully inspired by the Renaissance -spirit, there was still a lingering adhesion to certain Gothic -predilections. The Lombard character, especially noticeable in a love of -ornamentation, still expressed itself in the forms learnt from foreign -example. In all that peculiarly graceful building in Milan of the later -fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which is called -indiscriminately Bramantesque, and attributed to the influence of the -Urbino master—cloisters and cortiles with elegant pillared porticos and -sculptured capitals of rich and fanciful design, and archivolts and -cornices decorated with terra-cotta mouldings, grand arched portals -often decorated with classic heads—a Lombard character may almost always -be detected. - -In sculpture the Mantegazza are the first of the Milanese artists to -show signs of the Renaissance. These two brothers, Cristoforo and -Antonio, natives of Milan, were working from about 1443 until late in -the century. They represent the old Campionese traditions revivified by -contact with the new ideas, as expressed by the Paduans and Florentines. -Their work is marked by that excessive zeal in the search for realism -common to North Italian art at this time, leading to the representation -of exaggerated action and emotion. With the Mantegazza violence is not -always accompanied by strength, and their conception is not lofty enough -to save their naturalistic tendency from vulgarising the sacred subjects -which they set forth. The Northern element in them, encouraged by the -German and Flemish artists at the liberal Sforza Court, appears in their -extreme sincerity and pains, their lack of grace and idealism, their -attention to minutiæ rather than to broad effect. Their figures are -usually long and ill-proportioned, with small heads, the contours -angular and sharp, the faces rude, with projecting cheek-bones and -cavernous eyes; and the Lombard peculiarity of numberless arbitrary -folds, flattened to the form beneath as if the draperies had been -wetted, gives to the whole compositions of these sculptors the -appearance of crumpled paper. The Mantegazza are closely followed by an -artist of much more sweetness and geniality, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo -(1447-1522), the most productive and typical of the new generation of -sculptors. The joyous vitality of the Renaissance overflows in Amadeo -and carries all his native characteristics to unrestrained excess. The -Lombard love of pomp and gorgeous decoration runs to a riot of -ornamentation in his reliefs, which are crowded and overloaded with rich -and fertile fancies. Builder as well as sculptor, he sacrifices -architectural effect without scruple for the sake of decorative detail, -as the extraordinarily ornate façade of the Colleoni Chapel at Bergamo, -one of his most famous works, testifies. This is a fault common to the -Lombard architects. The façade of the Certosa, that museum of -Renaissance art in Lombardy, the characteristic production of the busy -school of the Mantegazza, Amadeo, Benedetto Briosco, and their -assistants and followers, is an enduring monument of architects spoiled -by being decorative sculptors, the building being treated chiefly as a -space to load with decoration. The production of Amadeo’s prolific -talent, during a long and prosperous career, was very large, and -continued till shortly before his death. Amadeo shares the naturalistic -tendency of the Mantegazza and their native mannerisms, especially that -of the crumpled paper folds. A love of story-telling, amounting to -loquacity, appears in his subject reliefs, with their multitudinous -figures and redundant action. The florid, extravagant fancy of his -decorative work is not restrained by his sense of proportion, and in his -indiscriminating use of classical motives borrowed from other -schools—heads of emperors, allegorical conceits, etc.—a want of culture -and scholarship is evident. The vulgarity of Lombard art in comparison -with the Tuscan is exemplified in Amadeo, but is redeemed by the -sympathetic qualities of gaiety, spontaneity and artlessness, which give -his work often much charm and sweetness. - -Amadeo’s activity was at its height at the time when Leonardo was -working in Milan upon the equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza. Duke -Galeazzo Maria’s failure to find a native to do the work shows the -limitations of the Lombard sculptors. All shunned the problem of casting -a bronze figure on so large a scale. But Lodovico il Moro, taking up the -interrupted project after his brother’s death, found in the Tuscan -Leonardo one who feared no difficulties. The completion of the model of -the horse, after years of preliminary study, was the greatest sculptural -event that ever happened in Milan. But it remains outside the story of -the Lombard sculptors. Unlike the painters, they seemed to have been -little disturbed in their course by the tremendous personality of the -Florentine. If traces of his influence appear in their work, it is in -types borrowed from his paintings. - -A host of well-known sculptors accompany and follow Amadeo. Gio. -Dolcebuono, Cristoforo Solari, known as il Gobbo (the Hunchback), -Benedetto Briosco, the Cazzaniga brothers, Agostino Busti, called il -Bambaia—all show the local characteristics. But an inclination to -softness and sensuousness and a lack of the old virile energy begins to -vitiate their work as time goes on, and signals the coming of the -decadence, though the technical skill of the school increases. Il Gobbo, -scion of the old artistic stock of the Solari, was one of the most -highly-reputed of the sculptors, though he has left little of high worth -behind him. He was much favoured by the Moro, who chose him to execute -the monument for Beatrice’s tomb. The interesting sepulchral figures of -this ill-fated pair, completed many years later, and now in the Certosa, -are his work. In Agostino Busti the school reaches its highest technical -proficiency. But the old freshness and inspiration is gone. Il Bambaia, -who is at times great—as in the beautiful recumbent figure of Gaston de -Foix—degenerates often into coldness and conventionality, and his -decorative taste was as ill-regulated as that of his less accomplished -predecessors and contemporaries. A number of other artists—Gian Giacomo -della Porta, Andrea Fusina, Cristoforo de’ Lombardi, Angelo Siciliano, -and, later on, Gabrio Busca, Vincenzo Seregni, etc.—were engaged on -architectural and decorative work in Milan in the sixteenth century, -chiefly on the never-ending subject of the Duomo, the exterior of which -is a vast object-lesson in the artistic decadence of the Milanese. The -pious zeal of S. Carlo and the cultured tastes of his nephew and -successor in the Archbishopric, Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, gave a new -impetus to art; but it was ill-directed by the false taste of the age, -and Lombard sculpture, like the architecture, ends in the empty -pomposity and extravagance of the baroque style. - -The other branches of mediæval and Renaissance art found a busy centre -also in Milan. The decorative crafts of the goldsmith, wood-carver, of -the intarsia worker and embroiderer, flourished here early. In the -fourteenth century the fame of the Milanese armourers was shared by the -hands which engraved the swords and shields and cuirasses forged in the -clanging quarter of the Spadari. The unparalleled wealth and luxury of -the Visconti and of their nobles called for the finest skill of the -embroiderer and goldsmith to adorn their apparel and harness, and -lavished ornamentation on their palaces, their pageants, their feasts, -which shone with gold and glowed with costly and beautiful colour. In -the following century all these crafts were still more encouraged by the -Sforza. Matteo da Civate was a goldsmith of repute, and the Mantegazza -and others of the sculptors pursued this delicate craft also with great -success. The fame of the Milanese goldsmiths was finally crowned by -Ambrogio Foppa, known as Caradosso, whose figures chiselled in gold were -of such admirable workmanship that Cellini himself praised and envied -him as one of the greatest masters in this art that he had ever known. -The native workers were, however, but a few of those employed at the -Sforza Court, which in the days of Lodovico and Beatrice was a very -museum of artistic work of every kind, contributed by the finest talent -of Italy, Germany, Flanders and Spain. - -Nor was the art of painting less cherished in Milan. The Visconti, for -the adornment of their great palace at Pavia, the Sforza for the -splendid halls of the Castle of Milan, and of their hundred villas and -palaces of pleasure, engaged an army of painters. But until the later -half of the fifteenth century not one name occurs there of any -significance in the history of painting. Giovanni da Milano, mentioned -by Vasari as a pupil of Taddeo Gaddi, and an excellent painter, shows in -his surviving works the conventional style of the later Giottesque -school, varied by something of that heaviness and darkness of colour -which we see afterwards in the Milanese Quattrocentists. From Giovanni -onwards the few artists that we hear of, and the many that certainly -worked in Milan, have left little trace behind them, and that little -does not differ from the rude and homely style common in North Italy -before the development of the Paduan school. Early in the fifteenth -century the influence of Pisanello, who worked in the Visconti Court, -and of the artistic ideals which he represents, made itself felt in -Milan, and painters like Michelino da Besozzo and the Zavatarii peopled -the walls of the ducal and aristocratic palaces of the Milanese state -with such decorative, but strangely proportioned figures as are still to -be seen in a chamber of the Palazzo Borromeo. Other and stronger -influences, however, must have been working in the Milanese at this -time, and under the spur of Florentine and Paduan example, and that of -the German artists who thronged the court of Filippo Maria and Francesco -Sforza, they were doubtless evolving obscurely the more or less -distinctive character which emerges first into notice with Vincenzo -Foppa. Were the works of the earlier contemporaries of Foppa, Bonifacio -Bembo, Pietro dei Marchesi, Stefano de’ Fedeli, Constantino da Vaprio, -Bernardino de’ Rossi, etc., still existing, we should probably find that -they were already moving in the direction which his greater talent was -able to pursue definitely and to point out to his successors. - -Foppa’s is the first figure that stands out for real artistic excellence -in the history of Milanese painting, and he is always called the founder -of the school. Born at Brescia sometime in the first half of the -fifteenth century, Foppa is generally supposed to have studied in the -school of Squarcione. His earliest known work is the Crucifixion, at -Bergamo, dated 1456. He worked chiefly in Milan and the neighbourhood, -and died in 1492. He was a very serious painter, and though he had not -the inspiration of genius, with sound artistic sense he grasped the -material facts of nature and gave force and reality to his creations. -His treatment of forms is simple and direct, and his sincerity and -singleness of purpose redeem the homeliness of his types, and render his -figures noble and impressive. The Squarcionesque tradition is to be seen -in the classical backgrounds and inlaid marble thrones, etc., of his -pictures, but the general character of his work shows a distinct -departure from the Paduan style. The heavy forms and dark grey flesh -tones are native qualities, and are very persistent throughout the -Milanese school of painting. - -Zenale, born at Treviglio in 1436, died in 1526, is little more than a -name to us, for in spite of his long life scarcely any of his work has -survived. The altarpiece at Treviglio, in which Buttinone was associated -with him, is the only work extant that can with certainty be called his. -Buttinone was his contemporary and co-worker in the frescoes in S. -Pietro Gessate in Milan, as well as in the Treviglio altarpiece. -Zenale’s share in these frescoes is quite unrecognisable, and there is -nothing else in Milan that can be identified as his work. - -Buttinone’s paintings are rare, but some survive in Milan and the -neighbourhood. He has a good deal in common with Foppa, and probably -derived his training from the same source; but there is a decided -individuality in his work, an almost painful struggle after realism -which results in a strange ugliness. His faces have great protruding -foreheads and enormous ears, the flesh tones are dark and grey with -streaks of high light, the children have large heads and -disproportionately small limbs. There is something pathetic in his -painstaking efforts and their poor results. - -Ambrogio da Fossano, called Borgognone, is a much better artist. His -name first appears in 1481 as a painter of the University of Milan. His -early work is characterised by a simplicity and refinement and a sense -of beauty which is much developed later on. He has at first the same -tendency to grey flesh tones as Foppa and Buttinone, only with him they -are modified to pleasant cool colour harmonizing with the silvery hues -of background and draperies. Later he develops a freer expression, which -we see at its best in the beautiful frescoes of S. Satiro (now in the -Brera) and the Certosa. He may have felt the influence of Leonardo, but -he never lost his individuality. All through his life he kept the -religious feeling which is his marked characteristic, and which makes -the deepest appeal of his work. His drawing, however, is often bad; his -flying angels are wrongly foreshortened, and there is no movement in his -figures. He did an immense amount of painting and there is a sameness in -his pictures, graceful though they are. - -About 1483 Leonardo da Vinci came from Florence and settled in Milan. -His art must have been a revelation to the Lombard painters. Not only -was his technique infinitely superior to theirs, but his scope was so -great, his imagination so profound, he created new forms, new types, a -new world of light and shadow and perspective. His enterprises were -gigantic, not in painting only, but in sculpture, architecture and -engineering. The Milanese, who had little originality of their own and -were always susceptible to outside influence, gathered round him, and a -school of painting was formed in which we see his types imitated to such -a degree that much of his pupils’ work has been attributed to the master -himself, until modern criticism, headed by Morelli, has given it back to -the true authors. The painters we shall now mention must all have felt -more or less Leonardo’s influence. - -Ambrogio de Predis was Court painter to Lodovico il Moro in 1482, and -therefore was a painter of repute when Leonardo arrived in Milan; but -that he became a close follower of the master is shown by the fact of -his being associated with him in the altarpiece of the Virgin of the -Rocks, of which de Predis painted the two side panels, the angels in the -National Gallery, and many critics think he also executed the London -version of the central part under the direction of Leonardo. Of the -portraits attributed to him, some are very good, a profile of a girl in -the Ambrosiana being the best. So much better is it than the -coarsely-painted clumsy angels of the National Gallery, that it is -difficult to recognise the connection between them; we can only suppose, -however, that portrait painting was more congenial to him. - -Bartolomeo Suardi, called Bramantino, painted at the end of the -fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries. He is said to have -been a pupil of Foppa and of Bramante, working architecturally with the -latter. His work is free and broad in manner, though often empty and -wanting in drawing; the forms are full and the faces wide, with very -regular features, particularly noticeable in the profiles. The blonde -colouring of his flesh tones is unlike the usual low tones of the -Milanese. There is little evidence in his work of Leonardo’s influence. - -Andrea Solario, born about 1460, was an accomplished painter. Of his -early training we know nothing; but his elder brother Cristoforo was a -sculptor, and may have helped Andrea to arrive at the excellence of -drawing which we see in his portraits. Some of his work shows the -influence of Leonardo, but he was also affected by the Venetians, and -especially by Antonello da Messina; his portraits also show affinity -with the Flemish school, in their clear outlines and high finish. The -landscape backgrounds to his subjects are fine in colour and effect. He -was fond of painting half-length pictures of the Madonna and Child, and -treated the subject with a tender realism that is very charming. -Technically he reached a higher excellence than any of his -fellow-Milanese painters. With the exception of the large altarpiece at -the Certosa, his pictures are mostly small and unambitious in subject. -He was, however, employed by Charles d’Amboise, in 1507, to decorate -with frescoes the chapel in his Castle of Gaillon in Normandy. These -have perished. - -Boltraffio, Cesare da Sesto, Gianpietrino, Bernardino dei Conti, Marco -d’Oggionno, Melzi and Salai were all close followers of Leonardo. Their -work is not strong or original, nor is the drawing very good, but it has -a charm nevertheless, that of earnest and conscientious effort, striving -after the ideal of beauty their great master set before them, which -degenerates in their hands, however, into a fatal prettiness. Their -fault was an almost morbid exaggeration of the gradation of tones in the -modelling of contours, by which they lost all freshness and vigour. -Boltraffio, born 1467, was of noble family, and was a favourite pupil of -Leonardo’s. His painting is highly finished and has distinction; his -Madonnas, clad always in rich garments, are stately and beautiful, with -oval faces and regular features. The painting is very smooth, which -gives a cold and unnatural effect to the flesh. The fresco in St. -Onofrio in Rome, formerly ascribed to Leonardo, is now given to him, and -some critics consider him the author of the much-disputed Belle -Ferronière of the Louvre. - -Cesare da Sesto’s work was very Leonardesque to begin with; later on he -was influenced by Raphael. His manner is lighter and more graceful than -most of the Lombards. In Gianpietrino’s painting the Lombard greyness of -flesh tones is carried to an almost gloomy extreme. His Madonnas and -Magdalens often have charm, but in the former he imitated Leonardo too -closely, and the execution is timid. - -Bernardino dei Conti painted Madonnas in the Leonardesque manner, but -the colour is peculiarly hot and the contours lumpy. His drawings, which -are better than his paintings, have a great resemblance to those of -Ambrogio de Predis, by whom, Morelli says, he was much influenced. Marco -d’Oggionno’s pictures are lifeless imitations of the master, in which -all the subtlety is lost, the chiaroscuro is too strong and the colours -too intense. In his large canvases, such as the Archangels of the Brera, -he fails signally. Of the work of Melzi and Salai we know little. Salai -is mentioned by Vasari as a youth of singular grace and beauty with -waving curly hair. He may have served as model for some of those -Leonardesque drawings of youths with curling hair with which we are -familiar. - -Painters deriving still from Leonardo but who have achieved a great -celebrity of their own are Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari. Luini -is the most popular painter of the Lombard school, probably because his -paintings are so numerous and therefore widely known. There is always a -sweetness and charm in his work, though rather superficial and -sentimental, and in the best examples he attains beauty and dignity; but -his forms have the Lombard heaviness and his drawing is not good. There -is want of imagination and a tameness in his pictures that make them -very monotonous. The dates of his birth and death are unknown, nor is -anything known of his early training. He certainly imitated Leonardo, -but his best work has a character and individuality of its own. The -frescoes of the Monastero Maggiore in Milan, of Saronno and Lugano are -considered very fine. - -Gaudenzio Ferrari was born about 1481 at Valduggia. Little is known of -his early life; he must have felt the influence of Bramantino and Luini; -his work is sometimes confused with that of the latter painter. He had -much more inventive and dramatic power than Luini, as his frescoes show. -He was a most prolific painter, and had too much energy and too little -self-restraint. His colour is fiery and his compositions overcrowded. In -spite of his ability he fell into bad taste and careless workmanship, -showing unmistakable signs of that decadence which gradually overtook -Italian art. - -The most talented of all the Lombard painters was Giovanni Antonio -Bazzi, called il Sodoma, for though Tuscany and Rome were the scenes of -his activity and possess his greatest works, yet he derives his artistic -descent from Lombardy. He was born at Vercelli in Piedmont in 1477, and -studied painting for two or three years at Milan before going to Siena, -where we hear of him in 1501. His painting shows plainly his origin, and -some of his works have great affinity to Leonardo, though he is not -known to have been actually his pupil. - -The Leonardesque tradition was carried on by the brothers Martino and -Albertino Piazza of Lodi, whose work is suave and pleasing, but weak. -The family of Campi, two generations, worked through three-quarters of -the sixteenth century. Their work is able, but without distinction; they -show a Venetian influence. - -Bernardino Lanino was a pupil and imitator of Gaudenzio Ferrari; he was -active through the middle of the sixteenth century. The school dies away -with Lomazzo, more famous for his writings on Art than for his -paintings, and with Daniele Crespi, in whom we see all the exaggerated -realism of the decadence of Art. - - - - - CHAPTER X - _The Duomo_ - - - “The far-famed Cathedral of Milan, which men call the eighth wonder of - the world.” - -In Milan, as we see the city to-day, modernised, commonplace, -characterlessly handsome, there is one great redeeming thing—the -Cathedral. Other churches there are, greater and more beautiful in every -sense except size, but they are smothered in the dull drift of everyday -buildings. The Duomo, as is befitting, has a supreme position. It is the -heart of the city, the converging point of all the far-coming ways, the -irresistible magnet for the eyes of the myriads thronging those ways. It -rises up in its immense stature above the petty interests and activities -of the crowds at its base, an embodied exhalation of the holy spirit of -man, a witness to the irrepressible upward flight of his thoughts and to -his eternal need of beauty and light. - -The impression which a traveller coming from the station first receives -of the Duomo is of a vast ethereal presence at the end of the long -street, so light, so cloud-like, so delicate that it seems to be no -temple piled up slowly by men’s hands to the measure of their prayers, -but a fabric of some upper sphere, built of air and dreams. Broad set in -its main proportions, it gives high and ample seat to the swelling -contour of the cupola, which a hundred pinnacles guard like serried -spears, pointing into the upper blue around the spring of the midmost -spire. In the silvery light of afternoon it appears a shadowy forest of -upward-springing shafts, with sharp gleams along edges and salient -lines. The details are lost in a soft mass, and the atmosphere casts -over all a veil of illusion. Through such a veil this famous Cathedral -of Milan is best seen and best understood. - -In the view of the whole building from the great Piazza on the west -side, its faults are more apparent—the inadequacy and insignificance of -the cupola, or central tower, the incongruity of the façade, the -extravagance of the ornamentation. Nevertheless, the huge white marble -pile has always majesty and splendour, if only from its size and -material and the amazing number of its airy embroideries and fripperies -of stone. It has a magic, unearthly beauty of colour, silver, dove-like, -rosy against the blue, according to the changing light of the day—most -wonderful in the strange, pale, clear moment when the sun has just set. -An exotic in this flat country of the alluvial soil, where brick is the -natural medium for the builder, it seems to bring into the hot and -stifling city at midsummer a cooling breath from that marble cave close -to Lago Maggiore whence its material was drawn. One could almost believe -that it was the dripping of water through countless ages which had built -up its clear substance into those strange fantastic shapes, those spires -and fretted edges and fairy shafts. - -Their Cathedral is the pride and joy of the Milanese. Yet not so much -this billowy heap of stone, but the spot upon which it stands should be -consecrate to their hearts. None of the noblest memories of their past -sanctify the church which Gian Galeazzo Visconte founded, which opened -its doors with equal welcome to Francesco Sforza, the usurper, and to -French and Spanish and Austrian conquerors by turn, and which was -finished by Napoleon Buonaparte. But the ancient, half-ruined church, -which Gian Galeazzo pulled down to make room for his new temple, -enshrined the dearer history of Milan’s liberty. Sta. Maria Maggiore, as -it was then called, was the representative through many transformations -of that _basilica nuova intramuros_ in which Ambrose entrenched himself -in his great struggle with the Empress Justina and achieved his victory -for the new organisation of the Church, protector of the people, over -the corrupt despotism of the Empire. And if what is one of the spiritual -events of the world’s history must be fixed in time and place, it was no -doubt at the gates of this, the chief church, that Ambrose interposed -his hand between the blood-stained Emperor and the altar of Christ. In -later centuries, in the figures of the enthusiasts Arialdo and -Erlembaldo, of the courageous Peter Damian, fronting the excited and -hostile multitudes, the memories of the old Cathedral church were still -of the victory of the spirit over the forces of the world, of liberty -over oppression, of a new order of things over the corrupt system of the -past. And in the early days of the Milanese Republic the church was -closely associated with the life and struggles of the people. All -business, public and private, was transacted in the piazza outside. The -portico of the church was the house of parliament, and the politics of -the city were sanctified by the benediction of religion. The chief -priest was likewise the head of the people, and the pastoral staff which -topped the lofty Campanile stood for temporal as well as spiritual -dominion. In times of peace the Sacred Car was housed within the church, -and in the church those warlike decisions were taken which occasioned it -to be drawn forth that it might go in the midst of the host against the -enemy. - -But the noblest moment in the story of the old Cathedral was its -restoration after the ruin of the city by Barbarossa in 1166. The -ruthless destruction of the Campanile, a tower _of such marvellous -beauty, such great breadth and admirable altitude that there was said to -be none other like it in Italy_, had wrecked it in great part. The -labour of the men, the jewels of the women, went to the rebuilding, till -the church stood up once more in the midst of the re-risen city, defying -the destroyer. - -With the building of the present Duomo all the vestiges of those ancient -and good days were swept away. Milan’s liberty was gone, and the church -which symbolised it, both in association and in its Lombard style of -architecture, had been allowed to become half-ruinous. The population -had outgrown the capacity of the church, and in their rapidly growing -wealth and importance it was natural that prince and people should -desire a cathedral more suited to their condition. So the old building -fell for ever. - -The citizens acquiesced in the scheme for a new Cathedral, but the -enormous temple which rose on the site of the old one, the Duomo of -to-day, was the conception of Gian Galeazzo Visconte, and of him alone. -It was the measure of his vast ambition and audacious will. He planned -it great enough for the capital of a Kingdom of Italy. The citizens -seconded him with generous offerings, but whether their enthusiasm was -genuine or merely flattery of the tyrant’s wishes mattered nothing. Gian -Galeazzo was doubtless moved to this work by a desire to expiate the -crime by which he had acquired sole sovereignty, and to entomb it in the -memories of his subjects beneath this proud ornament to the city. He is -said to have had another motive, shared by the people. A strange evil, -we are told, afflicted Milan at this time. Some say that the women were -unable to bring their male children safely to the birth; others, that a -mysterious malady prevailed among the boy babies, withering them within -a few years. The citizens were filled with terror at the doom of -extinction which seemed to impend over them. Gian Galeazzo’s three sons -by Isabella of France had all died in infancy, leaving him only the girl -Valentina, and at this time his second wife, Caterina Visconte, was -still childless. - -The Duomo was then a votive offering from Gian Galeazzo Visconte to -Heaven for a son to inherit the great destinies which he intended to -conquer, and from the Milanese people for children to continue their -race. It was dedicated, not to the Birth of the Son of God, but to hers -who brought Him into the world—_Mariæ Nascenti_, as the inscription on -the façade proclaims—to the Birth of Motherhood. - -Thus the great church rises in worship of the mystery of Life. When one -thinks of its origin, the wonderful ribbed and perforated and pinnacled -building appears in a new light, rising as it were out of the still -hovering darkness of the Middle Ages, the embodiment of a people’s -aspiration towards renewed life. The moment of its inception was that -pregnant one for Italy when the mediæval pessimism was yielding to hope -and joy in life, and when to the worship of the Nascent Mary was to be -joined the worship of that twin mystery, the Venus Reborn. - -The building was begun in 1386. The story of its actual rise is -extremely lengthy and tedious. The multitude of conflicting counsels, -the number of architects concerned with it, make its very existence seem -a miracle. It is not known who first designed it, or whether he was a -native or foreigner. Milan’s close relations with the countries beyond -the Alps, and the alliances and constant intercourse of the Visconti -with the Courts of France and Germany, naturally induced Gian Galeazzo -to call Northern architects to his aid and to choose the Gothic style of -the North. There is little doubt that the original plan proceeded from a -Northern mind. The work of carrying it out, however, passed very soon -into the hands of native builders, most of whom belonged to the -celebrated guild of stoneworkers from Campione. Marco da Campione was -chief architect—ingegnere—in 1386. Others of the company, Zeno, Bonino, -Jacopo, and Maffiolo, appear in the records of the first years, with -Simone Orsenigo, the dei Grassi and a host of other noted craftsmen of -the day. Among the crowd there was evidently no conspicuous master -spirit, and the post of chief was obtained, especially later on, as much -by interest and intrigue as by merit. Many foreign artists were called -from time to time by Gian Galeazzo to give help and advice. Their -intervention always led to heated argument and loud contention in the -Council of the Fabric, the foreigners criticising and condemning the -work of the Lombard builders, and these defending it with jealous zeal, -and invariably defeating and driving out the intruders. Johann von -Fernach and Heinrich von Gmünd were employed for a short time in the -latter part of the century. Their strenuous objections to important -points in the structure were overruled by the Italians. In 1400 the -Frenchman, Jean Mignot, having been engaged to take a prominent part in -the work, pronounced the building unsafe, and proposed radical -alterations. The indignant Lombards, headed by the celebrated military -architect, Bertolino da Novara, disputed his opinion and persuaded the -Duke that all was well. Mignot was dismissed and condemned to replace -what he had already pulled down in conformity with his own ideas. - -So the battle raged for years. It had a negative rather than positive -result on the building, which progressed on the lines already laid down, -but without receiving any impress of individual thought or genius. In -its complete state to-day it shows, with all its immensity, a poverty of -ideas, both within and without, which no wealth of ornamentation can -hide. It rose with great rapidity at first, in response to the energy -and will of the prince. In 1392 the walls had reached the full height of -the side aisles, and all the pillars of the interior were already -standing. That forest of lofty shafts soaring to dim heights, in which -we wander to-day, astonished and awed, must once have enclosed the puny -mortal form and the immeasurable spirit of the first and greatest Duke -of Milan. His death in 1402 robbed the great enterprise of vitality and -inspiration. In the misfortunes of Giovanmaria’s reign, both funds and -encouragement lacked, and the general mediocrity of the builders was -equally blighting to the progress of the work. The local architects had -by this time obtained undisputed charge of it, and the clamour of -controversy had died down. Sons had succeeded to their fathers’ posts, -and continued slowly in the old track. By the time Francesco Sforza -attained the Dukedom, in 1450, general interest in the Cathedral was -much diminished. Architectural ideas were changing. The Renaissance was -begun. The great Tuscan masters, summoned to Milan by this Duke and his -predecessor, had recalled to the Lombard builders those classic -principles native to Italy and long forgotten under the Gothic -influences of the Middle Ages. The earlier Sforza sovereigns used their -patronage to raise new churches, and it was not till the fervent -artistic atmosphere of the end of the century had developed a certain -eclecticism in cultured minds that the Duomo received a new impetus from -Lodovico il Moro. - -The main body of the church was already finished, but the façade, the -cupola, and other details were still to do. A German master, Johann -Nexempilger von Gratz, was first invited by the Moro to continue the -work, but was quickly dismissed, the severity of his ideas being -unacceptable to the Italians. A number of native artists were then set -to work to design a cupola which should reconcile the curves and -rectangles dear to the Renaissance with the acutely-pointed style of the -rest of the Cathedral. Over this problem great minds pored. Leonardo da -Vinci made several designs and models of a cupola, but they were not -accepted. Bramante also made models for it. The assistance of the Tuscan -Luca Fancelli, and the Sienese Francesco di Giorgio was also called -upon. But the work remained finally to the local artists, men of -industry and ingenuity, but of no great genius. Chief among them were -Cristoforo Solari, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, and Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono. -To Amadeo was finally entrusted the building of the cupola, which he -carried out and completed, with the exception of the crowning pinnacle. -This artist held the post of chief architect from 1490 till his death in -1522, becoming the repository of all the traditions and secrets of the -long-continued work. - -Though the great fabric was apparently carried on in the old style, it -reveals a new spirit from this time. The true feeling for Gothic was -dead, and the architects of the late Quattrocento could only reconcile -it with their artistic conscience by flamboyant excesses. Moreover, -Amadeo and his companions were sculptors first and architects second. -The opportunities of Gothic were fatal in their hands. It was they who -first started the building on that evil course of elaborate and -excessive ornamentation which has made it what it is to-day—a building -generally admired for its resemblance to a monstrous sugar-cake. Their -lead was followed with an ever-diminishing sense of artistic propriety -and an increasing love for florid effect by their successors in the -middle and latter part of the sixteenth century. The impulse imparted to -the work by the zeal of Carlo Borromeo and the great religious revival, -expressed itself only in cold and uninspired artistic platitudes, the -emptiness of which is ill concealed by superficial exaggerations. The -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are represented by an increase of -bad taste and meretricious effect, and the story of the long evolution -of the temple ends in a climax of bombast in the Napoleonic era, to -which is owed the present grandiose façade and the battalions of -pinnacles which crown the whole edifice. - -[Illustration: CUPOLA OF THE DUOMO, FROM THE ROOF.] - -A building conceived in a spirit foreign to the place where it was to -rise, and carried out by men to whom its design and idea was naturally -unsympathetic and incomprehensible, through ages in which all the -original inspiration was lost, could not well be a wholly satisfactory -achievement. Milan Cathedral sins grievously against the principles of -pure Gothic. The pointed style is carried in it to an acuteness in which -all grace and flexibility of line is lost. In fretful moments one feels -that these endless sharp angles scrape one’s nerves. The effect of -solidity and strength has been completely sacrificed for the sake of -ornamentation, and dignity and repose lost in a restless reiteration of -trivial details. The huge-ribbed flanks gape with enormous windows. -Every nook and cranny, every jag and angle is crowded with statues. The -outlines of the roof are frilled by an elaborately-pierced balustrade -with crocketed pinnacles. From the central roof to the lower level of -the side aisles spring a host of flying buttresses, so perforated that -they look like wisps of foam rather than solid props intended to support -the fabric. A myriad spears quiver upwards from the roof far into the -sky, and upon each dances a statue. No wonder that the guides call upon -you to admire its likeness to lacework or confectionery, and that people -compare it to a drift of snow, a billow dashing into spray, a white -mountain bird alighted in the midst of the city—anything except a -building of solid bones and substance. - -Restorations and continual repairs have almost effaced the handiwork of -the original builders. The north-east part of the exterior is the most -ancient. The three magnificent windows of the apse, with their rich -tracery, are one of the most beautiful features of the original design. -And amid the swarms of baroque saints, in every contorted attitude of -theatric sentiment, which have settled on this part, as everywhere over -the building—four thousand four hundred and forty, outside and in, they -say—a patient observer may pick out some which, by their dignified -simplicity, refinement and repose, show the purer taste of the fifteenth -and early sixteenth centuries. The lowest figures on the northernmost -window of the apse are an Adam and Eve, and have been attributed to -Antonio Rizzo, a fifteenth century Venetian sculptor, known by his work -in the cortile of the Doge’s Palace. Cristoforo Solari, Andrea Fusina, -Tomaso da Cazzaniga, il Bambaia, are all represented by sculptures on -the apse. Higher up are works by earlier and less accomplished hands, -huge gargoyles of fantastic form—dragons, a serpent coiled round the -nude body of a woman, a child entwining itself with a bough, a female -figure with great curling hair, a siren with bat’s wings—monstrous -creations of the Northern fancy, which dominated in the first years of -the Cathedral. Beneath these gargoyles are ranged the so-called Giganti, -colossal statues of warriors, heralds, huntsmen, foresters, -slaves—figures of romance and of the rude fields too. Some are by German -sculptors, and by Lombards under their influence; others of rather later -date show new and realistic tendencies. - -There is little of interest on the south side and in the lower end of -the exterior. The monotonous length of the vast flanks is unbroken by -the rich interest of doorways, such as were originally projected. The -classic façade is frankly discordant, though it is no less thickly -littered with bad sculptures. The bronze doors of the middle entrance -are a very recent work, showing the hark back of the modern sculptor to -Quattrocento models. But if the exterior of the Duomo lacks in -impressiveness, the interior makes amends. Wonder and awe overwhelm one -on entering. In the dim religious light from the great stained windows, -one is aware of vast echoing aisles, of mighty columns passing away, one -behind the other, into depths and distances of rich gloom, where the -pointed lines of arch behind arch become visible, broken by long slits -of glowing glass. A quiet reigns as of places untrodden by earthly -things. Pigmy human forms creep here and there over the immense expanses -of the pavement, or kneel at the foot of a column, bowed in devotion. - -In this solemn interior it seems as if the native and foreign ideals had -united for once, with harmonious result. Here is the breadth and -spaciousness of Latin thought—the loftiness of Gothic. With its five -aisles, transepts and apsidal east end, the church is of striking -simplicity. There are no chapels built out, few side altars, and few -monuments. The High Altar, with its canopy, and the florid pulpits and -marble screen round the sanctuary, are the only conspicuous objects. -There is little incident in the building itself. A feeling gains upon -one, after a time, of a certain emptiness, monotony, even poverty, in -all this grandeur of height and space. The inadequacy of the short light -arches of the nave, in comparison with the colossal shafts supporting -them becomes visible, and the eye is offended by the shameless deception -of the roof, which is painted to simulate open tracery, and give a false -effect of added height. The endless repetition of line and arch ends by -being wearisome, and one longs for the rich symmetric light and shade of -triforium and clerestory, for the beautiful mouldings, the star -blackness of trefoil and quatrefoil piercings, and for all that deep and -varied interest which grows upon the eye slowly, and in just relation to -general effect, in the best Gothic architecture. The curious and -elaborate capitals, like huge rings, are the most conspicuous details -here. Each in itself is a wonderful piece of Gothic ornament, with -arcades and crocketed pinnacles and niches filled with statues, but they -are so high up that one can hardly appreciate them in detail. As -capitals, one must quarrel with them. They do not seem natural members -of the columns, but things put on merely for effect, and look as if they -were meant to slip up and down, and might be at the bottom as well as at -the top. That on the great pier to the left of the High Altar is said to -be the handiwork of Heinrich von Gmünd, and to have been the model of -the rest. The statues which decorate the lofty interior of the cupola, -high up, are in the characteristic manner of the late fifteenth century -Lombard sculptors, and the busts of the Fathers of the Church in the -spandrils are by Cristoforo Solari. The rest of the ornamentation in the -church is mostly of the Borromean and later periods. It is the ascetic -cardinal’s fault that all the picturesque incrustations which had -gathered upon the old building, with priceless historic associations, -are missing. He ruthlessly swept away the shades of the rich and lively -past, its profanities and sincerities together. The tombs of the old -Lords of Milan, Visconti and Sforza, in the ambulatory, were cleared -away, and other monuments were destroyed or displaced in too zealous -obedience to the decree of the Council of Trent, forbidding the burial -of bodies in monuments in churches. The doors in the transepts were -walled up, and his favourite sculptor, Pellegrino Tebaldi, a belated -follower of Michaelangelo, whose neo-classic predilections were in utter -disaccord with the spirit of the building, was set to work to re-garnish -its devastated spaces. - -[Illustration: WITHIN THE DUOMO.] - -There are no paintings of account in the church. The few pictures belong -to the same period as the altars, designed by il Pellegrini, over which -they hang. The original Gothic design did not admit of frescoes on the -walls. The necessary colour is given by the windows. In many of these -the glass is modern, but some very fine fifteenth and sixteenth century -glass still survives. It has not the supreme beauty of very early glass; -the designs are pictorial, but the colour is gorgeously rich and deep, -and in the earlier ones the subjects are treated with due regard for -decorative effect. - -A few things of interest may indeed be found in the vast spaces of the -nave and ambulatory. Low down against the north wall is the rude granite -tomb of Archbishop Ariberto, eleventh century, brought hither in 1783 -from the suppressed Church of St. Dionysius. The ancient crucifix of -Byzantine style above it, upon the foot of which is a relief of Ariberto -holding a model of St. Calimero, a church restored by him, is said, but -without foundation, to be the crucifix which used to be carried into -battle on the Caroccio. Beneath a window further up stands a -sarcophagus, raised upon columns of Verona marble; in it are the bones -of the two Visconte Archbishops, Otto, Lord of Milan in the thirteenth -century, and his great grand-nephew Giovanni, who ruled See and city in -the first half of the fourteenth, and who elected to be laid with his -great predecessor when he died. The recumbent statue of Giovanni on the -top is probably by a Campionese master. This monument, which had once an -honourable place in the apse, is the only memorial in the church of the -great family which founded it. Higher up is the Gothic tomb of Marco -Caselli, a merchant who died in 1394, and gave his large fortune to the -building of the Cathedral. The tomb was designed by Filippino da Modena, -but the recumbent statue and the figures of Evangelists and Fathers on -the front and sides are by another hand, a Venetian or a Lombard -influenced by the Venetian school.[4] We come next to a refined little -sixteenth century monument to Giovanni Antonio Vimercati, by Agostino -Busti, il Bambaia. Three altars designed by il Pellegrini follow. Over -the last there is a bas-relief of Madonna with SS. Catherine and Paul, a -poor and primitive work by one Jacomolo di Antonio (1495), recently -placed here. - -Footnote 4: - - Malaguzzi Valeri, _Milano_, vol. i. p. 73. - -In the south transept the beautiful window over the door into the street -is mainly the work, much mutilated and added to, of Michelino da Besozzo -in 1438. Here on the west side is a great monument by Leone Leoni of -Arezzo, a disciple of Michaelangelo, to Gian Giacomo de’ Medici, brother -of Pius IV., a princely pirate who terrorised Lake Como and led his -undisciplined troops in the service now of one, now of the other of the -combatants struggling for North Italy in the sixteenth century, till -Charles V. compounded with him by creating him Marquis of Melegnano. On -the east side is an altar with a relief of the Presentation of the -Virgin, and statues by the school of il Bambaia. A statue close by -representing St. Bartholomew flayed is admirable only for the impudence -of the inscription on it—‘_Non me Praxitiles, sed Marcus finxit -Agrates._’ Marco Agrate was one of the crowd of early sixteenth century -Lombard sculptors who helped to people the Duomo with statues. This one -was originally on the exterior of the church. - -The choir in its present form is due to Pellegrini, whose assistants -executed the grandiose work after his designs. It is enclosed by a high -marble screen, which is sculptured on the side towards the ambulatory -with reliefs of the life of the Virgin and decorative figures of late -Renaissance style. Two extremely ornate gilded pulpits stand in front of -the choir, one on each side. The organs are embellished with heavy -gilded decoration and paintings by Proccacini and the late Lombard -school. The choir has very fine decorative panelling, and the triple row -of stalls are of walnut wood very richly carved, those behind showing -scenes from the story of St. Ambrose and effigies of the martyrs and -saints and prelates of Milan. The bronze ciborium over the altar is a -good work of its period; it is in the form of a round temple, and -beneath is the richly-ornamented tabernacle given by the Milanese Pope, -Pius IV. (1559-65), to the Cathedral. - -Beneath the choir is the crypt, also built in classic style by il -Pellegrini. The outer chamber was restored in 1817. In the inner -sanctuary lies the body of San Carlo in a silver coffin given by Filippo -IV. of Spain. Vault and coffin are remarkable only for gorgeousness. -Pomp and magnificence outside, an emaciated ascetic within, contrast -significant of the Church of the Catholic Revival. An aperture in front -of the choir above allows a view of the saintly resting-place. - -The door into the sacristy on the south side of the ambulatory is -decorated with a rich and interesting Gothic canopy of the earliest -period of the Cathedral. This sculpture was designed and partly executed -by Hans von Fernach in 1393 and finished soon after by an Italian, -Porrino de’ Grassi, who doubtless did the graceful subject reliefs, -while the rude, vivacious little figures, from the Gospel story, in the -decorative border round, are evidently by a hand of different -nationality, that of the German Hans. Within the sacristy there is a -richly-sculptured Gothic arch over the lavabo, enshrining a relief of -Christ and the Samaritan Woman, signed by the sculptor, Giacomo da -Campione.[5] Also a statue of Christ at the Column, by Cristoforo -Solari, a heavy and flaccid work. - -Footnote 5: - - See Malaguzzi Valeri, op. cit. vol. i. p. 56. - -The famous treasure of the Cathedral is kept in this sacristy. Here are -great seicento figures of St. Ambrogio and S. Carlo in solid silver, and -other silver objects of the same period, precious in material but -artistically of little account. In a small case there are, however, some -veritable treasures. The covers of a Book of the Gospels, presented to -the Cathedral by Ariberto, beautiful examples of the goldsmith’s art in -the Romanesque period, adorned with chiselled reliefs, with enamel, gold -filigree work and precious stones. On one is represented Christ between -the Virgin and St. John, with Ariberto presenting the book to her, and -below, St. Ambrogio between SS. Protasio and Gervasio. The work shows -the Byzantine influence, which was still supreme in this branch of art -in the eleventh century. A pastoral staff of silver gilt, ornamented -with enamel, is of the same period. Two ivory diptychs, one of very -early date, carved with the freedom and grace still surviving in Greek -artists in the fourth and fifth centuries; the other of heavy and -debased Lombard workmanship of the ninth century must be noticed, and -also a little ivory vessel carved with figures of the Virgin and -Evangelists, tenth century Lombard work. Among many precious mediæval -and Renaissance objects there is a golden pax, with a finely carved -Deposition between columns of lapis-lazuli, and a group of angels above, -with the arms of the donor, Pius IV. This is attributed, but -erroneously, to Caradosso. - -The magnificent tapestries in the possession of the Cathedral were shown -at the Great Exhibition of 1906, and several of them perished in the -fire which occurred on that occasion. - -Beyond the sacristy, in the ambulatory, is a copy of the sacred painting -of the Annunciation, in the SS. Annunziata in Florence. It is said to -have been painted by Bronzino, and given by Francesco I. de’ Medici to -Cardinal Borromeo. The Madonna del Parto further on is apparently a -restoration of an ancient painting, and the object of a very special -devotion. A bare inscription beneath it records that Niccolò Piccinino -is buried with his son Francesco in this spot. The great Condottiere had -prepared a splendid tomb for himself, but the marble was seized at his -death for other purposes, and when Francesco Sforza became Duke, he -preferred that the memory of his rival should go uncelebrated. The -statue of Martin V. close by, a colossal seated figure, was sculptured -by Jacopino da Tradate in 1421. In the long inscription in verse, by a -Milanese gentleman of humanistic tastes, the sculptor is likened to -Praxiteles. Beyond we come to the monument of Cardinal Marino -Caraccioli, Governor of Milan from 1536 to 1538—a late and very -uninspired work by il Bambaia. Close to it is a little Pietà, by one of -the early Cathedral sculptors. The three great windows of the apse were -originally filled with stained glass, by Stefano da Pandino and -Franceschino de’ Zavatarii, early in the fifteenth century, but only in -the upper part of the middle window does any of it survive; the rest is -modern. In the sculptured tracery of the middle window appear the -favourite emblem of Gian Galeazzo Visconte, the Dove in the midst of -rays, and figures, sculptured after the design of Isacco da Imbonate, of -the Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation, and of the two bishop -saints, Ambrogio and Galdino. The latter was Archbishop of Milan from -1166 to 1176, and a notable foe of heretics and Ghibellines. - -Under the window further on is an ancient Crucifix, with head restored, -brought here from the chapel of Filippo Maria’s castle when it was -demolished by the Ambrosian Republic. Tablets under the great windows -record members of the Sforza family buried here. It was in the apse that -the biers of the Dukes of Milan used to be suspended, between the -columns, till San Carlo reformed them away. The body of Gaston de Foix -was given royal place among them, being hung between the two great -pillars on the left hand of the altar. Cardinal Borromeo did not have -the displacing of that, however. He was anticipated by the Swiss -mercenaries under the brutal Cardinal de Sion, who, only a few years -after the hero was buried, tore down the bier and scattered the remains, -to the scandal of all Christendom. A fresco further on in the -ambulatory, of the Crucified, with Saints, a poor work with a certain -charm of simplicity and prettiness, by Isacco da Imbonate, in 1423, -seems to show an intention, quickly abandoned, of clothing the walls -with paintings. Beyond we come to a fifteenth century painting of -Madonna, and St. John the Baptist, standing in a flowery landscape, -showing little merit except decorative charm. High up against the wall -is a statue of Pius IV., by the sixteenth century sculptor, Angelo -Siciliano. - -The Gothic ornamentation over the door of the north sacristy takes us -back to early days again. It is by Giacomo da Campione.[6] The canopy -encloses a relief of Christ in Glory, surrounded by angels and saints, -and in the tympanum below, Christ appears between the Virgin and St. -John. These sculptures are more accomplished than those of the south -sacristy, though they show the Lombard lack of idealism; the small -profile busts of men in the costume of the period on the -architrave—perhaps portraits of the artist’s fellow-workmen on the -Cathedral—are excellent, well-modelled, and full of vivacity. - -Footnote 6: - - See Malaguzzi Valeri, op. cit., vol. i. p. 56. - -In the north transept stands the _Albero_, a colossal seven-branched -candlestick of bronze, in the form of a tree. An inscription on the base -records that it was presented to the Cathedral by one of the Trivulzio -family in 1562, but it is usually described as thirteenth century work. -The style, however, proclaims it not earlier than the late fifteenth, -and it might well be later. The seven branches spring from a bossy stem -supported on winged dragons; the interstices are filled up with a web of -vine tendrils in which figures of delicate workmanship are -wrought—sacred and symbolic characters, and biblical scenes; the story -of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Dove, the Sacrifice of Isaac, David with -the head of Goliath, etc. The Procession and Adoration of the Magi are -cunningly arranged round the stem. Up the sides of the chapel of the -Madonna dell’ Albero there are some bas-reliefs representing the Life of -the Virgin, by Cristoforo Solari, il Bambaia and others of the early -Cinquecentists; these were originally round the door in this transept -which Cardinal Borromeo abolished. The stained glass window over the -altar of St. Catherine in the corner of the transept to the left is by -Stefano da Pandino (1432). The altar has statues of St. Jerome and St. -Augustine, early works of Cristoforo Solari, and some little sculptures -of earlier date, doubtless from some older shrine. The tabernacle on the -right, with a figure of God the Father, is by one of the Campionesi. - -On the third altar in the nave on this side is preserved the wooden -crucifix carried by S. Carlo in procession round the city during the -Great Plague of 1576. - -A little altar further on, with modern sculptures, is decorated with -beautiful Quattrocento arabesques, fragments of a monument sculptured by -Amadeo in 1480 for Alessio Tarchetta, a general of the Sforza. Other -parts of the monument are preserved in the Castello. Beyond is the tomb -of Gio. Angelo Arcimboldi, Archbishop of Milan from 1550 to 1555. Lower -down we see some twelfth and thirteenth century figures representing the -writers of the New Testament, in Verona marble, probably parts of an -ambone or pulpit, and perhaps some of the figures of saints with which -Archbishop Uberto Crivelli, afterwards Urban III., is recorded to have -decorated the old Sta. Maria Maggiore in 1185. - -The Baptistery is on this side of the nave, between two of the pillars. -The font is an ancient basin of red porphyry, said to have once been in -the Baths of Maximian Hercules; it was found in S. Dionysius, with the -remains of that saintly prelate of Milan inside. These were translated -to a place in front of the High Altar. The canopy over the font is an -ornate late Renaissance work designed by il Pellegrini. - -Down here in the nave, where the later ornamental details are lost in -the great pillared spaces, it is possible to call back some of the -shades frightened away by the purifying S. Carlo. Wicked they were -indeed, but in a great way which it is not given to modern sinners to -emulate. First of all we see Gian Galeazzo, the founder of the temple—he -who all but mounted to a throne of Italy on the body of his murdered -uncle—passing calm, cultured and impenetrable, between the columns. Then -the bleeding body of his evil son Giovanmaria, carried from the steps of -the palace where he had fallen and flung down here in haste by the -terrified bearers. The cunning and suspicious Filippo next—who but a few -weeks before had beheaded his wife—following Pope Martin in the great -pageant of the consecration of the High Altar in 1418, uneasy at finding -himself under the eyes of his subjects. Francesco Sforza, the splendid -conqueror, pressing his way up the great nave on his war-horse, amid the -thronging multitudes, to give thanks to God that Milan was delivered -into his hands. His weak young grandson, Gian Galeazzo, hand in hand -with his youthful bride, Isabella of Aragon, a white-robed pathetic -pair, passing up to the celebration of their marriage, beneath a -specially constructed portico, simulating a pergola and supported on -fifty-two columns. The usurper Lodovico il Moro, with the ducal beretta -newly set upon his head at the door of the Cathedral, moving with -majestic step towards the High Altar, to seek the benediction of Heaven -upon his unlawful dignities. We see the latter again a few years later, -during that brief return in 1500, bowed with care and apprehension, -giving hasty thanks to God for restoring the city to him, while the -French guns, thundering from the Castle, tell him what a mockery that -restoration is. A moment later his tragic figure has vanished into the -shades and the aisles echo to the triumphant tread of the French -conqueror and his captains, Trivulzio and the rest, and the subservient -Italian princes and ambassadors, coming to give thanks in their turn. -And now the stately figures of foreign kings and emperors succeed one -another in the many gorgeous processions which pass up between the -columns. Thrust between them is the mournful Triumph of the young French -hero, whose dead body, with the sword of Julius II., and the standards -of the Spanish King and of all the great captains whom he had overthrown -in his last victory displayed before it, is carried up in silence and -tears. Anon the place fills with the pitiful multitudes during the -dreadful days of French and Spanish occupation; now they gather round -the frenzied _frate barbazza_, who shrieks to them to rise and slaughter -their persecutors, now marshal themselves in penitential procession, -beating their breasts and wailing _misericordia_. And as the figure of -the reforming Cardinal Archbishop—the ascetic and despotic saint—rises -before us, the great nave clears suddenly of all that clamorous life of -the city which did not fear before to pass in and out on its daily -affairs and to bring its worldly traffickings, its quarrels, troubles, -excitements, sorrows, into the House of God,—and we lose sight for ever -of the mediæval world. - -The roof of the Duomo is ascended from the south transept. It is a long -climb, but well worth the pains. You emerge at the top into sunshine and -air, and find yourself on the terrace of a vast garden, all of sparkling -candid stone, where you may wander, easily losing yourself, along paths -and alleys, up and down flights of steps, always between marble groves -of flowers and foliage, with a forest of slender stems springing up -around you, and flowering into human forms high up against the blue—all -the petrified growth of that lake grotto of Gandoglia, or _Candoglia_, -as the punning old writers call it. There is no open space in the heart -of Milan where you can take the air so pleasantly on fine days in winter -and spring as up here. But this garden is suspended in the air, and you -look down upon the thick clustered roofs which cover all the ground -below in an immense roundure, like the low ruddy vegetation of an island -left bare at low tide in the middle of a purple sea. Immediately -beneath, at dizzy depths, are the narrow intersecting lines of the -streets, full of black, crawling humanity. From up here you see the city -as a whole, and are able to realise something of its geographic place. -If the day is clear there will appear, rising up on north and west -beyond the sea of plain, the dim shores of what looks like another -world—a vast half-moon of hovering forms, cloud-like, yet with the -clear-cut contours of earthly substances, rising out of the shadow of -earth to shining whiteness against the sky. The guidebooks give names to -these fairy shapes—Mont Blanc to the west, Monta Rosa nearer and more -conspicuous, the Matterhorn rising close behind this last, and other -famous heights. Unless the weather is exceptionally favourable, however, -one cannot discern with clearness more than the nearer spurs of the -mighty Alpine barrier which defends the pleasant land of Italy from the -cold and gloomy North. But it is enough to make one understand the -significance of Milan in the historic past, as guardian of the chief -gateways of Italy. - -[Illustration: PUTTI, GUGLIA DI AMADEO.] - -The Cathedral itself is a wonderful vision from the top, with its vistas -of flying buttresses and crocketed pinnacles, and all its immensity of -intricate stone-work. The colour of the marble, and the play of light -and shade upon the fretted surfaces give it a peculiar enchantment. -Looked at closely, however, it all becomes rather frivolous and -wearisome. Nothing could be more monotonous than the uninventive -likeness in difference of the endless ornamentation. No one detail is -the same as another, yet the lines are all alike, for ever and ever -repeated. The actual work is mostly modern. The most conspicuous and -interesting feature is, of course, the great octagonal cupola, the main -part of which was built in the early years of the sixteenth century by -Amadeo. He was prevented, however, by the continual objections and -disputes of the experts whose advice was called in about it, from -finishing the work, and the ornate construction of rampant arches and -pinnacles and central spire which surmounts it belongs to the eighteenth -century. Of the four spiral turrets at the corners, with staircases in -them, three were not built till the last century, but the one on the -north-east was designed by Amadeo himself, who perhaps set his own hand -to some of the excessively flamboyant ornamentation. It is called the -_Guglia di Amadeo_, but the upper part was rebuilt in 1799. The loggetta -connecting it with the body of the structure is encrusted with charming -reliefs, but though the delightful medley of putti, and angels dancing -and playing instruments of music round the medallions of Madonna on one -side, and the Pietà on the other, have much of the gaiety and abandon of -Amadeo’s work, their execution is too weak for him. The attractive -infants, swinging and playing in the openings of the stone-work on -either side of the passage lower down are more like his handiwork, and -the New Testament scenes carved in low relief at the base are probably -by a late follower of the master.[7] At the top of the staircase in this -_Guglia_, now kept locked, in the little passage in the loggetta, there -is a medallion portrait in bas-relief, by an unknown hand, of Amadeo -himself, showing the deep-lined bony profile of an old man, with scanty -locks flowing from under his beretta. - -Footnote 7: - - Malaguzzi Valeri, _G. A. Amadeo_, p. 232. - -[Illustration: GIANT STATUES ON THE DUOMO.] - -Other details of interest are to be seen on and about the roof of the -apse. When in ascending from below you emerge into the open air, take -the passage straight before you, instead of mounting higher or turning -on to the roof of the south aisle. Passing through a covered way you -will soon come out upon a little projection of the roof, close to some -of the monstrous gargoyles, and the _Giganti_ beneath them. These last -are robust and dignified survivals of the fourteenth century, and of the -serious traditions of the Lake Masters, and are curiously at variance -with the later style of ornamentation on the building. Further on, on -the roof of the south sacristy, to which a stairway leads down, stands -the Eve of Cristoforo Solari, a graceful and expressive figure, lumpy, -however, in its contours. On the corresponding roof of the north -sacristy, on the other side of the apse, is the companion statue of -Adam, leaning in melancholy pose upon his spade, a heavy and nerveless -presentment of the father of mankind, yet most favourably distinguished -in taste from the later statues on the Cathedral. The pinnacle at the -north-east angle of this sacristy roof, surmounted by the figure of a -Knight holding a banner, is one of the oldest pieces of work on the -Cathedral. It is fourteenth century pure Gothic, and the careful and -artistic workmanship of all the rich detail of ornament on it is very -impressive in comparison with its surroundings. - -From the roof of the Cathedral one has an unobstructed view of the tall -octagonal Campanile of San Gottardo to the south. This beautiful and -characteristic North Italian building of the fourteenth century combines -the beauties of Lombard and Gothic with incomparably harmonious effect, -achieving a wonderful charm of colour and grace by the delicate marble -arcades and slender soaring shafts of marble with which the solidity of -the ruddy brick is lightened. Unfortunately we see the brick now in the -rawness of recent restoration. The tiled steeple is surmounted by a -bronze angel in stiff pose with wings outspread. This Campanile was -built about 1330 by Magister Franciscus di Pecoraris da Cremona for Azzo -Visconte. The church beside it which that gouty prince raised in -honour—among other saints—of S. Gottardo, the protector of sufferers -from gout, and filled with precious ornaments and works of art, replaced -the old Baptistery, San Giovanni alle Fonti. It was completely -modernised in 1770, and the ancient apse—which is perhaps anterior to -the fourteenth century—is the only survival of the old building. San -Gottardo served as the chapel of the great Visconte palace, which stood -on the south of the Cathedral where now sprawl the melancholy courts and -mean buildings of the Palazzo Reale. This palace had been originally the -seat of the Milanese Consuls, and the space around it was the Broletto -Vecchio, where the public buildings stood in the early days of the -Republic. When Matteo Visconte made himself master of Milan, he and his -family, as permanent heads of the Republic, occupied the palace, and -transformed it into a fortress, with towers and moats, for the defence -of their tyranny. His grandson Azzo beautified it with ornaments and -paintings and fountains. These were all destroyed by Galeazzo II., who -rebuilt the palace on a much larger and more magnificent scale, with two -great courts surrounded by porticos, wherein took place the great -marriage feasts, and other celebrations of the splendid Visconte -Princes. There, doubtless, was set the banquet for the young Duke of -Clarence and his bride Violante, when Petrarca sat beside the -bridegroom, among the chief guests, and the boy Gian Galeazzo brought in -the marriage gifts. It was in this palace that Giovanmaria Visconte, -passing through the courts on his way to hear Mass in S. Gottardo, was -stabbed to death by the waiting conspirators. Francesco Sforza and -Lodovico il Moro repaired and embellished the palace, and it was -inhabited by Isabella of Aragon after the death of her husband Gian -Galeazzo Sforza. Restored by il Pellegrini, it was reduced to its -present aspect in 1770. - -The Archiepiscopal Palace, which faces the Duomo on the south-east, -represents the dwelling-place of the ecclesiastical princes of Milan for -at least a score of centuries, and probably many more. Standing close -beside the Cathedral church, the Archbishop’s residence was called, up -to the twelfth century, the _Palazzo Milanese_, being in fact during the -earlier Middle Ages, when the archbishops ruled the city, the seat of -government, until the Palace of the Commune, or of the elected Consuls, -which rose in its precincts and under its protection, gradually usurped -its place, as the voice of the public parliament, or Arengo, held in the -Piazza, grew more and more powerful. Under the Visconte archbishops, who -once again united the ecclesiastic and temporal sovereignty in a single -hand, the palace was enlarged and partly incorporated with the palace of -the Consuls, now become, as we have seen, the fortress of the Visconti. -The Arcivescovato was rebuilt in the fifteenth century by Archbishop -Arcimboldi, and remains of that date may be seen in the outer cortile. -The great inner court is the work of il Pellegrini in S. Carlo -Borromeo’s time, and the existing building belongs partly to that period -and partly to the end of the eighteenth century. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - _The Basilica of St. Ambrogio_ - - - “Regina delle chiese lombarde.” - -In a quiet plebeian quarter, remote from the bustle of the city, -surrounded by a wide piazza and a pleasant grove of lime-trees, stands -the old basilica of St. Ambrogio. It is reached in a few minutes from -the Duomo by the S. Vittore tram. This church, architecturally and -historically, ranks first among all in Milan. The Duomo, foreign in -material and bastard in style, cannot compare in interest with this -grand product of the Lombard soil and the Lombard spirit. The story of -St. Ambrogio reaches back through the long centuries of Milan’s modern -and mediæval life to the time of the saintly Doctor himself. It was in -386 that St. Ambrose founded it beside the already existing basilica -Faustæ. Here he buried, in the place which he had prepared for himself, -the bodies of the martyr saints Protasio and Gervasio, whose -resting-place had been revealed to him just at the crisis of his -struggle with the Empress. _Two men of marvellous stature such as the -first age bore_, so he describes the bodies in a letter to his sister -Marcellina. _We carried them, as the evening was falling, to the -basilica Faustæ.... The following day we removed them to the church -which they call Ambrosianam._ They were laid beneath the altar, _where -Christ is offered up_, and Ambrose commanded that when his own time came -he should be buried in all humility beside them upon their left hand. - -The church was dedicated to the martyrs. Nevertheless, it continued to -be called the Basilica Ambrosiana according to the fashion of that day, -when the churches were called after their founders, as for example the -Basilica Faustæ, otherwise S. Vittore in Cielo d’Oro, the Basilica -Porciana, also dedicated to S. Vittore, and the Basilica Paulina, or SS. -Felix and Nabor. To later centuries it has become unalterably Sant -Ambrogio. - -Being in a peculiar sense the church of the patron saint and protector -of the Milanese people, the basilica held from the first a very -prominent place in the life of the Ambrosian city. Here the Primates -gathered their suffragans to those synods and provincial councils, in -which in the days of ecclesiastical rule the affairs of North Italy were -decided. The foundation of a monastery of the powerful Benedictine Order -in connection with the church, in 783, added to its importance. The -archbishops of the reviving See of Milan, in the ninth century, restored -it and bestowed upon it the utmost honour and reverence, endowing it -with great riches. Here Otho the Great was crowned King of Italy by -Archbishop Walperto in 961, and from that time, whenever a coronation -took place in Milan, it was performed in St. Ambrogio. Perhaps the -curious privilege which the city enjoyed, of keeping all sovereigns -excluded from its precincts, was the reason why the Cathedral church was -never chosen for the ceremony. In 1186, Frederick Barbarossa was present -here when with immense splendour Henry of Suabia wedded Constance of -Sicily, the Constance who is moon-arrested in Dante’s _Paradise_, -because of her supposed inconstancy to monastic vows, though the old -tale of her being dragged from a convent to marry the Emperor’s son has -been proved a fable. - -During the factious age of liberty St. Ambrogio was the church in which -the popular party gathered, to seek the sanction and protection of the -patron saint and to discuss their affairs, being shut out from the Duomo -by the Archbishop and the aristocratic party. Here the short-lived -reconciliation of 1258, called the _Pace di St. Ambrogio_, was completed -and sworn to before the Altar with great solemnity by the -representatives of both factions. - -In St. Ambrogio Henry of Luxemburg, the looked-for peacemaker, was -crowned in 1311, with his consort, Margaret of Brabant, in the presence -of all the great nobles of Italy and characters conspicuous in the -history of the time. A strange and somewhat ominous circumstance of this -occasion was that the crown always used for the coronation of the Kings -of Italy—which had become, though only shortly before this time, known -as the Iron Crown—was missing. With the rest of the treasure of the -Cathedral of Monza—where it was kept then, as to-day—it had been pawned -by the Torriani.[8] So a new iron crown, in the form of a laurel wreath, -was forged to encircle the brow of Henry VII. The newly anointed monarch -created two hundred knights in the church, the first upon whom he laid -his sword being Matteo Visconte. From this time the ceremony of -knighting was customarily performed in St. Ambrogio, and later on those -who received the dignity there were called the Knights of St. Ambrogio. - -Footnote 8: - - The treasure was recovered later from Avignon by Matteo Visconte. - -It was in St. Ambrogio that Gian Galeazzo Visconte, newly created Duke -of Milan, knelt before the altar while the Archbishop of Milan and a -splendid array of prelates chanted hymns and offices in celebration of -his elevation to the ducal dignity, in the presence of princes and -ambassadors from all the States of Italy and Europe. Here, in 1477, the -young Republicans who had sworn to avenge the wrongs of their city upon -the tyrant Galeazzo Maria Sforza, bowed themselves before the image of -the Saint, patron of the Milanese liberties, and besought his blessing -upon their enterprise. In the sixteenth century St. Ambrogio was the -goal of the pathetic penitential processions which used to wind their -way from the Duomo day after day during the visitations of the plague -and the persecutions by the Spaniards. - -The Basilica as we see it now shows no trace, it need hardly be said, of -the church which Ambrose himself built. But it still contains his bones. -An interesting proof of his actual burial there beside the two martyrs, -according to his directions, was the discovery, in 1864, beneath the -High Altar, of two cavities of unequal size, the larger in the middle, -the smaller on its left hand, evidently burial-places. There were no -bodies in them, but the remains of the three saints were found in a -sepulchre of porphyry above the cavities. It was known that they had -been removed and laid in one tomb together by Archbishop Angilberto in -the ninth century, probably at the time when the floor of the sanctuary -was raised and the golden altar set up. The church appears to have been -completely rebuilt at this time by Angilberto (824-859) and Ansperto -(868-881), after the instalment of the Benedictines, in order to suit it -to the requirements of monastic ritual. Angilberto had the main part -built, it is supposed, and Ansperto added the atrium—_Atria vicinas -struxit et ante fores_,—as is recorded in the lengthy epitaph of the -said prelate inscribed above his tomb on the south side of the nave. - -But the noble building of to-day, with its grand forecourt, or atrium, -is almost certainly not the ninth century church of Angilberto and -Ansperto, but a reconstruction on the same lines in the eleventh or -early twelfth century. The date of St. Ambrogio has been a much-disputed -point, and some authorities still cherish the theory that it is in the -main the ninth century building, and as such, the prototype of all the -many churches of the Romanesque style scattered throughout Europe. But -the advanced system of vaulting, and the compound form of the pillars, -as seen in St. Ambrogio, are said not to appear in other Italian -churches until a good deal later than the ninth century—later, in fact, -than in more northern countries. If the Basilica be of this early date, -it must have remained for two hundred years a solitary example of a -splendid style of architecture which had arrived at completeness without -leaving any traces of preliminary stages. There are many tenth and -eleventh century churches, however, which show what would naturally seem -the early and undeveloped stages of the style, which is in favour of the -belief held by most of the writers on the subject, that St. Ambrogio -follows rather than precedes them in date, and stands at the zenith and -not at the dawn of Romanesque architecture. The style of most of the -decorative sculpture on the building also points to a later origin.[9] - -Footnote 9: - - The exponents of the ninth century theory are Dartein, Landriani, and - Mongeri, among others, and more recently, Luca Beltrami; and of the - theory of a later origin, Kügler, Viollet-le-Duc, Stielh, Cattaneo, - Adolfo Venturi, etc. - -There is no actual record, it is true, of a restoration in the eleventh -or twelfth century, but the patriotism and fervour of vitality which -animated the Milanese in that epoch, and brought them into conflict with -Barbarossa, may well have induced them to rebuild and beautify this -church, which, being the resting-place of their Patron, was to them as -the sanctuary of their liberties. Italian enthusiasm has always -memorialised itself in brick and stone, and, moreover, in the twelfth -century architecture was the only art in which they could fully express -themselves. Not only in Milan, but throughout Lombardy, the churches of -this period are a grand and enduring testimony to the great era of the -Italian Communes, and in St. Ambrogio, queen if not mother of them -all,[10] surely we have before us the noblest artistic embodiment of the -spirit which produced the Lombard League. - -Footnote 10: - - _Madre e regina delle chiese lombarde_—Dartein. - -The outward form of the church—the large Romanesque style—is in keeping -with that great patriotic thought and resolve. It is essentially of the -soil. The grand curves of the arches, the massive pillars, the sense of -space and freedom seem the proper expression of the mediæval Lombard -character, in their union of Latin breadth and clearness with the -picturesque ruggedness, and the rich effects of light and shade of -Northern building. Above all, the material—brick and stone, that -fortunate combination which produces such glory and enchantment of -colour—is peculiarly Lombard. The effect of it in St. Ambrogio is most -beautiful and satisfying. Even the newness of much of the brick at the -present time—crude evidence of restoration—cannot destroy the charm. - -[Illustration: SIDE AISLE OF ATRIUM, ST. AMBROGIO.] - -[Illustration: - - CAPITAL IN ATRIUM OF - ST. AMBROGIO. -] - -The atrium or forecourt is surrounded on three sides by arcades -supported on massive pillars. It is rather later in date than the façade -of the church, which rises up in a wide gable, pierced with lofty -round-headed openings above the shadow of the narthex or portico, -triple-arched, which forms the eastern side of the atrium. On either -hand of the church rises a campanile of characteristic Lombard type. The -lower one is the Monks’ Tower, and dates from the eighth or ninth -century. It is probably the first thing which the Benedictines built on -entering into possession of the church in 783, bells being a necessity -of the monastic ritual. The tall tower on the left, which, with its -ornamental arcading and delicate ribs of brick and stone, shows an -advance of some centuries on the simplicity of the older one, was built -in 1128 by Archbishop Anselmo for the Canons, to vindicate the ancient -rights of these, the original servants and custodians of the basilica, -against the encroaching monks, who are said to have pulled down the -pre-existing belfry of the secular priests. The struggles between these -two bodies of secular and regular clergy, established side by side and -sharing the privilege of serving the church, were very fierce and -continuous through the Middle Ages. The monks are long gone now, and the -Canons remain in peaceful possession of the altars and of the quiet -courts and shrunken cloisters of the old place. Both towers have been -restored in recent times. The atrium and façade have also been restored, -but show more vestiges of the original work. In the fantastic sculptured -imagery which ornaments the capitals of the great columns, in the -curling foliage patterns of the friezes on archivolts and architraves, -in the endless knots and intricate web of the ribbed stems upon the -lintels and jambs and columns of the great middle doorway, in the -grotesque beasts and human creatures which course up pillars, or writhe -round capitals, we see the hand of the twelfth century craftsman still -shaping the stone into the forms of religious symbolism, but expressing -also his own satiric and pessimistic views of life, of nature ever at -war with itself, and at the same time beginning to subordinate spiritual -ideas to a desire for decorative effect. The attempts seen here at -representing human figures are still of the rudest and most primitive, -as for example the figure—perhaps Salome—dancing, while another plays -the lyre, on a capital to the left of the middle door, the Adam and Eve -(?) on either side of the Tree on one of the middle capitals of the -narthex, the huntsman standing triumphant above a crowd of horned -beasts—symbolic of the victory of the human over the animal nature. But -many of the capitals are purely fanciful and decorative; the grotesque -creatures writhe into graceful and symmetric designs, and that sort of -flat-ribbed cord that appears so constantly, and in its endless windings -is emblematic of eternity, is led into graceful curves and develops into -leaves and stems which, growing bolder and freer, become finally -beautiful foliage designs with masks and grotesques that seem to herald -the Renaissance. This more advanced decoration is probably thirteenth -century. Some fragments of the more archaic ornament, especially round -the middle doorway, which has the appearance of being pieced together in -places, seem to be survivals of an earlier existence of the church, -which were embodied in the twelfth century reconstruction—the symbolic -Lion of St. Mark, for example, and the Abbot’s Cross on a column on the -right hand, which belongs perhaps to the period of the rebuilding for -the monks. The name of _Adam Magister_, inscribed round a slender column -on the left of the door, upside down, is no doubt that of the architect -or sculptor of the present or some former phase of the building. - -[Illustration: - - CAPITAL IN ATRIUM OF - ST. AMBROGIO. -] - -The walls of the atrium and round the doorways of the church show -everywhere traces of fresco paintings of various periods, from Byzantine -to Giottesque and the fifteenth century Lombard school, carefully -uncovered in recent times, but all hopelessly ruined. The two large -half-obliterated scenes in chiaroscuro on either side, at right angles -to the front wall of the church, have been attributed tentatively to the -little-known painter, Zenale. They represent the story of St. Ambrose -and St. Augustine. That on the right hand, which is the least spoilt, -shows three devotees kneeling before St. Ambrose, who are supposed to be -the three successive dukes, Francesco, Galeazzo Maria, and Gian Galeazzo -Sforza. On the left of the principal door, supported on four columns, is -the sarcophagus of the humanist, Pier Candido Decembrio (died 1477), -secretary and biographer of Duke Filippo Maria, and of his successor, -Francesco Sforza. It is a graceful Renaissance work, perhaps by the -Lombard sculptor, Tommaso da Cazzaniga,[11] and has bas-reliefs on the -front, showing the Virgin, with Decembrio kneeling before her protected -by St. Ambrose, and the journey of Tobias and the Angel, signifying the -soul’s journey into eternity. A very archaic bas-relief representing St. -Ambrose, with the triple-thonged scourge in his hand, is on the wall -beyond the left-hand door. The atrium is a museum of sculpture of many -periods. Here are monuments and shields of mediæval and Renaissance -days—tombstones cast out from this and neighbouring churches—the broken -original of the carven beasts over the right-hand door, and various -unburied fragments of that dead Roman world which underlies Milan. - -Footnote 11: - - See Malaguzzi Valeri, _G. A. Amadeo_, p. 295. - -The great wooden door of the church, carved all over with small scenes, -and of very ancient origin, has lost its interest by a too complete -restoration. An unrestored fragment which is kept in the _Archivio -Capitolare_ has been pronounced to be of the time of Theodosius. - -The interior of the basilica has the same noble effect of largeness, -dignity, and repose as the atrium. In the solemn obscurity and devout -silence one becomes aware of massive arches and deep vaulting, of great -spaces and dim, far-off recesses, of rich colour and gilding, of -grotesque forms and wreathing serpentine stems in the pallid stone of -capitals and pulpit and screen. The careful restoration of half a -century ago has repaired as much as possible the mishandlings which the -church suffered from the zeal of Carlo Borromeo, and again two hundred -years later, though the modern decoration of the cupola cannot be -admired. We now see the Lombard basilica in its twelfth century form, -with a great central nave of four bays, and side aisles with -_matronei_—galleries for the women—above them, an essential feature of a -Romanesque church. The nave is roofed with cross vaults springing from -enormous pilasters, except the last bay before the choir, which opens up -into a lofty cupola, whence a circumscribed light pours down from a -circle of windows high up, illuminating the beautiful canopy of the High -Altar beneath. This cupola, carried up to a height not in accord with -the rest of the church, is a thirteenth century restoration, following a -disastrous fall of the roof of this part in 1196. - -[Illustration: CIBORIUM, ST. AMBROGIO.] - -The eastern portion of the basilica, which has three apses, is a -survival of the ninth century building. The apses do not exactly -correspond in direction with the later built body of the church, as is -easily seen in looking up from the nave to the central apse. That they -belong to the church built for the monks, and not to an earlier -basilica, as their obvious priority to the rest of the building has led -the supporters of the ninth century theory to suppose, is shown by there -being three apses, and by the prolongation of the space in front of them -for the choir, to accommodate the monks, who needed a place apart from -the people for their special functions. In a very early basilica there -would be but one apse, and it would start from the nave. The sanctuary -is raised a few steps above the level of the nave, and in its midst, -conspicuous and alone as it should be, beneath the noble curves of arch -and cupola rises the four-sided canopy of the High Altar, upon four -antique columns of red porphyry, glowing with deep colour and gilding -against the rich darkness of the great mosaic in the tribune behind. The -decoration of the canopy is of stucco. Moulded upon the flat pediments -above the semicircular arches are gilded figures in relief against a -background of deep blue; on the front, facing into the nave, Christ -enthroned, giving the keys to Peter, and the law to Paul; on the back -St. Ambrogio, protected by an angel behind him, stands between SS. -Gervasio and Protasio, who present to him two kneeling Benedictine -monks, one of whom holds in his hands a model of the canopy, and is -thought to be Abbot Gaudenzio, appointed head of the monastery in 835; -on the left side Madonna, with the Dove of the Holy Spirit on her head, -is standing between two kneeling princesses, who lift their hands in -supplication to her; on the right is St. Ambrogio and two princes, who -also kneel and seem to beseech him. The friezes and bands of -ornamentation are exceedingly rich, and very beautiful in design. At the -corners are eagles, with their wings spread and fish between their -claws. The canopy is an early thirteenth century restoration of a -pre-existing one produced by Byzantine artists, probably in the time of -Archbishop Angilberto, and wrecked by the fall of the cupola in 1196, -little but the columns and the capitals surviving. The new work kept the -Byzantine character of the old—the rigidity of the figures, the -conventionalised draperies, the sacred symbols, though the spirit of a -later age is visible in a certain rude attempt to give life to the -heads. - -Beneath the canopy the treasure which it was built to shelter still -stands, the famous golden altar of Archbishop Angilberto. This altar is -the largest and perhaps the most beautiful example known of the -goldsmith’s art in the Carlovingian period. It is kept enclosed in a -massive case, and a fee of five francs must be paid to the sacristan to -see it. On St. Ambrose’s Day only is it uncovered to public view. The -front of the altar is entirely faced with plates of fine gold divided -into panels by borders of exquisite mosaic of enamel, and gold filigree -work of delicate and various design, enriched with thickly-set gems, -rubies, opals, sapphires, topaz and turquoise, cats’-eyes and every sort -of strange-hued stone, some of great size, and edged with pearls. The -panels are filled with figures in relief. In the middle, in a panel of -oval form is Christ, with a jewelled halo, enthroned amid stars formed -of precious stones. Around Him are the four Evangelic Beasts and the -Apostles, three and three together. On either side are scenes from the -Gospel story. The Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost are sixteenth -century restorations, quite out of keeping with the archaic character of -the rest. The back and sides of the altar are of silver and of -silver-gilt. On each of the sides there is a Greek cross of gold -filigree set with gems and bordered with exquisite enamel, and around -are figures of saints and angels, SS. Ambrose, Simpliciano, Gervasio and -Protasio appearing on the right side, and on the left SS. Martin, Nabor, -Nazario and Magno, the three latter being Milanese martyrs in the time -of Diocletian and Decius. The back is divided into panels like the -front, but in the middle there are four medallions. The two upper ones -contain figures of the angels Michael and Gabriel. The two below are of -great interest, as evidence of the origin and antiquity of the altar. In -one is shown St. Ambrose crowning Angilberto, who has a halo of -rectangular form, which signifies that he was living at the time of the -representation; he offers a model of the altar to the Saint. The names -Sanctus Ambrosius and Dominus Angilbertus are inscribed beside them. In -the companion medallion we see Ambrose again, crowning _Volvinus -magister phaber_ (Master Volvinus the Smith), as the inscription -describes him, the German artificer whom the Archbishop charged to make -this altar, art at that time being far more advanced beyond the Alps -than in Italy. The panels contain scenes from the legend of St. Ambrose; -the Saint as a babe in the cradle attracting a swarm of bees by his -honeyed mouth; journeying on horseback into Liguria, where he was -prefect; flying at full gallop from Milan to avoid being Bishop, and -admonished by a voice from on high to return; being baptized and -ordained Bishop; celebrating Mass, while a cleric touches him on the -back, showing how, as the legend relates, sleep has fallen on him and he -is being transported in a vision to Tours, where in another panel he is -represented laying the dead St. Martin in his tomb; again he appears -preaching, inspired by an angel; treading beside the altar on the gouty -foot of a bystander and healing it; seeing Christ in a dream, who -announces to him his approaching death; offering his body to God as he -dies; lastly, his dead body is being carried to Heaven by angels. These -reliefs are very reminiscent of classic forms and have a surprising -grace and freedom for the period. The representations of St. Ambrose’s -story in particular are full of life and vigour, and show much beauty of -composition and modelling, though they betray the era of their origin in -certain awkwardnesses of proportion and grotesque attitudes. Here and -there cameos of exquisite and evidently antique workmanship are let into -the borders, and gems with Greek words cut in them; but perhaps the -greatest beauty of all is the enamel—just beginning at that time to be -used extensively in decorative art—and the delicate designs in which it -is composed. - -This gorgeous jewelled work, flashing out beneath the splendour of the -canopy, seems to gather into a point all the glory of this rich -interior. From the choir, which is raised several steps above the -sanctuary, one can get a complete view of the mosaic decoration of the -apse, a grand and imposing composition, with a colossal figure of Christ -enthroned in the centre, lifting His hand in benediction, and on either -side of Him SS. Gervasio and Protasio, and the Archangels Michael and -Gabriel above. The names of the two martyrs are written beside them, -letter beneath letter. Under the central figure there are three -medallions; S. Satiro, brother of St. Ambrose, in the centre, and S. -Marcellina, their sister, and S. Candida to right and left. The sides of -the composition depict the story related by S. Gregory of Tours about -St. Ambrose and represented on the altar; how he fell into a trance as -he celebrated Mass and was rapt in spirit to Tours, where he performed -the burial rite over the body of S. Martin. This mosaic is of the -twelfth century, and though it follows the Byzantine style in -arrangement and general treatment, it shows a tendency to abandon the -old rigid conventions for the sake of more life and expression in the -attitudes and draperies of the figures, and so sacrifices something of -the decorative effect. The colour is very sombre, lacking the richness -and glow of the best mosaic. - -There is a marble episcopal seat of the ninth century in the choir. The -stalls are very beautiful. Some are of the fourteenth century, as is -also the triple seat on the right hand of the altar; the other stalls -date from 1507. The designs carved upon them—trees and foliage, with -small figures of men and animals, a peasant gathering grapes, a -neglectful swineherd munching acorns, while the pig climbs the tree to -reach some for itself, a man and a bear facing each other with comical -hesitation beneath a tree, and other rustic scenes—are very graceful and -delicate, and show a Renaissance spirit of gaiety. - -The richly sculptured pulpit carries us back again to the earlier ages -of the church. It is a very late twelfth century restoration of the -pre-existing pulpit, which was ruined by the fall of the roof in 1196. -An inscription on the side facing down the nave records that Guglielmus -de Pomo, Superstes—chief priest or superior of the church—caused this -and many other works to be done. It rests partly upon a Christian -sarcophagus of the fifth or sixth century, and partly upon columns. The -cover of the sarcophagus is crowded with figures in bas-relief, among -which appear the effigies of the unknown couple, apparently of high -rank, buried in it. On the side facing into the middle of the church, -Christ is represented, seated among the Prophets, and on the other side -He appears with the Apostles. Abraham sacrificing Isaac is the subject -sculptured on one end, Elijah ascending in the chariot of fire on the -other. These sculptures of the late Roman age, showing the decadence of -a developed style, contrast strangely with the exuberant twelfth century -decoration upon the other parts of the structure—ornamental borders and -friezes with the characteristic curling stems that enmesh strange -animals in endless pursuit of one another, innocent creatures, stags and -hares chased by savage-fanged beasts, birds and grotesque humans forming -caryatids, an ass playing the lyre, an eagle pecked by another bird, -etc. Art has died and been born again in the interval between the old -and the late work. In the twelfth century sculpture we see the wild rush -of a new life, vigorous, cruel and merry, but at the same time -penetrated by the pessimistic consciousness of youth. The difficulty of -the sculptor in dealing with human figures is shown by the absurdly -childish way in which the little scenes of Adam and Eve’s history, in -the spaces beneath the arches, are represented. On the parapet of the -pulpit at the back a Christian feast is sculptured. - -The crypt beneath the choir was originally built in the ninth century, -but is now completely modern. Descending into it you may look into the -hallowed recess, where in an ornate silver shrine of very recent date -lie the bodies of St. Ambrose and of the twin martyrs, Gervasio and -Protasio, still beneath the high altar, where long ago the great bishop -willed to lie. - -[Illustration: SCULPTURE ON PULPIT IN ST. AMBROGIO.] - -Beside the door leading into the crypt, on the north side, there is a -fresco, by Borgognone, of the Child Jesus among the elders in the -Temple, and being found by His Mother. The sweet seriousness and -devoutness of the painter are charmingly shown in this painting; the -colour, warmer and gayer than he often uses, seems a forecast of his -famous pupil Luini. A painting on the wall opposite of Madonna with -Saints, placed so much in the dark that little can be distinguished in -it except its unmistakable Lombard character, has been attributed to -Zenale, but without sufficient evidence. - -A chapel on the south side of the church leads to the small sanctuary -which is all that remains of the Basilica Faustæ, or San Vittore in -Cielo d’Oro, afterwards dedicated to S. Satiro, who was buried there in -379 by his brother St. Ambrose. The present chapel, restored in 1859, is -the easternmost bay of the original church, which was probably rebuilt -in the eighth century. The deep cupola is covered with gold mosaic, with -a figure of San Vittore in the centre, whence the name San Vittore in -Cielo d’Oro. The Evangelic Beasts are represented round the cupola, and -on the walls below are stiff figures of bishops and saints of the -Milanese Church. These mosaics are fifth century, but have been -restored. - -A chapel lower down on this side of the church is frescoed with the -legend of St. George, by Lanino, a follower of Gaudenzio Ferrari. Near a -side door further down still is a painting, in very bad condition, -attributed to Ferrari—Christ bearing the Cross, with the Three -Maries—and some late and inferior frescoes of the same school. A -coloured stucco image of St. Ambrose, of the eleventh century, done from -a portrait of him taken from life, as the inscription informs us, is to -be seen on the wall nearer the west end. Beneath it is the stone -sarcophagus of Archbishop Ansperto, and the famous epitaph referring to -the building of the atrium. On the north wall, opposite, a relic of the -pagan past is placed over the door leading into the belfry, a bas-relief -of the Vintage, exquisitely decorative and gay. It is supposed to be a -vestige of a Temple of Bacchus, which, according to tradition, stood -upon the site of this church and was swept away by Ambrose. The last -chapel on this side is the baptistery, and here is a fresco by -Borgognone over the altar—the Risen Christ between two Angels. The long, -slender figure of the Christ, graceful but nerveless, the general -expression of pensiveness and sweetness, the colour no longer grey and -pallid, as in his earlier pictures, but rich and harmonious, are very -characteristic of this artist in his late period. - -Two columns standing in the nave are surmounted, one by a serpent of -bronze, the other by the cross. The serpent, if we may believe the -eleventh century chronicler Landolfo, is that very one which Moses set -up in the wilderness, and was brought in the writer’s own day from -Constantinople by Archbishop Arnolfo, who had gone thither to seek the -hand of the Emperor’s daughter for Otho III., and to whom the Greeks, -who owned the sacred treasure, had presented it. Women used to bring -their sick children to the column to be healed by the serpent. - -In the Sacristy of the Canons may be seen some beautiful illuminated -books, the most precious of which is the famous Missal of Gian Galeazzo -Visconte, of the late fourteenth century, which commemorates the -coronation of that prince as first Duke of Milan. It is exquisitely -illuminated, in clear brilliant colour, by a Lombard miniaturist, -Annovello da Imbonate. The front page depicts the scene of the -coronation; a beautiful composition in which the Duke appears kneeling -in crimson robe and ermine at the feet of the imperial legate, with his -subjects gathered below. In the ornamental border the emblems of the -Visconti are introduced; the snake, the dog chained beneath a tree, the -dove with the motto, _A bon droit_, etc. There are other pages fully -miniatured with scenes of Gian Galeazzo’s career. Among several Corali -of the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, there are two with -very fine and delicate miniatures, attributed to Borgognone and -suggestive of that painter in the sentiment and pose of the figures. - -The _Teca degli Innocenti_, a silver casket of the late fifteenth -century, containing relics of the Innocents, and very elaborately -decorated with bas-reliefs of the Massacre, and other New Testament -scenes, is kept in the sacristy, and also a silver pax, called Filippo -Maria Visconte’s, with a bas-relief of the Dead Christ, of Lombard -workmanship; a fifteenth century ostensory, of beautiful Gothic form, -and a processional cross, given by S. Carlo to the church, but of -earlier date. - -A door on the north side of the church leads into the canonica, and one -steps out from the grand old Lombard basilica into a beautiful portico -of the Renaissance period. Lodovico il Moro intended to raise here a -stately residence for the Canons. He charged Bramante of Urbino with the -work, but the much occupied architect had little time to devote to it, -and it dragged on, so that only this one side of the cloister, and that -unfinished, was built before the Moro’s fall put an end to all his -ambitious schemes. This fragment, at once so noble and so graceful in -its proportions, and showing a fine and restrained taste in the -capitals, is almost certainly of Bramante’s design, which is more than -can be said of most of the work attributed to him in this city. The -delicious _putti_, in every charming pose, and plastic as life itself, -which decorate the labels upon the arches, show the development of -Italian art in the three centuries which divide them from the grotesque -sculptures in the church. How interesting, too, the contrast between the -treatment of arch and pillar, of brick and stone, by the learned and -sophisticated Quattrocentist, and the same forms, the same materials in -the hands of the rude, vigorous, and deeply religious generation which -built the church. The cloister, in its incompleteness, leaning up -against the old basilica, monument of democratic fervour and strength, -is a poignant relic of the aristocratic and exclusive ideas of the -Renaissance, and of the incomparable grace and joyousness of their brief -reign in Milan. The profiles of the two presiding spirits of that -moment, Lodovico and Beatrice, are moulded on either side of the doorway -by a mediocre Lombard sculptor of the Renaissance period. - -A quaint chimney, upon the house facing the cloister, is an interesting -example of a type once common in Milan, and still often seen in the -neighbouring towns. - -Adjoining the basilica is the old convent, now a military hospital, with -two fine cloisters, designed, it is thought, by Bramante. - -Among the lime-trees on the piazza, near the church on the north side, -stands an antique column, a relic of some pagan building, either the -Roman temple, which is supposed to have preceded the basilica, or of a -summer palace of the emperors, which stood beside it. An ingenious -thirteenth century chronicler, one Daniele, in an imaginary description -of the coronation of the mediæval kings in St. Ambrogio, makes this -column play an important part in the ceremony. _The King must swear the -oath outside the church, where a marble column stands.... He must kiss -the said column, because as the column is upright, so must the judgment -of the sovereign be upright._ A more faithful account of the ritual at -the coronations is given by the tenth century chronicler, Landolfo the -Elder. - -[Illustration: CHIMNEY, CANONICA OF ST. AMBROGIO.] - - - - - CHAPTER XII - _San Lorenzo. Romanesque Buildings_ - - - “Gloriose sacris micat ornata Ecclesiis - Ex quibus alma est Laurenti....” - -In the Via Ticinese, just within the twelfth century boundary of the -city, there stands a magnificent row of Corinthian columns, the only -vestige above ground, in its original position, of the imperial Milan, -whose splendours were sung by Ausonius. The Roman building of which they -formed probably the peristyle, has long vanished, but the place where it -must have stood is now occupied by San Lorenzo, the most ancient -existing church in Milan, though much restored and altered, especially -in the sixteenth century. The large impressive interior, octagonal in -form, and surrounded by a wide ambulatory with a gallery above, which -opens into the body of the church through four double storied arcades, -recalls the style of San Vitale at Ravenna. Recent studies favour the -theory that it was built in this form, as a church, in the sixth -century, rather than the old idea that it was originally the great hall -of Maximian’s Baths, and was converted to a Christian temple by St. -Ambrose. However that may be, its form carries us back to a time which -no other building in Milan commemorates, when the Roman Empire still -lived, and the Church had but lately issued from its martyr struggles, -and was still linked in its architecture with the old world. - -San Lorenzo has unfortunately preserved none of those splendours -celebrated by historian and poet in the eighth century. Arnolfo the -chronicler weeps over the destruction of its roofs of mosaic and gold -and starry gems, its paintings and sculptured marbles, in the calamitous -fire of 1071. _Oh Temple, which had not your like in the world_, he -cries. Restored after the fire, it was again grievously damaged by fire -in 1124, and again restored. The fall of a great part of the roof in -1573 gave Cardinal Borromeo and his favourite Pellegrini an opportunity -for interference. Pellegrini was succeeded in the work of restoration by -his pupil, Martino Bassi. The result of their labours was the present -lofty cupola, supported on great pilasters between the openings into the -ambulatory, and the heavy architectural decoration of neo-classic style, -which impose upon the old building, bare now of the rich and glowing -colour of its original design, a cold, austere and melancholy character. - -Fragments of antique capitals used upside down as bases of columns here -and there, some columns of African marble in the chapel of St. Ippolito -behind the High Altar, and a beautiful marble doorway with decoration of -pagan character in low relief, at the entrance to the chapel of St. -Aquilino, show that the church is partly composed out of the wreckage of -the Roman city. The chapel last named, which opens off the ambulatory on -the south, is of the sixth century, and has kept its ancient form. It is -octagonal like the church, and is roofed with a shallow cupola. The -circle of deep apertures high up, by which it is lighted, form outside -those round-headed niches so familiar in later Lombard buildings. The -Empress Galla Placidia is supposed to have founded this chapel, and to -have intended to be buried there. A Christian sarcophagus, of late Roman -workmanship, stands in a niche on the right hand of the entrance. But -Galla Placidia lies in her gorgeous mausoleum at Ravenna. This sepulchre -is said, however, to enclose the remains of her first husband, -Athanulph, King of the Goths. Some mosaics in lunettes on either side of -the apse date from the early days of the chapel—Christ with the -Apostles, and the Shepherds feeding their Flocks. The sixteenth century -tomb of St. Aquilino occupies the apse, which is decorated with frescoes -of the Luinesque school. - -There is little else of interest in the church. In the ambulatory is a -tomb of 1411, and above it a much restored painting of Madonna with SS. -Stephen and Ambrose presenting to her members of the Robbiano family, -and in the chapel of St. Ippolito, a tomb with the effigy of Antonio -Conte, a priest of the church, who died in 1349, and the late fifteenth -century monument of another of the same family, Giovanni Conte, who -restored the chapel. - -The façade is of ornate late classic style, and the unfinished building -on either side of the court in front was designed by Ricchini, a -seventeenth century architect. An interesting view of the exterior, from -the Piazza Vetra, on the north-east side, shows the enormous dome rising -with incongruous effect, above the brick mass of the building, between -four low towers of Lombard style, which survive from the eleventh or -twelfth century reconstruction of the church after the great fires. - -The archway and towers in the main street just beyond San Lorenzo -represent the old Porta Ticinese, built by the Milanese consuls in 1171, -and restored by Azzo Visconte in the fourteenth century. The structure -was newly restored in 1858. Upon the outer side of the arch there is a -sculpture of Madonna enthroned with the Child, and St. Ambrose -presenting to her a model of the city, with SS. Lorenzo, Eustorgio and -Peter Martyr, standing around. Similar groups, now in the Museo -Archeologico, were placed upon Porta Romana and Porta Orientale by Azzo. -They are the work apparently of the Campionese followers of Giovanni di -Balduccio of Pisa. - -[Illustration: THE OLD PORTA TICINESE.] - -The Porta Ticinese corresponds to the original gate of the same name in -the old circuit of the Roman walls, which stood nearer into the centre -of the city at a spot now called _Carobbio_, a corruption of Quadrivium, -the Four Ways. The modern gate is some little distance further south. -This is the way out of the city to Pavia, the ancient Ticinum, hence the -name Via Ticinese. Throughout the Middle Ages, from the time when Pavia -was a royal seat, this street was the scene of all the state entries of -conquering kings, or princely visitors. Barbarossa came this way, -passing in majesty over the flattened earthworks and prone gates of the -humiliated city. Three centuries later, the victorious soldier of -fortune, Francesco Sforza, made his state entry by Porta Ticinese, -appearing with his wife, Bianca Maria, and his young son, Galeazzo, upon -a triumphal car beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, followed by the -captains and chosen men of his army. Less than fifty years after, the -destroyer of the brief Sforza domination, Louis XII., passed up in -unparalleled splendour, wearing the ducal cap of Milan, having been -presented by the Constable of the Gate with the keys of Porta Ticinese -on the bridge over the canal immediately outside. He was preceded by all -the clergy in pontifical array, and by a gorgeous procession of pages, -musicians, men-at-arms, and courtiers. Immediately before him rode Gian -Giacomo Trivulzio, the golden staff of a Marshal of France in his hand, -and in the throng of cardinals and ambassadors who followed, the most -conspicuous was that warlike ecclesiastic, known then as S. Pietro in -Vincula, who, as Julius II., a few years later became the scourge of the -French intruders. So is the shame of Milan and of Italy written on the -stones of that street. - -Just beyond the gate the street crosses the canal—the _Naviglio_ it is -called—which follows the mediæval circumference of the city, on the line -of the great fosse dug by the Milanese as a defence against Barbarossa. -It is the central mesh as it were of the network of waterways connecting -Milan with Pavia and the other cities of the Lombard Plain. The narrow -streak of water, with picturesque backs of houses descending into it, -and women in bright coloured skirts and gay kerchiefs on their heads, -washing by the edge, is a pleasant interruption to the crowded, rather -squalid street. - -[Illustration: HOUSES ON THE NAVIGLIO.] - -Further on, beside the modern gate, is the old basilica of St. -Eustorgio, once famous as the resting-place of the Three Kings, and -later as the shrine of St. Peter Martyr. Tradition declares that the -basilica was built by the Milanese bishop, St. Eustorgio, in the fourth -century, on the site of an ancient font used by St. Barnabas himself to -baptise his converts. The primitive church, whatever its date, was -replaced later by a Romanesque building, which exists in the main to -this day, though with many alterations and modifications made by -successive generations of devotees. Recent restorations have cleared -away the disfigurements which it suffered in the baroque period. - -The exterior gives a striking record of the phases through which the -church has passed. The façade is in the characteristic style of the -thirteenth century, but dates only from 1865. The south flank, which was -restored at the same time, is of the fourteenth century, when the -Visconti, Torriani and other great families, eager to show their -devotion to the church where the recent martyr Peter of Verona was -buried, built a series of sepulchral chapels on this side. With its -slender pointed windows, and _oculi_ deeply set within a rich framework -of multiplied mouldings, its gables and characteristic ornamentation of -interlaced _archetti_ beneath the eaves, it is a very graceful example -of the Gothic brick building of North Italy. A chapel projecting at the -western end belongs to the fifteenth century, and was built by Pietro -Solari. The apse of the church, with its deep-niched arcade, carries us -back again to the Romanesque period. Beside it rises, in accordant -style, the Campanile, which was begun in 1297, and beyond, at the east -end of the church, is a beautiful chapel, built nearly two centuries -later—in 1462—for Pigello Portinari by a Tuscan architect, probably -Michele Michelozzo. The tall brick Campanile, soaring in its direct -simplicity and strength, each storey marked by a line of graceful -_archetti_ and of bricks set pointwise above them, making a sort of -dogtooth ornamentation, and its angles faced with white stone, contrasts -in an interesting manner with the proud little building below. The -Portinari chapel shows the new development of brick architecture in -obedience to the classic ideas of the Renaissance. The rotund cupola -swelling upon the broad square base, the elaborate yet harmonious -combination of curves and rectangles, the restrained decoration of -moulded pilasters and flat-carved capitals, of rich terra-cotta cornices -and deep-moulded _oculi_, the skilful arrangement of colour in the -distribution of stucco and brick, all reveal new thoughts, new ideals, -new knowledge, a sort of human pride undreamed of by the faithful souls -of the earlier generation, who thought only of glorifying God and -lifting their building as near to Heaven as they could. - -[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF PORTINARI CHAPEL, ST. EUSTORGIO.] - -The interior of the basilica, though the tribune and part of the side -aisles are said to be late ninth century, is in the main of the twelfth -or early thirteenth century. It has lofty semicircular arches, showing -here and there the slightest inclination to a point; cross-vaulting, -compound pillars, and at the lower end women’s galleries, or rather a -restored semblance of them—all Romanesque features. The capitals are -sculptured in the style of the same period, with strange animals and -grotesques. The large and noble architectural form, combined with the -harmonious colour of the faded red brick and pallid stone, makes a very -beautiful and impressive effect, which is enhanced by the dim light -crossed by misty shafts of sunlight, and lost in deep shadows beyond, -and by the silence, the spaciousness, the sharp note of voiceless prayer -that rises up from a little group of shawled figures bowed before some -altar, or from a solitary figure suppliant at the foot of a pillar. The -very incongruities in the building and in the ornamentation add to the -interest. Here are fragments of old fresco peeling from pillar and -vaulted roof; there newly restored gaudy figures; everywhere the past -and the present joining in one living whole. You feel here the -continuity of religious fervour, of Christian love and faith, through -all the changes of thought and taste during eight centuries. - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ST. EUSTORGIO.] - -The institution of a convent of Dominicans for the service of the church -in 1227, and the burial here of their famous prior, Peter of Verona, -murdered by heretics in 1252, drew the attention of the pious to St. -Eustorgio just when art was showing a new vitality. The church still -contains a number of sculptured monuments of Milanese nobles, who were -buried here in the chapels which they built in the centuries immediately -following. These are of great interest to the student of Lombard art. -The first chapel on the right at the bottom of the church was not built -till 1484, and the tomb within it is of the Renaissance period, and is -the work of the Cazzaniga and of Benedetto Briosco. The tomb of a young -fifteenth century knight, Pietro Torelli, who died in battle at the age -of eighteen, is in the next chapel. His effigy lies on the top, and the -Madonna and Child, with various saints, are sculptured on the front, -perhaps by Jacopo da Tradate.[12] The canopy is later and inferior work. -A chapel farther up has - -Footnote 12: - - Mongeri, _L’Arte in Milano_. - -ruined fourteenth century frescoes in the vaulting, representing -apparently the four Doctors of the Church in grand canopied seats. The -next contains the rich Gothic tomb of Stefano Visconte, son of the great -Matteo and father of Bernabò and Galeazzo. The monument dates from the -middle of the fourteenth century. Upon the front is a bas-relief of -Madonna and Child, with the kneeling figures of Stefano and his wife, -Valentina Doria, the one being presented by his name-saint, St. Stephen, -behind whom stand Peter Martyr and Peter the Apostle, the other by St. -John Baptist, with St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul behind. Beneath -the cusped arch of the canopy is Madonna again, a stately maternal type, -smiling as she holds a fruit above the Child, as if playing with His -eagerness to seize it—a motive more graceful and natural than is usual -in the rather stiff and heavy compositions of the Lombard masters of -that period. The dignity and naturalism of this sculpture altogether -shows the hand of one of the most successful followers of the Pisan -Giovanni di Balduccio. - -The monument in the next chapel is to Gaspare Visconte, of a collateral -branch of the reigning House, who had been sent on embassies to England -and was a Knight of the Garter. It resembles Stefano’s in design, but -the bas-reliefs are later and inferior work. Opposite is the recumbent -statue, torn from its right place and set up against the wall, of -Gaspare’s wife, Agnese Besozzi (died 1417), with her sons at her feet. -Above this stone is a sarcophagus, with a bas-relief of the Coronation -of the Virgin, with angels and saints and devotees, also by some scholar -of Giovanni di Balduccio. The Snake emblazoned on it shows that it -commemorates some of the Visconte family, probably one Uberto and his -son Giovanni, with their respective wives. The last chapel on this side -is said to have been dedicated by Martino della Torre to his name-saint -of Tours. No trace of the great Guelf House remains in it. It seems to -have been usurped by their conquerors, the Visconti, whose Snake appears -in the fifteenth century frescoes—much damaged by the whitewash which -once covered them—upon the vaulted roof. In these, which represent the -Evangelic Beasts and various saints, there appears on the left a woman’s -figure carrying a shield with the letters ‘B. M.’ and a crown upon it, -in homage, it would seem, to the Duchess Bianca Maria Visconte Sforza. - -The arch of the east wall in the arm of the church is covered with a -large faded fresco of the Adoration of the Magi, attributed by some to -Bramantino. In the Chapel of the Magi below a massive and quite -unadorned sarcophagus purports to be the tomb where the bodies of the -Three Kings reposed. They had been brought hither, according to -tradition, by home-returning crusaders, and here they lay, worshipped -and plied with rich offerings by faithful pilgrims from all parts of -Christendom, until 1164, when they were carried off by Barbarossa’s -chancellor, the Archbishop of Cologne, as some of the most precious -spoils of the conquered city. The old story of the Wise Men is -sculptured over the altar by Gio. di Balduccio, or more probably by one -of his scholars. It is a crowded composition, in which the vivacity and -movement of the short thick figures show the growing tendency towards -realism still restrained by classic traditions. - -On the wall opposite this chapel is the fourteenth century tomb of -Protaso Caimi, a noble Milanese knight; it is decorated with the -familiar composition of the occupant kneeling before Madonna, with -saints in attendance, among whom may be noticed Sta. Martina, holding -her lion across her by its fore and hind legs. A coloured and gilded -statue of St. Eugenius, of rigid archaic style, but probably not earlier -than the end of the thirteenth century, stands also in this part of the -church. - -The richly sculptured altarpiece of the High Altar still shows the Pisan -influence. But it belongs to the end of the fourteenth century, when it -was presented to the church by Gian Galeazzo Visconte, and shows in the -attitudes and draperies and long slender forms a new delicacy of -workmanship and a new search for sentiment and grace, notably in the -Madonna with head turned and throat stretched, standing beside the -cross, and the grieving St. John on the other side. The upper part, with -the stucco statues, is a seventeenth century restoration. - -Passing behind the High Altar, through the crypt or under choir, which -was built in 1537 and is supported on columns once forming part of the -cloister of the adjoining convent, and through a vestibule with remains -of old frescoes on the walls, we come to the Capella di S. Pietro -Martire—the Portinari Chapel—the exterior of which has been already -described. In this rich and complex structure, rectangular below and -rising by the grand curves of wide-spanned arches to a lofty -sixteen-sided cupola, in the delicate arcade and parapet running round -it high up, in the beautiful terra-cotta decoration of frieze and -cornices, the sculptured arabesques of the pilasters, the frescoes in -spandril and arch, we recognise the new spirit of the Renaissance. The -architecture is of Tuscan inspiration, though certain details, such as -the point still visible in the rather ornate windows, are indicative of -Lombard taste. The chapel, which in form recalls the Pazzi Chapel in -Florence—though it lacks the perfect purity and restraint of that -wonderful building—is always supposed, though without any positive -evidence, to be by Brunelleschi’s pupil, Michelozzo. The general design -may be regarded as certainly Michelozzo’s, and much also of the -ornamentation, especially the charming stucco frieze of dancing angels, -light graceful forms instinct with winged motion and linked by a long -chain from which depend great bells of fruit and foliage. The same great -bells or tassels with fat _putti_ swinging on them, compose the -delightful arabesques on the pilasters. To Vincenzo Foppa, chief of the -early Milanese school of painters, was entrusted the fresco decoration -of the chapel. The four Fathers of the Church, in tondi in the -spandrils, figures of a robust and quiet realism, full of a -naturally-expressed dignity and fresh and decorative in colour, are some -of his finest work. The other frescoes, four large scenes representing -scenes from the life of Peter Martyr—the Saint preaching at Florence; -confounding a false miracle-worker at the altar; tending a youth who has -fallen from the top of a building and whom he has miraculously saved -from death; and being stabbed to death by heretics—are Foppa’s design -and in part his work, but they have been much restored, and in their -present state are hardly worthy of him. - -The monument of Peter Martyr occupies the middle of the chapel, which -was built to enshrine his head only, and not this huge Trecento tomb -containing the rest of his body, which was moved here in the seventeenth -century from its place in the church and is a superfluous and cumbersome -feature, quite out of keeping with the finished little Renaissance -building. In itself the tomb is a very fine and important work, the -masterpiece of Giovanni di Balduccio—though in parts the help of his -scholars is visible—the model in thought and style for the monumental -sculptors of the Trecento in Milan. The name of the sculptor and the -date, 1239, are inscribed upon it. The sarcophagus is decorated with -bas-reliefs narrative of the Saint’s career, crowded and vivacious -compositions, in all of which except that of the healing of the dumb boy -an inferior hand has been traced.[13] Figures of the Virtues, stately -and classic in type though characteristically thick and short, stand -against the pilasters, each with feet planted on some symbolic creature. -The different orders of angels are represented by figures on the top of -the sarcophagus, and the pyramidal cover is decorated with more -bas-reliefs—a king and queen kneeling, a bishop, friars and devotees, -the Saint crowned by angels and blessing the people of Milan. The -monument is completed by a beautiful Gothic canopy with Madonna -enthroned between St. Dominic and St. Peter Martyr. - -Footnote 13: - - Ventura, _Storia dell’ Arte_, vol. 4, p. 562. - - * * * * * - -S. Vincenzo in Prato, to the west of San Lorenzo, is a beautiful example -of early Romanesque. Built by Abbot Gisilberto in 833, it was restored -after 1000, and after undergoing the usual transformations of the -baroque period it was reduced quite recently to its old Lombard form of -three aisles ending in three apses, the principal apse containing the -sanctuary being raised above a deep crypt. The brick exterior, with the -row of deep niches round the apse and the ornamental _archetti_ beneath -the roof, is very picturesque and characteristic. - -Another interesting building of the end of the tenth century is the -abandoned fragment of the old Church of S. Celso, which gives its name -to the great adjacent temple of Sta. Maria di S. Celso. The principal -part of the old basilica was pulled down in 1818 to give light and air -to its overgrown neighbour, and there is little more than the apse now -left, and some interesting capitals of Romanesque style inside and -outside the building. The fine old doorway has fortunately escaped -destruction, and has been embodied in a new façade, built in 1851. Upon -the architrave is a rude bas-relief depicting the story of San Celso and -his companion, San Nazaro, who were martyred in the Field of the Three -Mulberry Trees, the very spot where the church stands. The decaying -wooden doors and the Madonna and saints at the top are of the fifteenth -century. - -S. Calimero, to the north-east, is also Romanesque. S. Nazaro, close to -the last, one of the oldest foundations, standing in the days of St. -Ambrose, rebuilt in later centuries and again completely transformed by -Cardinal Borromeo, has preserved some Romanesque features in its -exterior. Within there are some old stained-glass windows of German -workmanship. A very precious silver coffer, with beautiful reliefs of -late Roman workmanship, is also kept here. Attached to the church is a -sepulchral chapel, built for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio by Francesco da -Briosco in 1518. The tombs of the great Marshal and of members of his -family, with their recumbent figures carved upon them by sixteenth -century sculptors, may be seen in it. - -S. Giovanni alla Conca, also a very ancient church and much favoured by -Bernabò Visconti, has a fine thirteenth century façade, restored. - -A very ancient church, said to have been the first built in Milan, on -the site of a temple to the Sun, is the little S. Babila, just opposite -the Column with the Lion, which marks the place of the old Porta -Orientale at the beginning of Corso Venezia. As seen now S. Babila is a -complete restoration, very scientifically accomplished in the last few -years, and presents within and without a very perfect model of a Lombard -church of the early centuries after the 1000. - -Most of these early Milanese buildings have indeed to be accepted on the -faith of the modern restorer, but for whom these interesting churches -would still be vested in the hideous baroque disfigurements of the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. S. Sepolcro, close to the -Biblioteca Ambrosiana, is one of these. The towers, the crypt—studied -with much interest by Leonardo da Vinci—and the exterior of the apse -alone remained of the eleventh or twelfth century church, and these have -been lately restored and a new façade built in appropriate style to -replace the Borromean substitute for the original. The interior is quite -spoilt. In the sacristy there is a Nativity by Gianpietrino, a -characteristic work, with some infants of attractively soft contours, -but curiously brown flesh colour in the foreground. Sta. Maria a -Beltrade, off Via Torino on the west side, is of very ancient origin, -but has nothing of interest left except a twelfth century bas-relief of -rudest and most childish style upon the wall outside, representing the -old Candlemas procession in which an image of Madonna was carried from -this church to the Cathedral, a Christian substitute for the Pagan -ceremony in honour of Cybele. - -Another ancient Milanese sanctuary, the Chapel of S. Satiro, built in -879, was restored in the Renaissance period, and incorporated with the -Church of Sta. Maria presso S. Satiro.[14] - -Footnote 14: - - See Chapter XIII. - -S. Simpliciano, in the north of the city, has preserved three beautiful -doorways of the Romanesque period, enriched with sculptured marble -columns and roll mouldings. The eleventh century interior was enlarged -in the late fifteenth century, and transformed in later restorations. -Its chief interest now is the great fresco in the apse—the Coronation of -the Virgin—an imposing composition by Borgognone in his advanced years, -rich and decorative in colour, and remarkable for Quattrocento -simplicity of treatment and feeling at a time when the great -Cinquecentists had already revolutionised artistic ideals. - -To the east of S. Simpliciano, close to the Palazzo di Brera, stands S. -Marco, which in the exterior of the transepts alone shows traces of its -original thirteenth century form. The beautiful pointed door, with the -statues in Gothic niches above, was built more than a century later. The -rest of the façade is modern, and the whole exterior wears a vesture of -new red brick. The campanile, with its pointed steeple and frieze of -interlaced _archetti_, is early fourteenth century and very -characteristic of the brick building of that period. The interior is -baroque, but in the north transept there are some fine sepulchral -monuments of Milanese nobles. They are all of the school of Giovanni di -Balduccio, and the bas-reliefs upon them resemble in arrangement and -style the tombs already seen in St. Eustorgio. One is to Salvarino -Aliprandi, of an ancient patrician family in the city, who died 1344. -Another commemorates Lanfranco Settala, General of the Augustinian Order -and founder of the church, who died in 1264. His genial effigy is carved -on the tomb, seated in his preceptor’s chair, with his devout and -diminutive pupils around him. Here is also the tomb of Martino -Aliprandi, a man distinguished for his learning and eloquence, sent as -envoy from Azzo Visconte to Pope John XXII. in 1332, and yet another, -that of Giacomo Bossi, a knight of the Empire, who died in 1355. The -monument of the Birago family, which is placed above the last, though -sculptured as late as 1455 by Cristoforo dei Luvoni, shows little -artistic advance on the Trecento works. - -Of secular buildings of the Romanesque and early Gothic period hardly -anything is now left in Milan. The Palazzo della Ragione, however, still -stands, though disfigured in later days, on the spot which was once the -Broletto Nuovo, the centre and citadel of civic life in the Republican -era, a space enclosed in defensive walls and pierced by six gates, -corresponding in direction to the principal gates of the city. The walls -were built and the seat of the Podestà was transferred thither early in -the thirteenth century from the Broletto Vecchio beside the Cathedral, a -move significant of the complete liberation of the Commune from the old -domination of the Archbishop. The word Broletto appears to be derived -from _brolo_, signifying in Milanese a garden, the old Broletto having -been once the garden of the Archbishop; but the name followed the civic -offices with which it had become inseparably associated—hence Broletto -Nuovo. The move was in fact a return of the chief authority in the city -to its old abode, since the Broletto Nuovo was apparently the citadel in -Roman times, and the seat later on of the military governors, called -_Dukes_, under the Lombard rulers. The name of Curia Ducis, the Court of -the Duke, still survives in the name Cordusio, by which the big modern -piazza close by is called. - -The Palazzo della Ragione was built in 1228, with a vast open portico -below and a great hall above, which was reached, not by a staircase in -the building, but over the archway still existing at the north end. It -was altered in later times, and an incongruous upper storey was added in -the eighteenth century. It is now being restored. The palace stood till -1866 in the centre of a piazza—the original Broletto in fact—which was -enclosed on the north side by the great Palazzo dei Giurisconsulti. The -modern Via Mercanti now runs between it and the last-named palace, but -on the other side it faces into the little Piazza dei Mercanti, which -represents all that remains of the Broletto, and is still surrounded by -old palaces. It is the one bit of mediæval Milan left, apart from single -buildings. On this side of the Palazzo della Ragione there is a little -equestrian statue of the Podestà Oldrado da Tresseno, with his name and -the date, 1233, beneath, and some Leonine verses in which he is lauded -in an elegant rhyme for building the upper storey of the palace and for -sedulously performing his duty of burning heretics. - - _Qui solum struxit Catharos ut debuit uxit._ - -[Illustration: STATUE OF OLDRADO DA TRESSENO] - -The statue is by Benedetto Antelami,[15] chief of the so-called Comacine -masters—predecessors of the Campionesi—and best known by his sculptures -on the Cathedral and Baptistery at Parma. It is the work of his old age. -It shows a feeling for nature and a power of expression immensely in -advance of the twelfth century sculptors, and marks the gradual -emancipation of thought from the strange terror and the sense of human -littleness in the midst of natural and supernatural forces, which -oppressed the Middle Ages. Here is a work of art in honour of one who is -neither God nor saint—a new conception of man’s importance in the scheme -of the Universe. - -Footnote 15: - - Venturi, _Storia dell’ Arte_, vol. 3, p. 340. - -On the south side of the piazza is the Loggia degli Osii, built, as a -scarcely legible inscription in the wall records, in 1316, by Matteo -Visconte, who had acquired the houses of the Osii, a Milanese family, -for the purpose. Built in and partly concealed in later times, the old -features of this palace have been quite recently disclosed by careful -restoration. The beautiful pointed arcade of the loggia rests upon a -parapet decorated with the shields of the Visconti and of the different -divisions of the city, and in the middle projects the _ringhiera_ or -balcony, from which official harangues were made and decrees proclaimed. -The statues of the Virgin and various saints in the deeply-sunk niches -of the storey above are of the school of Giovanni di Balduccio. - -The palace on the right hand of the loggia, of heavy ornate style, -replaced in the seventeenth century a much earlier building. The west -side of the piazza is filled by a little palace, originally built by -Azzo Visconte early in the fourteenth century for the bankers and -money-changers. It is decorated with charming terra-cotta ornamentation, -and has been partly restored, but it is much spoilt by modern occupation -and use for business purposes. - -[Illustration: PALAZZO DEI BANCHIERI] - -On this spot of the Broletto Nuovo all the busy excited life of mediæval -Milan once swayed and surged. This was the point upon which all the -different parts of the city converged, and hither at the call of danger -marched the militia of each division, called by the name of its gate, -Porta Romana, Porta Ticinese, etc., to go forth again, each preceded by -its gonfalon, to the defence of the respective gates and quarters. Or if -the decree of the Republic were for an offensive expedition, the -Caroccio would be drawn forth from its place in the Duomo and brought -here, and the combined host, gathering round it, would pass out in order -of battle. In the upper chamber of the Palazzo della Ragione public -business was transacted, and the portico below was the assembly place -for the citizens for the discussion of public affairs and for amusement -and sport, all that common social life, shared together by noble and -plebeian, of republican Italy in the Middle Ages. Here were brought the -captured enemies of the Republic—that is, of the party in power. In some -dark and secure corner of the palace there were cages inhabited by -living prisoners. The chroniclers relate how Napo della Torre, to -revenge his brother Paganino’s death at the hands of Milanese exiles in -Vercelli, had thirteen noble prisoners carried to the Broletto and their -heads smitten off one by one, till his own young son fell at his feet -and vowed that he himself would not live if the life of the thirteenth—a -certain physician who had lately cured the boy of a mortal sickness—were -not spared. But the statue of Oldrado, burner of heretics, has not -looked down on grim scenes only. Here many great feasts took place, such -as that one which Francesco della Torre made in 1268 to celebrate the -passage through Milan of Margaret of Burgundy, the bride of Charles of -Anjou, when two oxen stuffed with pigs and sheep were roasted in the -Broletto, and more than three thousand persons were fed; tournaments -also were often held here in honour of victories and joyful events. We -read of tumults too, and of the Milanese women on one occasion, when a -rumour of new taxes had gone forth, besieging the palace with knives in -their hands and seizing and selling all the salt, which was then as -always a Government monopoly and was stored in an adjacent building. - -Another monument of Milan’s republican days, and of her noble struggles -for liberty in the twelfth century, is the old Porta Nuova, often called -the Portone,—the massive arches at the end of the Via Manzoni. This is -one of the gates built in defiance of Barbarossa in 1171. It was -originally decorated with rude sculptures representing the return of the -Milanese, after the destruction of the city in 1162, and with a figure -of Barbarossa seated cross-legged on a devil; these are now in the -Castello. The bas-relief with two Roman heads, still to be seen on the -gate, is said to be a relic of the older gate corresponding to this one -in the Roman walls. The old towers have been pulled down. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - _Gothic and Renaissance Buildings_ - - - “O tempo consumatore delle cose e o invidiosa antichità.”—LEONARDO DA - VINCI. - -A campanile here and there about the city, as for example those of S. -Gottardo and S. Marco, already described, the richly decorated belfry of -St. Antonio—near the Ospedale Maggiore—and but little else, remains in -Milan of the graceful Gothic brick building of the period, early -fourteenth century, when Azzo Visconte beautified the city with many new -edifices. The Duomo stands as the great monument of Gian Galeazzo -Visconte’s time, half a century or so later. - -[Illustration: DOORWAY OF PALAZZO BORROMEO] - -From the beginning of the fifteenth century dates the Palazzo Borromeo, -a rare example, still surviving, of the domestic building of the Gothic -period. The fine pointed doorway is enriched with sculptured mouldings -of beautiful design, into which at the top is introduced the heraldic -device of the House, the Camel couched in a basket, emblematic of the -patience and the far journeyings of the _Bonromei_, the Good Pilgrims. -The cortile, which is exceedingly picturesque, has porticoes with -pointed arches of wide span, resting on low octagonal pillars with -simple capitals of stiff foliage. On one side, where there is no -portico, the windows are richly ornamented with terra-cotta mouldings, -and are of a somewhat later date. They have been recently restored, and -the fresco decoration in the wall appears too freshly repainted. The -Bit, also a device of the Borromei, is moulded beneath the windows, and -the motto Humilitas, surmounted by a crown—a suggestive juxtaposition—is -repeated everywhere in the painted pattern. Fragments of early fifteenth -century frescoes have been uncovered on other parts of the walls in the -cortile. In one corner we see a company of sweetfaced, pensive ladies, -with the shaven foreheads and turban-like head-dresses and coiffures of -the period, gathered on a ship, which a reverend Signor, in crimson -cloak and cap, seems to await at a landing-place, a page without -beginning or end of one of those entrancing stories of Ursula and her -maidens, or some other saint, or of errant knights and beautiful -princesses which, figured thus upon the walls, fed the romantic spirit -of mediæval households. More complete and of great charm are some -frescoes in a chamber on the ground floor of the palace, which visitors -are allowed to see. They depict the pleasant country life of the -Milanese nobles in the fifteenth century—gaily attired ladies and -gentlemen, with high head-dresses and broad hats, seated round a table -under a tree in a wide landscape, playing the game of cards called -_tarocco_, others dancing, a lady with an astonishingly tall form and -tiny head performing a _pas seul_. These paintings suggest to some -extent Pisanello’s style, and are doubtless by one of the many -painters—Michelino da Besozzo, the Zavatarii, and others, who were -covering the walls of the Viscontean palaces in Milan and elsewhere with -scenes of the same sort, all now long vanished. - -The Borromeo Art Collection will be spoken of in a later chapter. - -Buildings of the middle and second half of the fifteenth century, the -period of the Sforza, those great patrons of architecture and all the -arts, are much more numerous. Sta. Maria del Carmine, a little to the -south-west of the Brera, was built under the direction of Guiniforte -Solari about 1446, and is the first of the transitional period from -Gothic to Renaissance. It has a modern façade, and the nave is the only -original part, the choir having been rebuilt late in the sixteenth -century. In a chapel on the north side there is a Madonna by Luini, much -spoilt. - -[Illustration: CORTILE OF PALAZZO BORROMEO] - -Sta. Maria Incoronata, further north, near Porta Garibaldi, consists of -two churches in one, that on the right built by the Augustinian monks, -with the help of Francesco Sforza, in 1451, the other by the Duchess -Bianca Maria ten years later. The twin building is an interesting -memorial of the closely united ducal pair. It has been much modernised. -The exterior of the north side and of the apse, and the tower, with its -rich terra-cotta decoration, make a very picturesque mass of brick -building. Inside the church is the fifteenth century tomb of Gabriele da -Cotignola, brother of Francesco Sforza and Archbishop of Milan, with his -recumbent effigy set up against the wall. Also monuments to some of the -Bossi family, with finely carved profile heads, perhaps by one of the -Busti; a monument to Giovanni Tolentino, attributed to Fusina, and one -or two other sculptured memorials, also of Renaissance style. - -The interesting Church of S. Pietro in Gessate, in the east, has kept -more of its original form. It was built about 1460, probably by -Guiniforte Solari, and enlarged later. The nave, of a pure and simple -Gothic, is flanked with chapels of the same style, built by noble -Milanese families. Some of these have escaped seventeenth and eighteenth -century disfigurement. The second chapel on the right has mediocre and -much repainted frescoes of the Marriage and Death of the Virgin. The -decoration of the roof with figures of saints in simulated niches, and -angels in medallions resembling round windows, is a very favourite -arrangement with the Milanese painters. The frescoes in the chapel of -St. Anthony—the next going upwards—are attributed to Montorfano. In the -large altarpiece Mariotto Obiano da Perugia, and Antonia de Michelotti, -his wife, founders of the chapel, are portrayed kneeling to the -enthroned Virgin, to whom they are being recommended by St. Benedict and -St. Anthony respectively. Above is the Dead Christ with St. Sebastian -and St. Roch. The architectural details of this picture are very rich, -and the marvellously patterned dress of the lady is painted with the -utmost minuteness and finish. The dark ashen hue of the Virgin’s face, -the high lights on the salient features, the ugly little angel playing -on the lute, and the general impression of laborious care are all very -characteristic of the uninspired but painstaking minor painters of the -earlier Milanese school. - -The great frescoes of the Capella Grifi in the south transept are more -important, and are interesting as being in part by Bernardo Zenale, of -whom there is only one other undisputed work known. As in the altarpiece -at Treviglio, so here Zenale was associated with Buttinone. The frescoes -are, however, so much ruined that it is difficult to judge them or to -distinguish the different hands. On the left wall are scenes from the -life of St. Ambrose, with groups of fifteenth century courtiers in the -foreground. The subjects on the right are almost obliterated, but we -seem to distinguish St. Ambrose again, seated in judgment. The curious -figure above, of a man hanging, is inexplicable, unless as a symbol of -justice visited on malefactors. The general colour of the painting is -warm and decorative, and more spontaneous than Buttinone’s laboured -easel pictures would make us expect. The types of some of the courtiers -in the left-hand fresco, and the women with long plaited hair on the -right are so much fairer and more refined than anything one knows of -Buttinone’s that one is led to attribute that part to Zenale; but the -rather coarse angels of the vaulted roof, very recently uncovered, seem -to be very Buttinone. The white-robed figure of St. Ambrose below them, -on a white horse against a blue sky, prancing forth against the Arians, -scourge in hand, is extremely decorative. On the floor of the chapel, -bereft of the sarcophagus on which it once rested, lies the recumbent -figure of Ambrogio Grifi, buried here in 1495. - -In the Via Filodrammatici, close to La Scala, is the beautiful old -doorway of the Palazzo Vimercati, which belongs to the early Sforzesque -period. The portrait of Duke Francesco, sculptured in profile, decorates -the front of the archivolt, with those of Julius Cæsar and Alexander in -flattering conjunction on either side. The rich band of foliage round -the arch culminates in the pine-cone, one of the emblems of the Sforza. -There is much resemblance between this door and that of the Borromeo -Palace. - -One of the greatest achievements of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria, -and a proof of an advanced sentiment of humanity, was the erection of -the vast Ospedale Maggiore for the reception and care of the sick, still -to this day the chief hospital of Milan.[16] It was begun in 1456 by the -Florentine architect, Antonio Averulino, or Filarete, who made the plans -and carried on the work till 1465, when he was supplanted by his Lombard -rival, Guiniforte Solari. The southern portion, distinguished by its -elegance and comparative purity of style from the rest, is the only part -of the immense façade which is the original fifteenth century work. The -diversity of architects is plainly revealed in this portion. The lower -part, with its stately round-headed arcade and restrained ornamentation, -is by the pupil of Brunelleschi; while in the windows of the upper -storey, not interspaced in correspondence with the arcade below, the -Lombard affection for the pointed arch and for luxuriant decoration has -prevailed over the original design of the Florentine. The building is -one of the richest examples of the brick and terra-cotta architecture of -North Italy, and this meeting of Gothic and Renaissance ideals in it -adds to its interest. The rest of the façade was built in - -Footnote 16: - - The famous Lazaretto, outside the old Porta Orientale, a beautiful - fifteenth century building, where the plague-stricken thousands were - huddled in the awful visitations of 1576 and 1630, as described in the - _Promessi Sposi_, has been pulled down. - -the seventeenth century, in imitation of the earlier part, but the -coarseness and crowded excess of the terra-cotta decoration betrays its -period. In the great marble portal, the architect, Ricchini, has frankly -followed the style of his own times. Within there is a vast cortile of -the same date. On the south side part of the fifteenth century building -is incorporated in it. Two much spoilt paintings of 1472, by Francesco -Vico, representing Francesco and Bianca Maria Sforza and their -benefactions to the hospital, are in one of the wards. Passages on the -right lead out of the principal cortile into smaller courts, fragmentary -and encumbered with erections for hospital use, but evidently remains of -the original building. The elegance and lightness of the porticoes here, -the graceful terra-cotta ornamentation of the archivolts, the richness -of the moulded brick cornices, the charming colour of the brick and -stone used together, show how beautiful the hospital must once have -been. These old cortiles have been attributed to Bramante, but -apparently with no more justification than most of the other buildings -of this style in Milan, labelled indiscriminately in uncritical times as -Bramantesque. - -The Via dell’ Ospedale opens into the piazza beside S. Stefano, where -Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was stabbed to death by Girolamo Olgiati and his -companions on St. Stephen’s Day, 1476. The church, of very ancient -foundation, has been completely modernised, and the atrium where the -deed was accomplished has disappeared altogether. A primitive Madonna -and Saints is frescoed over an altar on the south side, and beside the -west entrance is an archaic bas-relief representing Christ blessing two -saints. Via Brolo leads hence into Piazza Verzieri, the fruit and -vegetable market, where the rows of women hucksters, in their bright -kerchiefs and coloured skirts, seated beneath vast white umbrellas, make -a picturesque scene in spite of the modernised surroundings. - - * * * * * - -The traces of Bramante’s handiwork in Milan, where he is known to have -been employed for many years, have vanished more and more in the light -of the careful studies of recent times. But in the Church of Sta. Maria -delle Grazie we do at last come upon them, though his part in this -building also seems to be much less than was generally supposed. The -famous Dominican church, with its memories of Lodovico il Moro and -Beatrice d’Este, of Leonardo and Bramante, of the novelist Prior, Matteo -Bandello, brings us to the full Renaissance. It is in part, however, of -the transition style, and links together the earlier and later -Sforzesque periods. It was built for the Dominicans in 1465, by Count -Gaspare Vimercati, one of Francesco Sforza’s chief supporters, and -became later a special object of interest to the Moro, who, not -satisfied with its already antiquated style, began to rebuild it -completely as soon as he attained the Dukedom. His project was, however, -only carried out as far as the choir and cupola. This part used always -to be, and is still by some, attributed to Bramante, but there is no -evidence that he contributed except with his advice and influence to the -work. The great clustered pile, as it appears outside, with its -rectangular and circular projections, its panels and pilasters, -parapets, arcades, columns and candelabra, its medallions and perforated -wheels, seems typical of Renaissance ideas as interpreted by the Lombard -architects, with their dislike for simplicity and broad effects, their -fondness for broken surfaces and elaborate detail, their natural -redundancy. It is grandiose, melancholy and cold. Round the base are -shields bearing the various devices of the Sforza. The flank of the -church, with its long windows and round _oculi_, and rich terra-cotta -mouldings, is of the earlier style used by the Solari, as is also the -façade, but here in the beautiful marble portal, the only part -accomplished of the new front projected by Lodovico, we come upon what -is generally allowed to be actually Bramante’s work. Its large and -dignified character, and the pure design of the arabesques, show a great -artist, and a character foreign to the Lombard. The _scoppetta_, il -Moro’s peculiar emblem, is introduced into the pattern on the pilaster -on the right hand of the door. - -On entering the church one cannot but feel grateful that the Moro’s -ambitious designs never arrived at the destruction of this beautiful -Gothic nave, so simple and so graceful, so devout and suggestive, with -its grey columns and hoary colour and touches of faded fresco -everywhere. The story goes that Count Gaspare Vimercati, the founder, -and Fra Jacopo Sestio, who was in charge of the work for the Dominicans, -had much contention over it, the one desiring a fine handsome building, -the other a sanctuary suited to the poverty and humility of the friars. -They seem to have succeeded in embodying the ideals of both. From the -dim Gothic aisles one emerges with a curious sense of contrast into the -great space beyond, where immense arches, springing from heavy -pilasters, support a lofty dome, whence abundant light pours down from a -circle of windows. This is, of course, the later part of the building. -The cupola, which is of nobler and severer aspect within than outside, -is much disfigured by baroque decorations. The device of painting -objects in perspective, to simulate relief, had already attracted the -architects even of the great age, as is shown here, where it is used -with ingenuity and restraint in the simulated parts of the gallery in -the lowest storey of the dome. The Evangelists in the spandrils are a -glaring instance of its abuse in later times. - -The choir has fine stalls of 1470, decorated with figures and elaborate -designs in intarsia. High up on the right, near the organ, is a charming -fresco by Luini, painted in 1517, of the Virgin and Saints and a -devotee, one Laschenaer, an officer of Louis XII.’s. It was to this -choir, still unfinished, that the dead body of the young Duchess -Beatrice was carried in those mournful early days of 1497, and here that -the friars chanted Masses round her bier for seven days and nights -without ceasing, and that amid a countless host of mourners bearing -torches she was committed to her tomb. Hither came her husband, to weep -and pray over her grave, before he abandoned his and her Milan to the -invader. Beneath the pavement behind the High Altar she lies now, her -infant children beside her. Some say that the Moro’s body, recovered -from its far-off exile in France, rests here too beside it, but this is -very uncertain. Anyhow a pitiful obscurity covers this grave in which -those brief years of an incomparable pride and glory ended—not even a -stone marks it now. The monument carved for it by Cristoforo Solari, -with the effigies of the husband and wife upon it, has been removed to -the Certosa of Pavia. - -There are some ruined frescoes by Gaudenzio Ferrari in the fourth Chapel -on the south side of the church. The old, low-vaulted ornate chapel of -the Rosario, on the north side, has some fifteenth century frescoes, -also ruined. Close to the altar is a large sepulchral monument to the -Della Torre family, late fifteenth century, attributed to the Cazzaniga. -The monument to Branda Castiglione, with the realistic profile and -delicate arabesques, is perhaps by Briosco,[17] and that to the Della -Valle by Fusina. - -Footnote 17: - - See Malaguzzi Valeri, _G. A. Amadeo_, p. 238. - -The most interesting part of the building architecturally is the small -cloister which leads to the old sacristy, both recently restored. Here -the beautiful porticoes, in which the characteristic Lombard charm of -colour due to the combination of brick and stone is joined to a singular -purity and grace of form, justify the traditional belief that Bramante -was the architect. The sacristy also, a lofty rectangular building, is -probably his. The roof is decorated with a curious painted pattern of -intertwisted cords, such as is seen in some of Leonardo’s drawings. -There are beautiful presses, some of which are inlaid, others painted in -imitation of inlay; they are decorated with small painted scenes, -biblical and legendary. They were begun in 1498 by the sacristan, Fra -Vincenzo Spanzotto, and continued later under the care of Matteo -Bandello. In the recess at the east end there is a very poor altarpiece, -representing Gaspare Vimercati kneeling before St. John Baptist, -attributed to Marco d’Oggiono; and on either side of the chapel a -profile in bas-relief, one a portrait of the Moro, the other of his son -Maximilian, a charming-looking youth with curling hair, at about the age -when he returned to Milan as Duke—by some Milanese sculptor of the early -sixteenth century. A fresco on the right-hand side, by Luini, shows -Madonna, with Beatrice d’Este and one of her little sons kneeling as -devotees. It is a charming presentment, joyous and young, of the -princess as she may have remained in the memory of the artist from the -days of his youth. - -The convent, now long converted to secular purposes, was, like the -church, the object of Lodovico Sforza’s generosity. Leonardo da Vinci -was commissioned by him to decorate the refectory with paintings, and -there the Florentine artist, working slowly through many years, produced -his Last Supper. The work was probably begun soon after 1483, and -apparently not finished till 1498. The fate that befell it within a few -years is one of the greatest tragedies in the history of art. Owing to -his experimental use of oil, instead of the usual method of -wall-painting, it was already quite ruined—_rovinata tutta_—when Lomazzo -wrote his treatise on painting, sixty years later, and as early as 1536 -it was, by Vasari’s testimony, only a blur. The repeated restorations of -the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have almost obliterated the -faint remaining traces of the master’s handiwork. The Dominicans -wantonly contributed to the destruction of their priceless possession by -cutting a door into their kitchen through the lower part of the central -group, and Napoleon’s troops, stabled in the hall in 1796, gave it a -final battering. - -The refectory stands beside the church. As one enters, the ghost of the -great picture appears at the upper end of the long melancholy chamber. -It seems at first sight as if nothing of the real work were left. _Cosa -bella mortal passa_, Leonardo has said himself, and he, least of all, -seems to have cared to give immortality to the beauty which he created. -_E non d’arte_, he adds. And soon we perceive that this too is true -here. For the deep and elemental significance of the painter’s -conception lives still in its largeness and entirety, expressed in the -great lines of the composition, in the distribution of light and shade, -in the disposition of the figures. Our eyes are carried up by every line -of the composition, every action of the subordinate figures, and left -alone with the Christ. He sits upright, His hands spread out upon the -table, His head against the space of light framed by the large middle -window of the long chamber. On either side, but a little apart, so that -no other head intrudes on this central space of light, are ranged the -Twelve, in groups of three. The words have been uttered—_One of you -shall betray me_—and a tempest of surprise and questioning agitates -them. Peter, half rising, grasps the shoulder of John, who still sleeps -on. Judas draws fiercely away, clutching the moneybag. Beyond this -group, Andrew, James the Less, and Bartholomew, variously show distress -and wonder. On the other side, James the Elder spreads his hands in -horror; Thomas lifts his forefinger; Philip, risen, leans forward in -earnest protest. Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon, beyond, comment eagerly on -His words. But their agitation cannot touch that central stillness; it -serves only to deepen the spiritual silence in which He sits solitary. -He has eaten and drunk with them, but they have not understood. Love -itself is asleep, leaning away to a sinner’s breast. Only Hate -understands and watches, proud and defiant, with tense grasp upon its -desire. But even the splendid Judas, supremely evil, draws back afraid. -The Passion has begun. Out there in the dawn lies Gethsemane. Calvary is -beyond. _Could ye not watch with Me one hour?_ will be but a question -already answered; only the _Eli Eli lama Sabacthani_ has yet to come. - -[Illustration: - - _To face p. 314_] - - LAST SUPPER, BY LEONARDO. DETAIL, FIGURE OF CHRIST - - [_A. Ferrario, Milan_ -] - -It is commonly said that Leonardo never quite finished the face of the -Christ. In any case we do not see it now as he left it. The half-length -pencil drawing in the Brera Gallery has been regarded as Leonardo’s own -study for this figure, but if it is genuine—which many authorities -deny—it has been so much worked over by other hands that it has no value -as an indication of the artist’s conception, which remains for us -unparticularised. Studies of the heads of Matthew, Simon and Judas -fortunately exist in the Windsor Castle Collection and show the heroic -lines on which they were designed by Leonardo. The drawings of the -Apostles in the Weimar Collection, photographs of which are to be seen -in the room, are judged to be copies of studies made by one of -Leonardo’s followers from the picture, and are valuable as giving a -contemporary version of the originals. There are also a few genuine -sketches at Windsor and at Paris of some of the groups, and in Venice a -drawing of the whole scene exists, probably a copy of one by the master. -The subject had long occupied Leonardo’s thoughts before he received the -commission, and these sketches show the progress of his conception of -it. Among his writings, too, there are ideas noted down of various -attitudes and actions for the Apostles. - -Some of the many copies made by Leonardo’s pupils hang on the walls -here; the most important is the one on the right hand nearest the -original, by Marco d’Oggiono. Here the artist has followed his master’s -work as faithfully as he could, and it is extremely interesting to -notice the differences into which his own temperament has insensibly led -him. These are most apparent in the central figure, which he has -inclined sideways and impressed with a sentimentality and effeminacy -absolutely foreign to the attitude of the original. This shows the -direction in which Leonardo’s Lombard followers were disposed -instinctively to carry his style, evolving a morbid type which has -become too much associated with his name. The copyist appears to have -altered the Apostles, also giving the weakness of exaggeration to their -virile and spontaneous expression of emotion. It is from this copy, or -rather from a copy of it and not from the ruined original, that the -engraving was done by which the picture has become known all over the -world, another instance of the strange fate of ruin or of travestied -existence which has befallen so much of Leonardo’s work. The other -copies in the room lose value by their departure in part from the -arrangement of the original. - -[Illustration: - - LAST SUPPER, BY LEONARDO. DETAIL, ST. JOHN, ST. PETER AND JUDAS - - _To face p. 316_] [_A. Ferrario, Milan_ -] - -The great work in the Dominican convent attracted immense attention and -interest even during its progress. It is often mentioned by writers of -this time and a little later. Bandello, in one of his novels, gives an -oft-quoted description of the painter at work. _He used often to go -early in the morning and mount upon the platform and, from sunrise until -the dusk of evening, never putting down his brush and forgetting to eat -and drink, paint without ceasing. Then two, three or four days would -pass when he would not touch it, but remained for one or two hours -together contemplating, considering and examining within himself, -judging his figures. I have seen him too, according as his caprice or -humour moved him, go off at noon-day, when the sun was in Leo, from the -Corte Vecchia, where he was composing his stupendous horse of clay, and -come straight to the Grazie, and mounting the platform, take a brush and -give one or two strokes to one of the figures, and straightway depart -and go elsewhere._ Doubtless Bandello was often in that room, where the -friars watched the progress of the painting with great impatience, -annoyed at the painter’s unaccountable lengthiness. Duke Lodovico -himself, finest and most appreciative of critics, would sometimes come, -and many noble gentlemen were wont to visit the painter here and -converse with him as they contemplated his work. The fame of the great -picture spread quickly throughout Europe. When Louis XII. entered Milan -in 1499, he came to see it, and expressed a desire, fortunately -impracticable, to carry it away to his own country. With him were Duke -Ercole of Ferrara, the Marquis Gian Francesco of Mantua, and many other -brilliant and historic characters; among them was Cæsar Borgia, and -possibly it was on this occasion, before his newly finished picture, -that Leonardo first met this extraordinary man, into whose service he -shortly after entered. - -The other end of the refectory is filled with a vast fresco of the -Crucifixion, by Montorfano, signed with his name and the date 1495. The -perfect state of preservation of this poor, laboured and crowded -composition, an inferior example even of the Milanese school, seems a -bitter irony here. The Lombard painter, sticking to the old groove, has -achieved the permanence which Leonardo recklessly risked for the sake of -an experiment. At the lower corner of the painting, on either side, are -portraits of the ducal family kneeling in devotion, Lodovico and the -little Maximilian on the left, Beatrice and the younger child Francesco -on the right, and these, unlike the rest of the picture, are in very bad -condition—almost obliterated. Vasari affirms them to have been painted -by Leonardo himself at the special command of the Duke, and in oil, like -the Last Supper; but the portraits themselves, as far as can be judged -from what remains of them, are quite mediocre and do not bear out his -statement. - - * * * * * - -In San Satiro, entered from Via Torino, we come at last to a building -really by Bramante. The church is properly called Sta. Maria, the -ancient S. Satiro being represented by a chapel incorporated with it. It -was founded in 1476, on the site of a shrine containing a miraculous -picture of the Virgin. It is a purely Renaissance building, but has -certain peculiarities due to cramped conditions, the builder having been -restricted in space and bound by the necessity of embodying the remains -of the old Basilica of S. Satiro on one side and of an existing Chapel -of S. Teodoro on the other. The difficulties have been ingeniously -surmounted, and the effect is very fine, but it seems a pity that the -genius of Bramante should not have had room for free play. The general -impression on entering into the rich and gilded obscurity of the -interior is of great breadth and spaciousness. The three aisles, in -which the dividing pilasters and arches are unusually low in proportion -to the height of the roof—a feature explained by the necessity of -according them with the old S. Satiro, now the Chapel of the Pietà—open -out into a great space roofed by a lofty cupola and with wide transepts. -The church ends in a grandiose semicircular choir. Here the architect -met with his chief difficulty, being prevented by the street outside -from carrying the building as far eastward as was necessary for his -design after allowing full scope for the rise of the cupola. He has -overcome it by a deceptive use of perspective, the depth of the choir -being simulated, not real. The device can only be admired for its -ingenuity and the cleverness with which it is executed. - -The gilded friezes and capitals of the nave are of the best Renaissance -style, rich but of clear and not over-elaborate design. In the spandrils -beneath the cupola are medallions circled with gilded ornamentation and -containing paintings of the four Evangelists, by Bramantino, dignified -forms, dim and rich in colour as seen from below. There is an old -picture of the Virgin over the High Altar, with a portrait in it of the -young Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza, but it is held in such extreme -veneration that the veil covering it may not be withdrawn except on one -special day of the year. - -The Chapel of the Pietà is at the end of the left transept. This ninth -century structure, founded according to tradition by Archbishop -Ansperto, was restored at the time when the large church was built -beside it. The coloured terra-cotta group of the Deposition which gives -its present name to the chapel, a crudely realistic work, ably modelled -and utterly inartistic, has been ascribed, quite unjustifiably, to the -famous Milanese goldsmith, Caradosso, a delicate worker in fine -materials. It is probably by one of the many Lombard sculptors of the -style of the Mantegazza. - -Adjoining the church on the right is the Baptistery or sacristy, a -beautiful little example of Bramante’s work. It is a small octagonal -building with a lofty dome and very richly decorated. The remarkable -terra-cotta frieze, composed of heads projecting from wreaths, between -groups of sportive _putti_, and painted to look like bronze, has been -also always ascribed to Caradosso; but it is now pronounced to be -certainly not his work, the style of the heads, vigorous, realistic, and -somewhat coarse, showing all the characteristics of the late fifteenth -century Lombard school of sculpture, rather than the fine hand of the -metal-worker, trained in Rome, whom documents, moreover, prove to have -been absent from Milan when this work was executed. - -The exterior of the church is much hidden by the houses around, but a -bit of it can be seen closely in Via Falcone and shows Bramante’s hand -in the bold classic style, and the strong, simple, and graceful design -of the terra-cotta ornamentation. From the Via Carlo Alberto one gets an -impressive view of part of the low and elaborate Renaissance pile, proud -and learned, and beautiful with brick and stucco decoration, swelling -beside the simple old Campanile which belongs to the original ninth -century church, and is the most ancient example of a Romanesque tower -now existing in Milan. - -[Illustration: SAN SATIRO] - -The Monastero Maggiore, also called S. Maurizio, in the Corso Magenta, -is an early sixteenth century building of typical Renaissance form, by -Dolcebuono, and is extremely interesting on account of the complete and -beautiful decoration of the interior by Luini and his school. It is one -of the principal shrines for the worshippers of that master, who is seen -at his best there. Luini was commissioned, about 1522, to paint this -church by Alessandro Bentivoglio and his wife, Ippolita Sforza, their -daughter Alessandra being a nun in the ancient and wealthy Benedictine -convent to which it belonged. The interior, which is of great length, -without aisles, has a very graceful gallery or loggia all round, and -chapels in the corresponding space below. A partition wall in the -middle, not reaching to the roof, divides it into halves, the lower half -being the public church, with the High Altar at its upper end, and the -part shut off behind the choir that reserved by the nuns for their -private use. The whole interior has the effect of a splendid hall, -rather than a church. The walls are entirely covered with paintings, of -the strong gay colour characteristic of Luini’s work, dimmed by time to -a delightful harmony where the temptation to “freshen it up” has been -resisted. Beautiful ladies, in richest robes, look out from beside the -High Altar with that sweet familiar smile, of which the charm grows -somewhat stale by too much repetition. The emblems they carry show them -to be saints—Cecilia and Ursula holding a tabernacle between them, -Apollonia and Lucia standing on either side of a small figure of the -Redeemer. Above them appears a real lady of the time, Ippolita Sforza -herself, a beautiful and stately creature, in a spreading white brocade -dress, kneeling under the protecting presence of three saints, of whom -Sta. Scholastica, who has her hand on Ippolita’s shoulder, is said to be -a portrait of her daughter, the young Suora Alessandra. Alessandro -Bentivoglio, a mild personage, who is lauded by his daughter in a -memorial inscription for having done no one any harm—_nemini nocuit_—is -depicted in a corresponding composition on the other side of the altar, -with S. Benedict, St. John Baptist, and St. Lawrence. Above on the left -is the Martyrdom of St. Maurice, and on the right St. Sigismund, the -supposed original founder of the church, offering a model of the -building to St. Maurice, who stands upon a pedestal, and in the -background of the same composition is seen the Martyrdom of Sigismund. -Between is represented the Assumption of the Virgin, in which the -principal figure has been unfortunately much restored. The altarpiece is -by Campi, 1578. - -The frescoes of the chapel on the right of the sanctuary are also by -Luini. In the midst is the Scourging of Christ; on the left the fine -portrait of an old man, Francesco Besozzi, at whose charge the chapel -was painted, and St. Catherine protecting him; on the right St. -Lawrence. Above and at the sides are depicted scenes from the legend of -St. Catherine. The figure of the saint being beheaded—on the right-hand -side—is very beautiful. The meek bent head, with rich gold hair simply -coiled, the adorable neck bared for the sword, the golden dress, -composing an exquisite harmony of colour, make one forgive Luini for -sometimes boring one a little. Bandello, in his story of the Contessa di -Cellant, tells us that this is a portrait of that naughty and ill-fated -lady, who was beheaded on the piazza of the Castello in 1524 for having -induced one of her lovers to murder another. But there seems to be no -real foundation for this identification, and it is difficult to -associate this wholly lovely creature with the too passionate Contessa. - -The frescoes in the other chapels are by the school of Luini. - -Passing into the choir, or Nuns’ Church, we see on the other side of the -dividing wall more frescoes by Luini himself, corresponding to the -decoration on the public side. Here is another row of sister saints, -whose beauty is the more enchanting for the veil spread over them by the -centuries, and happily undisturbed. These gracious ladies stand for -Apollonia, Lucia, Catherine, and Agatha. The story of the Passion is -frescoed round the altar. Near by may be seen the arms of the Bentivogli -and Sforza quartered together, and the initials of Alessandro and -Hippolita, the benefactors of the church. The lower part of the wall is -decorated in chiaroscuro, with angels and saints in simulated -terra-cotta medallions. The ceiling painting over the altar—God the -Father surrounded by saints—is by Borgognone, by whom are also the -figures of bishops and saints between the arches on each side of the -church. The rest of the frescoes with which the walls are everywhere -covered are poor works, by the sons and followers of Luini. The carving -of the double row of stalls, simple but of very good style, is of the -same period as the church. - -By a staircase, which emerges on a terrace, where you find yourself -close to the ancient brick campanile of the convent—a relic, some say, -of the Roman walls, or, according to other authorities, one of the -towers built by Ansperto when he restored the walls in the ninth -century—you are conducted into the upper gallery of the church. Over the -doorways leading through this loggia there are half-length paintings of -women saints by Boltraffio, exceedingly charming where they have not -been spoilt by repainting. They have the familiar contours of that -artist’s Madonnas, but the colour, unlike the hot and opaque tones of -his oil-painting, is very fresh and delicate, and decorative. They are -all there, the Martyrs, Catherine, Agnes, Agatha, and the rest, each -sweet-visaged creature bearing a green branch flowering into red or some -lovely blossom. Here is one of a type especially characteristic of -Boltraffio, with long golden hair curling in rings over her shoulders; -she is dressed in green and purple, and holds a lily. On the wall -dividing the two parts of the church there are some very poor frescoes -by the sons of Luini—the Supper in the House of the Pharisee, the -Adoration of the Magi, and the Baptism of Christ. - -The effect of the long gallery and of the richly-decorated church as -seen through its graceful pillared openings is very charming. A fit -temple for Suora Alessandra and her fellows, those vestal virgins of the -Renaissance, cherishing the flame of its many-sided religion in their -art-irradiated cloisters, innocent sacrifices for the sins of the too -vigorous races, Bentivogli, Sforza, and many another almost as wicked, -from which they sprang. Beneath the archways, where their beautiful -martyr sisters of long before look sweetly down upon them, the meek -veiled figures seem to flit silently before us. But they, too, are but -beings of the imagination now. The little door in the wall between -Luini’s saints is never opened now for the passing of the Eucharist to -the cloistered worshippers on the inner side. No sweet voices rise any -more to the accompaniment of that ornate organ; the long row of stalls -has been untenanted this hundred years and more. In this place, where -those virgin princesses and ladies knelt and adored, surrounded by these -exquisite creations of the Renaissance spirit, and by its lovely order -and refinement, the loathsome dust to-day lies thickly everywhere, and -no foot falls but that of a chance visitor. And the vast gardens and -vineyards of the convent, where behind high secluding walls Alessandra -and her companions took the air and played and laughed, let us hope, and -where, doubtless, the stately Ippolita came to visit her daughter, -bringing a breath of the joyous world outside, have given place to -modern streets and houses, and the great Monastero Maggiore has utterly -disappeared, except for this one rich relic, the church. - -Sta. Maria della Passione, with a great cupola built by Cristoforo -Solari early in the sixteenth century, and an ornate late Renaissance -façade, contains one of the most important works of Luini’s earlier -career, a large picture of the Deposition, in the choir. There are some -fine Cinquecento choir stalls. In the right transept are Christ and the -Apostles by Borgognone, and in the left a Last Supper by Gaudenzio -Ferrari. The sacristy has frescoes by Borgognone. - -_Sta. Maria presso S. Celso_ adjoining the little Romanesque basilica of -S. Celso, was built by Dolcebuono at the end of the fifteenth century, -but altered and finished later. The ornate façade is of the later part -of the sixteenth century. The cloister in front was probably designed by -Cristoforo Solari. There are some pictures by important masters in the -spacious and imposing interior. The lowest on the left-hand side is a -characteristic work by Borgognone—Madonna, with St. Roch and St. John -Baptist. Behind the choir there is a Madonna with St. Jerome, by Paris -Bordone; the Baptism of Christ, by Gaudenzio Ferrari; and St. Paul, by -Moretto. In the sacristy is preserved a very precious example of ninth -century goldsmith’s work, a cross given by Louis the Pious to Milan, of -exquisite workmanship and thickly set with gems. It has figures of the -Emperor and Empress and the Carlovingian princes carved upon it. The -treasure also includes a carved Cinquecento jug, once attributed to -Cellini, and one or two other pieces of goldsmiths’ work. There are, -besides, some beautiful embroidered vestments. - -S. Giorgio al Palazzo, in Via Torino, an old church completely -transformed in recent centuries, contains in the third chapel on the -right some fine frescoes by Luini, of the scenes of the Passion. The -Crucifixion in the dome of the chapel is an impressive composition, -quiet and harmonious in colour. - -S. Fedele, designed by Pellegrini in the latter part of the sixteenth -century, and containing fine Cinquecento choir stalls—once in the -destroyed church of S. Maria della Scala—St. Alessandro, of the -seventeenth century, S. Carlo, built about a hundred years ago, all -sumptuously decorated in the taste of their times, and other less -important churches of the same style, have little artistic interest, and -are, in any case, far outside the scope of our mediæval story. We must -turn back to the best period of the Renaissance, and look at some -palaces which still remain from that time. - -The Palazzo Carmagnola, also called the Palazzo di Broletto, at the -corner of Via Rovello and Via Dante, is the oldest of these palaces, and -is also of historic interest. Duke Filippo Maria gave a house here, in -1418, to his great general, Carmagnola, who rebuilt it a few years -later. The house passed through one of his daughters to the Dal Verme -family, and was confiscated in 1485 by Lodovico Sforza, who installed -his mistress, Cecilia Gallerani in it later. The historian Giorgio -Merula, one of the ornaments of the Moro’s court, also inhabited it for -some years. When Louis XII. made himself master of Milan, he gave the -palace to his general, Charles d’Amboise, and later on it came into the -possession of the city, and was used for public offices, whence it -acquired the name of Palazzo di Broletto. It is now the Intendenza di -Finanza. The building has little of its old aspect left, but there is a -picturesque cortile of the late fifteenth century, with graceful and -characteristic sculptured capitals, part of a probable restoration of -the palace by the Moro, to make it a habitation worthy of his beautiful -favourite. - -A beautiful late Quattrocento palace is the Casa Fontana, or Silvestri, -in the Corso Venezia, which has a noble portal of classic form, -supported on columns in the form of candelabra, and windows enframed in -terra-cotta ornamentation. The façade is, moreover, painted in -chiaroscuro, with designs of the typical style of Lombard Renaissance -decoration—colossal heads and sporting _putti_, etc. It has been -attributed to Bramante, but is more probably the work of local -architects. The cortile is very picturesque. - -Casa Ponti, in Via Bigli, has a Cinquecento cortile of very graceful -proportions, and glowing with the deep rich colour of painted -decoration. On the walls above the porticoes there are full-length -figures, representing gods, muses, the arts, etc. They are of noble -grace and stateliness, with the familiar contours and the everlasting -smile of Luini and his school. The archivolts, spandrils, the little -arcade beneath the rich projecting cornice, are all covered with -arabesques and devices of graceful and playful fancy. We see here the -very setting of that joyous decorative Cinquecento life which has hardly -its parallel for beauty in history. But the old glory of it is dimmed by -the passing of centuries and the influences of a damp climate. Many of -the figures are in very bad condition, and on one side of the court -modern copies have been substituted and the originals removed and placed -on the staircase of the palace, where, if one has the good fortune to be -allowed to enter, one may study closely the gracious figures of Painting -and Sculpture, and some delightful baby forms, riding on sea-horses, -playing with grapes, etc., from the frieze upon the parapet in the -cortile. The portal of the palace is a fine example of early sixteenth -century building, and has two little statuettes of Madonna and the Angel -of the Annunciation, in the spandrils. - -Casa Castani—opposite S. Sepolcro—of the late fifteenth century, has -also a fine doorway, of simple but noble form. It is decorated with -classic heads in the spandrils, and has a Greek motto on the cornice, -signifying Good Luck. A medallion of Francesco Sforza appears above, a -sign of homage to the reigning house, often seen on palaces of this -period in Milan. The cortile is built with double loggias. - -Casa Dal Verme in Foro Bonaparte, opposite the theatre of that name, is -another house of the same style, with an exceedingly picturesque -cortile, to which the warm colour of the terra-cotta decoration gives a -great charm. Between each arch there is the familiar decoration of -medallions with shields or classic heads. These palaces have all much -affinity, and they are generally attributed to the influence of -Bramante. They have, indeed, been labelled sometimes as the work of the -Master himself. The style is, however, common throughout North Italy at -this time, though probably derived in the first instance from Florentine -sources. There are others of similar style in different parts of the -city. - -No. 10-12 Via Torino, entered through a squalid passage, has a very -picturesque small court, with porticoes surmounted by two open storeys, -and delightful terra-cotta ornamentation. This beautiful old fragment of -the Milan of the Sforza period has fallen into plebeian use, and is, -moreover, doomed to speedy destruction in the course of projected -improvements to this crowded quarter. - -[Illustration: PALAZZO VISCONTI DI MODRONE—GARDEN ON THE NAVIGLIO] - -There are many fine palaces of the late sixteenth and of the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries in Milan, of heavy and ornate Renaissance -style, degenerating into florid excesses in the later period. These do -not come within our subject, but one or two must be mentioned. The -enormous Palazzo Marino, the seat of the Municipality, was built in the -middle of the sixteenth century by Galeazzo Alessi for a Genoese named -Tommaso Marino, who had made an immense fortune as a merchant in Milan. -Before the great edifice was finished however, the fortune had been -swallowed up by various misfortunes, and the family discredited through -one of Tommaso’s sons, who murdered his wife. The palace was sequestered -in 1577 by the city, to which it still belongs. It is of the grandiose -style of the later Renaissance, and the cortile is extremely ornate, -though the decoration is not allowed to conceal the stately -architectural lines. The great hall is also very richly decorated in the -same style with stucco reliefs and paintings. The façade into Piazza -della Scala is modern. - -The Palazzo de’ Giurisconsulti, in Via Mercanti, opposite the Palazzo -della Ragione, was built in its present handsome but heavy form by -Vincenzo Seregni in the sixteenth century, at the charge of Pope Pius -IV., of the Milanese house of Medici, whose arms appear on the edifice. -Till recent times this palace formed part of the old enclosure of the -Broletto Nuovo. - -The Palazzo Arcivescovile, of which the large cortile was built by -Pellegrini, has been already mentioned in Chapter X. - -The house—in Via Omenoni—built by the sculptor Leone Leoni for himself -in the second half of the sixteenth century, is remarkable for the -colossal statues supporting the cornice, whence it has acquired the name -of Palazzo _Omenoni_. - -Palazzo Chierici—an eighteenth century building, now a law-court—close -to Sta. Maria del Carmine, should be visited for the sake of a great -ceiling painting by G. B. Tiepolo, the Venetian painter. The room is -open to the public. - -You may get a charming glimpse of old Milan—long past the mediæval -period indeed, which we set out to describe—but in a luxurious, leisured -Settecento aspect almost as completely gone in these her industrial -days, by walking down the Via Damiano—passing, by the way, as you turn -out of Via Monforte, one of those locks in the canal which are -attributed to the invention of Leonardo da Vinci—along the Naviglio, -till you come to a beautiful pierced balustrade facing you across the -narrow streak of water beneath a thicket of wistaria, chestnut and -flowering trees. Behind appears the graceful arched portico of the -palace to which the garden belongs—the Palazzo Visconti di Modrone. The -wistaria has climbed all over the trees, and in spring it is a cloud of -softest purple. You see the fine feathery twigs and sparse young leaves -of the trees caught high up against the blue in delicate wreaths and -garlands of the tender-coloured bloom, and hung with a film of its fine -tendrils. A curtain of it drapes the lively green of the horse-chestnut -and smothers the spikes of white blossom. The dry stem from which all -this loveliness gushes forth, to fall in these cascades and streams of -delicious colour, winds in great serpentine coils in the shadow over the -parapet, and you may trace its stealthy and sinuous climb amid the -branches of the trees—the strangling clasp of its huge vine. The central -part of the parapet is guarded by two delightful stone _putti_, holding -cornucopiæ—the genii of this joyous blossoming place. Mocked by the -still flow and reflection of the water beneath, you might fancy yourself -for a moment in Venice. - -The flowering May-time of the year is a pleasant moment in which to see -this Milan, when her squares and gardens break forth into the luxurious -blossom of magnolia, chestnut and wistaria, which endear all her modern -ways by their colour and sweetness, and soothe with the sight of their -ever recurring, imperishable beauty, our regret for all that has -perished. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - _The Brera Picture Gallery_ - - - “Chi sprezza la Pittura non ama la Filosofia ne la Natura.”—LEONARDO DA - VINCI. - -The Palazzo di Brera contains one of the finest collections of pictures -in Italy. The palace itself, once the house of the great order of the -Umiliati, and after them of the Jesuits, who in their turn were -dispossessed by the State in 1772, is in its present form a grandiose -seventeenth century building, with a double galleried cortile of fine -proportions. In the midst of the cortile stands a statue of Napoleon -Buonaparte, by Canova. The Biblioteca Nazionale occupies part of the -building. There is a large fresco of the Marriage at Cana in Galilee on -the staircase leading to the Library, by Callisto Piazza, one of the -late Milanese school—a good example of the artist. - -The Pinacoteca is entered from the upper loggia. The pictures have -recently been admirably arranged. They are labelled with the names and -dates of the artists, and the attributions are in accordance with the -latest criticism. We shall only dwell on the most interesting of the -numerous works, noticing particularly the local school. - -We pass through Sala I. with cartoons by Andrea Appiani, a late -eighteenth century Milanese artist. - -Sala II. contains some of the best work of the early Lombard school, -frescoes of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which have been -removed from churches and convents. We pass some unimportant primitive -frescoes that would be beautiful in their original position, but lose -artistic value in the narrow space where they are now seen, and come to -three frescoes by Bramantino, which show him at his best. The Madonna -and Child (15) is very characteristic of his manner, in the broad -treatment of the flesh and drapery, in the blond types, and the way in -which the figures are lighted from below. A _Putto_ (16) has an -irresistible charm. This child among the vine leaves is so true to -nature, so full of joy and life. The St. Martin (17) is a noble -conception of chivalrous youth. In beauty and refinement it excels any -other work by Bramantino. - -We now come to Vincenzo Foppa, who takes the most important place in the -early Lombard school. Madonna and Child with SS. John Baptist and John -Evangelist kneeling on each side (19). The composition is formal, but -there is a strong feeling for nature in the figures. Martyrdom of St. -Sebastian (20) is a composition full of vigour and life; the saint’s -figure is well drawn and modelled with a sculpturesque solidity. There -is a naïve simplicity in the expression of the archers’ faces and in -their close vicinity to their mark, hardly in keeping with the academic -feeling shown in the architectural surroundings. Foppa’s colour in these -two frescoes is much fresher and pleasanter than in his altarpieces. - -Next we have Borgognone (Ambrogio da Fossano), whom Morelli calls the -Perugino of the Lombard school. These frescoes from the church of San -Satiro belong to his best period. St. Martha, St. Catherine, St. Mary -Magdalen (22); St. Barbara, St. Roch and St. Clara (23); St. Martina, -St. Apollonia and St. Agnes (24). They are very beautiful figures, of -most refined and delicate execution. St. Roch is especially fine, his -poetic face shows a power of characterisation that is seldom seen in -Borgognone’s work, and the St. Barbara is exquisitely graceful. It is -very unfortunate that these valuable frescoes have been so much damaged. -The large Madonna with angels and God the Father (25) is a fine picture, -but loses its due effect in the narrow gallery. - -[Illustration: - - PUTTO, FRESCO BY BRAMANTINO (BRERA) - _To face p. 336_] [_Anderson, Rome_ -] - -We come next to a number of frescoes by Bernardino Luini, where his -fundamental faults, viz., heavy forms and want of drawing, are glossed -over by his gift of charm. Madonna and Child, with a lamb and little St. -John, in a landscape (63), is one of the best. The Madonna is tender and -dignified, and there is an idyllic feeling about the whole that is very -attractive. Madonna and Child with St. Anne (64) is also charming. St. -Anne is a graceful figure in yellow and purple, a combination of colours -which the peasant women of Lombardy wear to this day. There are some -profane subjects, 70 to 76 inclusive, from the Villa Pelucca, near -Monza. A young horseman in a decoratively-treated landscape (72); -Sacrifice to Pan (73); Daphne (74); Birth of Adonis (76). A very -charming bust of a young woman (75), whose golden hair and dress of -palest puce and white against a background of pale green makes a -pleasant colour harmony. - -On the opposite wall are frescoes by Gaudenzio Ferrari, scenes from the -life of the Virgin. There is life and movement in these paintings and a -freshness both of treatment and feeling, but the execution is careless. -The side panels of the Adoration of the Magi (33), with the servants and -horses, are very spirited. The Meeting of the Virgin and Elizabeth (37) -is rather theatrical, but the lines of the composition are good. - -There are other frescoes by Marco d’Oggiono and Bernardino Lanino. - -Sala III.—Here we have pictures of the Venetian schools of the -sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There are examples by -Moretto, and fine portraits by G. B. Moroni. By Paris Bordone there are -three sacred subjects (106, 107, 108), and a picture called Gli Amanti -Veneziani (105) which shows him in a more congenial mood. It has all the -charm of rich colour and sensuous beauty, and one can admire the fine -qualities of the technique here, whereas in the religious subjects it -gives no pleasure. Near by hangs the masterpiece of the Brescian artist, -Girolamo Savoldo, Madonna and Child, with SS. Peter, Domenico, Paul and -Jerome (114). The background is especially beautiful, with its water and -hills and luminous sky paling to an exquisite light on the horizon. The -Cenacolo (117), doubtfully ascribed to Titian, cannot be considered his -work. The rather uninteresting Adoration of the Magi (119) was begun by -Palma Vecchio and finished by Cariani. The large Marriage of Cana (120) -is a work of the school of Paolo Veronese. There are also pictures by -the sons of il Bassano. - -Sala IV. contains Venetian works of the sixteenth century. The first -thing one sees is Tintoretto’s famous picture of St. Mark Appearing to -the Venetians, who are searching for his body in the crypt of St. -Eufemia of Alexandria (143). Mr. Berenson says of this picture—‘... the -figures, although colossal, are so energetic and easy in movement, and -the effects of perspective and of light and atmosphere are so on a level -with the gigantic figures, that the eye at once adapts itself to the -scale, and you feel as if you too partook of the strength and health of -heroes.’[18] In Tintoretto’s Deposition of Christ (149), the grand lines -of the shadowed figure fill us with a deep sense of tragedy. Of a very -different character to these two pictures is - -Footnote 18: - - _The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance_, p. 56. - -the festive scene, by Bonifazio Veronese (114), Moses Saved from the -Water. The subject here is an excuse for one of those _fêtes champêtres_ -which the Venetian artists loved to paint. The picture shows us -delightful groups of richly-dressed men and beautiful women in a -romantic landscape, painted with all Bonifazio’s characteristic glory of -colour. - -Baptism and Temptation of Jesus (151) cannot be regarded as a genuine -work of Paolo Veronese. - -Sala V.—Venetian pictures of the fourteenth-sixteenth centuries.—Gentile -Bellini’s great canvas of the Preaching of St. Mark in the Piazza of -Alexandria (164) is a stately representation of a contemporary scene; -some of the groups are very quaint. It was finished by Gian Bellini. -Bartolommeo Montagna has a very fine altarpiece, Madonna and Child, with -SS. Andrew, Monica, Ursula and Sigismondo (165), signed 1498. There are -three charming little pictures by Carpaccio—Marriage of the Virgin -(169), Dispute of St. Stephen (170), and Presentation of Mary in the -Temple (171). Three works by Cima show us this gentle artist at his -best. St. Peter enthroned between SS. John Baptist and Paul (174) is a -restful picture with devout saints; the mild and youthful St. John is a -notable contrast to the wild and ascetic figure of this saint as usually -depicted by the Florentines. The other two pictures are Madonna and SS. -John Baptist, Sebastian, Roch, Magdalen and donors (175), and St. Peter -Martyr between SS. Nicolo of Bari and Augustine (176). St. Sebastian -(177), by Liberale da Verona, is a most delightful and satisfying -picture, suffused with a golden glow, and the idealised figure of the -saint forms an exquisite harmony with the colour of the houses and blue -sky and water of the background. - -Sala VI. contains three fine works by Titian. Portrait of Count Antonio -Porcia (180) is a magnificent painting; the pale face, black dress and -background, and blue landscape, make a striking arrangement of colour. -The St. Jerome (182) is a late work, the rugged figure in the savage -landscape is tremendously vigorous. Ruskin writes of this picture that -it is ‘a superb example of the modes in which the objects of landscape -may be either suggested or elaborated according to their place and -claim. The larger features of the ground, foliage and drapery, as well -as lion in the lower angle, are executed with a slightness that admits -not of close examination.... But on the rock above ... there is a wreath -of ivy, of which every leaf is drawn with the greatest accuracy and -care, and beside it a lizard, studied with equal earnestness, yet always -with that right grandeur of manner to which I have alluded....’[19] -Beside the Titians, the picture by Palma Vecchio—S. Sebastian, -Constantine, St. Helena, and St. Roch (179)—seems wanting in strength -and distinction. St. Roch has a poetical head, and S. Sebastian is a -well-painted nude, but the type is effeminate. - -Footnote 19: - - Ruskin, _Modern Painters_. - -Sala VII.—Some of the finest portraits by the Venetian painter Lorenzo -Lotto are here. Of the portrait of a Gentleman (183), Mr. Berenson -says—‘This is the most subtle of all Lotto’s portraits in -characterisation, and considered merely as technique, it is his most -masterly achievement.’[20] Nos. 184 and 185 are almost certainly the -portraits of Messer Febo da Brescia and Madonna Laura da Pola, his wife, -which are known to have been painted in 1543-44. The woman, beautiful -and distinguished, has an intent, sad gaze, with that reserve in her -expression that one is familiar with in Lotto’s portraits. The man’s -character is less complex than hers. Both portraits are of very - -Footnote 20: - - B. Berenson, _Lorenzo Lotto_. - -fine execution, though hers is the more delicate. The little panel, -Assumption of the Virgin (186), is an early work with a pleasant -landscape. The Pietà (188) is an important but unattractive composition. - -Sala VIII. contains unimportant works of various Venetian schools. - -Sala IX. is one of the most interesting of all, for here are the works -of Gian Bellini, Mantegna, and some of the best examples of that -individual and fascinating painter, Carlo Crivelli. On entering, one is -at once arrested by the noble Pietà of Gian Bellini (214). In this most -touching picture the artist has expressed himself with a deep human -feeling which he rarely shows afterwards. We feel almost awed in the -presence of the Mother’s infinite love and sorrow, and the perfect peace -and calm of the dead Christ amid the agony of hopeless grief. St. John -cries aloud in his despair, and a pitiless dawn is breaking behind them. -It is an early work and the treatment of the flesh and heavy draperies -is broad and severe. In the picture hanging next, Madonna and Child in a -beautiful landscape (215), dated 1510, we see the change wrought by -nearly fifty years. The intensity of feeling of the young Bellini has -died away in technical perfection. The Madonna and Child (216) is an -early work of the same period as the Pietà. In this beautiful sad Mother -and Child is visible the earnest sentiment and the same broad manner of -painting. - -Mantegna’s three pictures hang opposite, and it is interesting to -compare them with Bellini’s, as the two painters had much in common to -start with, and departed widely each on his own lines afterwards. The -Polyptych, St. Luke and other saints, with Pietà in upper part (200), is -one of his earliest works, finished in 1454. The figures are very -refined and carefully drawn, but they are rather stiff, and the -execution almost timid. Beside this picture hangs one of his latest -works, the Dead Christ and the Maries (199), and we can note the -difference between the early and late style of the master; the careful -academic manner of the first has yielded to the broad freedom of the -second. This uncompromisingly foreshortened figure must have been an -experiment, and is chiefly interesting technically. The Madonna and -Child surrounded with cherubim (198) is a beautiful picture, painted in -the broad manner of Mantegna’s maturity. - -Carlo Crivelli fills the rest of the room with a wealth of colour and -beauty. Madonna and Child with SS. Peter and Dominic (201) is so -exquisite a picture, so lovely in colour and design, that one feels the -last word has been said in an art that combines the highest decoration -with a true and childlike religious feeling. Who has ever imagined a -more pure and innocent creature than this lovely Madonna who sits with -such unconscious grace in her rich garments on the stately throne? The -Child, too, is so sweet as he earnestly squeezes a dove in both hands. -The young S. Geminianus has the ardour of a martyr. The whole picture is -a very exquisite harmony of colour and line. Coronation of Christ and -the Virgin by the Eternal Father (202), signed and dated 1493, is a -superbly decorative work glowing with rich colour. The flying angels -seem really beings of the air, and the devout saints really dwellers in -Paradise. S. Catherine and S. Sebastian are especially beautiful. The -Pietà above (203) is very fine in composition, and the Christ is godlike -with His long golden hair. The Crucifixion (206) is a restless -composition. Crivelli has striven so hard to express his emotion, but -the result is an exaggeration of forms and movement. There is no repose -anywhere, draperies flying, fingers contorted; even the sky is in -troubled wavelets. Madonna of the Candle (207). In this beautiful panel -the Madonna sits like a goddess on her high throne, yet has all the -sweetness of humanity. The perfect oval of her face and symmetry of her -form are drawn by a master’s hand. The rich garland of fruits and the -roses and lilies are painted with a loving care. There are also two -panels of saints by Crivelli (204 and 205). - -Sala X. contains Venetian pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries. There are four small pictures by Cima (217, 218, 219 and -220), charming little pictures in which there is more life and movement -than in his larger works. Adoration of the Magi (223) by Stefano da -Zevio, dated 1435, is a pleasing picture, showing the early Veronese -character. The decorative Polyptych (228) is by Antonio Vivarini and -Giovanni da Murano. - -In Sala XI. we have Venetian schools of the sixteenth-eighteenth -centuries. Two landscapes by Canaletto (235 and 236) are full of light -and air. Guardi has two views of the Grand Canal at Venice (242 and -243). - -Sala XII., Lombard School.—Here are portraits of the Visconti family, of -little artistic value. A Madonna Adoring the Child, with SS. Catherine -and Joseph (248) by Vincenzo Civerchio. The Milanese painter Bernardino -Buttinone has two pictures, Madonna and Child between SS. Bernardino and -Stephen (249), signed and dated 145-. This picture has all the decided -characteristics of the artist—the laboured execution, low flesh tones, -high and prominent foreheads, enormous ears, claw-like fingers and -vividly-coloured draperies. The small Madonna (250) is a highly-finished -picture and equally lacking in beauty. The SS. Catherine and Sebastian -by Defendente Ferrari are charming figures in gorgeous costumes. - -Sala XIII. possesses four pictures by Borgognone. The most interesting -is the small picture of the Madonna and Child with S. Clare and a -Certosino (259). It is an early work, very devout and sweet in feeling, -and shows the artist’s connection with Foppa, particularly in the type -of the Child and the grey flesh tones. The latter, however, are very -much modified, and form a very harmonious scheme with the white -draperies and silvery colour of sky and water behind. Madonna and Saints -(257), by Bevilacqua, is a decorative altarpiece with colour brilliant -almost to crudeness. - -Sala XIV. contains works of the sixteenth century by Leonardo’s -followers. Two Magdalens, by Gianpietrino (262 and 263), are good -examples of his work, and have some poetical charm. An unfinished -Madonna (261) of Leonardesque composition shows a great similarity in -the landscape background to that of the well-known Bacchus of the -Louvre, a doubtful Leonardo. Madonna and Child with little S. John -(271), by Bernardino dei Conti, is reminiscent of Leonardo’s Virgin of -the Rocks. The colour is hot and the modelling lumpy. - -Sala XV., Lombard school of sixteenth century.—The first picture in this -room is a lovely Madonna and Child (276) by Cesare da Sesto. It is -sympathetic in feeling and refined in execution. The arrangement of dark -foliage behind the Madonna, showing on one side the distant landscape -and pale sky, is very happy. It is the best picture we know of this -artist. Madonna and Child (277) by Gaudenzio Ferrari is very typical of -his style, rather affected in attitude and hot in colour. Close by hangs -a Holy Family (279) by Bramantino. The drawing of the Saviour (280) is -not admitted by the best authorities to be a genuine work of Leonardo’s. -Two kneeling figures (281) by Boltraffio are distinguished by dignity -and feeling. They show how well Boltraffio could paint portraits. Andrea -Solario has three paintings and a drawing. The best is a portrait of a -young man (282), whose characteristic head, with clear, almost hard -outline, is well-drawn and carefully finished. Madonna and Child (286) -by Sodoma is one of his most Leonardesque works. - -Sala XVI. is entirely devoted to works by Luini. A fresco of angels -bearing the corpse of St. Catherine to deposit in the Sepulchre (288) is -a graceful composition. The well-known Madonna del Roseto (289) with its -charming background of a rose-trellis is one of the most popular of this -artist’s pictures. To us a more sympathetic work is the charcoal drawing -(290) of the Madonna watching the Child, who sleeps on a cushion. Here -is also a series of frescoes giving the story of S. Joseph, taken from -the suppressed Church of Sta. Maria della Pace. - -Sala XVII. contains works of the Lombard school of the fifteenth and -sixteenth centuries. There is a large Polyptych (307) by Vincenzo Foppa. -The central panel, Madonna and Child with Angels, is a very -characteristic painting of the artist. The Madonna, stately and almost -severely simple, is yet perfectly natural, and so is the Child as He -touches the strings of the instrument held by an angel, leaning His head -as if listening to the sound. The large heads and crumpled draperies of -the angels are peculiarities which Foppa shares with the Lombard -sculptors. St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, in the panel above, is -rather a feeble figure. The bright red and lavish use of gold in the -side panels of saints have a rich effect. The Assumption of the Virgin -(308), by Borgognone, dated 1522, is a poor work; in it all his faults -are exaggerated; there is no movement in the figures, the background -does not recede: the whole thing is absolutely lifeless. Bramantino’s -large Crucifixion (309) is very inferior to his other works in the -gallery. - -The picture of the Madonna and Child, with the Doctors of the Church, -and Lodovico il Moro, his wife Beatrice, and their children kneeling -(310), has been variously attributed to Zenale, Bernardino dei Conti and -Ambrogio de Predis. It has little artistic merit, much the best part -being the portraits. The Virgin and Saints are heavy in type and coarse -in execution, showing the Leonardesque influence imposed on the native -school. Ambrogio de Predis seems to us the most probable author of this -much disputed work. Marco d’Oggiono has three pictures—St. Paul (311), -Assumption of the Virgin (312), the Archangels Michael, Raphael and -Gabriel overcoming the Devil (313). There is no genuine inspiration in -these works, nor any charm of colour or technique. We turn with relief -to Boltraffio’s interesting and well-painted portrait of the poet -Girolamo Casio (319). Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria (321), by -Gaudenzio Farrari, a crowded and confused composition, shows the -decadence of this able and facile painter. - -We come to several large canvases by the family of Campi of Cremona. The -best of these is Madonna Adoring the Child (329), by Giulio Campi; the -technique is able, in the later Venetian style. Two pictures by Vincenzo -Campi—a Fruitseller and Fishseller—are Flemish in manner. Next come the -painters of Lodi, but we have not time to dwell on these productions of -the later Milanese school. In the cases are drawings of various Italian -schools. - -Sala XVIII. contains productions of the late Lombard schools (sixteenth -and seventeenth centuries) that repel by their brutal realism. - -In Sala XIX. we have unimportant works of the schools of Parma, Reggio -and Modena. - -Sala XX. Ferrarese and Bolognese Schools.—The Ferrarese school is -represented in this gallery by some splendid pictures of the best -period. In his St. Sebastian (433) that richly imaginative artist Dosso -Dossi, with his Cinquecento enjoyment of beauty and his mastery of -dramatic effects of light and shade, has given us a picture of -enthralling interest, painted with marvellous breadth and power. This -strong young body, bound by uplifted arms to the tree, expresses the -very passion of martyrdom. This is no mere physical agony; though the -arrows visibly torture the flesh, they pierce the soul more sharply. The -dark grove, where great fruits and leaves shine out, touched by a -strange evil light, surrounds the figure with mystery and magic, which -is heightened by the glimpse of a tranquil distant landscape. Not St. -Sebastian, but a character from some Ariostean fable this seems—a young -hero in search of truth ensnared by cruel necromancy, stripped and bound -by the powers of evil. His knight’s helmet lies at his feet. The -sensuous beauty of the picture increases its dramatic interest; the -curve of the nude body, the flesh colour, incomparable in its coolness -and its pearly shadow, crossed by that swathe of green drapery—a green -all Dosso—the rich glossy leaves, the distant blue, all serve to deepen -the tragedy. - -Francesco d’Este, whose portrait (431), in the character of St. George, -by Dosso, hangs beside St. Sebastian, was one of the sons of Duke -Alfonso of Ferrara and Lucrezia Borgia. The St. John Baptist (432) is -lighted as if by a fire from below, in a manner very characteristic of -Dosso. - -The Adoration of the Magi (429) by Lorenzo Costa, the predella of an -altarpiece by Francia, is a good example of the master. - -The great altarpiece (428) is a majestic composition, and especially -interesting as the work of that rarest painter, the Ferrarese Ercole de’ -Roberti, who in the grand architectural and decorative environment of -this Madonna Enthroned shows himself faithful to the precepts of Cosimo -Tura. But the arrangement of the triple figures on the throne—St. Anne -and St. Elizabeth seated on stools on either side of the Virgin, with a -sort of pyramidal effect—and the types of the heads, especially of the -fair and regal Virgin, are very individual. The figures of St. Augustine -and of Peter the Sinner, below, complete the stately arrangement. The -beautiful harmony of red and purple and puce and gorgeous reddish gold -shows with rare splendour the Ferrarese feeling for colour. - -The Correggio (427) is not one of the painter’s best works, but the -graceful Madonna has his peculiar charm; the baby is strangely small. -Two figures of saints (449) are characteristic, but rather conventional -productions by Cossa, noticeable for their decoration and the ‘lacquer -enamel’ quality of the colour. They are parts of a triptych, of which -the centre, S. Vincenzo, is in the National Gallery. - -The great Annunciation (448), by Francia, is a beautiful and spacious -composition, with an exquisitely clear atmospheric effect and -picturesque background; but in the over-elaborated Angel the painter -comes perilously near the banal. - -A little figure of the Crucified (447) by Cosimo Tura—a fragment -probably of a picture of St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, is instinct -with the great Ferrarese master’s intensity of feeling and devotion. -Other and inferior painters of the school fill the rest of the room. - -Sala XXI., Schools of the Romagna.—The three painters, Rondinelli, Marco -Palmezzano—who was pupil of Melozzo da Forlì—and Cotignola, are well -represented. Rondinelli has three pictures. One illustrates a legend in -the life of Galla Placidia (452), in which St. John the Evangelist -appears to her and leaves his shoe behind him as a relic. Cotignola’s -(Francesco Zaganelli) pictures are decorative and pleasant in colour, -but weak in drawing. He was assisted in Nos. 457 and 458 by his brother -Bernardino. Marco Palmezzano is the best painter of the three. The -Nativity (469) is a pleasing picture, and in the Coronation (470) the -music-making angels are charming. The Madonna and SS. John Baptist, -Peter, Domenico and Mary Magdalen (471) is a good picture, but rather -mannered in the treatment of draperies and clouds. - -Sala XXII. possesses the most famous picture of the collection—the -Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael (472). It is signed and dated 1504. -This was painted when the artist was only twenty-one. It is an -extraordinarily complete work for so young a painter. He did not set -himself new and difficult problems to solve; he was content to take the -composition of his master Perugino (fresco in the Sistine Chapel), and -with perfect artistic instinct improve it into the exquisite picture we -have before us. We cannot do better than quote Mr. Berenson. ‘Subtler -feeling for space, greater refinement, even a certain daintiness, give -this “Sposalizio” a fragrance, a freshness that are not in Perugino’s -fresco. In presence of young Sanzio’s picture you feel a poignant thrill -of transfiguring sensation, as if, on a morning early, the air cool and -dustless, you suddenly found yourself in presence of a fairer world, -where lovely people were taking part in a gracious ceremony, while -beyond them stretched harmonious distances, line on line to the -horizon’s edge.’[21] The picture is seen to full advantage, admirably -placed as it is in a room by - -Footnote 21: - - B. Berenson, _The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance_, p. - 124. - -itself, where it can be well seen and thoroughly studied and enjoyed. - -Sala XXIII., Central Italian Painters.—Signorelli has two pictures -here—Flagellation of Christ (476), and Madonna and Child between -Cherubims (477). There is a predella picture (483) by Eusebio di San -Giorgio, a Madonna (473) by Pacchiarotti, and other works of the -Siennese school. - -Sala XXIV. contains frescoes by Bramante of Urbino, representing -Heraclites and Democritus, six men-at-arms and a singer, originally -decorating the Baron’s Hall in Casa Panigarola at Milan. These paintings -show a distinct connection with the art of Melozzo da Forlì. They are -grand monumental figures, that one feels belong to a great architectural -scheme, and cannot be properly appreciated in this small room. - -Sala XXV., Painters of Umbria and the Marches.—Here we have several -interesting works, especially the very fine picture by Piero dei -Franceschi, Madonna and Saints, with Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of -Urbino (510). This is a stately composition, where the saints are -grouped round the Madonna, and the great Duke of Urbino kneels at her -feet, while she sits with the Child sleeping easily on her knee, grand -and aloof, a being far above the passions and weakness of humanity. She -is quite unlike any other Madonna, and though not exactly beautiful, -holds one’s attention far more than many that are so. After Piero’s work -most pictures look trivial; but one can turn with pleasure to Gentile da -Fabriano’s exquisite Polyptych (497), whose flower-like beauty of colour -and line transports us into another world. There is an Annunciation -(503) by Giovanni Santi, the father of Raphael, which foreshadows the -charm so highly developed later in his son. A Madonna and Angels, and -various Saints (504) by Nicolò da Foligno. A Madonna with SS. Simon, -Guida, Bonaventura and Francis (505), by Signorelli, signed and dated -1508. In one of Timoteo Viti’s pictures, Madonna with SS. Crescenzio and -Vitale (508), the saint holding the banner is of that distinct Umbrian -type one sees in the work of the young Raphael, whose first master -Timoteo probably was. - -Salas XXVI. and XXVII. contain works of the Bolognese school of the -Caracci; Sala XXVIII., works of the Roman school of the seventeenth -century; Sala XXIX., works of the Genovese school, including pictures by -Salvator Rosa. Sala XXX. and XXXI., foreign schools, mostly Flemish and -Dutch, of the seventeenth century. The remaining rooms have modern -Italian pictures. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - _Other Galleries and Museums_ - - - (The Poldi-Pezzoli Museum—The Ambrosiana Library and Museums—The - Borromeo and Trivulzio Collections, etc.) - -The Poldi-Pezzoli Art Museum contains an admirable collection of -pictures of the greatest period of Italian art, and artistic treasures -of various kinds, and one has the added pleasure of seeing these things -in the harmonious surroundings of a luxurious house. The very sound of -the water pleasantly dripping from the fountain in the hall as we enter -is a promise of refreshment and delight. The palace and the collections -were the generous legacy of the Cavaliere Poldi-Pezzoli to the city, and -it remains much the same as when it was a private dwelling. The somewhat -florid decorations of the rooms are very obviously of recent date. - -In the downstairs rooms there are some fine sixteenth century -tapestries, antique Eastern carpets, and cases containing antique -stuffs; a few pieces of antique sculpture, and pictures, chiefly -portraits, of the late Renaissance and modern periods. - -Sala Verde, at the top of the staircase, contains pictures of the -sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; two bas-reliefs (100-101) of the -Adoration of the Magi, and St. Giuliano Killing his Parents, German work -of the sixteenth century; landscapes by Guardi, Canaletto and Zucarelli; -Joshua stopping the Sun in its Course (111), and other paintings by -Tiepolo; and a beautiful Flemish tapestry (1201) of the early fifteenth -century—the Queen of Sheba before Solomon. There are also some fine -marriage chests; two exquisite chess-boards (122, 123) of the sixteenth -century, one of them with the _stemma_ of the Visconti, and other -interesting objects. - -Ante-sala.—Pictures of the late sixteenth century. - -Sala Gialla.—A very ornate Seicento clock; some Oriental porcelain; two -Sèvres vases (149), etc. - -Salone Dorato contains many treasures. The Madonna and Child, by -Botticelli (156), though much restored, is a lovely picture, with that -incomparable distinction of line and colour that characterise his work. -The Portrait of a Young Woman (157) is ascribed to Piero dei Franceschi, -but Verrocchio and Antonio Pollajuolo have also been suggested as the -author. The outline has the play and movement, and the character a -vivacity that one associates with Florentine painting, and the -peculiarly large and impersonal qualities that Piero gets even into his -portraits are absent. But whoever the artist may be, it is a very -attractive work. The Madonna and Child (158) is by Rafaello Caponi, a -Florentine Cinquecento painter. The Madonna Enthroned with Angels (154) -is of the fifteenth century school of Murano. - -Apart from the pictures, the most precious object in the room is a -marvellous Persian Carpet (159) of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, -of large size and in perfect preservation. The beauty of the design and -the exquisite colour make this carpet a miracle of decorative art. It -was made for the feet of princes, as the legend, worked in silver round -the border, records:—_Blessed is the carpet which in a pleasant company -has become shadowed beneath the footsteps of the Shah_. - -_It has sacrificed itself upon his path, as the sun does, and has -offered itself beneath his feet like a white fleece._ - -_This is not a carpet, it is a white rose; it is a fabric which -resembles the eyes of the very Houris...._[22] And so on. - -Footnote 22: - - An Italian translation of these verses is given in the _Rassegna - d’Arte_ (Anno iv., No. 10), and appears in the official catalogue of - the Museum. - -Another beautiful piece of work (155) is the middle portion of a -vestment of the later fifteenth century, embroidered with the Coronation -of the Virgin and two devotees kneeling at the sides. - -The case in the middle of the room contains a collection of beautiful -objects of the goldsmiths’ and kindred arts, chiefly of the fourteenth, -fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries—tabernacles, paxes, reliquaries of -precious materials chiselled and adorned with enamel; cups and vases and -basins of crystal and agate; exquisitely worked spoons and forks, etc., -etc. One very lovely pax (unnumbered) of silver, decorated with enamel, -has a Resurrection on the front—the figures in grisaille upon a blue -background—and heads of saints in medallions, and on the back the Pietà -figured in mother-of-pearl. Another pax (161 _bis_), of characteristic -Lombard workmanship, is in the form of a little tabernacle, and has -sacred subjects and figures of saints exquisitely worked in enamel. A -fourteenth century crystal cup (163) is of most graceful form and -beautiful workmanship; upon the foot episodes from the story of Tristan -and Isolda are figured in enamel. It is suggested that this may have -been a tourney prize. A cup with a cover of agate (169) and decorated -with silver gilt, chiselled and enamelled and with precious stones, is -specially noticeable for beauty of material and shape. The enamel (180) -with a representation of the Resurrection, is a very precious fifteenth -century work, probably Milanese. A tiny diptych (214) of gilded bronze -is particularly interesting for the two little figures in _niello_ on -the outside, representing Lodovico il Moro and Beatrice d’Este. Within -there are subjects depicted in enamel—St. George and the Dragon, and the -Deposition—in the style of the painter Foppa. - -In the large case nearer the window there is a wonderful display of -jewellery, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. No. 286 is a -miniature of the Duke of Monmouth. In the other large case, near the -fireplace, there are numerous treasures of Roman, Etruscan, and Greek -art. A smaller case holds gold ornaments, chiefly of the Roman epoch. -There are also in this room suits of armour, some fine pieces of -seventeenth century furniture, tapestries, bronzes, etc. - -Gabinetto del Salone Dorato.—Here are pictures of the late Flemish and -Italian schools, and an Annunciation (436) of Tuscan style, attributed -to Pesellino. - -Sala Nera.—Among the pictures in this room are St. Mary Magdalen (473), -attributed to Luca Signorelli, but with doubtful justice, and a very -charming little triptych (477) by Mariotto Albertinelli, Madonna and -Child, with SS. Catherine and Barbara, which shows how good his work can -be on a small scale, like that of his fellow-worker Fra Bartolommeo, -whose style he much resembles. Here are also some fine pieces of -furniture, notably a cabinet (481) of sixteenth century Italian -workmanship, and another (482) of Florentine production in the -seventeenth century. - -Sala dei Vetri Antichi.—The chief interest of this room is the splendid -collection of antique Muranese glass. Many of the pieces are of very -beautiful form, some decorated with patterns in colour and gold, and -some with handles and bases of bronze or silver. - -Gabinetto Dante contains a numerous collection of small artistic -objects. - -Sala degli Specchi.—Here hang pictures of various Italian schools, among -others a Deposition (552) of the school of Botticelli, and a Brescian -fifteenth century work (555)—a large canvas of the Madonna Enthroned, to -whom St. Benedict presents a devotee. - -Sala del Perugino.—A pleasing little picture by Perugino (603), Madonna -and Child with angels, gives its name to this room. Here are also -pictures of the Florentine school and of the school of Murano. Of the -latter the large Madonna Enthroned (589), by Antonio Vivarini, is a fine -decorative altarpiece; by Nicolò da Foligno, there is a Crucifixion -(582), with a realistic Umbrian landscape; by Stefano da Zevio, a Hermit -in the Wilderness (591). A stout monk in a black habit (598), ascribed -to Piero dei Franceschi, looks like a good portrait of a man of strong -character. In the Annunciation (599), by Marco Palmezzano, the figures -are stiff, but there is light and air in the landscape. A little picture -of a bishop (600) has the peculiar manner of Cosimo Tura. - -[Illustration: - - MADONNA, by MANTEGNA (POLDI-PEZZOLI) - - _To face p. 356_] [_Anderson, Rome_ -] - -Gabinetto dei Veneti.—The small picture by Mantegna is the greatest -treasure of the collection. It is the most appealing of all his Madonna -pictures. Never has the subject of mother and child been so -sympathetically expressed, even among Italian masters, unless we except -Luca della Robbia. The sleeping baby is touchingly true to nature, its -round little form under the tightly wound drapery is perfectly given, -and there is a depth of feeling in the mother’s thoughtful, almost sad -expression as she clasps Him to her, as if the very intensity of her -love gave her a sense of foreboding. It is a late work of the master, -painted with perfect mastery of form and a breadth of technique in which -there is none of the dryness of his early years. Christ with the Symbols -of the Passion and St. Francis kneeling to receive the blood in a -chalice, (620) by Carlo Crivelli, has a mystical feeling and the beauty -of a miniature painting. St. Sebastian tied to a tree (621) is also a -characteristic picture of Crivelli’s. Pietà (623), a miniature in an -ornamental Gothic frame is of the school of Murano, probably of the -Vivarini. Pietà (624) is by an imitator of Giovanni Bellini. By -Bonsignore is a good profile of an old man (627). Cariani has a small -Holy Family (613), gracious in colour and composition. Lorenzo Lotto, a -Madonna with St. John Baptist and a prophet (614). A rather stiff -altarpiece, Madonna with angels making music (610), is by Marcello -Fogolino, a painter of Vicenza. - -Passage.—A portrait (634), of herself, by the Bolognese woman painter, -Sofonisba Anguissola, of the later sixteenth century, hangs here. - -Sala dei Lombardi.—This room contains a good collection of the Lombard -painters, especially of the followers of Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna -_alla cuscino verde_ (602), by Andrea Solario, is a thoroughly -representative picture, not only of Solario but of the Leonardesque -school. The subject is one we see repeated continually, and the -juxtaposition of vivid colours, the very soft flesh painting and rather -grey tones melting into each other, are local characteristics. Solario, -however, is a more accomplished painter and better draughtsman than most -of the school. This picture shows a kindly feeling in the portrayal of -the simple, happy-looking mother and child, but it lacks refinement and -distinction. The bit of landscape seen through the window is lovely. The -Ecce Homo (637) is an elaborately-finished work, but leaves the -spectator cold. Two panels of saints, S. Giovanni Battista (653), dated -1499, and St. Catherine of Alexandria (657), have the Lombard heaviness -of form. The _Riposo_, dated 1515 (655), is a mature work of Solario’s. -The landscape is beautiful and the colour with the dark trees and rich -purple and gold of St. Joseph’s garments is admirable, but rather -disturbed by the over bright blue and red of the Madonna’s drapery. -Madonna and Angels (640) by Borgognone is a very sweet and refined -little picture, harmonious in colour, the child’s gold-coloured tunic -being the brightest note in the picture. Madonna (643) by Foppa has the -charm of sincere and tender sentiment. Madonna and Child, picking a -flower (642), is one of Boltraffio’s most stately Madonnas, with perfect -oval face and regular features, and dressed in richly patterned -garments. The painting is highly finished and so smooth that the flesh -looks rather like porcelain. The child is Leonardesque in type with that -exaggeration of form and modelling that is common to the master’s -followers. Portrait of Francesco Brivio (641), by Ambrogio de Predis, is -a fine portrait, one of those profiles in which he excelled. -Gianpietrino has a charming little Madonna (648), with long hair falling -each side of her face. Also by Gianpietrino, according to Morelli, is -the delightful little picture of Madonna and Child with a lamb (667), of -Leonardesque composition, attributed to Cesare da Sesto. The Marriage of -St. Catherine (663) by Bernardino Luini is a much-admired picture. There -is also a St. Jerome (652) by him. The picture of the Sorrowing Madonna -and Christ carrying the Cross (659), attributed to Luini, is considered -by Signor Venturi[23] to be the work of Solario. Besides other pictures -we have not space to dwell on, there are some beautiful wedding chests -in this room. - -Footnote 23: - - _La Galleria Crespi._ - -Sala d’Armi contains a very fine collection of armour and weapons, -chiefly of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with a few older -specimens. - - * * * * * - -Biblioteca Ambrosiana.—This famous library was founded by Cardinal -Federigo Borromeo, a cousin of San Carlo, and Archbishop of Milan in his -turn from 1594 to 1631. He is the Cardinal Borromeo of Manzoni’s -well-known romance, the _Promessi Sposi_. A man of great virtue, he was -also a splendid patron of literature, science and art. The foundation of -a library for the free use of his fellow-citizens and of all comers was -a long-pondered scheme of the Cardinal, and for years he employed -competent scholars to collect books and manuscripts in all countries, -till he had amassed no less than fifteen thousand codices, many of -exceeding rarity, and thirty thousand printed volumes. In 1603 the -building was begun and in 1609 it was solemnly opened. Since then the -treasures of the library have increased continually by gifts and -legacies, and collections of pictures and prints, etc., have been added -to it. - -The entrance to the Ambrosiana is in the Piazza della Rosa. In the -vestibule an inscription records the Founder, and another threatens with -excommunication anyone who should carry away a book. - -_Biblioteca._—In the Sala Antica some of the chief treasures of the -Library are exposed to view. Here is shown a page of the precious _Codex -Atlanticus_, a volume of miscellaneous writings and drawings, chiefly of -engineering subjects, by Leonardo da Vinci, collected and bound together -by Pompeo Leoni in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Here, too, -are twelve letters written by Lucrezia Borgia to Pietro Bembo, and with -them a lock of golden hair, her gift to him, according to a long -established belief, which there is no ground for discrediting. The same -case contains a MS. of the _Divina Commedia_—late fourteenth -century—with damaged miniatures; a Cicero, with very lovely and delicate -miniatures of the early Cinquecento; a MS. with a miniatured page—St. -Barnabas baptizing the first Christians in Milan—in the realistic -Lombard manner of the sixteenth century, several books of Hours, and -some very beautiful fifteenth century bindings, Italian and French. The -famous Borromeo Book of Hours, one of the gems of the Library, is not -shown here now, and can only be seen by permission of the Librarian. It -is a little fifteenth century volume, adorned with numerous miniatures -of exquisite workmanship by Cristoforo de Predis, a native of Modena, -and apparently by another hand, perhaps more than one. On one of the -pages the Annunciation is depicted, and below are two kneeling figures, -a knight and lady, conjectured to be portraits of Conte Giovanni and -Contessa Cleofe Borromeo. Besides scenes from the New Testament there is -a calendar in the book with miniatures descriptive of the occupations of -each month. The work is very delicate and fine, distinctively North -Italian, but not heavy like the Milanese. Another case contains ancient -manuscripts—Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Ethiopian; a page of a Gothic version -of the Bible belonging to a very precious palimpsest; two Irish -manuscripts from the monastery of Bobbio, founded by St. Columban in the -seventh century; a Syrian MS. of the eighth century in a later -Greco-Egyptian binding, covered with stamped leather; some palimpsests -and an Egyptian papyrus of B.C. 169. Deeply interesting is the copy of -Virgil, which once belonged to Petrarca, and has minute marginal notes -in his handwriting. It has a miniatured page attributed to Simone -Martini, representing in allegorical form the different works of Virgil. -On the back there is a note written by Petrarca concerning Laura. A -French MS. of the fourteenth century has exquisitely fine miniatures -representing the Vices and Virtues, and the Judgment. Among the -remaining books in this case there is one, the treatise _Regimine -Principum_, by Lucano da Parma, dedicated to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, with -a miniature of that prince, a proud figure in black and gold, with St. -Catherine. - -In another case are a number of very interesting autographs, including a -letter from Galileo to Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, lauding the -Biblioteca Ambrosiana. - -The Library also possesses some priceless fragments of the _Iliad_, with -paintings of the third century, the most ancient illustrated text known, -but these are not exhibited. There are reproductions of two of the -illustrations in the Guide Book of the Ambrosiana. - -A small case at the end of the room holds a unique printed copy of a -letter written by Christopher Columbus on his return from the discovery -of the New World. In another are some pages of Tasso, with his autograph -corrections; an Ethiopian psaltery; an illustrated Persian MS., etc. - -The Sala Incoronazione is part of an older building incorporated a -century ago with the Library. At one end the wall is covered with a -great fresco by Luini, Christ being crowned with thorns; the kneeling -figures on either side, portraits of the Brothers of the Congregation of -Santa Corona, to which the hall belonged, are very finely depicted, -those on the left hand especially. Luini painted this fresco in 1521, -with the help of an assistant, and was paid 115 lire, 9 soldi. - -The Museo Settala, also on the ground floor, is open on Wednesday, -Friday, and Sunday. It contains Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian -antiquities, and objects of mediæval art; a mineralogical collection; -medals, weapons, and curiosities of various kinds. - -_Pinacoteca._—The picture galleries are on the upper floor. - -Sala A.—Cabinet of the gilded bronzes contains German and Dutch -pictures. Sala B has little of importance, but one may notice two panels -by Bernardino Buttinone, St. Bonaventura (1) and St. Louis (5). By -Bartolommeo Veneto, a Madonna and Child with St. John Baptist (3), and a -Madonna picture by Bernardino Luini. Sala D contains the gem of the -collection, Botticelli’s picture of the Madonna adoring the Child, and -three angels (15). It is one of the most lovely of his Madonna pictures, -luminous in colour, full of movement, and delicate in execution. Well -placed on an easel in the middle of the room it can be seen by itself -and thoroughly enjoyed. The small picture of the Eternal Father (6), now -attributed to Timoteo Viti, is very refined; it was formerly given to -Francesco Francia, and certainly reminds one of the Ferrarese-Bolognese -school. Two pictures by Bramantino, the Virgin, with St. Ambrogio, -angels and donors (18) is in his usual manner, but the Nativity (19) is -a strange picture, and somewhat suggestive of the Northern schools, -especially the Madonna with her abnormal forehead and quaint head-dress. -The group of musicians behind are graceful figures standing up against -the light sky. The large altarpiece by Borgognone, Madonna and Saints -(23), an early work, possesses the dignity, simplicity, and devotion -which are his unfailing qualities. The characteristics of his early -period are to be seen in the straight and rather rigid figures, the -badly foreshortened angels with large heads, and in the elaborate -architectural throne and lavish use of gold. There are also by him, two -Saints (17), St. Francis, rather sentimental, and St. Elizabeth, an -elderly woman with a sympathetic face; the colour of the picture is -pleasant. - -[Illustration: - - PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS(?) - - _To face p. 363_] (AMBROSIANA) [_Anderson, Rome_ -] - -Sala E.—The most important work here is the cartoon by Raphael, for the -School of Athens, his great fresco in the Vatican. This extremely -interesting study was acquired for the Ambrosiana by Cardinal Federigo -Borromeo. The figures are drawn with all the vigour and grace of the -master, and are worth careful study. One noticeable difference between -the finished fresco and the cartoon is the absence in the latter of the -figure of Heraclites. The stooping figure on the right, Archimedes, is a -portrait of Bramante, and there is a study from life of his head beside -the cartoon. - -Portrait of a young woman (8), formerly ascribed to Leonardo, but given -by Morelli to Ambrogio de Predis, an attribution which is now generally -accepted. It is a charming and vivacious portrait, and certainly -superior to most of de Predis’ work, but we must remember that he -excelled in portraiture. By Leonardo it assuredly is not. The identity -of the portrait has also been much discussed. It was at one time called -Beatrice d’Este. The latest conjecture is that it is the portrait of -Bianca, natural daughter of Lodovico Sforza and wife of Galeazzo di San -Severino. The portrait of a man holding a scroll of music (19), is -attributed in the catalogue to Leonardo; we think, however, it is more -likely to be also by Ambrogio de Predis, whose work was much influenced -by Leonardo, and it has all the characteristics of his painting, the -heavy modelling, and hot dark colour. It is an interesting and -thoughtful face, presumably a musician, and perhaps the portrait of the -celebrated Franchino Gaffurio, master of the choir of the Duomo of -Milan. Holy Family and St. Elizabeth (3), from Leonardo’s design (the -cartoon in Burlington House), is a well-known picture by Luini, but like -all imitations of the master, it is quite superficial, and loses -entirely the deep and mysterious significance of the original, so that -one can hardly help wishing his designs had not been so much copied. The -youthful Saviour (9) has a certain beauty and refinement, but shows -Luini’s weakness in drawing, especially in the large and clumsy hand. -St. John with a Lamb (10) is a very charming picture of a little boy -hugging a lamb. The Way to Calvary (18), by Giovanni Cariani, is an -interesting example of this Bergamesque artist. Other noticeable -pictures in this room are, the Presentation in the Temple (33), by -Tiepolo; Adoration of the Magi (42), ascribed to Titian; Holy Family -(43), by Bonifazio Veronese, and a full-length portrait by Gio. Battista -Moroni. - -Sala F contains inferior pictures of the late Lombard school; there is, -besides, a pleasing altarpiece, attributed to Pinturicchio (58), though -surely by a North Italian hand. - -Sala G.—This room is filled with drawings; there are various studies, -doubtfully attributed to Leonardo and drawings by his followers; among -the latter an excellent pencil-drawing of a child’s profile by Ambrogio -de Predis or Bernardino dei Conti; it is the portrait of Massimiliano -Sforza, eldest son of Lodovico il Moro, and probably the study for his -portrait in the large altarpiece in the Brera; some well-drawn heads by -Boltraffio; a drawing by Luini of Tobias and the Angel, and the Marriage -of the Virgin by Gaudenzio Ferrari. There are two small profiles of -Prospero Colonna and the Marchese di Pescara, and some caricatures. In a -case there is a reproduction of the _Codex Atlanticus_ of Leonardo. - -Sala H.—Here are more drawings and a collection of prints. In the -central case is a drawing by Raphael for the figure of the Virgin in the -Dispute of the Sacrament; on the back of the sheet is a pen-sketch of a -group. There are other drawings attributed to various North Italian -artists, and to Albert Dürer. The prints include specimens of Italian, -French, English, Flemish and German schools. - - * * * * * - -Milan is rich in private art collections, some the fruit of a liberal -patronage of the fine arts by her wealthy and noble families in the -past, others brought together by distinguished connoisseurs in the -present day. The famous Borromeo Collection is housed in the old family -palace, and is open to the public on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. -Among a number of works of the best Lombard period there is the -Abbondanza of Gian Pietrino, an allegorical figure much resembling his -well-known Magdalenes, with beautiful hands displayed in somewhat -affected pose. The flesh colour is luminous and golden, not heavy and -dark as so often with this painter. A painting by Boltraffio, after -Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks, has been spoiled by cleaning. There is -a very charming small picture by the same artist, of a woman’s head, -with golden hair and a crown of leaves. A little Madonna, attributed in -the gallery to Leonardo, is by one of his followers, perhaps Ambrogio de -Predis. A small picture by Borgognone, grey in hue, shows his early -manner, derived from Foppa. There are several others by this artist. By -Filippo Mazzola is the line realistic head of a Young Man in a dark -crimson cap and black dress, seen against a green background. Another -very interesting portrait, of Camillo Trivulzio, is by the rare painter, -Bernardino de’ Conti. It shows a man in a red cap and red dress, with -black curling hair—a very serious profile, full of character and -thought, and finely realised by the artist. The Madonna and Child, with -two Hermit Saints, by Gaudenzio Ferrari, is a large and simple -composition, full of the painter’s geniality, but without the -exaggeration and vulgarity he often falls into. The Madonna is a -beautiful image of maternity, stately and sweet, with golden hair simply -arranged; such a face, typically North Italian, you may sometimes see -to-day among the peasant women in and around Milan. By the same artist -is St. Roch as a pilgrim in full travelling costume of the sixteenth -century. Luini is represented by Susannah and an Elder, of soft morbid -tones, and by Madonna and Child and little St. John, in a landscape of -hills and trees and water—a thoroughly characteristic work. - -Of other Schools there is Christ on the Cross, by Lorenzo Lotto; St. -Catherine, by Bartolommeo Veneto; Christ bearing the Cross, by -Pinturicchio; and a Madonna, by Piero di Cosimo. There are many -interesting things in the Museum besides pictures, including relics of -San Carlo. - -The important Trivulzio Collection, in the family palace, opposite to -St. Alessandro, can only be visited by permission of the owner, Prince -Trivulzio. It contains a fine Mantegna—the Assumption of the -Virgin—painted in 1497; Portrait of a Man, by Antonello da Messina; -Birth of the Virgin, by the Siennese Sano di Pietro; Madonna and Angels, -by Pier’ di Cosimo, etc., and a very interesting portrait of Lodovico il -Moro, by Boltraffio. Here is also preserved the Gothic tomb of Azzo -Visconte, originally in S. Gottardo, and some splendid tapestries—the -Twelve Months of the Year—of the Renaissance period, and of Lombard -production. The fine library is rich in the possession of a manuscript -by Leonardo, known as the _Codex Trivulziana_, and of a fragment of the -precious _Libro di Gesù_, in which are portraits of Lodovico il Moro and -his son Massimiliano, aged five, miniatured by Ambrogio de Predis. - -The other private collections not being open to the public hardly come -within our province; we may perhaps be permitted to mention Signor -Crespi’s (Via Borgo Nuovo), a particularly fine collection, which has -been fully illustrated in a monograph by Sig. Adolfo Venturi, with -reproductions of the pictures.[24] It contains the very fine portrait of -a woman, variously ascribed to Titian and Giorgione, but given by -Venturi to Pordenone; a very interesting early Correggio—the -Presepio—and a small Madonna, by the same master; a Madonna of Gio. -Bellini, also an early work of great beauty; a Holy Family, by Lorenzo -Lotto, in which the Virgin is one of his most subtle presentments of -feminine character; the Flight into Egypt, also by Lotto; Victory of the -Gonzaga over the Buonacorsi, with a very interesting view of Mantua, by -Domenico Morone; a fine portrait of a man attributed to Andrea Solari, -but, according to Venturi, by Bartolommeo Veneto. The Milanese school is -also well represented, and there are many other works of value. - -Footnote 24: - - _La Galleria Crespi._ - -The well-known connoisseur, Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, also has a small, but -very choice collection of pictures, chiefly of the North Italian and -Venetian schools. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - _The Castello_ - - - “La miglior fortezza che sia è non essere odiato dal - popolo.”—MACCHIAVELLI. - -In the west of the city a vast red brick building, towering against the -sky, closes the wide vista of the modern Via Dante. It stands for that -storied stronghold and palace of the Visconti and Sforza, the Castello -di Porta Giovia, whose rapidly vanishing remains, mutilated, ruined and -buried beneath the additions and incrustations of five centuries of -changing circumstance, have been very recently dug out and restored and -rebuilt into the present interesting semblance of the fifteenth century -original. - -The Castello was first built by Galeazzo II. Visconte, in the latter -half of the fourteenth century. Galeazzo’s stronghold incorporated one -of the thirteenth century gates, the Porta Giovia—or, in Milanese, -_Zobia_—which had kept the name of the corresponding gate in the Roman -walls, named Giovia in honour of the Emperor Diocletian Jovius. It -served at first solely for defence, and as a prison. Only a few years -after its erection Galeazzo’s subtle son secured within its walls his -first great prey—Bernabò Visconte, his uncle and fellow-sovereign. The -fortress did not then extend beyond the city walls; these with the moat -formed its defence towards the country. But Gian Galeazzo constructed a -second citadel beyond the walls and moat, enlarging the enclosure to the -dimensions which they occupy to-day—and enclosing Porta Giovia and a -portion of the city walls in the new precincts. - -The Castello, so increased and strengthened, became the chief support of -the tyrants of Milan. Its possession ensured dominion of the city. When -Duke Giovanni Maria was murdered, the fortress was faithfully held -against all attacks by Vincenzo Marliano for his lawful successor, -Filippo Maria, who was able to enter through it into the seditious city -at the head of an army and force the factions to accept his rule. This -last of the Visconte sovereigns made his dwelling in the innermost keep -of the Castle in gloomy seclusion, imprisoned by his own fears. His -tyranny and dark habit of life invested the Castle with horror for his -subjects, and immediately after his death they deliberately tore the -great building down, stone by stone, at great cost. Only the foundations -were left standing. - -But for a very brief time did the Milanese see the free sky unobstructed -by menacing towers. On the overthrow of the Ambrosian republic and the -accession of Francesco Sforza, the Castle began to be rebuilt, and -before long the great fortress, enclosed within much stronger defences -than before, was again in existence. It is this Sforza building, with -the additions made by Francesco’s sons, which we see in the restored -Castello of to-day, though the brave new battlements and towers give a -poor idea of the substance of those walls which amazed King René of -Anjou when he visited the works with the Duchess Bianca Maria in 1453, -and of a building celebrated by many writers as the strongest and -proudest in the world. - -The first architects—or _ingegneri_—were Filippo da Ancona and Giovanni -da Milano. The latter was succeeded by Jacopo da Cortona in 1451. A year -later the building was far enough advanced for the Castellan, Foschino -degli Attendoli, to take possession. The day of his installation was of -mystical import for the Duke, who chose a day approved by his -astrologers, when the moon was waxing. Francesco, who desired to make -his building beautiful as well as strong, engaged the Florentine -architect Filarete to design and adorn a lofty entrance tower in the -walls facing citywards. This tower, destroyed long ago by accident and -time, is now represented by the modern Torre d’Umberto, in which it must -be supposed that the architect has somewhat freely interpreted the -scanty evidence in contemporary documents and drawings of the appearance -of the original.[25] - -Footnote 25: - - A fifteenth century graphite drawing of Milan on a wall of the old - monastery of Chiaravalle, a short distance from the city, shows the - form of the castle at that time. - -The usual quarrels arose between Filarete and his Lombard -fellow-architects, whom the Tuscan scorned as mere masons. Their -jealousy and impatience defeated his ideas, and he was finally compelled -to abandon the work entirely to them. The Duke’s decorative projects -indeed came to little. His order to Jacopo da Cortona to make windows, -_of such beauty of style and form as a work like this demands_, in the -outer façade was never fulfilled, perhaps because of the inconvenience -of such openings in a defensive curtain, and it was left to the restorer -in these peaceful days to insert the Gothic windows—elaborately -ornamented in imitation of some of the old ones still remaining in other -parts of the building—which now adorn the front. - -After the first the work proceeded slowly, hindered by the quarrels of -the architects, the irregularity of payments, and the dishonesty of -those in charge. In 1454 the Duke’s military engineer, Bartolommeo Gadio -of Cremona, was appointed to the chief post, which he held to the -satisfaction of three successive despots till his death in 1484. Duke -Francesco was destined never to inhabit himself this building which he -had watched with such ceaseless interest, but when he died in 1466 it -was complete in all its main features. Within the great walls which -flanked Filarete’s tower and were guarded at the angles by two massive -round towers lay the vast outer court, with fortified side gates, as -well as the main entrance in the central tower. At the other end of this -piazza rose a second mighty curtain of masonry, behind which lay the -citadel, containing the Corte Ducale on the north side, and on the south -a strongly defended inner enclosure, the Rochetta or innermost keep, the -place of retreat in extremity. In this form we see the Castle to-day, -though with all the defensive apparel which frowned from gates and tower -and walls gone. - -On the accession of Galeazzo to the dukedom, the Corte Ducale was -completed with the utmost haste for his reception, and having settled -himself there, the young tyrant gave rein to his extravagant passion for -gorgeous decoration. While keeping architects and builders still -continually at work on his new palace, he called painters from all parts -of his state to fresco its walls, himself supplying the subjects. There -is little doubt that everything possible to mortals was done to please a -prince whose imperious will was supported by the torture chamber and the -executioner, and that the palace was soon gay with the colour which he -loved. Within its sumptuous halls Galeazzo entertained his guests with -lavish splendour. Here Cardinal Pietro Riario was accorded pontifical -state on his visit in 1473, and lay in a chamber so superbly adorned -that no one had ever seen another so magnificent and princely, and here -he and his host built up fantastic political schemes, which were to make -the one monarch of Peter’s throne and the other king of all -Italy—schemes drowned but a few days later in a poisoned cup offered to -the mad young priest at a Venetian banquet. - -The Duke continued the construction of the Rocchetta also, which his -father had left unfinished, and gave orders for the decoration of the -great Sala della Palla on its north-east side. But it is with the Corte -Ducale that the fateful memories of this prince are especially -associated. Thither he returned on the Feast of St. Thomas, 1476, with -the glory of a victorious campaign freshly investing him, yet abstracted -and pensive, possessed with a sense of the nearness of death, so that he -bid the singers of his chapel to repeat every day in the midst of the -joyful celebrations of the season, the mournful cry from the Office of -the Dead, _Maria Mater Gratiæ, Mater Misericordiæ_.... In the painted -halls behind the chapel the usual Christmas ceremonies were carried out, -and in the Sala _dei Fazoli_ the Yule log was solemnly lighted upon the -hearth in the presence of the tyrant and his family, and of all the -great feudatories of state. In the Sala delle Columbine—painted with -doves—the Duke, clad in a long crimson robe, entertained his courtiers -on Christmas Day, and discoursed on the greatness of Casa Sforza, -pointing out with unconscious irony how firmly its fortunes were assured -in the many descendants of his father Francesco then existing in health -and prosperity. We may picture his tall figure on the following day, -clad in the doublet of crimson satin lined with sable, for which, with -characteristic vanity, he had cast aside his cuirass, fearing to appear -too stout if he wore the armour beneath; and in the long hose, one -crimson, one white, worn by the princes of Milan, passing through the -loggia, which still exists, though much restored, and down the great -staircase into the courtyard, on his way to attend Mass in S. Stefano. -He had kissed his little sons, and parted from them with a strange -hesitation—this man who, as his daughter Caterina proudly declared, -_never knew fear_. Mounting his horse in the outer court, he rode out -beneath the Tower of Filarete, followed by a gorgeous throng of -courtiers, and his brilliant figure disappears from the Castello for -ever. Later on the same day a messenger passed out of the gate charged -by Bona with three rings, a turquoise, a ruby, and a precious seal, and -with a vest of white cloth of gold, for the adornment of his body, which -lay laced with twenty-three dagger wounds, in the Canonica of S. -Stefano. - -With the death of Galeazzo, the historic interest of the Castello shifts -to the Rocchetta. This inner keep has remained more in its old state -than the Corte Ducale, and is the most picturesque part of the castle -to-day. The cortile is one of those characteristic colonnaded buildings -which are generally described as Bramantesque in Milan. Two of the sides -of the quadrangle, however—to the left of and facing the entrance from -the outer court—are of older date, having been built by Francesco and -Galeazzo Maria respectively. The columns and capitals show the character -of the early Renaissance in Milan; upon the capitals are carved the -shields and various devices of the dukes. The other part was not -finished till later. The lofty tower at the north-east angle, called the -Torre di Bona, was built during the brief regency of Galeazzo’s widow, -when Cecco Simonetta hastened to complete the defences of the Rocchetta -in order to ensure her authority. This measure, however, only served for -her undoing at the hands of Lodovico il Moro, who, having taken -advantage of her weakness and folly to possess himself of the Rocchetta, -the person of the little Duke, and, in consequence, of the supreme -government of the state, made his abode in this, the heart and key of -the whole stronghold. - -During the first years of his rule Lodovico did little to the Castle -beyond completing its defences. But as time went on he allowed himself -to assume the splendour of a reigning prince, and to satisfy an artistic -appetite as eager as Galeazzo’s and ordered by a finer discrimination. -The great artists whom he called to his court were set to work to make -the palace such a home of art and beauty as the world has rarely seen. -Their services were required not only for lasting work, but to design -the ephemeral decorations of the gorgeous state ceremonies in which the -regent delighted to display the wealth at his command. The magnificent -decorations for the coming of the young Duke’s bride, Isabella of -Aragon, in 1489, were designed, it is said, by Leonardo da Vinci. The -regent’s own approaching marriage with Beatrice d’Este caused a great -ferment of artistic activity during the next year in the Rocchetta in -preparation for her habitation there. With despotic impatience Lodovico -summoned all the best “painters of histories”—_depinctori de -istoriade_—to come to Milan within two days of his order on pain of -heavy fines, and show designs for the decoration of the Sala della -Palla. He himself describes the room in a letter to his brother Cardinal -Ascanio. The ceiling was blue, with golden stars, in similitude of the -heavens, and the walls were covered with pictures on canvas representing -the exploits of Francesco Sforza, whose image on horseback beneath a -triumphal arch was depicted at the upper end. - -With the advent of Beatrice d’Este the Rocchetta became the scene of an -incomparable gaiety. The young princess filled it with new life. Her -extraordinary capacity for enjoyment never knew satiety, not even in the -lengthiest of state functions, which she enlivened by teasing the hoary -ambassadors who occupied the place of honour beside her. In the -beautiful rooms prepared for her in the south-west side of the court she -lived her brief enchanted existence in the midst of the most exquisite -environment which her husband’s wealth and devotion and the fine art of -the Renaissance could create for her. - -[Illustration: THE ROCCHETTA, CASTELLO] - -How difficult it is to-day, in this exhumed corpse of her old home, -these dry bones of the past, denuded of all their old richness of detail -and decoration, to realise that vivid young presence. Yet the sun shines -gloriously in the wide cortile this afternoon, making a stately pattern -of light and shade in the arcades, and we recognise at least in the fair -and spacious proportions of the building and the grace of sculptured -column and curving arch, that Renaissance beauty of architecture which -made it once a worthy setting for such a prince and princess as Lodovico -il Moro and Beatrice d’Este. - -During his regency the Moro spent enormous sums on the various works -which he undertook in the Castle. He formed a vast piazza around it, in -the midst of which he apparently intended to place Leonardo’s great -equestrian statue of Duke Francesco. The clay model of this statue was -in fact set up there on the occasion of Bianca Maria Sforza’s marriage -with the Emperor Maximilian, and remained there till, with the passing -of the Moro’s ephemeral glory, it too perished for the wanton amusement -of a foreign invader. In 1494, when the death of Gian Galeazzo removed -the last shadowy limitation of Lodovico’s sovereignty, the tyrant -pressed on with new eagerness the incessant labours of his architects -and engineers on the great building. The Rocchetta was finally completed -by a portico on the north-east side; and among many other alterations -and additions a set of exquisite camerini opening into a loggia were -built across a bridge over the moat on the north-east side of the Corte -Ducale. The picturesque exterior of this structure, which has been -attributed to Bramante—groundlessly, it appears—may be seen in restored -form to-day. The great gardens which extended on the north and west of -the Castle were a special object of the Moro’s care. He enlarged them -continually, absorbing without mercy all the Naboths’ vineyards -adjacent. Both Leonardo and Bramante were employed by him at this time -for various works in the Castello—chiefly of defence and utility—though -Leonardo was also charged with the decoration of rooms in his character -of painter. There are jottings in his notebooks referring to work of -this sort, estimates in fact of the cost of the materials and labour -required. Other existing documents show him frescoing the Sala delle -Asse and a certain Saletta Negra in the Corte Ducale. But in spite of -the most painstaking research and every effort of restoration, there is -nothing now remaining in these rooms which can be considered Leonardo’s -handiwork. Neither of Bramante is there any undoubted trace left, except -a precious fragment of a painting in one of the rooms of the Rocchetta. - -The sudden death of Beatrice in the early days of 1497 extinguished all -the sunshine in the Castello. The labours of builders and artists still -continued upon it. But it was to works of defence that the thoughts of -the Duke were compelled now to turn almost exclusively. The peril of the -French threatened the throne of the Sforza. Leonardo and the others were -occupied in 1498 and 1499 in strengthening the fortifications and -inventing new engines of defence, and the Rocchetta especially was -rendered so strong that it was practically impregnable. Yet all this -labour and care served only for the ruin of the Moro, and the advantage -of his enemies. Afraid to trust himself within it, as we have seen, he -abandoned it at the critical moment, leaving it in the hands of his -faithless Castellan Bernardino da Corte, and deluding himself with the -belief that he was turning his back upon it for an hour only, to return -in triumph to its relief, he passed out of the gates for ever. - -With the departure of Lodovico Sforza ended the good days of the -Castello. Surrendered by Bernardino da Corte to the French, it was -sacked of all its wonderful contents. Bernardino claimed as his share of -the spoil all that Lodovico had not removed of the famous Sforza -treasure, including priceless works of the goldsmiths’ art. Gian Giacomo -Trivulzio seized the splendid tapestries. All the exquisite accessories -of Beatrice’s short life, her costly robes, her instruments of music, -her jewels, her beautiful books, were rudely shared between the various -spoilers. What became of the pictures is unknown. The French captains -occupied her private apartments, her delicate camerini, and the -beautiful halls and courts where life had been practised as a fine art, -were given up to coarse and drunken jollity, and defiled by the foul -habits of the invaders. How deplorable the change in the eyes of the -Italian princes and ambassadors who waited with servile deference upon -Louis XII. during his stay in Milan is shown by many records. _In the -castello there is nothing but dirt and foulness_, says a Venetian who -was present then, _such as Signor Lodovico would not have allowed for -the whole world_. - -The Castle had now to serve the grim purposes of war, not of art and -pleasure. For these it was well fitted, in the hands of determined -defenders. The French chronicler, Jean d’Auton, who was in the train of -Louis XII., describes with admiration its immense strength, its broad -moats, its towers, ramparts, walls and outworks, its fortified gates, -its sally ports and posterns, with the impregnable Rocchetta in its -midst. _If their effeminate stomachs had been swelled by manly hearts_, -says he, speaking of Lodovico’s garrison, _well might they have held it -long against every human power, for they had in their hands one of the -most advantageous places in the world.... In such keeping is it now_, he -adds, _that, in spite of all the winds, in every corner of its garden, -the noble fleur-de-lys shall flower for ever_. The fleur-de-lys was not, -however, so fadeless as he boasted. But it bloomed undisturbed for -twelve years, during which period the palace once or twice knew -splendour and gaiety once more, as in 1507, when Louis XII. held his -court there for a short time, and was waited on by cardinals, princes, -and distinguished men from all parts of Italy. Then it was that Isabella -d’Este danced with the king in the great ball-room in the Rocchetta, -where her dead sister had presided. There, too, was Galeazzo di San -Severino, once the most intimate friend of the now captive Moro and his -wife, and now Grand Ecuyer to the usurper. The court poets, the -musicians sang their venal praises as gaily for the new as for the old -master, Leonardo, too, was there, in the service of the French king. For -him one tyrant passed and another came; art alone endured. - -The ravages in the palace were concealed by the gorgeous decorations. -Two years later the king came again, and the company on this occasion -was so superb that the meanest dresses were of brocade. These were but -temporary liftings of the gloom. In 1512 the castle was besieged by the -Holy League, and the French turned out. Again in 1515 it was retaken by -the French, and the weak young Duke Massimiliano Sforza was replaced by -the splendid Francis I., who rode in, fresh from his victory in the -Battle of the Giants, beneath the usual arches of triumph. In 1521 a -terrific explosion of gunpowder, lit it is said by a thunderbolt from a -serene sky, destroyed the great Torre di Filarete, and killed the -Castellan and a number of the garrison. A few months later the Castle -was besieged by Charles V.’s army, and after fourteen months of heroic -endurance, the French were again expelled. The reign of Francesco II. -Sforza followed with all its terrible vicissitudes of war and siege and -Spanish occupation. Bombardments, the necessity for new defences and -alterations, the polluting presence of the Spaniards and lanzknechts -wrecked ever more and more the proud habitation of the Sforza. A mocking -reflection of its old glory brightened it for a few years after Duke -Francesco’s reconciliation with the Emperor in 1530, and one or two -splendid pageants were added to the long succession of gorgeous -spectacles of which it had been the scene under the Sforza. These ended -in 1535 in the melancholy ceremony of the last Duke’s funeral, when his -dead body, or rather an image of it, arrayed in crimson velvet and -scarlet hose, and a mantle of richest golden brocade, and crowned with -the ducal beretta, was borne forth beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, by -the doctors of the University, preceded by an endless train of friars -and monks and clergy and black-hooded mourners carrying torches, and -followed by kinsmen, ambassadors and nobles in sable robes reaching to -the ground. The real body was carried out quietly to the Duomo the same -evening. Thus in symbolic show and unreal grandeur the short-lived -dynasty of the Sforza vanished out of this great fabric of its creation. - -From this time the Castello ceased to be the chief palace of a sovereign -prince. Under the Spaniards its precincts were enlarged and strengthened -in the second half of the sixteenth century by an immense outer -quadrangle of fortifications which completely altered its aspect. The -changing conditions of warfare, and the advance of the science of -fortification, brought continual additions and changes, and many of the -beautiful constructions of the Sforza period were ruthlessly sacrificed. -Yet the Castello remained for long one of the famous sights of Europe, -and is described with admiration by many travellers. - -In 1800 the fortifications built by the Spaniards were destroyed, and -only the old Sforza nucleus remained, abandoned to natural decay, and -converted later into barracks. It is from this fate that its ruins have -been rescued and built up into the imposing edifice of to-day. - -The stately halls of the Corte Ducale are now the home of the -archæological and artistic collections of the municipality. We have only -space to mention shortly some of the most interesting objects as we pass -through the rooms. - -Sala I., once the office of the ducal chancellors, contains prehistoric, -Etruscan, Greek and Roman antiquities, mostly dug up in Milan and its -province. The beautiful torso of a Venus, with fragments of a Cupid and -marine accessories forming a group with her, is the most precious relic -yet drawn from the grave of imperial Milan. Another treasure is the base -decorated with graceful fresco paintings, in excellent preservation, of -Ceres, Fortune, Hercules and Victory. - -Sala II., containing Lombard sculptures from the sixth to the thirteenth -centuries shows the complete decay of the old Roman tradition and the -rude early stages of the new era of art. The most interesting objects -historically, and also as evidence of the extraordinarily barbarous -state of Lombard sculpture in the twelfth century, are the bas-reliefs -from the old Porta Romana, one of the gates built by the Milanese in -1171. They represent the return of the citizens after their expulsion by -Barbarossa, and in the rows of rudely carved figures on the first -pilaster we see on one side the Milanese knights and men-at-arms -entering a gate, with the name Mediolanum above, marshalled by a priest -bearing a banner; on another side the soldiers of the allied cities, -issuing from gates, with Brisia (Brescia) and Cremona marked above; on -another, women and horsemen and priests carrying the cross. A boastful -inscription records the authors of the sculptures, Anselmo and Gherardo, -and proclaims one a new Dædalus, the other as being _pollice docto_, of -cunning hand! On the other pilaster St. Ambrose is represented with -scourge in hand driving out the Arians, and on another side are the -citizens in procession, men with tools and chattels, women with babies. - -A large figure astride a devil, supposed to be a satirical portrait of -Barbarossa, was once on the same gate, together with an insulting figure -of the Empress which is also in this room. Here is, besides that -precious memorial of Milan’s freedom, the Stone of the Milanese Consuls, -once fixed also on Porta Romana, a tablet recording the return of the -people to their city in 1167, and the erection of the towers and gates, -together with the names of the consuls. - -The ceiling of this hall—one of the state rooms of the Sforza—shows -traces of Renaissance painting—Cupids holding shields. - -Sala III.—Fourteenth century sculpture by the Campionese masters. Here -is the great sepulchral monument of Bernabò Visconte, with an equestrian -statue of him on the top, executed in his lifetime, probably by Bonino -da Campione, the sculptor of the tomb of Cansignorio at Verona, which it -resembles in style. In the reliefs the Pisan traditions of Giovanni da -Balduccio are followed, but with the inferior ability and the heaviness -and rigidity of the local school, and modified also by a tendency -towards realistic expression and elaboration of the draperies, which -develops later into the mannerism of the fifteenth century Lombards. The -smaller monument of Bernabò’s wife, Regina della Scala, is by the same -school. The Dead Christ upon the front is, however, a more artistic -piece of work than the same subject on Bernabò’s tomb. The droop of the -head and fall of the arms is expressed with truth and feeling, and the -figures of Luke and John are excellent in their dignity and simplicity. -The vaulted roof of this room is decorated with a fifteenth century -fresco of the Resurrection by an inferior Lombard painter, and with the -arms and initials of Galeazzo Maria Sforza. - -Sala IV.—Works of the Campionese masters, among them the groups of -Madonna and Saints, once upon the old Porta Orientale and Porta Romana. -In the cortile is set up the magnificent marble portal of the palace -built by Pigello Portinari in the reign of Francesco Sforza, to -accommodate the Medicean Bank, and not long since pulled down. This -beautifully proportioned doorway is attributed to Michelozzo. In the -spandrils are profile busts of Duke Francesco and Bianca Maria. The -heavy figures on the outer sides of the door are additions by some -Lombard sculptor. - -Sala V. consists of the upper half of the old ducal chapel. It still -preserves, in much damaged condition, the ceiling fresco of God the -Father in a blue sky with golden stars, which Galeazzo Maria commanded -to be painted, and for which there was great competition between the -court artists. It was finally done, in part at least, by Bonifazio -Bembo, Stefano de’ Fedeli and Gio. Montorfano. A Resurrection is also -dimly visible, and beneath the vaulting the Virgin and Angel of the -Annunciation, with Saints half obliterated on the walls below. The room -contains sculpture of the early fifteenth century, and an exquisite -Renaissance doorway at the head of the room, and another from the palace -of Ippolita Sforza in Piazza S. Giovanni in Conca, at the entrance into -Sala X. - -Sala VI.—The old Sala delle Asse—at present empty—has a grand ceiling -decoration, purporting to be a restoration of the decoration done by -Leonardo in this room for Lodovico il Moro, of which some supposed -traces were discovered here. - -Sala VII.—This, called the Sala dei Ducali, from the ducal shields with -which the ceiling is painted, contains sculpture of the late fifteenth -century. Here are some of the characteristic productions of the Milanese -Renaissance sculptors, among them a tondo of the Nativity, an early and -attractive work by Amadeo, in which the mannerisms, such as the -paper-like folds of his draperies, are not yet unpleasantly evident; -four pilasters, with reliefs attributed to Tommaso Cazzaniga; a little -tabernacle in the window representing St. Sebastian, now attributed to -Amadeo, to whom is also ascribed a little bas-relief of St. Cristopher, -carrying a vivacious infant with a large head. There is also here a -beautiful tabernacle, attributed to the Maestro di San Tommaso (so -called from a work by him in S. Tommaso at Venice), and a bas-relief by -the Florentine Agostino di Duccio. - -Sala VIII.—The Sala delle Columbine of Galeazzo Maria’s time is -decorated with the favourite ducal device of the dove in the midst of -rays, and the motto A Bon Droit. It is devoted to the works of Amadeo -and the sculptors of his time. Here are some characteristic pieces by -the Mantegazza brothers, two kneeling saints, angular and unbeautiful, -and four bas-reliefs from the old façade of S. Satiro, representing -Sibyls, and the creation of Adam and Eve. In these a predilection for -long and angular contours and exaggeratedly complicated folds are united -to an energetic, almost violent expression. Two kneeling angels, once -attributed to the Mantegazza, are probably by Amadeo, by whom also are -the tondi with the Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation, and -probably the head of a boy, placed in the middle of the room, broad and -realistic in style, and of vivacious expression, but without beauty. Of -rich and exuberant fancy are the exquisite arabesques on some marble -fragments supposed to belong to the Targhetta monument in the Duomo, -sculptured by Amadeo. A tondo of the Nativity shows the fully developed -manner of this master. There is also a bas-relief of Cain and Abel by -Amadeo, as well as other things by him and his fellow sculptors. - -Sala IX.—The Sala degli _Scarlioni_—of the Zigzags—painted with red and -white stripes, contains sculpture of the rather later period of il -Bambaia and Fusina. Here is Bambaia’s famous work, the recumbent statue -of Gaston de Foix, from the hero’s monument in Sta. Marta, which was -broken up and sold at the demolition of that church. The head is of -classic beauty, and the whole figure shows a depth and sincerity of -feeling to which we are hardly accustomed in this able but usually cold -and uninspired artist. There are smaller fragments of the decoration of -the same tomb on a stand close by. The casts in the cases are from -reliefs also intended for this monument and now dispersed in various -collections; they show in the detached style of the ornamentation and -the confused design, a desire for novelty, unrestrained by artistic -feeling. There are other works by this master, some of a classic grace, -besides a number of other interesting things. - -Sala X.—The lower half of the Capella Ducale exhibits a fine collection -of the characteristic terra-cotta ornamentation of North Italy. In this -delightfully plastic material, so rich and picturesque in colour, the -Lombard decorative artists found a most happy medium for their art, -which for the play of its exuberant gaiety and fancy needed a less -severe material than marble. This wealth of exquisite fragments of -decoration from old houses and convents gives some idea of the beauty -which clothed the buildings of this city and its neighbours in the -Gothic and Renaissance periods. Here are set up windows with rich -mouldings such as may still be seen here and there about the city, but -more and more rarely as time goes on and the beautiful old buildings -fall one by one in that dreadful sounding process, the _sventramento_ of -the old crowded quarters. Here are some remains of the lately destroyed -house of the Missaglia, a famous family of armourers in the fifteenth -century, whose monogram appears upon a capital, and fragments from the -beautiful Banco de’ Medici, of which some drawings are also shown. The -charming fresco of little Gian Galeazzo Sforza, reading Cicero, by -Bramantino, now in the Wallace Collection, came from this palace. - -Mounting by the grand staircase and passing through the Loggia di -Galeazzo Maria, we enter the great Sala Verde of the ducal days, which -now contains a fine collection of majolica; ivories of the Roman and -Mediæval eras; Limoges enamels; some beautiful sixteenth and seventeenth -century glass, besides other things. - -Sala II.—Here are some very beautiful crucifixes and sacred vessels, -examples of goldsmiths’ work of the Gothic and Renaissance periods; -bronzes of later date; seventeenth century tapestries, etc. - -Sala III. and Sala IV. contain carved and inlaid furniture—cornices, -panels of altarpieces, etc. A carved altar frame of richest Renaissance -style, with little paintings of saints at the corners, is a Lombard -production of the fifteenth century. - -Sala Milano.—This room is chiefly occupied with drawings and paintings -of the buildings of old Milan, and mementoes of her history. Beneath the -ceiling are ranged charming fresco portraits of the Sforza, by Luini, -taken from a house in Corso Magenta. They are of course chiefly fancy -presentments of those historic personages. The great silken standard of -St. Ambrogio, partly needlework, partly painted in tempera, of the -sixteenth century, hangs on the wall. A very interesting little painting -on wood, much damaged, depicts Galeazzo Maria Sforza, his son Gian -Galeazzo, and lastly Lodovico il Moro, following one another in order of -rank on horseback, fully armed and accompanied by their pages. Their -arms and special devices are painted on the trappings of their horses. -It is a work evidently of Galeazzo Maria’s time. - -Sala VII.—Here we enter the Pinacoteca, which contains a small but very -valuable collection of the Lombard and other North Italian Schools. - -Martyrdom of S. Sebastian by Vincenzo Foppa is an impressive work. The -artist’s tendency to dark and grey tones is carried to an extreme, and -the effect is gloomy, almost tragic. St. Ursula and her Virgins by -Moretto. The saint in her flowing draperies, holding the banners, is a -noble figure, and the colour is good, with that opaque quality peculiar -to this Brescian artist. - -Sala II.—Large altarpiece by Borgognone, Madonna with SS. Sebastian and -Jerome, is in his usual gentle and devout manner. Buttinone, a series of -small scenes from the New Testament, showing all his peculiar -mannerisms; the action of the rather grotesque figures is decidedly -vigorous. Vincenzo Foppa, a small Madonna picture, has all the painter’s -strong characteristics. The string of corals reminds one of his Paduan -training. Gianpietrino, a picture of the Magdalen, his favourite -subject, is better drawn and modelled than his figures sometimes are, -and less morbid in the flesh tones. Sodoma, a very theatrical S. -Michael. Boltraffio, Madonna and Child of his usual type, and rather hot -colour, and two panels of Saints, with well-painted profile portraits of -donors. Correggio, Madonna and Child, with little S. John is a -particularly gracious composition. She looks down with a sad half smile -at the children, who have the childish charm which Correggio depicts -with such subtle mastery. It is a picture to sit down in front of and -enjoy. By Carlo Crivelli there are two Saints, S. John with finger on -lip, holding a book, and S. Bartholomew holding a knife and book. -Antonello da Messina, a fine portrait of a dark man crowned with a green -wreath. On the other side of the room there is a splendid portrait by -Tintoretto of Doge Jacopo Soranzo, an old man in deep wine-coloured -dress. Moroni, a portrait of a man in black with white ruff. Il Bassano, -a man in elaborately ornamental armour. Antonio Pordenone, a fine -portrait of a man with a small dog, a Titianesque landscape showing -through the window. By Bernardino Licinio is a beautiful portrait of a -fair, golden-haired woman, in rich black velvet dress embroidered in -gold. She holds a picture of a man, and a lovely landscape of water and -hills and sky shows through the window. This work has all the warmth and -glow of the best period of Venetian painting. Cariani, a realistic -portrait of a stout woman painted in a masterly manner. In interesting -contrast to these splendid, generous, if decidedly sensuous paintings, -is the small portrait by Lorenzo Lotto of a young man. It is not only -the great subtlety and delicacy of treatment, the arrangement of cool -flesh tones, grey dress and blue background, but the individuality of -facial expression that most distinguishes it from contemporary painting. -The artist has analysed the character of this youth and given us a -psychological study. Mr. Berenson calls this picture ‘artistic’ in the -French sense of the word and unexpected as a work of the -Renaissance.[26] - -Footnote 26: - - B. Berenson, _Lorenzo Lotto_. - -On the walls are placed frescoes by Foppa and the early Milanese school, -removed from demolished churches. Some beautiful miniatured books, -Corali, Missals, Lives of the Saints, Bibles, etc., are ranged down the -middle of the room on screens. - -A small door at the end of this room opens into a way which leads by -narrow staircases and passages and by a sort of drawbridge through the -Torre di Bona into the Rocchetta. It was across here, by ways very -strongly defended and almost impossible to force, that the little Duke -Gian Galeazzo was hurried into the keep when he was stolen from his -mother by the emissaries of Lodovico il Moro. The great rooms of the -Rocchetta, once sacred to the fortunate existence of Lodovico and -Beatrice, and now completely restored, contain the collections of Modern -Art and the Museum of the Risorgimento, which is filled with deeply -interesting memorials of that great recent moment of Milan’s history, -when she showed herself splendidly true to her grand traditions as the -leader of the Lombard League seven hundred years earlier. There is -something curiously suggestive in the presence of these memorials here -in the old home of Lodovico il Moro, who represents the height of the -tyranny to which the city succumbed in the intervening centuries. As we -glance round these renovated rooms we realise how victoriously she has -at last swept that tyranny and all its sins and evil memories away, -sacrificing with it inevitably the artistic and decorative beauty which -partly redeemed it. - -[Illustration: MILAN] - - 1 Duomo - - 2 Palazzo della Ragione - - 3 S. Satiro - - 4 S. Sepolcro - - 5 Ambrosiana - - 6 Palazzo Borromeo - - 7 Monastero Maggiore - - 8 S. M. delle Grazie - - 9 S. Ambrogio - - 10 S. Vincenzo in Prato - - 11 S. Giorgio in Palazzo - - 12 S. Lorenzo - - 13 S. Eustorgio - - 14 S. Celso - - 15 S. Calimero - - 16 S. Nazaro - - 17 S. Stefano - - 18 S. Pietro in Gessate - - 19 S. M. della Passione - - 20 S. Babila - - 21 Palazzo Marino - - 22 Museo Poldi-Pezzoli - - 23 S. M. del Carmine - - 24 Pinacoteca di Brera - - 25 S. Marco - - 26 S. Simpliciano - - 27 S. M. dell’ Incoronata - -In the Sala del Tesoro, on the ground floor, where modern sculpture is -now exhibited, will be found the remains of a fresco by Bramante, -representing Argus, a magnificent warrior figure, fit guardian of this -chamber, which once held the famous treasure of the Sforza. - - - - - TABLE OF THE VISCONTI - - -[Illustration] - - Uberto - +—— =Otto= Archbishop of Milan, _d._ 1295 - +—— Obizzo - | +—— Tebaldo - | +—— =Matteo il Grande=, _d._ 1322 - | +—— =Galeazzo I.=, _d._ 1328 - | | _m._ Beatrice d’Este - | | +—— =Azzo=, _d._ 1339 - | +—— Marco, _d._ 1329 - | +—— =Luchino=, _d._ 1349 - | | +—— Luchino Novello - | | +—— Bruzio (illegitimate) - | +—— =Giovanni= Archbishop of Milan, _d._ 1354 - | +—— Stefano, _d._ 1327 - | +—— Matteo, _d._ 1355 - | +—— =Bernabò=, _d._ 1385 - | | _m._ Regina della Scala - | | +—— Lodovico - | | +—— Marco - | | +—— Carlo - | | +—— Verde - | | +—— Caterina - | | | _m._ Gian Galeazzo Visconte - | | +—— Agnese - | | | _m._ Francesco Gonzaga - | | +—— Ettore (illegitimate) - | | +—— Donnina (illegitimate) - | | | _m._ Sir John Hawkwood - | | +—— Valentina, etc. (illegitimate) - | +—— =Galeazzo II.=, _d._ 1378 - | _m._ Bianca di Savoia - | +—— =Gian Galeazzo= 1st Duke of Milan, _d._ 1402 - | | _m._ (1) Isabella de Valois - | | _m._ (2) Caterina Visconte - | | +—— =Giovanni Maria= 2nd Duke of Milan, _d._ 1412 - | | +—— =Filippo Maria=, _d._ 1447 - | | | _m._ (1) Beatrice Tenda - | | | _m._ (2) Maria di Savoia - | | | +—— =Bianca Maria= (illegitimate) - | | | _m._ =Francesco Sforza= - | | +—— Valentina - | | | _m._ Louis Duke of Orleans - | | | +—— Charles Duke of Orleans - | | | +—— Louis XII. - | | +—— Gabriello (illegitimate) - | +—— Violante - | _m._ Lionel Duke of Clarence - +—— Gaspare - +—— Pietro - +—— Lodrisio - - - - - TABLE OF THE SFORZA - - -[Illustration] - - =Sforza degli Attendoli= - +—— =Francesco= 4th Duke of Milan, _d._ 1466 - | _m._ Bianca Maria Visconte - | +—— =Galeazzo Maria= 5th Duke of Milan, _d._ 1476 - | | _m._ Bona di Savoia - | | +—— =Gian Galeazzo= 6th Duke of Milan, _d._ 1495 - | | | _m._ Isabella of Aragon - | | | +—— Francesco Conte di Pavia - | | | +—— Bona - | | | _m._ Sigismond of Poland - | | +—— Ermes - | | +—— Bianca Maria - | | | _m._ Emperor Maximilian - | | +—— Anna - | | | _m._ Alfonso d’Este - | | +—— Alessandro (illegitimate) - | | +—— Carlo (illegitimate) - | | | +—— Ippolita - | | | _m._ Alessandro Bentivoglio - | | +—— Caterina (illegitimate) Lady of Forlì - | +—— Sforza Duke of Bari, _d._ 1479 - | +—— Filippo - | +—— =Lodovico il Moro= 7th Duke of Milan, _d._ 1508 - | | _m._ Beatrice d’Este - | | +—— =Massimiliano= 8th Duke of Milan, _abd._ 1515 - | | +—— =Francesco II.= 9th Duke of Milan, _d._ 1535 - | | | _m._ Cristina of Sweden - | | +—— Cesare (illegitimate) - | | +—— Gian Paolo (illegitimate), _d._ 1535 - | | +—— Bianca (illegitimate), _d._ 1496 - | | _m._ Galeazzo di San Severino - | +—— Ascanio Cardinal - | +—— Ottaviano, _d._ 1477 - | +—— Ippolita - | | _m._ Alfonso of Aragon - | +—— Tristano (illegitimate) - | | _m._ Beatrice d’Este (the elder) - | +—— Drusiana (illegitimate) - | _m._ Giacopo Piccinino - +—— Alessandro Lord of Pesaro - | +—— Constanzo - | +—— Giovanni - | _m._ Lucrezia Borgia - +—— Bosio Conte di Santa Fiora - | +—— Francesco - +—— Corrado - +—— Giovanni - - - - - APPENDIX - - TRAM ROUTES, ETC. - - -The following is a list of the trams and ways to the various places of -interest. The trams start from the Duomo. - -St. Ambrogio (p. 256), _San Vittore_ tram. - -Palazzo di Brera (p. 335) and S. Marco (p. 296) (street on right), -_Porta Volta_ tram. - -S. Lorenzo (p. 278), Colonne di S. Lorenzo (p. 278) and St. Eustorgio -(p. 284), _Porta Ticinese_ tram. - -Monastero Maggiore (p. 320) and S. Maria delle Grazie (p. 310), _Porta -Magenta_ (_Maddalena_) tram. - -S. Simpliciano (p. 295) and S. Maria Incoronata (p. 305), _Corso -Garibaldi_ tram. - -S. Pietro in Gessate (p. 306), _Porta Vittoria_ tram. - -S. Maria della Passione (p. 326). _Piazza Monforte_ tram is the nearest. -Alighting at _Via S. Damiano_, you pass by the garden of Pal. Visconti -di Modrone (p. 334) on the way to the church. - -Ospedale Maggiore (p. 308), _Porta Romana_ tram. Alight at _S. Nazaro_. - -S. Celso (p. 293) and S. Maria presso S. Celso (p. 327), _Porta -Lodovica_ tram. - -S. Babila (p. 294) and Pal. Silvestri (p. 328), _Porta Venezia_ tram. - -Museo Poldi-Pezzoli in Via Morone (p. 352) is quickly reached on foot -from the Duomo by _Corso Vittoria Emanuele_ and _Via S. Paolo_. - -S. Satiro (p. 318), in _Via Torino_, is two or three minutes on foot -from the Duomo. - -Biblioteca Ambrosiana (p. 359) and S. Sepolcro (p. 295) are also quickly -reached by _Via Torino_ and _Via Spadari_ (on right). - -Pal. Borromeo (pp. 302 and 365) is reached from _Piazza Cordusio_ by -_Via del Bocchetto_. - -The Castello (p. 368) is a few minutes’ walk by Via Mercanti (Pal. della -Ragione (p. 296) and Piazza dei Mercanti on the left) and Via Dante. -Many trams go in that direction from the Duomo or Piazza Cordusio. - -There are frequent trains from the Stazione Centrale for the Certosa of -Pavia (30 to 40 min.), Chiaravalle (11 min.) and Monza (15 min.). Monza -may also be tediously reached by steam-tram from the Duomo. - - - - - INDEX - - - A - - Adelmano, 18 - - Adeodatus, 11 - - Agostino di Duccio, 385 - - _Albero_, the, 244 - - Albertinelli, Mariotto, 355 - - Alessi, Gal., 330 - - Alexander II., Pope, 30, 32, 33 - - —— VI., Pope, 168, 179, 187 - - Alypius, 11 - - Amadeo, Gio. Ant., 213, 214, 231, 245, 250, 385, 386 - - ——, _Guglia di_, 250 - - Ambrogio da Fossano (_see_ Borgognone) - - Ambrose, St., 8; - elected Bishop of Milan, 9; - contention with Empress, 9-12; - triumph over Theodosius, 12; - power in the Empire, 13; - death, 13, 256, 259, 273 - - Angilberto, Archbishop, 16, 259 - - Anguissola, Sophonisba, 357 - - Annovello da Imbonate, 275 - - Anselmo da Baggio, 29-32 (_see_ also Alexander II.) - - Ansperto, Archbishop, 16, 17, 259, 274 - - Antelami, Benedetto, 298 - - Antonello da Messina, 366, 389 - - Appiani, Andrea, 335 - - Aragon, Alfonso of, King of Naples, 124, 127; - Alfonso of, Duke of Calabria, 134, 170; - Ferdinand, or Ferrante, King of Naples, 140, 170, 173; - Isabella of, 158, 167, 168, 173 - - Arialdo, 30, 31, 33 - - Ariberto, Archbishop, 18-25 - - Averulino, Ant. (_see_ Filarete) - - Augustine, St., 10, 11 - - Ausonius, 7 - - Auxentius, 8 - - - B - - Bambaia, il, 214, 215, 234, 240, 243, 245, 386 - - Bandello, Fra Matteo, 201, 317, 324 - - Barbavara, Francesco, 117 - - Barnabas, St., 7 - - Bartolommeo Veneto, 336 - - Bassano, il, 389 - - Bassi, Martino, 279 - - Beatrice, Empress, 50, 51, 55 - - Bellincione, Bernardo, 161 - - Bellini, Gentile, 339 - - ——, Gian, 341, 367 - - Bembo, Bonifazio, 215, 384 - - ——, Pietro, 359 - - Bentivoglio, Alessandra, 323, 326 - - ——, Alessandro, 320 - - Bernard, St., 35 - - Bernardino da Corte, 182, 183, 379 - - Bertolino da Novara, 229 - - Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 359-65 - - —— Pinacoteca, 361-365 - Museo Settala, 361 - - Bicocca, La, battle of, 193 - - Boltraffio, 221, 325, 345, 346, 358, 365, 366, 389 - - Bonaparte, Napoleon, 225; - statue of, 335 - - Bonifazio Veronese, 339 - - Bonsignore, 357 - - Bordone, Paris, 327, 338 - - Borgia, Lucrezia, 359 - - Borgognone, 218, 219, 273, 274, 275, 295, 325, 327, 336, 344, 345, 388 - - Borromeo, Carlo, Cardinal and Saint, 39, 205-207, 215, 231, 247; - tomb of, 241 - - ——, Federigo, Cardinal, 215, 359 - - Botticelli, 353, 362 - - Bourbon, Constable de, 193, 194, 196 - - Bramante, 156, 162, 211, 231, 276, 277, 313, 318-320, 350, 378, 391 - - Bramantino, 220, 290, 336, 344, 346, 358, 365, 387 - - _Brera, Biblioteca, di_, 335 - - ——, _Pinacoteca, di_, 335-51 - - Briosco, Benedetto, 212, 213, 214, 288 - - ——, Francesco, 294 - - Brunelleschi, 121, 211 - - Burigozzo, 199, 200, 203, 205 - - Busca, Gabrio, 215 - - Bussolari, Fra Giacomo de, 101 - - Busti, Agostino (_see_ Bambaia, il) - - Buttinone, Bernardo, 218, 307, 343, 388 - - - C - - Caiazzo, Conte di, 181 - - Cambrai, Peace of, 197 - - Camelli, Ant. (il Pistoia), 161, 171, 173 - - Campi, the, 223; - Giulio, 346; - Vincenzo, 346 - - Campione, Masters of, 210, 245, 383, 384 - - ——, Bonino da, 229, 383, 384 - - ——, Giacomo da, 241, 244 - - ——, Maffiolo da, 229 - - ——, Marco da, 229 - - ——, Zeno da, 229 - - Campo Fregoso, Ant. di, 161 - - Canaletto, 343 - - Cane, Facino, 117, 118 - - Canova, 335 - - Caponi, Rafaello, 353 - - Caradosso, 162, 216, 319, 320 - - Cariani, 338, 357, 389 - - Carmagnola, 120, 122, 328 - - Carpaccio, 339 - - _Castle of Milan_, 119, 127, 130, 145, 150, 182, 183, 185, 191, 192, - 196, 368-382; - Art Collections in, 382-391 - - Castruccio, 91 - - Catharists, the, 28, 29 - - Cazzaniga, the, 214, 288, 312 - - Cazzaniga, Tommaso da, 234, 385 - - Cellant, Contessa di, 324 - - Cesare da Sesto, 221, 344 - - Charlemagne, 15 - - Charles the Bald, 17 - - —— of Bohemia, 100 - - —— VIII. of France, 170, 172, 173, 175, 179 - - —— V., Emperor, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 203 - - Chrysoloras, Emanuel, 112 - - Cima, 339, 343 - - Civerchio, 343 - - Clement VI., Pope, 97 - - —— VII., Pope, 195, 197 - - Conrad the Salic, Emperor, 19, 20, 21, 22 - - Constance, Peace of, 55 - - Constance of Sicily, 55, 257 - - Constantine, Emperor, 5, 7 - - Conti, Bernardino dei, 221, 222, 365 - - Correggio (Antonio Allegri), 348, 367, 389 - - Cortenuova, Battle of, 59 - - Cossa, Francesco, 348 - - Costa, Lorenzo, 348 - - Crespi, Daniele, 223 - - Cristina of Sweden, 203 - - Crivelli, Carlo, 341, 342, 343, 357, 389 - - ——, Lucrezia, 160 - - - D - - Dal Verme, Jacopo, 110, 122 - - D’Amboise, Charles, 190 - - Decembrio, Pier Candido, 121, 265 - - De Foix, Gaston, 190, 244; - statue of, 386 - - De Lautrec, Sieur, 193 - - De Leyva, 196, 197 - - De Predis, Ambrogio, 219, 220, 346, 358 - - Desio, battle of, 75 - - Diocletian, Emperor, 5, 6 - - Dolcebuono, Gio., 212, 214, 231, 320, 327 - - Dosso Dossi, 347 - - _Duomo_, the, 11, 199, 112, 324-253 - - - E - - Enzo, King of Sardinia, 60 - - Erlembaldo da Cotta, 32, 33, 34 - - Este, da, Beatrice (Visconte), 77, 78 - - ——, Beatrice (wife of Tristan Sforza), 149 - - ——, Beatrice (wife of Lodovico il Moro), 158, 162, 163, 164, 165, 167, - 173, 176, 177, 178, 374, 377, 378; - Niccolò III., 125 - - Eugenius IV., Pope, 124 - - Eusebio di San Giorgio, 350 - - Eustachio, Filippo, 150 - - Eustorgio, St., 284 - - Ezzelino da Romano, 67, 69 - - - F - - Fancelli, Luca, 231 - - Fernach, Hans von, 241 - - Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 222, 274, 312, 327, 337, 344, 346, 365 - - ——, Defendente, 343 - - Fiesca, Elisabetta della, 96 - - Filarete, 211, 308, 370 - - Filelfo, 133, 136 - - Fogolino Marco, 357 - - Foppa, Ambrogio (_see_ Caradosso) - - ——, Vincenzo, 217, 218, 292, 336, 345, 358, 388, 390 - - Francesco di Giorgio, 231 - - Francia, 348 - - Francis I. of France, 192, 194, 195, 197, 380 - - Frederick I., Barbarossa, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49; - orders destruction of Milan, 50, 51, 52, 53; - defeated at Legnano, 54, 55, 56 - - Frederick II., Emperor, 56, 59, 60 - - Fusina, Andrea, 215, 234, 306, 386 - - - G - - Gadio, Bart., 140, 370 - - Gallerani, Cecilia, 160, 164, 201, 328 - - Gentile da Fabriano, 351 - - Gervasio, S., 7, 11, 256, 259, 273 - - Gianpietrino, 221, 295, 344, 358, 365, 388 - - Giovanni di Balduccio, 210, 290, 292, 293 - - —— da Milano, 216 - - —— da Murano, 343 - - Gmünd, Heinrich von, 236 - - Grassi, dei, the, 229; Porrino, 241 - - Gregorio da Montelungo, 60 - - Gregory VII., Pope, 26, 34, 35, 42 - - Guardi, 343 - - Guido, Archbishop, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 - - Guitelmo, Mastro, 50 - - - H - - Hawkwood, Sir John, 101, 102 - - Henry III., Emperor, 24, 29 - - —— VI., King of the Romans, 55, 257 - - —— VII., Emperor, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 258 - - Hildebrand, 26, 30, 31, 32 (_see_ also Gregory VII.) - - - I - - Isacco da Imbonate, 243, 244 - - - J - - Jacopino da Tradate, 211, 243 - - Julius, II., Pope, 187, 190, 191, 283 - - Justina, Empress, 8, 9, 11 - - - L - - Lampugnano, Gio. Ant., 143, 145, 146 - - Lando, Count, 100 - - Landolfo da Cotta, 30 - - Lanino, Bernardino, 223, 274, 337 - - Lanzone, 24, 25 - - Legnano, Battle of, 54, 55 - - Leo X. Pope, 193 - - Leonardo da Vinci, 154, 156, 158, 159, 160, 162, 179, 211, 214, 219, - 231, 313, 315, 316, 317, 318, 374, 378, 380 - - Leone da Perego, Fra, 41, 60, 66, 67, 68 - - Leoni, Leone, 240, 333 - - Liberale da Verona, 339 - - Licinio, Bernardino, 389 - - Liprando di San Paolo, 33 - - _Loggia degli Osii_, 298, 299 - - Lombard League, the, 53, 54, 56 - - Lotto, Lorenzo, 340, 357, 366, 367, 389, 390 - - Louis of Bavaria, Emperor, 89, 90, 91 - - —— XII. of France, claim on Milan, 171, 179; - invades the Duchy, 181; - enters Milan, 183, 191, 283, 328, 380 - - Luini, Bernardino, 222, 304, 312, 313, 320, 323, 324, 327, 337, 345, - 358, 361, 366, 388 - - - M - - Maestro di San Tommaso, 385 - - Maino, Agnese del, 121, 133 - - Mantegazza, Cristoforo and Antonio, 212, 213, 385 - - Mantegna, Andrea, 341, 342, 356, 366 - - Marco d’ Oggiono, 221, 222, 337, 346 - - Margaret of Brabant, Empress, 258 - - Marliano, Vincenzo, 119, 369 - - Matteo da Civate, 216 - - Maximian, Emperor, 5, 7 - - Maximilian, Emperor, 158, 169, 181 - - Mazzola, Filippo, 365 - - Medici, Cosimo dei, 134; - Lorenzo dei, 140, 153, 170; - Piero dei, 170, 174 - - Melegnano (Marignano), Battle of, 192 - - Melzi, Francesco, 221, 222 - - Merula, Giorgio, 328 - - Michelino da Besozzo, 217, 240, 304 - - Michelozzo, Michele, 211, 285, 291, 292 - - Mignot, Jean, 229 - - Monica, St., 10 - - Montagna, Bart., 338 - - Montana, Cola, 143 - - Montorfano, Gio., 306, 317, 318, 384 - - Moretto, 327, 338, 388 - - Morone, Domenico, 367 - - ——, Girolamo, 192, 195 - - Moroni, G. B., 338, 389 - - - N - - Naples, King of (_see_ Aragon) - - _Naviglio_, the, 154, 284 - - Niccolò da Correggio, 162 - - —— Foligno, 351, 356 - - Novara, Battle of, 186; - defeat of the French at, 192 - - - O - - Oberto da Pellavicino, 68, 75 - - Oldrado da Tresseno, 298 - - Olgiati, Girolamo, 143, 144, 145, 146 - - Orleans, Duke of, 116 - - Orombello, Michele, 120 - - Orsenigo, Simone, 229 - - _Ospedale Maggiore_, 308, 309 - - Ossona, Gio., 128 - - Otho the Great, 18, 257 - - Ottobello da Mandello, 60 - - - P - - Pacchiarotti, 350 - - Pallavicino, Gio. Francesco, 150 - - ——, Antonio Maria, 180 - - _Palazzo Arcivescovile_, 255, 333 - - —— _Borromeo_, 302, 303, 304 - - —— _Carmagnola_, 328 - - —— _Castani_, 329 - - —— _Chierici_, 333 - - —— _Dal Verme_, 330 - - —— _dei Giurisconsulti_, 333 - - —— _della Ragione_, 296, 297, 298, 300, 301 - - —— _Fontana, or Silvestri_, 328 - - —— _Marino_, 330 - - —— _Omenoni_, 333 - - —— _Ponti_, 329 - - —— _Vimercati, doorway of_, 307 - - —— _Visconti di Modrone_, 33 - - Palissy, Sieur de, 190, 191 - - Palma Vecchio, 338 - - Palmezzano, Marco 349, 356 - - Patarini, the, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34. - - Pellegrini, Pellegrino, 236, 240, 241, 255, 327 - - Perugino, Pietro, 156, 356 - - Pescara, Marquis of, 194, 195, 196 - - Pesellino, Francesco, 355 - - Peter Damian, 31, 32 - - Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr), 40, 41, 66, 67, 287; - monument of, 292, 293 - - Petrarca, Francesco, 103, 105, 106 - - Piazza of Lodi, the, 223; - Callisto, 335 - - —— _dei Mercanti_, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301 - - —— _Cordusio_, 297 - - —— _Verzieri_, 309 - - Piccinino, Niccolò, 123, 124, 125, 126, 243 - - ——, Francesco, 126, 128, 243 - - ——, Jacopo, 126, 128, 134 - - Piero di Cosimo, 366 - - —— dei Franceschi, 350, 356 - - Pinturicchio, 366 - - Pius IV., Pope, 206 - - _Poldi-Pezzoli, Museo_, 352-359 - - Pordenone, Ant., 367, 389 - - Porta, della, Gian Giacomo, 215 - - _Porta Nuova_, 301 - - —— _Ticinese_, 280, 283 - - Proccacini, 241 - - Protasio, St., 7, 11, 256, 259, 273 - - Pusterla, della, Francesco, 95; - Margherita, 96; - Pietro, 202 - - - R - - Raphael, 349, 362, 363 - - Ravenna, Battle of, 190 - - Riario, Card. Pietro, 371 - - Ricchini, 280 - - Rizzo, Antonio, 234 - - Roberti, Ercole dei, 348 - - Romano, Gian Cristoforo, 163 - - Rondinelli, 349 - - Rosa, Salvator, 351 - - - S - - Salai, 221, 222 - - San Secondo, Jacopo di, 163 - - San Severino, Roberto di, 148, 151 - - ——, Galeazzo di, 162, 163, 180, 181, 184, 186, 195, 380 - - ——, Gaspare di (Fracasso), 180 - - Sano di Pietro, 366 - - _St. Alessandro_, 328 - - _St. Ambrogio, Basilica of_, 55, 110, 199, 256-277 - - ——, _Golden Altar in_, 268-271 - - ——, _Canonica of_, 276, 277 - - _St. Antonio, Campanile of_, 302 - - _S. Babila_, 294 - - _S. Calimero_, 294 - - _S. Carlo_, 328 - - _S. Celso_, 293; - _Sta. Maria di S. Celso_, 293, 327 - - _St. Eustorgio_, 284-293; - _Capella Portinari_, 285, 286, 291-293 - - _S. Fedele_, 327 - - _S. Giovanni alla Conca_, 294 - - _S. Gottardo_, 11, 253, 254 - - _S. Lorenzo_, 278-280; - _Columns of_, 278 - - _S. Marco_, 296 - - _Sta. Maria a Beltrade_, 295 - - _Sta. Maria del Carmine_, 304 - - _Sta. Maria delle Grazie_, 310-313 - - ——, _Refectory of_, 313-318 - - ——, _Last Supper, by Leonardo_, 313-317 - - _Sta. Maria della Passione_, 326, 327 - - _Sta. Maria Incoronata_, 305 - - _S. Maurizio, or Monastero Maggiore_, 320, 323-326 - - _S. Nazaro_, 294 - - _S. Pietro in Gessate_, 306, 307 - - _S. Satiro_, 295, 318-320 - - _S. Sepolcro_, 295 - - _S. Simpliciano_, 295 - - _S. Stefano_, 309 - - _S. Vincenzo in Prato_, 293 - - Santi, Gio., 351, 358 - - Savoldo Girolamo, 338 - - Savoy, Bianca of, 103 - - ——, Bona of, 137, 139, 148, 149, 150, 151; - Maria of, 121, 128 - - Scala, della, Can Grande, 89, 90 - Regina, 102, 103 - - Scarampi, Camilla, 201 - - Seregni, Vincenzo, 215, 333 - - Sforza, Anna, 158 - - ——, Ascanio, Cardinal, 148, 168, 184, 185 - - ——, Bianca, 363 - - ——, Bianca Maria, 158 - - ——, Caterina, 136 - - ——, Constanzo, 151 - - ——, Francesco I., 122; - is engaged as Condottiere by Duke Filippo, 123; - betrothed to Bianca Maria 124; - abandons Milan for Venice, 124, 125; - wins Bianca Maria, 125; - is again fighting against Milan, 126, 127; - defeats Piccinini and besieges Milan, 128; - is received into city and proclaimed Duke, 129; - his character, 130, 131; - his encouragement of learning and art, 132, 133; - wars and foreign policy, 134; - dies, 135, 288; - his building of the Castle, 369, 370, 371 - - ——, Francesco II., 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 203, 204 - - ——, Galeazzo Maria, 134; - character, 135, 136, 137, 138; - vices and virtues, 139; - ability, policy, 140, 142, 143, 144; - assassination, 145, 146, 147, 258, 371, 372, 373 - - ——, Gian Galeazzo, 147, 150, 158, 166, 167, 168, 170, 173, 174 - - ——, Gian Paolo, 204 - - ——, Ippolita (Bentivoglio), 201, 323, 326 - - ——, Lodovico il Moro, 134; - banished, 148; - his intrigues and return, 149; - overthrows Simonetta, 150; - makes himself regent, 151; - his personality, 152; - foreign policy, 153; - improvement of the State, 154, 155; - patronage of art and letters, 156; - mildness, 157; - his brilliant Court, 158, 159; - relations with Leonardo, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 165; - instability of his position, 166; - schemes to become Duke, 167, 168, 169; - invites Charles VIII., 170, 171, 172, 173; - is suspected of poisoning his nephew, 174; - leagues against France, 175; - his triumph and arrogance, 176; - is crushed by death of his wife, 177, 178; - his anxieties and difficulties, 179, 180; - is invaded by French, 181; - abandons Milan, 182, 183; - returns, 184; - his indecision and difficulties, 185; - is captured by the French at Novara, 186, 187, 276, 373, 374, 377, - 378, 379 - - ——, Massimiliano, is made Duke, 191; - renounces Duchy to Francis I., 193, 380 - - ——, Ottaviano, 148 - - ——, Duke of Bari, 148, 149 - - Sicherius, 45, 46 - - Siciliano, Angelo, 215, 244 - - Signorelli, Luca, 350, 351 - - Simonetta, Cecco, 140, 147, 148, 149, 150 - - Sion, Cardinal de, 190, 191 - - Sixtus IV., Pope, 147, 153 - - Sodoma, Gio. Ant. Bazzi, il, 223, 345, 389 - - Solari, or Solario, Andrea, 220, 221, 345, 357, 358; - Cristoforo (il Gobbo), 212, 214, 215, 231, 234, 236, 241, 245, 253, - 326, 327; - Guiniforte, 211, 306, 308; - Pietro, 211, 285 - - Spanzotto, Fra Vincenzo, 313 - - Stefano dei Fedeli, 217, 384 - - —— da Pandino, 243, 245 - - —— da Zevio, 356 - - - T - - Tanzi, Francesco, 161 - - Tassino, Antonio, 149, 150, 151 - - Tenda, Beatrice, 118, 120 - - Theodosius, Emperor, 12, 13 - - Tiepolo, Pietro, 59 - - ——, G. B., 333, 353 - - Tintoretto, 338, 389 - - Titian, 339 - - Torre, della, or Torriani, the, 65 - - ——, Cassone, Archbishop of Milan, 80, 82, 83 - - ——, Enrico, 79 - - ——, Filippo, 70, 72 - - ——, Francesco, son of Guido, 84 - - ——, Francesco, son of Napo, 76 - - ——, Guido, 79, 82, 83, 84 - - ——, Martino, 66, 67, 68, 70, 72 - - ——, Mosca, 79 - - ——, Napo, 70; - made Imperial Vicar of Milan, 72, 75; - defeated and captured by Visconti at Desio, 76 - - ——, Pagano, _the Good_, leader of the people’s faction, 66 - - ——, Raimondo, 68 - - ——, Simone, 84 - - Trivulzio, Ambrogio, 129 - - ——, Gian Giacomo, 178; - Governor of Milan, 183, 184; - driven out, 184, 191, 192, 283, 379 - - ——, Art Collection and Library, 366 - - Tura, Cosimo, 348, 356 - - - U - - Uberti, Fazio degli, 113 - - Umiliati, Order of the, 37, 38, 39, 206 - - Urban IV., Pope, 68, 69 - - - V - - Valentinian II., Emperor, 7, 9, 13 - - Valois, Isabella de, 102, 106 - - Vaprio, Battle of, 89 - - _Via Ticinese_, 283 - - _Via Torino_, No. 10-12, 330 - - Vimercati, Gaspare, 311 - - Visconti, the, 65, 69; - cognisance of, 69; - character of, 86, 87, 88, 130 - - ——, Azzo, 90; - created Imperial Vicar, 91, 92; - tomb of, 366 - - ——, Bernabò, 95, 96; - succeeds to Lordship of Milan, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106; - his capture and death, 108, - tomb of, 383 - - ——, Bianca Maria (Sforza), 121, 124, 125, 133, 134, 135, 138 - - ——, Carlo, 143, 145 - - ——, Caterina, 107, 116, 117 - - ——, Estorre, 117, 119 - - ——, Filippo Maria, 116, 117; - succeeds to dukedom, 118; - enters Milan, 119; - diplomacy and conquests, 119; - character and habits, 119-121; - patronage of learning, 121; - wars and intrigues, 121, 122, 123, 124; - embarrassments, 125; - death, 126 - - ——, Francesco Bernardino, 180, 183 - - ——, Galeazzo I., 75, 77, 78, 79, 83, 85, 87, 88; - succeeds his father as chief, 88; - rules Milan, 89; - is arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Louis, 90; - his release and death, 91 - - ——, Galeazzo II., 95, 96; - shares Lordship of Milan with Bernabò, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, - 107 - - ——, Gaspare (poet), 161, 163 - - ——, Gian Galeazzo, 102, 103, 107; - overthrows Bernabò and makes himself sole Lord, 108; - his military enterprises, 109, 110; - is created Duke of Milan, 110; - his government, 110, 111; - character, 111; - patronage of letters, 112, 113; - conquests, death, 114, 115; - his building of the Duomo, 227, 228, 229, 230, 258, 368 - - ——, Giovanni, Archbishop, 92, 95, 96; - conquests, 97; - Government, 98, 99; - death, 100 - - ——, Giovanni Maria, succeeds to Dukedom 116, 117, 118 - - ——, Lodrisio, 89, 92 - - ——, Luchino, 87, 89, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 99 - - ——, Luchino, Novello, 96 - - ——, Marco, 87, 91, 92 - - ——, Matteo, _il Grande_, 75; - assumes leadership of Ghibelline party, 76, 77; - abandons Milan, 78, 79, 80, 81; - returns, 82, 83; - outwits Torriani, 84; - is created Imperial Vicar, 85, 87; - death, 88 - - ——, Matteo (son of Stefano), 95, 96, 100 - - ——, Otto, Archbishop, 68; - leader of Ghibelline party, 69, 75; - defeats Torriani and rules Milan, 76 - - ——, Stefano, 90; - tomb of, 289 - - ——, Valentina, 116 - - ——, Violante, 102, 103 - - Viti, Timoteo, 351 - - Vivarini, Ant., 343, 356 - - - Z - - Zaganelli (Cotignola), 349 - - Zavatarii, the, 217 - - ——, Franceschino, dei, 243 - - Zenale, Bernardino, 218, 265, 273, 307 - - - COLSTON AND CO. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Story of Milan - -Author: Ella Noyes - -Illustrator: Dora Noyes - -Release Date: January 14, 2017 [EBook #53961] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MILAN *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber's Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><cite>The Story of Milan</cite></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div id='Frontispiece' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_004.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><cite>S<sup>t</sup>. Roch.</cite><br /><br /><i>Fresco by Borgognone.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c002'><span class='large'><i>The Story of</i></span> <span class='color_red'>Milan</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><i><span class='large'>by</span> <span class='xlarge'>Ella Noyes</span>, <span class='large'>Illustrated by</span> <span class='xlarge'>Dora Noyes</span></i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/title_page.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>London: <span class='color_red'><span class='large'>J. M. Dent & Co.</span></span></i></div> - <div><i>Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street</i></div> - <div><i>Covent Garden, W.C.</i> * * 1908</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><i>All Rights Reserved</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">La cognitione del tempo preterito e del sito della terra è ornamento e cibo delle menti umane.</span>”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c005'><span class='sc'>Leonardo da Vinci.</span></div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary='CONTENTS'> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER I</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='c008'></th> - <th class='c009'>PAGE</th> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Ambrosian City</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER II</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Patarini</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_26'>26</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER III</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Free City</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER IV</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Reign of Faction</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER V</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Visconti</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_86'>86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER VI</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>From Visconti to Sforza</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER VII</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Opening of the Gate</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_147'>147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER VIII</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Sorrow of Milan</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_189'>189</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER IX</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Art in Milan</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_208'>208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>CHAPTER X</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Duomo</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_224'>224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XI</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Basilica of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_256'>256</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XII</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>San Lorenzo. Romanesque Buildings</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_278'>278</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XIII</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Gothic and Renaissance Buildings</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_302'>302</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XIV</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Brera Picture Gallery</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_335'>335</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XV</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Other Galleries and Museums</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_352'>352</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER XVI</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>The Castello</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_368'>368</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Table of the Visconti</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_392'>392</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Table of the Sforza</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_393'>393</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Appendix</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_395'>395</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><i>Index</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_397'>397</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span> - <h2 class='c006'>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary='ILLUSTRATIONS'> - <tr> - <th class='c010'></th> - <th class='c011'> </th> - <th class='c009'>PAGE</th> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>St. Roch, Fresco by Borgognone (Brera)</i></td> - <td class='c009' colspan='2'><i><a href='#Frontispiece'>Frontispiece</a></i></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>The Duomo from Hotel Europe</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Atrium of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Chiaravalle</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_70'>70</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Via del Pesce</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_73'>73</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Tower of S. Gottardo from the Cathedral</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>The Snake of the Visconti</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_115'>115</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Galeazzo Maria Sforza, by Piero Pollaiuolo (Uffizi, Florence)</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t138'>138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Bridge over Naviglio near San Marco</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_141'>141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Canal, Via San Marco</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Canonica of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_157'>157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Lodovico il Moro, by Boltraffio (Trivulzio Collection)</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t176'>176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Scopetta of Lodovico il Moro</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_188'>188</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Cupola of the Duomo, from the Roof</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_232'>232</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Within the Duomo</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_237'>237</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Putti, Guglia di Amadeo</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_249'>249</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Giant Statues on the Duomo</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_251'>251</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Side Aisle of Atrium, St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_262'>262</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Capital in Atrium of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_263'>263</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Capital in Atrium of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_264'>264</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Ciborium, St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_267'>267</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span><i>Sculpture on Pulpit in St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_273'>273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Chimney, Canonica of St. Ambrogio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_277'>277</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>The Old Porta Ticinese</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_281'>281</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Houses on the Naviglio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_284'>284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Exterior of Portinari Chapel, St. Eustorgio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_286'>286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Interior of St. Eustorgio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_288'>288</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Statue of Oldrado da Tresseno</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_298'>298</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Palazzo dei Banchieri</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_300'>300</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Doorway of Palazzo Borromeo</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_303'>303</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Cortile of Palazzo Borromeo</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_305'>305</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Last Supper, by Leonardo. Detail, Figure of Christ</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t314'>314</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Last Supper, by Leonardo. Detail, St. John, St. Peter and Judas</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t316'>316</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>San Satiro</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_321'>321</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Palazzo Visconti di Modrone—Garden on the Naviglio</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_331'>331</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Putto, Fresco by Bramantino (Brera)</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t336'>336</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Madonna, by Mantegna (Poldi-Pezzoli)</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t356'>356</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>Portrait of an Unknown, by Ambrogio de Predis, (?) (Ambrosiana)</i></td> - <td class='c011'><i>to face page</i></td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#t363'>363</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><i>The Rocchetta, Castello</i></td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_375'>375</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span> - <h2 class='c006'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c012'>Everybody has been in Milan, but who knows -Milan? The traveller in search of the picturesque -and mediæval sees nothing to arrest him—except -comfortable hotels—in a city which seems to -tell only of yesterday. A glance at the Cathedral, at -St. Ambrogio, at the most famous of the pictures, -and he hurries on. Yet a little longer stay reveals a -wealth of artistic interest in the many fine churches, -in the rich galleries and museums, and much also that -is worth learning even in the outward aspect of the -city in the present day. The historic buildings have -mostly fallen, the old crooked ways have given place -to broad thoroughfares, the picturesque life of the past -has been smothered by the sombre bustle of modern -commercialism. But her heritage of beauty is to -some extent inalienable. She remains always Italian. -Colour and atmosphere lend an indestructible charm -even to her modernity. The warm brick of the -buildings against the limpid blue sky, the gold and -grey of sunshine and shadow, the shining canals that -border some of the further streets with a still and -pensive melancholy, make a lovely and characteristic -harmony still, as in the days of the Quattrocentist -artists who painted them in the backgrounds of their -Madonnas and San Roccos. And there are some old -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiv'>xiv</span>streets left, mostly in the heart of the city, such as -the Via del Pesce and the Via Tre Alberghi, long -cobbled alleys ribboned with triple lines of pavement, -where the tall houses and bowed-out balconies of -curious ironwork, rusted by age and weather, if they -cannot remember the days of Milan’s earlier glory, must -have known at least something of the sad centuries of -bondage which followed, before they shook to the roar -of the Cinque Giornate sixty years ago.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The compass of this small volume has made it impossible -to tell otherwise than summarily of the great -past of this city and of her artistic riches to-day. I -have had to pass over, or barely mention, many noteworthy -things. I am especially sorry that I could -not include the places of interest in the immediate -neighbourhood. A visit to the Certosa of Pavia, -which sums up all the aims and achievements of -Lombard Renaissance art, is necessary for an appreciation -of the Milanese sculptors and painters, while -the associations of the famous building with Gian -Galeazzo Visconte and with the Sforza princes, make -it a part of Milanese story. The old Church of -Chiaravalle, with its incomparable Lombard-Gothic -tower and its trecento frescoes, and picturesque -Monza, where that historic emblem and wonder of -twelfth century goldsmiths’ art, the Iron Crown of -Lombardy, is preserved with other priceless treasures, -ought not to be missed by the traveller.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The main facts of Milanese story are well known, -and may be found, not only in the native chroniclers -and historians, but also in many modern books dealing -with Milan and with Italian history generally. -Mongeri’s <cite>L’Arte in Milano</cite>, and the writings of -Count Malaguzzi Valeri, especially his <cite>Milano</cite> in the -series “Italia Illustrata”, have been my chief help in -the topographical and artistic part of this book, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xv'>xv</span>I have also made use of the works of Signor Luca -Beltrami, Mrs. Ady and others. For the painters and -pictures I have depended on Morelli, the acknowledged -authority on Lombard art, and have consulted besides -the writings of Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, of Mr. Herbert -Cook, and other modern critics.</p> - -<div class='c005'>E. N.</div> -<div class='lg-container-l'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Sutton Veny, Wilts</span>,</div> - <div class='line in4'><i>November 1907</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_xvi'>xvi</span></div> -<div class='ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>The Story of Milan</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_017.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Ambrosian City</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Verenanda est Roma in Apostolo. Sed nec spernendum Mediolanum in Ambrosio.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Arnulphus.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>Milan is to-day the most modern of Italian cities. -Her Risorgimento in the last century, accomplished -with the pouring out of blood and the efforts of -a strenuous virtue, makes for her a mighty and sufficing -past in the near background, and she seems to stand -wholly on this side of it, triumphant and new-create. -Neither Nature nor the further centuries have, you feel, -any longer part in her. Who of the numberless travellers -from the North, as they lose the vision of mountain, -lake and green champaign, just traversed, in the bustle -and confinement of the crowded streets, realises that -this solid mass of brick and stone, this vast hive of -human beings, is the slow product of that enchanting -country, of its rivers and fertile soil, built up and -moulded by human passion and labour during thousands -of years amid the changes and chances of extraordinarily -varied fortunes. Only when his eyes, lifted above the -regular roof-lines of the modern streets, light upon the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>Gothic pinnacles of the Duomo, and a further acquaintance -with the city discovers, wedged among the growths -of yesterday, the many relics of her older past—the -Castle of the fifteenth century Sforza, Renaissance -palaces and churches, St. Ambrogio and its compeers -of the era of liberty, a rare fragment of the older imperial -civilisation—does he become conscious of the -long and painful course of the centuries, and remember -that he stands in the secular capital of Lombardy, on -ground as storied almost as the sacred dust of Rome.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The name alone of Lombardy calls up visions of -continuous strife. There the nations who have made -their grave in Italy lie most thickly. The sunny -fruitful plains at the foot of the barren mountains have -been fattened from the beginning by human blood. -The <i>love of figs</i>—a phrase which has passed into the -language of the Icelanders as an expression for all -passionate appetite—has again and again impelled the -peoples of the grudging North to storm the barrier of -snows and seek the delusive land of promise beyond. -Principalities and kingdoms have been founded there -one after another, only to perish in turn, as if the soft -land of morass and meadow were some unstable quicksand -created for the engulfing of men. Etruscans, -Insubri, Latins, Visigoths, Lombards, French and -Spaniards, have come and gone, in the midst of an -almost incessant warfare.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Yet through all the changes, a quiet, continuous -labour was going on, restraining and directing the -courses of the rivers, draining the marshes, taming the -wild luxuriance of the land to fertile use and order, and -slowly building up out of the confusion of conflicting -elements the solid foundations of the present.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id004'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> -<img src='images/i_019.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>THE DUOMO FROM HOTEL EUROPE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>Seated in the centre of the plain which spreads out -at the foot of the Alps, and commanding the natural -gateways between Italy and the countries to north and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>west, Milan seems to have held from the first the chief -position among the cities of Lombardy. In the early -centuries of our era it was hardly less important in -the North of Italy than Rome was in the South. The -line of the Po, cutting across the peninsula, or perhaps -more correctly, the Apennine chain, originally divided -Italy ethnologically and politically, a division which still -endures to some degree in the character and sentiments -of the respective inhabitants on either side. The Insubri, -who drove out the Etruscans and settled in Lombardy -about the sixth century (<span class='fss'>B.C.</span>), were a race of Gallic -origin. They had no ties of blood with the Romans, -who subjugated them later, and their country—called -by the conquerors, Cisalpine Gaul—was as much -a foreign province of the Latin dominion as the Gaul -beyond the Alps. On the other hand their relationship -and familiarity with that Gaul was so close that it -has influenced the sympathies of the Milanese people -throughout history, and has left a strong impress on -their dialect. When some centuries later the capital -of the Empire was losing its controlling power, and the -bond uniting the members of that immense artificial -system was beginning to relax, Milan assumed an almost -independent position. As the seat of Diocletian and -his colleague Maximian, she could scorn abandoned -Rome, looking with compassion from her magnificent -palaces and baths, her populous streets and mighty -walls, to the silent courts and colonnades of the Palatine -Hill. Constantine completed her severance from -Rome by dividing Italy into two separate portions of -the Empire, and making Milan the capital of the northern -half, with a government distinct from Rome. The -old racial boundaries were thus restored, and on these -lines were built up the many later schemes for the -foundation of a Kingdom of Italy. And on these lines -there rose within the new ecclesiastical empire which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>was shaping itself out of the ruins of the old Roman -system, an episcopal dominion extending over all -Lombardy, and virtually independent of the Church of -Rome. Many centuries were to pass, and fierce struggles -to take place, before the Church of Milan was brought -into subjection to the Papal See. This work of unification, -accomplished chiefly by the potent mind of -Gregory VII. in the eleventh century, in association -with a growing instinct of nationality in the Milanese -people themselves, was one of the most important steps -in the process by which the various and alien elements -of the great Lombard city were converted into a component -part of the Italian nation.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We cannot pause to search into the origins of the -city in that obscure antiquity which Italian legend fills -with the figures of diluvian and Trojan heroes, on an -equal plane of remoteness, or to inquire closely into the -mystery of her name, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mediolanum</span></i>, as it is in the Latin -tongue, whence by derivation—influenced, doubtless, -by the sweet appellation <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Mailand</span></i>, Land of May, -which her green refreshing aspect suggested to her Teutonic -invaders—it has become Milano. The simplest -and most generally accepted explanation of the name is -that it is a bastard word, between Latin and Teutonic, -signifying the Middle Land, and suggested by the city’s -central position in the Plain.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We must take up our story at the beginning -of that barbarian inrush through the yielding barriers -of the Empire, which by mingling the vigour of new -blood with the effete products of Roman civilisation, -generated the travail of mediæval Italy, and out of that -travail a nation. Milan had already a great past, closely -bound up with the vicissitudes of the later Empire. -From Diocletian and Constantine downwards she was -honoured almost constantly by the presence of emperors. -Julian was proclaimed Cæsar within her walls. Many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>edicts of Constantius were published there, Valentinian -made his residence in the city, and there Theodosius -spent long periods, and there died and was buried. The -Empress Justina and her young son, Valentinian II., had -their seat in Milan, and the slothful and degenerate -Honorius ruled from its palace the Empire of the West, -till frightened out by the Goths. The wealth and -luxury of the city in the fourth century, her culture, her -innumerable fine houses, her magnificent walls, built by -Maximian, her circus, temples, theatres, baths, are celebrated -in a famous epigram by the Latin poet Ausonius, -who proclaims her the paragon of Rome.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But at the end of this century the imperial era was -rapidly declining and giving way to a new order of -things. A fresh period of irruptions from the North -was at hand, and within the ancient polity itself a new -organisation, the Christian Church, had arisen and was -usurping spiritual authority. Milan had been early -conspicuous in the history of Christianity. Legend -names S. Barnabas himself as the founder and first -occupant of her See, and she had testified to the new -faith in the days of persecution by the blood of many -martyrs. SS. Gervasio and Protasio, the youthful -warrior pair, SS. Nazaro and Celso, master and faithful -disciple, SS. Felix and Nabor, S. Valeria, San Vittore, -and many others, are recorded with picturesque and -touching details in Milanese legends and art. And -in Milan the triumph of Christianity was first proclaimed, -since here Constantine subscribed his edict of -toleration in 313. But Christianity, established soon -after as the State religion, had yet to struggle with the -difficulty of conflicting counsels and doctrines within -its own body. The tenets promulgated by the Council of -Nicœa in 532 were by no means universally accepted -by Christians in the fourth century, and in North Italy -the teachings of Arius were widely followed, especially -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>by the Gothic subjects of the Empire. Under the Empress -Regent Justina they were the religion of the imperial -Court in Milan, and the whole population was -divided into fiercely hostile parties by the doctrinal -question.</p> - -<p class='c000'>It was at this critical point of her political and -ecclesiastical destinies that there appeared in Milan -one of those epoch-making characters who from time -to time arise at moments of hesitation in the history of -human communities, and apparently initiate and determine -their subsequent course. The great figure of -her Bishop Ambrose, Saint and Doctor of the Church, -scourge of the Arians, subduer of emperors, stands for -Milan at the opening of a new era, to which his dominant -mind gives impress, direction and inspiration. -From this time forward, Milan is no more the imperial, -but the Ambrosian city. Throughout her mediæval -existence the consecrating memory of St. Ambrogio, -her patron and protector, set like a spiritual jewel in a -hundred exquisite and devoutly fantastic legends, is -present in her government, her struggles for liberty, her -art and peaceful industry, her daily life and the peculiar -ritual of her religious worship.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In 374 Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, died. He had -been an Arian. A great contention arose between the -two doctrinal parties over the choice of his successor. -The city was in a state of uproar, and it became necessary -to summon the Prefect of the province to restore -peace. A brilliant young advocate named Ambrosius, -of a Roman family of high standing in the official -world, had been lately appointed Prefect. He came to -the capital and convoked a public assembly in the chief -church, to assist at the election of a bishop. It was -impossible, however, for the two parties to agree in a -selection; the powerful Court influence of the Arians -being balanced by a preponderance of orthodox -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>Catholics among the people. Suddenly, above the -angry noise of dispute which filled the church, a clear -voice, as of a child, was heard to pronounce distinctly -three times over the words, <i>Ambrose is Bishop</i>. The -<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">nolo episcopari</span></i> of the young governor, vigorously expressed, -and emphasised, according to legend, by his -flight from the city, nothing availed to save him from -the dignity which the unanimous will of the people now -forced upon him, and Ambrose, as yet unbaptized, was -made Bishop of Milan. Whether the apparent finger -of Providence had been directed by some hidden -terrestrial agency, it is ungrateful to inquire. Ambrose, -in deserting the service of the decaying Empire for the -government of the metropolitan See of Lombardy, had -undoubtedly found the right field for his mighty -energies. He was a great Christian, a man of profound -doctrine, of pure life and loftiest spiritual qualities. -He was also the most able of statesmen. None -knew so well the power of this new polity of the -Christian Church amid the struggling confusion of -forces in the moribund Empire. He became paramount -with his pupil, the young Emperor Gratian, and used -his influence to stamp mercilessly upon the last embers -of Paganism, overthrowing with unsparing arguments -all the pleas of the patrician Symmachus and the Conservative -party in the Roman Senate in favour of the -preservation of the stately faith and customs of their -forefathers. The doctrinal unity of the Church itself -was his next great task. The Arian heresy was, as -we have seen, strongly entrenched in the palace of the -Empress and her son, Valentinian II. Nevertheless, -Ambrose decreed a uniform orthodox worship in all -the numerous churches in the city. Justina protested, -and demanded the use of the New Basilica within the -walls—the principal church in fact—for the Arians. -This being refused, she ordered the bishop to give up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>the Basilica Porciana, outside the city. Ambrose -meekly offered her his life and all his possessions, everything -except what she wanted, the church. “A -temple of God could not be given up by a priest.” -Temporal arms were then moved against him. But all the -forces of the Empire together would have been helpless -against the martyr spirit of the Bishop. The Cathedral -was his fortress, and there he entrenched himself in the -strength of his holiness, surrounded by excited multitudes, -whose ardour he inflamed by fiery discourses, -in which he likened the Empress to Eve bringing ruin -upon Adam, to Jezebel fighting Elijah, Salome destroying -John Baptist, till they vowed to die with him rather -than suffer the temporal authority to prevail over the -spiritual. The very soldiers investing the church, -terrified by the dreadful anathemas pronounced upon -them, rushed in, not to do battle against the faithful, -but to pray with them. For days the people continued -in the church with the Bishop, and on this -occasion, St. Augustine says, ‘It was first instituted -that after the manner of the Eastern Churches, hymns -and psalms should be sung, lest the people should faint -through the weariness of sorrow’—a famous evidence -of the fact that St. Ambrose was the first to introduce -the use of music into the services of the Western -Church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>It is interesting to note in the midst of that vast -crowd of now nameless and forgotten individuals a -figure well known to all times since, the small quiet -African mother, Monica, who had followed her son -across the terrible winter seas, resolved in her invincible -spirit to guide his seeking soul into the haven -of the true faith. And Augustine himself, the young -professor just appointed to the chair of rhetoric in Milan, -must have been present too, gazing upon the surprising -scene of this persecuted but dauntless pastor and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>his devoted flock. Every vestige of the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">basilica nova -intramurana</span></i>, where the great struggle took place, is -now long gone. But its place is still the place of -Milan’s Cathedral, the great Gothic Duomo of later -times. And the episcopal palace of to-day occupies -the same site—or near it—of the dwelling of Ambrose, -where Augustine, his heart swelling with eager -questions, would often enter uninvited, as all might -freely do, and watch the holy man in silence, restrained -from speaking by the fear of disturbing him as he sat -reading in his moments of leisure and preparing himself -to expound to the people.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But it would be vain to seek to-day even for the -place of that fourth-century house upon the walls—Maximian’s -walls—where Augustine lodged with his -mother and the marvellous boy Adeodatus, his son, -fated so early to die. Or for the little garden where he -hid himself one day, even from his faithful follower Alypius, -and amid the throes of a terrible spiritual anguish -heard the unseen child’s voice chanting in pure, untroubled -tones, ‘<i>Take up and read, take up and read</i>,’ and -opening the volume of the Apostle saw the words which -lifted his soul out of the torture of conflicting desire into -the serenity of faith at last. Nor is any trace left of the -original baptistery for males, on the south side of the -Cathedral, where the subsequent baptism of Augustine, -Adeodatus and Alypius, at the hands of Ambrose, was -in all probability performed. The place is occupied -now by the Church of San Gottardo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The conflict between Empress and Bishop was -won by Ambrose. Justina’s efforts to depose him and -set up a new bishop were completely frustrated by his -timely discovery of the bodies of the Milanese martyrs, -SS. Gervasio and Protasio, a miraculous event which -raised him to an invincible position in the opinion of -all Christendom. The triumph of the great bishop, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>though it savours now of bigotry, was of deep and far-reaching -significance. It was the revolt of the new -and as yet hardly tried Church against the ancient -imperial authority. It pointed to the future. It -initiated that obstinate and long-continued struggle -between the temporal and spiritual powers which -makes the history of the Middle Ages in Italy. -For Milan and for Lombardy it meant more; it was -a protest against the influence of the foreigner, against -a strange domination in thought. The Arian heresy -was alien and unnatural to Italian sentiment; its -followers were chiefly among the large population of -Goths settled by this time in Italy. Ambrose, in -rallying round him the masses of the people and conquering -the established powers, was in fact appealing -to the elements out of which the Commune of later -days was to develop—to those instincts of liberty and -nationality of which the Mediæval Church was to be -the glorious guide and champion.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The later and more famous triumph of Ambrose—when, -before the doors of the same Basilica Nova, he -stood, armed only with the insignia of his sacerdotal -office, and barred the entrance of the sanctuary to the -blood-stained Emperor Theodosius, till, awed by his -spiritual dignity, the wearer of the purple sank before -the white-robed priest and did public penance for the -massacre of Thessalonica—was another and greater -proof of the ascendency of the ecclesiastical over the -imperial power. But the significance of the scene -reaches further, and embraces the whole sphere of -humanity. In standing bishop and kneeling king we -see, not the individuals and their immediate motives, -ambitious, despotic, superstitious, as they may partly -have been, not even the struggle of great transitory -interests, but a wider, deeper, more enduring principle—the -recognition of the supremacy of spirit over brute -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>force, the victory of the Christian ideal of love and -pity over the earthly lusts of blood and revenge, of the -religion which adores the helpless Mother and Child -over the deified Force of the ancient creeds.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ambrose was now the most powerful man in the -Empire, ruling the minds of men by the sheer strength -of character and lofty virtue. The Barbarians in their -distant lands testified to the might of his saintliness—this -man who, as a Frankish king asserted with awe, -<i>says to the sun, ‘Stand still,’ and it stands</i>. The two -young Emperors, Gratian and Valentinian, were tools in -his hands, and Theodosius himself had to acknowledge -the Church in the person of Ambrose as a twin power -in the realm. When the Bishop died in 397, he -bequeathed to his successors an episcopal dominion so -strengthened by his powerful personality, and glorified -by the sanctity of his life and doctrine, that it was -ever after associated with his name, and known as the -Ambrosian Church. With its numerous and wealthy -dependent bishoprics, its Arch-Pontiff or Pope, its -cardinals, as the chief clergy were called later, and -immense hierarchy, its peculiar liturgy and ritual, this -Church was accorded the title of Holy—<i>Santa Chiesa</i>—and -acknowledged as self-governing by Gregory the -Great himself.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Milan of Ambrose and Augustine still belonged -in outward aspect to the imperial past. But a general -decay, hastened by exorbitant taxation and bad administration, -was visible at this time throughout North -Italy, where many of the chief towns were, in Ambrose’s -own words, <i>Corpses of half-ruined cities</i>. At -the opening of the fifth century the simulacrum of Empire -was attacked by the Goths under Alaric (402), and -half a century later (450) Attila, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Flagellum Dei</span></i>, passed -with his Huns over the face of Italy, uprooting the useless -remains of the ancient world, as a plough furrows -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>a field for the new sowing. Milan came within -his course, but how deep and extensive was the ruin -wrought by him there we do not know. His was -but the first operation in God’s tilling of that rank -soil for the new life it was to bear. In 538 the city -suffered a second and apparently more complete destruction, -during the war of Narses and Belisarius for the -recovery of Italy from the Ostrogothic dynasty established -by Theodoric. Milan revolted from the Gothic -King Vitige and allied herself with the Eastern -generals. Vitige despatched a portion of his army, -swelled by a host of Burgundians from the mountains, -ancestors, probably, of those Swiss who were to plague -the Milanese in later history. The city was closely -invested, and after some months, deceived in the expectation -of succour from Belisarius, she fell a victim -to the revenge of the Goths. The historian Procopius -describes the three hundred thousand slain, the -women sold as slaves, the habitations razed to the -ground, and his statement, in spite of obvious exaggeration, -is an indication of the awful havoc and desolation -inflicted upon the still soft, corrupt and luxurious city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This blow seems to have crushed the vitality of -Milan. For centuries she remained in a weak and -depressed condition. During the Lombard domination, -which swept away the brief authority of the -Eastern Empire established by the arms of Narses, her -pre-eminence in North Italy was usurped by Pavia, -which Alboin and his successors chose as the capital -of their new realm, now first called <i>Lombardy</i>. The -broken palaces of the once imperial metropolis no longer -sheltered sovereigns. The Lombard kings delegated -their authority in the city to a governor, whom they -called <i>Duke</i>—whence the name <i>Cordusio</i>, still used in -the centre of the city, a corruption of Corte Ducis, -the palace or judgment-hall of the Duke—and only -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>approached from time to time to hold a Diet within -the vast melancholy area of her deserted circus. Even -the successors of St. Barnabas and St. Ambrose -abandoned her, and transferred the See to Genoa, where -it remained till the next century, diminished in power -and prestige by its exile from the city of the Ambrosian -tradition, while the Roman Pontiffs, throughout the -two centuries of Lombard supremacy, were quietly increasing -their influence and making good that claim to -supreme spiritual authority before which the Ambrosian -Church was in the end to succumb.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The return of the episcopal See to Milan indicates -some degree of revival in the city. But two hundred -years more were to pass before her Church resumed -its old importance, and Milan her rightful rank in -North Italy. Under Charlemagne, who conquered -Desiderio in 774, and created a so-called Kingdom of -Italy, Milan held only the third place among the -metropolitan Sees, yielding precedence after Rome to -Ravenna. The Frankish king, whose great scheme of a -restored Roman Empire included a united Latin Church -under the Pope as supreme head, not only exalted the -spiritual authority of Rome over the other Sees, but -even endeavoured to suppress the peculiarities of the -Ambrosian liturgy and force Milan into uniformity -with the rest of the Latin Church. He is said to -have descended upon the city and seized all the liturgical -books, burning some and carrying others away -into Germany. But even his will was helpless against -the cherished custom of centuries. Some religious -men, so the chronicler declares, succeeded in hiding -copies of the books, and as soon as the Emperor had -disappeared, they were unearthed and the old rites -resumed as before.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The political changes of the ninth and tenth centuries -favoured the revival of the Lombard See. With the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>disruption of Charlemagne’s swollen empire, and the removal -of the temporal support, the spiritual sovereignty -of Rome and the unity of the Church broke down, at -least in practice, and the grand and comprehensive idea -of a single rule of Christendom under the twin sceptres -of Emperor and Pope—that inspiration of great minds -in the Middle Ages—failed now, as later, of realisation. -Amid the ungoverned turbulence of the Roman -nobles and citizens the Papacy gradually sank to the -lowest depths of corruption and impotence, and any -deference to its authority once paid by the Milanese -primates was soon forgotten.</p> - -<p class='c000'>For a while the Carlovingian kingdom of Italy held -together in spite of constant wars, and under Louis -II. Lombardy enjoyed a period of peace and great prosperity. -But after his death in 875, the country, rent -by the struggles of various claimants to the throne, and -overrun by Huns and Saracens, was gradually reduced -to a state of chaos, out of which the power of the feudal -barons emerged as the only effective authority. The -Counts and Viscounts, as the imperial ministers were -properly called, lost their authority, or else preserved -it as an hereditary and almost independent right from -father to son, fitting themselves as time went on into the -graduated order of the feudal system, which was extending -itself into the whole organisation of society. -The one stable power, that of the Church, based on an -inextinguishable tradition, became paramount in the -city, and in virtue of its vast possessions assumed the -temporal as well as the spiritual dominion. By the -tenth century the Archbishops of Milan appear as great -feudal princes, the most powerful in North Italy, and -practically independent of the Emperor. This position -was largely due to the spirit and ability of the two -great prelates of the previous century, Angilberto -(824-59), and Ansperto (868-81). Ansperto openly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>refused the obedience claimed from him by John VIII. -By assembling and presiding over the Diet of the -princes of North Italy at Pavia, which elected Charles -the Bald as successor to Louis II., and afterwards -crowning the new monarch, he arrogated the right of -conferring the Crown of Italy independently of the -Papal approval. He appears in this election as a great -temporal prince, leading the North Italian States, and -expressing the revolt of Lombardy against the pretensions -of the Pope in the Lateran to the heritage of the -power which once dominated the world from the -Capitol. Throughout the struggles of the next twenty -years for the possession of the throne, Ansperto’s support -was always given in opposition to the Pope. -When summoned by John VIII. to a Council at Rome -in 879, to answer for his offences against the Holy -See, he shut the door against the papal legates, so that -they were compelled to the undignified proceeding of -shouting the pontiff’s complaint through the keyhole; -and he and all his vast flock, which included, with the -suffragan Sees, the whole of Lombardy, were totally -indifferent to the excommunication stammered against -them by the enraged and helpless Pope.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Archbishop Ansperto was the chief restorer of the -city as well as of the Church of Milan. He rebuilt -and repaired the broken walls, the buildings ruined by -the barbarians, and by his wise and resolute government -gave a much-needed security to the life and property -of the citizens. It was a greatly increased power which -he transmitted to his successors, who wielded it with -the same autocratic spirit. In the confusion of the -Carlovingian break-up, when no one knew who was -the rightful sovereign of the old Lombard kingdom, -or who held the prerogative of electing him, the -Archbishops of Milan assumed the part of king-makers, -and laid the Crown, now on the head of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>an Italian prince, now on that of some heir of the Carlovingian -tradition. The constant aim of the archbishops -was to increase and consolidate their power, and the -weakness of the royal authority gave them their chance. -The story of the city in these two centuries is chiefly -composed of the contests of the Primates with the successive -wearers of the Lombard crown, who in their -turn endeavoured to tyrannise over the See by seizing -the right to elect its occupant, and filling it with their -own rapacious and arrogant favourites. These royal -appointments were violently opposed by the people, so -that the city was distracted by constant schisms and -civil warfare. From 948 to 953 the strife between -Adelmano, the choice of the citizens, and Manasses, -an ambitious and intriguing foreign priest, whom Berengarius -had appointed to the See, filled Milan with -tumult and bloodshed, during which the Ambrosian -Church was despoiled of much of its treasure. The -election in 953 of a third aspirant, Walperto, to whom -the others gave way, closed at last the miserable -war. With the coronation of Otho the Great (964) in -St. Ambrogio, by this archbishop, who had crossed the -Alps in person to summon the German prince to the -deliverance of Italy from the cruel tyranny of Berengarius, -a blessed period of peace and consequent prosperity -began for Milan, favourable to the development -of those popular forces in the city—hitherto depressed -by constant terror and insecurity—which were to make -her history in the coming centuries.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The peace, however, soon bred in the city a restless -vigour which could find no other vent than war. Under -Ariberto d’Intimiano, who was elected archbishop in -1018, Milan, now restored to undisputed pre-eminence -over her rival Pavia and the rest of the Lombard cities, -started upon a career of conquest. In Ariberto the -archiepiscopal pallium cloaked a potent statesman and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>warrior, who well knew how to defend that temporal -power which the ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages -looked upon as the best guarantee of their spiritual -authority. When the Emperor Henry II., who followed -the Othos, died in 1024, and the uncertainty -as to his successor on the Lombard throne threatened -new trouble to Italy, Ariberto hastened to Germany, -and on his sole authority, according to one chronicler, -though others say that he was supported by a party of -Italian magnates, offered the kingdom to Conrad the -Salic. Two years later (1026) he reasserted the right -of the Primate of Milan to crown the King of Italy, by -laying the circlet on the new monarch’s brow within -the city itself. At Conrad’s subsequent coronation in -Rome as Emperor, the Archbishop of Milan was the -most important of the imposing company of ecclesiastical -princes who attended on the occasion. His dignified -withdrawal from a contest with the Archbishop of -Ravenna for the place of highest honour was followed -by a formal recognition of his primacy in a Papal Bull, -while with less self-restraint his vast train of followers -reduced the company of the Ravennese prelate to -proper submission by apostolic blows and knocks in the -streets of Rome, amid a tremendous uproar. Milan’s -ecclesiastical superiority to Ravenna and all other -Italian Sees was thus triumphantly settled.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ariberto’s ambition for the glory and predominance -of Milan was well supported by the people. They -followed the militant prelate with enthusiasm to the -subjugation of Pavia, which had refused to acknowledge -Conrad as king (1027), and a little later they made -a furious assault under his command upon the little -neighbouring city of Lodi, and forced its freedom-loving -inhabitants to submit to Ariberto’s yoke -and accept a bishop of his choosing. Thus Milan, -impelled by the pride and ambition and necessity of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>expansion bred of strength and riches, was the first to -provoke that spirit of hatred and revenge among the -sister cities of Lombardy, which could only be expiated -by centuries of bloodshed and sorrow.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But neither leader nor people had any doubt of the -righteousness of their military enterprises, which were -indeed invested with a sort of religious consecration. -Ariberto instituted the use of a sacred Car in times of -war, which bore aloft in the midst of the host the -tokens of the Christian Covenant, the Cross and the -Altar of Sacrifice, in sanctifying association with -the Vexillum of the city. Round these emblems of -their faith and of their existence as a community the -citizen soldiers would rally, bearing the Car forward -to victory with irresistible enthusiasm in moments -of advantage, or defending it with despairing resolve -when defeat threatened. Thus was originated the -<i>Caroccio</i>, adopted afterwards by all the Communes of -Italy—an exalted and beautiful idea, which, though -often debased by association with enterprises of greed -or revenge, became also the guide and inspiration of -the Lombard peoples in their noble struggle for liberty -in the succeeding centuries.</p> - -<p class='c000'>That struggle was already foreshadowed in Ariberto’s -time. The pride of the Archbishop and the city which he -governed soon came into violent contact with the will -of the Emperor. Conrad resented the prelate’s increasing -encroachment upon the royal prerogatives. Besides -the sovereign right of making war, the Archbishop -claimed the privilege of investing the bishops of his jurisdiction -and the secular nobles also with their fiefs. His -assumption of autocratic authority provoked a large -party of the lesser nobles, who made an insurrection -against him in 1036, and being defeated and driven out -of the city, united with the aggrieved citizens of Lodi -and broke into open warfare. A fierce battle was fought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>at Campo Malo, in which Ariberto appears to have been -worsted. The Emperor, regarding the moment as -favourable for asserting his authority, crossed the Alps -(1037) to restore peace. But on arriving in Milan -he did not find the humility and submission which he -expected, and offended, or perhaps alarmed, by -the haughtiness of the Prince Prelate and the excited -temper of the populace, he retired to Pavia, and -there summoned Ariberto to appear before a Diet, -to answer the accusations of his enemies. The -Archbishop obeyed, and without allowing him time -for defence, Conrad commanded his arrest. He was -carried to Piacenza and there kept in captivity. But -Conrad had hardly reckoned with the power which -lay behind his great vassal. Instead of accepting this -chastisement with resignation, Milan broke into an -uproar of lamentation at the news of her pastor’s imprisonment. -With fastings, processions and litanies, with -oblations, and benefactions to the poor, the pious citizens -hoped to propitiate Heaven on his behalf, while the -more worldly-minded sought to procure his rescue. At -last, after two months, Ariberto himself found a means -of escape with the aid of the Abbess of the great -convent of San Sisto in Piacenza. This lady, at the -request of a trusty servant whom the prelate managed -to send to her, despatched to him twenty mules laden -with divers kinds of delicate meats, and ten waggon -loads of wine, out of the goodly stores of the -convent. With these provisions Ariberto made a great -feast for his Teuton guards, who soon stupefied themselves -with the good wine. The Milanese chronicler -Landolfo describes the scene—‘ ... They became -beyond measure intoxicated—persisting in their potations -until the middle of the night, and each one provoking -his neighbour to drink more and more.... They -began to quarrel and threaten one another with rolling -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>eyes and terrible voices, and then to weep with thick -tears pouring down their faces, and so drunk were they -with the wine that they did not know what they were -doing, and their limbs would not serve their office so that -they fell down prostrate. The servants of Ariberto, -seeing them in this plight, were immensely rejoiced, and -carrying them away one by one, laid them out on well -prepared couches as if they had been dead men....’ -While the Teutons lay thus and ‘snored terribly,’ the -prisoner slipped quietly off to the river Po hard by, -where he found a ship, sent by the Abbess, in readiness -for him. Into this he entered, and soon reached Milan -in safety, while his guards, awaking, half stupid from -their drunken slumbers, went seeking for him everywhere -with hideous clamour.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The fugitive was soon followed by the irate Emperor, -with a great army, and Milan was closely besieged. -Mighty deeds of valour were performed on either side, -according to the Milanese chroniclers. But all the -efforts of the great Emperor and his hosts were unavailing -against the city, defended by its ancient Roman -walls and by an enormous population. After a few -months he raised the siege, and endeavoured with equal -futility to overthrow Ariberto by deposing him and -setting up another archbishop. His persecution of -Milan provoked, the chroniclers tell us, a signal manifestation -of the Divine wrath, in the person of St. Ambrose -himself, who appeared one day in the midst of terrible -thunder and lightning as the Emperor was listening to -the Mass, and caused such consternation among those -present that many fell down dead. Thus, worsted by -supernatural as well as earthly means, Conrad retired -to Suabia in 1038, leaving the Archbishop master of -the situation, and to all intents and purposes potentate -of Lombardy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But this crowning height to which Ariberto had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>brought the See of Milan was the brink of a signal -downfall. The greatest, he was also the last of the -strong ecclesiastical princes of Milan. Silently, -steadily during these last centuries of revived vigour -and prosperity a new force had been developing in the -city, and acquiring conscious existence—the People. -The wars of Ariberto’s reign had endowed this force -with the knowledge of arms and a sense of its own -power. It was the nameless, irresistible will of the -masses of the citizens which had carried Ariberto to -victory over the Emperor, and this very victory tended -to the undoing of the Archbishop and his order, by -weakening the feudal system with which the episcopal -and aristocratic power of Milan was now inextricably -bound up. It had been the part of the Church of St. -Ambrose to give the consecrating impulse and inspiration -to the revolt of the new world against the decaying -order of the Roman Empire, and under its latest -representative to lead the city, as we have just seen, to -victory over the Head of feudalism. But now in its -turn this great force for civilisation and humanity was -to be corrupted by temporal power and possession—to -renounce its mission as guide and sanctifier, and -assume instead the part of opposition to the vital and -progressive elements of the community. Ariberto and -his clergy were, in fact, the representatives in Milan of -feudalism and aristocracy. The hierarchy of St. -Ambrose was composed of the great nobles of the city, -in whose families the high ecclesiastical offices and -benefices had became hereditary possessions. These -arch-Priests, arch-Deacons, Cimiliarchs, Decumani—the -Cardinals or Ordinaries, as the highest orders of the -clergy were called—were great feudal magnates, forming -the strongest class of the Milanese nobility. Ranged -beneath them in ecclesiastic and feudal rank were the -lesser clergy, just as the secular aristocracy was divided -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>into the two degrees of Captains—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Capitani</span></i>—and their -vassals, called Vavasours—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Valvassori</span></i>. Below these -came the undistinguished masses of the people, merchants, -artisans, and peasants, mostly serfs, and all -absolutely subjected to the arbitrary government of the -nobles.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The first revolt against this system was that already -mentioned, which resulted in the battle of Campo Malo, -and arose within the privileged class itself, being an -attempt of the Valvassori and minor clergy to shake -off the heavy yoke of their feudal superiors. But a -much more fatal discord in the community began in -1042, when the whole populace joined with the discontented -Valvassori, and broke out into fierce rebellion -against the nobles. One Lanzone, a noble who had -deserted his own order, was their leader. A civil war -raged for many months, filling the streets with daily -tumult and bloodshed, and at last the Archbishop and -the magnates were forced to abandon the city. Invoking -the aid of the nobles in the neighbouring communities, -they returned with a strong army and invested -the city. The struggle was waged with hideous ferocity -on both sides, neither giving mercy to prisoners or -wounded. The besiegers built six great strongholds -round the walls, commanding the principal gates, and -effectually shutting out all succour of food or arms. -Two long and terrible years went by, till the plight of -the citizens grew desperate. Pallid and lean from -famine and sickness, still they fought on with invincible -souls, in the midst of the deserted palaces and falling -towers of this city which, the chronicler tells us, no -longer seemed, as of yore, the seat of noble kings, -but rather a desolate Babylon. At last Lanzone -resolved to go to Germany and seek the help of Conrad’s -successor, Henry III. But the Emperor, mindful of his -father’s experience of Milan, would only grant it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>on condition that his army should occupy the city, -and that the people should swear fealty to himself. -But the new-born democracy, groping its way to -liberty through a thousand obstacles, instinctively rejected -these conditions, preferring its native tyrants to a -foreign yoke. Lanzone skilfully used the fear of -imperial interference to persuade the besiegers to agree -to a reconciliation. Peace was concluded, all mutual -wrongs being forgiven, the nobles restored to their -homes and possessions, and a share in the government -secured to the people.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The one sacrifice offered upon the altar of this new -covenant between the classes was the leader Lanzone -himself, who, at the first opportunity, was arrested and -put to death by the aristocratic party. But his work -was done, and the foundation of the future Republic had -been laid. Archbishop Ariberto, now ill and aged, had -taken refuge during the troubles at Monza, and returned -to his own city, only to die (1045). His career fitly -closes with the first signs of the collapse of the social -order which he embodied.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Patarini</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Dicetur in posterum subjectum Romæ Mediolanum.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Arnulphus.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>The revolt of the Milanese people against the nobles -was associated with the great agitation for the -reform of the Catholic Church, initiated and carried on -in the eleventh century by S. Giovanni Gualberto, San -Romualdo and his disciple, Peter Damiano, and by the -Cluniac monk, Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII. -This movement had its political aspect. The spiritual -supremacy to which these men aimed to restore the -dishonoured and discredited Papacy included domination -over the temporal powers. The first step to be -accomplished was unity of government within the -Church’s own body, and the suppression of the virtual -independence, based on feudal dominion, of the great -metropolitan Sees, Milan, Ravenna and others outside -Italy. Divining with sure instinct where the power of the -future lay, they allied themselves with those democratic -forces to which the Ambrosian Church was now fatally -opposed, in a fierce attack upon the great Lombard See.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Much laxity of discipline prevailed among the higher -clergy of Milan, whose pride and splendour was famous -throughout Europe. They lived like great feudal -barons; armed <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cap à pie</span></i>, they led their vassals forth to -battle, nor in their domestic manners were they more -rigid. They were, moreover, obstinately attached by -long custom to the two practices which the severer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>spirits in the Church had condemned and fought against -for centuries, simony and marriage, both closely bound -up with their feudal constitution and polity. They -stoutly maintained that the ordination of married men -as priests was sanctioned by St. Ambrose himself in his -writings, nor did they demur to the marriage of those -already in Orders, though the sentence of the great -Doctor on this point was more doubtful. In fact, they -married with the same unconsciousness of sin as their -untonsured brethren did. The natural consequence -was that the offices and benefices of the Church were -bequeathed from father to son, and tended to become -hereditary in certain favoured families. It followed -as inevitably that bishoprics, abbacies and all offices -carrying with them worldly possessions, came to be -trafficked in like any other sort of estates. The investitures -of them were granted by the feudal superior -for fixed and regular fees, graduated according to the -value of the office, a practice resulting from the introduction -by Charlemagne of the system of feudal tenure -into the ecclesiastical body politic. Thus there were -few among the dignitaries of St. Ambrose who had not -paid, according to the current price, for their spiritual -rank and its accompanying temporalities, and the possession -of ecclesiastical benefices, either to be held or disposed -of at will, had become a form of wealth which, -vitiated though its origin might be, was wound in inextricably -with the complicated existence of Milanese -society.</p> - -<p class='c000'>It was natural that the successive decrees of the -Popes from Clement II. (1046-1047) onwards against -simony and marriage should have been disregarded in -Milan. The renunciation of the benefices which provided -them with a livelihood, and the putting away of -the wives and children to whom they were bound by the -ties of innocent and natural affection, were sacrifices too -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>hard for men whose vocation was rather worldly than -spiritual. Nothing less than a social revolution could -overthrow the rooted customs of the Ambrosian Church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Such a revolution, in the heaving and unstable eleventh -century, was, however, easily excited. The discontent of -the lower orders with the aristocracy increased as their -lately-won privileges generated the desire for a further -share of power, and their particular animus against the -ecclesiastical nobles was strengthened by a deep and -widespread aspiration for religious purity and truth -among many of the humblest people. The agitation -against the real and supposed scandals in the lives of -the clergy was taken up with fury in the poorest parts -of the city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A revolutionary party grew up, which became -known among its opponents by the opprobrious name -of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Patarini</span></i>, a term used in Milan to denote heretics, -and derived perhaps from <i>Patari</i>, rag-sellers, who -with their customers represented the lowest class -of the people. And though the aim of the revolutionists -was a social and moral, not a doctrinal, reform, -there probably prevailed much freedom of thought and -religious opinion among them. The heresy of the -Catharists—better known under the name of Albigenses, -by which they were called later in the south of France—was -taking wide hold in North Italy at this time. -The strange Manichean ideas of these sectaries, who -believed in a dual principle of good and evil governing -the world, must have found ready acceptance in pessimistic -souls who saw the pride and luxury of the -great on one side, and the misery of the oppressed and -enslaved masses on the other. Their ideal of extreme -bodily purity, rising to an asceticism which, by denying -the flesh even the mere satisfaction of its needs aimed -at the liberation of the spirit from its thraldom to the -Devil by the self-extinction of the human race, contrasted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>their lives sharply with the luxurious habits of -the majority of the orthodox clergy, and by sanctifying -hunger and privation, gave a new dignity and self-respect -to the down-trodden poor. Moreover, their -stern rejection of all pleasure and selfish ambition gave -them leisure and courage to devote themselves to the -sick and suffering, so that many joined themselves to -their company from the impulse of gratitude. They -led in fact the evangelic life, though their dark and -despairing tenets were utterly alien to the spirit of -Christianity. They clung to their peculiar faith -with a lofty enthusiasm which persecution could not -subdue.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The confusion of the Catharists, or Catari, with the -Patarini probably arose from the similarity of the -names, and the natural tendency of the orthodox to -confuse the different forms of thought outside their -own dogmatic boundaries. The Patarini sympathised -with the Catharists only in their practice of purity and -evangelic simplicity of life. There is little doubt, however, -that the Catharists mingled with the poorer classes -of the city whence the Patarini were recruited, and -must have taken advantage of the confusion of ideas -resulting from the revolt against the old customs and -authority to spread their doctrines.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Among the Milanese clergy themselves there was -a small party zealous for reform. The first to raise -open protest against simony and ‘concubinage’ was -one of these, a noble ecclesiastic called Anselmo da -Baggio. Ariberto’s vacant throne had been filled by -the appointment of one Guido, a creature of the -Emperor Henry III., who in securing his election, -had partly recovered that sway over Milan which -Ariberto had wrested from Conrad. Guido was a -weak man, with an uneasy conscience himself about -simony, since he had paid the usual fee to the emperor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>as his feudal superior for the confirmation of his -election. Thinking to rid himself of the troublesome -zeal of Anselmo, he procured his election to the -bishopric of Lucca, and thus endowed him with new -power. Anselmo was one of the principal allies and -agents of Hildebrand, by whose influence he was raised -later to the papal throne, where, as Alexander II., -he was able to wield all the arms of Rome against his -native Church. Another leader of a more popular class -soon rose up to take his place in Milan, a certain deacon -and student of letters named Arialdo. This man -became the soul of the movement. He was joined -by Landolfo da Cotta, one of the highest order of -clergy, like Anselmo da Baggio. Landolfo was a -fiery and eloquent speaker, a zealot whose body was -consumed by disease and his soul by enthusiasm. -The two went about preaching in public places and -stirring up the poorer classes, and soon gathered -together a formidable following. Invading the -churches, they drove the clergy from the altars, and -pursuing them with contumely and violence, sacked -their houses and forced them to sign an engagement -to consort no more with women. The whole city -was in an uproar; all the sons of disorder rushed to -join the rioters. Archbishop Guido summoned a synod -of his clergy at a safe distance from the city, and -thence fulminated an anathema against the ringleaders. -Arialdo and Landolfo immediately hastened to Rome -to make their complaint before the throne of Peter -(1057). They returned accompanied by the Bishop of -Lucca and Cardinal Hildebrand himself, sent by Pope -Stephen X. to examine into the accusations laid against -the Archbishop and his clergy. Their arrival raised a -new and tremendous uproar. The Milanese, deeply -jealous of the ancient episcopal glory and prerogatives -of their city, rallied to the side of their own clergy at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>this attempt of the Pope to interfere, and the legates, -having hastily and in secret condemned the Archbishop -as simoniacal, and all his practices as abominable, -departed, leaving matters worse than before.</p> - -<p class='c000'>As soon as the Roman attack had been driven off, -and the issue appeared to be confined within the city, -the masses again joined Arialdo. The clamour of -bells and trumpets filled the streets and called the -people to assemble in the great Roman theatre, where -Arialdo and Landolfo inflamed their minds to fury by -discourses against the clergy. There were daily riots -in the streets. The clergy were supported by the -nobles and by all the peaceable spirits, who, however, -had none of the energy and zeal of their opponents, -and soon wearied of the continual disorders and -tumults. The struggle continued with intermittent -uproar, and two years after the mission of Hildebrand, -the Pope made a new attempt at intervention (1059). -This time with the Bishop of Lucca there came -instead of Hildebrand, whose soul contained no balm -to pour upon angry passions, the famous Peter Damian. -The contemplative of Fonte Avellana, fierce ascetic -as he was, and inflamed with impatience and contempt for -luxurious priests, nevertheless possessed the gift of -persuading and winning men. The difficulties which -had defeated the earlier legation met him also. The -Ambrosian clergy stood out for the ancient freedom of -their Church and Diocese and the independence of its -jurisdiction. Enormous crowds gathered round the -episcopal palace, thirsting for the blood of the new -representatives of the papal pretensions, and the popular -fury rose to a height when at a great assembly which -Peter convoked to hear his message he placed the -Archbishop of Milan on his left hand, giving the place -of pre-eminence on his right to the Bishop of Lucca, -as delegate of the Pope. But the sound of his voice -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>calmed the tumult as he rose and eloquently proclaimed -the glory of the Ambrosian Church and of the many -martyrs who had sanctified it with their blood, and so -skilfully and with such moving words did he reprove -its abuses, that before long Archbishop, dignitaries and -the whole immense throng of clerics, trembling with -emotion and penitence, were prostrate before the altar, -acknowledging their sinful practices and vowing to -renounce them for the future. The success of the -preacher was confirmed by the subsequent visit of -Archbishop Guido to Rome, in answer to a summons -from Nicholas II. There for the first time in history -the Primate of Milan was constrained to promise -obedience to the Pope of Rome, and to receive from -him the symbolic ring of investiture.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This humiliation of their episcopal prince was a -bitter grief to the noble party in Milan. <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Veneranda -est Roma in Apostolo.</span></i> But Milan is not to be despised -in Ambrose, cries Arnolfo the chronicler. ‘It will -be said in future that Milan is subject to Rome.’ -And though Rome had won a lasting advantage, -the moral effect of Peter Damian’s mission soon died -out. The old ecclesiastical system and usage was -not so easily overthrown. Two years later (1061) -the conflict was resumed with new fervour by the -Patarini, encouraged by the accession of their ally, -Anselmo of Lucca, to the Papal throne. Moreover, a -new champion of reform had arisen in Erlembaldo, a -warrior lately returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy -Land, and brother of the now dying Landolfo. Bold -as a lion, breathing out fire and slaughter against the -Ambrosians, Erlembaldo was a formidable foe for the -timid Archbishop and his party, who were inspired by -no confidence in the virtue of their cause. He appeared -in the arena of conflict bearing the standard of the -Church, with which he had been solemnly trusted by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>Pope Alexander, who did not hesitate to rekindle the -flames of civil war in his native city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The cruel scenes witnessed before were now renewed -in Milan. Blood was spilt in the streets, churches were -invaded and sacked, priests dragged bodily from the -altars, their houses burnt, their wives misused. But -when Arialdo and his lieutenant began to condemn the -ceremonial usages peculiar to the Ambrosian Church, -the citizens turned against them, and finding the opposition -too strong, the two missionaries appealed to Rome -and procured the excommunication of the Archbishop. -This only aggravated the wrath of the Milanese. The -Patarine leaders were abandoned by all but a few of -their most devoted followers, and when Archbishop -Guido appeared before the altar of the Cathedral -Church with the Bull of excommunication in his hands, -the fury of the immense assembly knew no bounds. -The reformers were set upon in the sanctuary itself, -and Arialdo was so badly beaten that he was left for -dead. Guido, taking advantage of the momentary -turn of the tide in his favour, laid an interdict upon the -city until it should rid itself of Arialdo. The zealot -was forced to fly, and a little later he fell into a snare -which had been laid for him, and was betrayed into -the hands of the Archbishop’s niece, lady of a castle on -Lake Maggiore, by whose command he was carried -in a boat to a lonely island and there cruelly done to -death.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The cause of reform was thenceforth glorified by the -memory and example of a martyr. Arialdo was shortly -afterwards canonised by Pope Alexander. His loss -inflamed his party to new zeal and drew to it a great -access of adherents. Erlembaldo and a priest called -Liprando di San Paolo now led the crusade, carrying -it on with such fury of sword and fire that they -became virtual masters of the city. The Archbishop, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>wearied out by the endless strife and the insidious -attempts of Rome to depose him, renounced his See, -and the nobles, outnumbered by the rioters, abandoned -the disorderly city and sought peace and safety in their -castles and country palaces.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The contest now centred on the election of a new -Archbishop. Neither of the rival claimants put forward -by the two parties succeeded in establishing -himself on the episcopal throne. Chaos prevailed in -the Ambrosian Church. Erlembaldo, strengthened by -the accession of Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII., -usurped the whole authority in the city and throughout -the archdiocese. He swept far and wide like an -avenging sword, driving priests from their benefices, -and tearing them from the altars. Half Lombardy -cowered under his rude and noisy tyranny, and his -name became a by-word of terror throughout Italy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But two appalling conflagrations, which followed one -another in 1071 and 1073, and laid waste the city, deprived -the people of all heart for the contest with the -aristocrats. Moreover, Erlembaldo’s tyranny was beginning -to produce a reaction. The nobles, regaining courage, -leagued together for a great effort to liberate the city -from his authority. By means of promises and gold, -they won a large number of the humble citizens to their -side, and at last they appeared one day in force in the -city, seeking their enemy. The populace, awed by -their numbers and magnificent martial array, were little -disposed to face them. Followed by a few only of the -most faithful and zealous of the Patarini, Erlembaldo, -mounted upon his war-horse, and in full armour, upholding -the banner of the Roman Church, flung himself into -the midst of his foes, and fell, pierced by a hundred swords.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With his death the war ended. There was none -to take his place. The city, exhausted by the long -strife, was glad to rest. The nobles returned to their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>homes and their old place in the city, and in spite of -the persecution which they had suffered for twenty -years, the Ambrosian clergy resumed their old practices -to a large extent.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Nevertheless, the design of the great Hildebrand was -achieved. The supremacy of Rome had been proclaimed, -and acknowledged in the hearing of the whole -world. The prestige of the greatest of the provincial -Sees had suffered a blow from which it never recovered. -So much was the episcopal power of Milan weakened -that Gregory VII. was able to subtract many of its -suffragan Sees and join them instead to other archdioceses; -and before the century was over, the victory -of the Pope over the Emperor Henry IV., in the -famous quarrel of investitures, obliged the Ambrosian -See to yield temporal as well as spiritual allegiance to -the successors of St. Peter.</p> - -<p class='c000'>And though the Milanese clergy still clung for a -while to their wives, and benefices continued to be -bought and sold, these doubtful practices fell more and -more into disrepute. Simoniac ecclesiastics gradually -disappeared. The accusation of this sin was, however, -long used by Rome as a means of gaining further advantages -over the See of Milan, or driving out a prelate -approved perhaps by the Emperor and obnoxious to -the papal interests. It was equally useful to the people -in making new encroachments on the privileges of the -aristocratic clergy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The gradual concentration of authority in Rome was -greatly assisted by the influence of the monastic orders, -who belonged as bodies to no particular diocese, but -looked to the Pope as their supreme head, and were -little disposed to be submissive to the prelates in whose -jurisdiction a monastery might chance to be. In 1130, -Bernard of Clairvaux and his white-robed monks—who -seemed to the people, we are told, wonderful as angels -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>from heaven—appeared in Milan, and gave an immense -impulse to the monastic movement there. The -rise of the mendicant orders of St. Francis and St. -Dominic a century later brought a vast increase of -strength to the Papacy. In Milan, as everywhere, the -friars gained immense influence among the masses of -the people. The See of Milan was by this time completely -subjugated. It was greatly diminished in -wealth and importance. The Pope exercised supreme -jurisdiction in the archdiocese, and his legates constantly -interfered in the government, assuming the -highest place and authority with the acquiescence of -the Archbishop. Deeply indeed had the See of St. -Ambrose sunk since the days of the great Ariberto!</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the same movement which had defined the -position of Rome, had by the process of strengthening -and raising the walls of the fold, thrust an enormous -number of Christians into the doctrinal wilderness outside, -and the Church was now menaced by the great -spread and increase of heresy. Heresy was, in fact, the -fatal legacy of Hildebrand’s policy. While the Papacy, -absorbed in its struggles with the Empire, could spare -no energy to check them, the great sect of the Catharists, -unhindered by worldly ambitions, had been quietly growing -in numbers and strength, till in the twelfth century -it was become a fully organised Church, divided into -dioceses and governed by its own bishops. These -sectarians were now generally called Patarini; the name -of Hildebrand’s old allies had become synonymous with -the enemies of the Church. The deep gulf between -the Catharists and the orthodox Church was crossed -by a chain of religious associations which had sprung -up all over Lombardy, in protest against the luxury and -scandalous manners of both clergy and laity, and were -founded, like the original Patarini, upon moral rather -than doctrinal principles. Many of them hovered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>indeed in thought upon the vague borderland between -orthodoxy and heresy, and were touched by that Northern -difference of religious sentiment which, after many temporary -ebullitions, produced at last the Protestant revolution. -In the thirteenth century fifteen different -sects are enumerated in the city—the Catharists, the -Believers of Milan, the Arnaldists, followers of Arnald -of Brescia, the Poor Men of Lombardy, and others -that were mostly local varieties of the same sects. -Poverty and humility were, as their name denotes, the distinctive -attributes of the <i>Poor Men</i>, while their doctrine -was suspect enough to forbid their adoption into the -Church. The large embrace of Rome succeeded, -however, in enfolding another association of kindred -type, the Umiliati, or Humble Ones, which was -destined to become enormously powerful in Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This order is said to have been founded early in -the eleventh century by some Milanese nobles who -had been captives in Germany, and who, converted -to serious thoughts by the weariness of confinement, -vowed that on their return they would live a holy and -Christian life. It was a society of men and women, -living in their own homes with their families, but distinguished -from their neighbours by humility, industry -and devoutness. A century later, under the influence -of St. Bernard, they formed themselves into a regular -order, with a rule obliging them to strict moral virtue -and to the observance of all religious duties. They -devoted themselves especially to the manufacture of -woollen stuffs, one of Milan’s chief industries. Very -soon out of the first order a second was formed, which -adopted a monastic life of greater austerity, the men -and women, including many married couples, living -side by side in separate cloisters, and in course of time -a third order arose, composed of men only, who took -sacerdotal orders, and were called Canons. Thus the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>association, from a kind of religious guild, tended to -develop into a regular order. But its rule had never -been fixed or confirmed by any papal sanction, and it -remained for two hundred years practically independent -of Rome. Nor were its doctrines during this time -free from unorthodox thought; we find the Umiliati included -in the condemnation of heretical sects uttered -by successive Popes from time to time in the intervals of -their political cares. They shared the virtue of simplicity, -at least, with the various bodies of Poveri who hovered -half in and half out of the pale of Holy Church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the latter part of the twelfth century the order—in -obedience perhaps to that widely diffused evangelical -spirit which generated the great Franciscan movement -a little later—had been developing and spreading very -extensively. Its votaries went about preaching repentance -in the squares and open places of the different -cities, and persuaded numbers of noble persons, as well as -plebeians, to abandon the sins of the world and the flesh, -and to live according to the pious and simple vows of the -order, either in monasteries or in their own homes. -Their efforts were opposed by the bishops and regular -clergy, who were disposed to look upon all zeal as -heretical. But Pope Innocent III., recognising their -virtue and their influence on the people, resolved to -secure the somewhat loose orthodoxy of the brethren, -and to direct their fervour and piety to the service of -the Church. He extended his favour to them, and -bestowed upon them the doubtful blessing of a formal -rule, which, with the privileges, included the restrictions -and severe discipline of a regular monastic order. This -little pleased the Umiliati, and they made a touching -appeal to Innocent’s successor, Honorius III., to relieve -them from their new obligations, bringing forward an -ancient formula, given them, they declared, by St. -Bernard, to the observance of which they had already -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>bound themselves. But the Pope absolved them -against their will from their old vows of obedience -and insisted on the observance of Innocent’s rule.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus the death-blow was dealt to the original spirit -of the institution. After a short period of increased -fervour and activity, in which they became the terror -of their old spiritual kinsfolk, the heretics, the order -followed the course of most other monastic bodies. -Humility and poverty were exchanged for papal favours -and honours, and for rich possessions, and before long -corruption and laxity crept in among the brethren. The -sacerdotal order became the first and most important, -while those who followed the original rule of simplicity, -humility and purity, living in their own homes, were -called the Third Order. The brethren acquired in -time great wealth from the woollen industry, which -they continued to pursue, and later on they were largely -employed in the public offices of the city, and especially -in its financial concerns. Thus they gradually became -very powerful, and under the tyrannies of the Visconti -and Sforza, provided Milan with many great statesmen. -In the sixteenth century the vast possessions of the -order, in the form of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">commendas</span> and prebends, etc., -were practically owned by a few great families, and the -actual number of the brethren had fallen to less than a -hundred. Cardinal Carlo Borromeo procured the suppression -of the ancient brotherhood in 1570, on the -ground of the vices and luxury of its members. He -risked his life by this step, since the degenerate brethren -were not ashamed to employ assassins to attempt the -murder of their spoliator. The possessions of the order -were distributed among other convents, and their principal -House, the Brera, which had belonged to them -since the twelfth century, was handed over to the Jesuits.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The desire to define and purify doctrine, and to -strengthen the Church, produced under a series of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>determined Popes a fierce outburst of persecution in -the thirteenth century. In Milan, where heterodox -opinions were held by many of the most powerful -as well as the lesser citizens, it was the signal for -repeated bouts of civil war and constant struggles -between the Pope and the rulers of the city. The -introduction of the Dominicans into Milan in 1220 -gave an enormous advantage to the cause of orthodoxy. -As soon as the people saw the Christ-like virtues of -poverty and humility and evangelising ardour, hitherto -associated in their minds only with the condemned -Patarini, displayed by these approved Catholic orders, -they followed the Friars with enthusiasm, careless -indeed of doctrine, but believing and trusting those -who lived as they did themselves and mingled with -them freely, understanding their sorrows and needs. -It is doubtful whether St. Dominic himself was ever -in Milan, but his famous disciple, Peter of Verona, -was sent there in 1232 by the Pope, with full authority -to search out and punish heretics. Peter carried out -his mission with merciless zeal. His name, made -terrible by its unsparing use as authority for the infliction -of torments and fiery death, came to be feared -throughout Lombardy. So bitter a hatred did he -rouse by his stern interpretation of the awful word, -<i>not peace but a sword</i>, that he himself fell a victim to -the weapon of his predilection. On a morning in 1252, -as he was returning on foot with a single companion -from Como to Milan, two assassins sprang out upon -him from an ambush and smote him to death with a -sword. The sword, transfixing his skull, is familiar -to us all in mediæval and Renaissance art as the ornament -and emblem of the Saintly Inquisitor.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The murder of Peter Martyr was not inspired by -heretical revenge alone. Motives of worldly policy -had a share in the deed. The division of orthodoxy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>and heresy virtually followed that between the two -great parties in the State, the aristocracy and the -people, and the conflict between them repeated to -some extent the great Patarine struggle two centuries -earlier, though now, in the reversal of issues the Patarini -were associated with the aristocrats against Rome. -The murder of Peter was committed at the instigation -of some of the nobles. The Archbishop himself, Fra -Leone da Perego, a Franciscan, a man of notable -character and ambition, who hated Peter, both as -the agent of papal arrogance and usurpation in Milan, -and as the exalter of the rival order of the Dominicans, -was possibly not unaware of the plot. But -the political aspect of the doctrinal warfare belongs -to an epoch which we have not yet reached in our -story of the city. It is enough to say here that the -murder of Peter of Verona was of the greatest service -to the cause of orthodoxy and the Church. It -excited universal execration of the heretics, and the -Dominican, elevated to the ranks of the Martyrs, was -far more powerful with his cloven brow than even -when alive. From this time forward heresy rapidly -lost ground, and with the gradual quieting of party -passion, under the domination of a single family in the -city, it lost all political force, and died away in insignificance -and oblivion, till the great reawakening of -religious controversy in the sixteenth century.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Free City</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">... Venne il dì nostro</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">O milanesi, e vincere bisogna.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Carducci.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>After the blows and humiliation which the -Milanese Church suffered in the eleventh century -from the united attack of Rome and the people, it was -no longer able to stem the popular movement towards -freedom. Throughout the long civil war the incipient -Republic had been developing and gradually limiting, -more and more, the domination of the archbishop and -the nobles. This process, which was being repeated -everywhere in Lombardy, was greatly favoured by the -weakness of the Empire during the long minority of -Henry IV. The cities, freed from the intervention -of a foreign suzerain, were able to shake off to some extent -the rule of feudalism. The great war waged later -by Gregory VII. and his kindred spirit, the Gran -Contessa Matilda, against Henry IV. and the claims of -imperialism, promoted, with the power of the Papacy, -the freedom of the Communes, and showed in these two -great elements of the national life unity of aim, Italy’s -best defence against the stranger.</p> - -<p class='c000'>By the end of the eleventh century Milan was, in all -its external relations, practically a free city, owning -little more than nominal allegiance and a ceremonious -reverence to the Emperor, and allying herself now with -him, now with his resolute foe Matilda, or defying the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>one and the other, as it pleased her best. Within the -community itself the principle of popular freedom and -representation was recognised in the government, and -by means of constant insurrections the lower orders had -forced the nobles to recognise their rights. The Commune, -whose birth historians have dated from the great -revolution of 1066 when Lanzone kept Archbishop -Ariberto and the nobles in exile for three years, was -now in full being. The institution about this time of -elective magistrates, whose title of <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Consuls</span></i> revived the -old Latin tradition of the city, marks the emancipation -of the young Republic from the archiepiscopal despotism. -But the share of the ordinary citizens in the -privileges of this Constitution was still much restricted. -The Consuls appear to have been chosen exclusively at -first from the higher class, whose hereditary habit of -authority fitted them to govern, and under a constitutional -form these officials tended to repeat the old -aristocratic oligarchy. But the nobles had no longer -any legal support in their attempts to tyrannise, and the -whole system of government was in a state of flux, and -subjected to ceaseless modifications and change by the -continual revolts of the people, who, by the simple -force of numbers, made their strength felt, and vindicated -their growing pretensions to a larger part in the -affairs of their city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The same vitality which had won Milan her own -freedom impelled her to the oppression of the weaker -communities around her. Her first fulfilment of this -tragic law of progress was the destruction of her neighbour, -Lodi, a strong and flourishing community, whose -rivalry was a constant menace to her own trade and -prosperity. There was a long-standing hatred between -the two cities. The times lent abundant pretext to the -Communes to make war upon one another. The quarrel -between Empire and Church entangled them all in its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>immense web. Each, in embracing the one or the other -cause, was guided by its local sympathies and antipathies, -and reflected the general strife on a smaller scale in its -relations with its neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In 1111, Milan, ally of the Church, scarcely waiting -till Lodi’s protector, the Emperor Henry V., had -turned his back for the time on Lombardy, attacked -the smaller city in full force, and ruined it to the -foundations. The miserable inhabitants, sternly forbidden -to rebuild their old homes, made poor little -hamlets in which to shelter themselves in the vicinity, -and there dragged on a poverty-stricken existence under -the oppressive yoke of their conquerors, who jealously -deprived them of every means of recovery. Yet the -wonderful vitality which animated these young Italian -communities preserved Lodi from utter despair, and -smouldered in her, ready to burst out in revolt on the -first opportunity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Milan’s next enterprise was the subjugation of Como, -which was fast developing into a rich and powerful -community, strong in the possession of a lake navy. -That city, however, resisted with great vigour, retaliating -with frequent success upon her aggressors, and -before she was finally subdued the war dragged on for -ten years. Nearly all the North Italian cities united -with Milan against her, and she was finally captured and -burnt down in 1127, and her inhabitants compelled to -swear fealty to Milan. During the quarrel for the -Empire between Lothair and Conrad, after the death of -Henry V., and the preoccupation of each of those -monarchs in turn with the affairs of Germany, the great -Lombard city pursued her sovereign way unchecked. -Pavia, the old royal city, and her chief rival, whose -subjugation was to cost Milan yet three centuries of -almost ceaseless warfare, now felt, as often before, the -strength of her arm, and was compelled to bow to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>her will in the general councils of Lombardy, and, -with powerful Cremona and the rest of North Italy, to -follow her lead.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the aggressive and tyrannic conduct of the great -city was preparing for her an awful day of retribution. -In 1152, the death of the Emperor Conrad and the -election of his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa, opened a -new era for Italy. The young monarch, half barbarian, -half Paladin, was resolved to restore the power of the -Empire in Italy. The first step towards this end was -the reduction of the chief vassal, Milan, to the obedience -which she had so long forgotten. Her sins against her -neighbours gave him a pretext. One day, at a Diet at -Constance (1153), two citizens of Lodi, bearing heavy -crosses upon their shoulders, to signify the grievous afflictions -which Milan had put upon their community, entered -the hall, and kneeling before the Emperor, besought -his protection and help. Frederick, having listened to -their tale, swore to punish their arrogant and usurping foe. -He straightway despatched an envoy, named Sicherius, -to the Milanese, commanding them to cease from oppressing -Lodi. But so little was the distant power of the -Empire feared, in comparison with that of the great Lombard -city near at hand, that when the two Lodigiani, who -had undertaken their mission without the knowledge of -their fellow-citizens, returned home, and proclaimed the -benevolent intentions of the new monarch, the people -were inexpressibly dismayed. With woeful countenances -they execrated the ‘most stupid men’ who had -brought them into this plight, and when Sicherius -appeared shortly after, they entreated him to abandon -his journey, lest he should bring the vengeance of Milan -upon them. The envoy, however, not daring to disobey -the imperial mandate, proceeded on his way, and -presented his letters in Milan. The Consuls read -them, flung them on the ground, and stamped them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>under foot, imperial seal and all, with fury and contempt. -Sicherius himself escaped with difficulty from their -hands. Returning to Lodi, he told his tale, and the unhappy -citizens prepared themselves for immediate ruin.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But Milan, having recovered calmness and begun to -contemplate her rash act with some trepidation, spared -them for the time, and awaited the development of -events. This was not slow. Frederick, deeply offended, -descended upon Lombardy in the following year, with -an enormous host, fully resolved to humble the arrogant -Milanese. He held a great Diet at Roncaglia. Hither -with the rest of the princes and magnates of Italy came -the Consuls of Milan, and offered all the ceremonial -tokens of submission and reverence. But the impossibility -of reconciling the differences between the monarch -and the Republic quickly became evident. Milan utterly -refused to release Lodi and Como from her rule. The -Emperor soon proceeded to open hostility against the city. -But he found his task no light one. Milan’s sister communities -were still withheld by fear from lending aid -to her foe, whose glittering show of authority they held -for transitory and insubstantial. Even Lodi was only -persuaded with difficulty to forswear her forced oath of -fealty to her oppressor and give credence to Frederick’s -promises of protection. Her diffidence was well justified. -Frederick contented himself with besieging and -destroying Milan’s faithful ally, Tortona, capturing a -few outlying castles and laying waste her territory, and -then, intent on compelling Pope Hadrian to confirm -his election by crowning him in Rome, he passed on -southwards (1155). The defiant Milanese immediately -proceeded to rebuild Tortona and to wage fierce war -with the Pavesi, who, true to their traditions, had given -enthusiastic obedience to the new representative of the -Empire. Meanwhile Frederick, having received the -imperial diadem, made his way back through the eastern -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>parts of Italy, translating his heroic aspirations into a -reality of fire and blood and spoliation, and finally, -having exhausted his treasury, returned into Germany. -His unlucky protégés of Lodi were abandoned to the -mercy of their enemies. Their villages were surprised -and captured by the Milanese, and the people compelled -to flee in the darkness of night. ‘Who, seeing the -women stumbling along the way, with their little ones, -some in their arms, some clinging to their garments, -some falling behind wailing—who seeing them fall into -the ditches in the darkness and the rain, would not have -been sad and moved to compassion? Who would not -have been melted into tears?’ cries the chronicler -Morena. Many died from the hardships which they -suffered, and the rest took refuge in hamlets and in -friendly Cremona. For the second time the Milanese -destroyed their homes and razed their city to the ground.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The other allies of the Emperor also suffered the -vengeance of the arrogant city. Novara and Pavia and -other communes had to lament defeat and devastation. -Thus Milan prepared for the new coming of the -Emperor, who, all well knew, was but biding his -time and gathering strength for the work of punishment. -In 1158 he crossed the Alps again, followed by -a mighty host of vassals. He proceeded directly against -Milan. The citizens, who had fortified themselves -during his absence with an immense fosse and huge -earthworks which enclosed a much wider circuit than -the old walls, calmly awaited his attack. With his -company of tributary kings and princes and archbishops, -the Emperor sat down with all solemn preparation round -the city. To each gate was allotted a prince in command -of an army. Seeing the magnificent array and -the determined purpose of the invader, Milan’s fickle -allies, one and all, sent their forces to join him, anxious -to propitiate the stronger party, and not unwilling to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>strike a blow at their domineering leader. No less -than a hundred thousand fighting-men surrounded the -city. Milan was confronted with the fate which she -had pitilessly inflicted on others. Struck by sudden -dismay, or persuaded by treacherous counsels, she had -hardly endured the siege for a month before she surrendered -and humbled herself to acknowledge the -supremacy of the Emperor. Satisfied with her prompt -submission, Frederick confined his revenge to the -exaction of his full imperial rights, a penalty grievous -enough to a community so long accustomed to complete -freedom. She was compelled to take the oath of fealty -to the Emperor, to restore to him the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">regalia</span></i>—which -consisted chiefly of the produce of certain taxes—to -renounce all pretensions of sovereignty over Lodi and -Como, and to accept an imperial legate as her supreme -magistrate.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Frederick’s victory was, however, little more than a -mockery. Milan’s vitality and spirit of independence -were too strong to be so easily subdued. As soon as -the Emperor had passed on to another part of Italy, she -boldly broke the newly-established peace and assaulted -the German garrisons left behind in Lombardy. Her -example fired many of the other cities to violate the -obedience which they had sworn to the Emperor, and -the whole of North Italy was soon in arms again. Too -rashly, however, had the Milanese disregarded the -nature of him whom they were defying. Vowing to accomplish -his purpose without mercy this time, Frederick -hastened back. Before attacking Milan again, he encamped -before her devoted ally, the small city of -Crema, which, after a siege conducted with barbarous -ferocity, he captured and burnt. Still delaying -his vengeance on the chief offender, he spent two -years in laying waste the Milanese territory and capturing -her castles, and having effectually destroyed her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>sources of supply, he sat down once more (1161) -before the city marked by his implacable will for -destruction.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The siege lasted for seven months. No noble deeds -of valour and chivalry distinguished the German -Paladin’s emprise; he accomplished his work by the -slow and cruel hand of famine. Every gate was closely -blockaded, and all compassionate bearers of food from -outside to the starving people were almost without -exception captured, and either ruthlessly scourged or -maimed of the right hand. Frederick showed the -besieged none of the respect due to gallant foes. -He strung up his prisoners on gallows, nobles and -plebeians alike, in the view of their kinsfolk and friends -within, or sent them back sightless into the city. -Within the walls, hunger reached such a pitch that in -their madness husbands and wives, fathers and sons, -turned upon one another. The hideous selfishness of -bodily need disfigured the gaunt faces in the streets, while -the spectacle of the mutilated wretches who had passed -through the Emperor’s hands, breathed into all hearts -dreadful apprehensions of their future fate. In their -despair the people cried out for surrender, and at last -the Consuls, aware of the inflexibility of the foe, and -fearing that to resist longer was to sacrifice the entire -people to the extremity of his vengeance, threw themselves -upon the mercy of the Emperor, and surrendered -the city at discretion (1162).</p> - -<p class='c000'>The scenes which follow paint vividly for us the -tragedy of the great city’s downfall. The magnitude -of the punishment which Frederick meted out to Milan -invests him with a kind of sublimity. This was his -opportunity to deliver a blow which should resound to -the four corners of the earth, and accomplish, once for -all, by the horror of its mere narration, the subjugation -of the rest of rebellious Lombardy. None knew better -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>than this mediæval monarch how to surround his revenge -with all those awful aspects and illusions of terror that -impress the minds of men. Day after day, processions -of citizens, with bowed heads, and ropes round their -necks, presented themselves before him at his command, -as he sat enthroned in state in rebuilt Lodi, the Empress -Beatrice at his side, his vassal kings and princes on -either hand, and still the doom of the city remained -unspoken. The eight Consuls—some of the noblest -patricians of Milan—came, holding their naked swords -in their right hands, and swore to do the will of the -Conqueror. Next appeared three hundred cavaliers, and -kissing the Emperor’s foot, delivered up to him the -Milanese standards; while to Mastro Guitelmo, a -man much revered by his fellow-citizens, was committed -the bitter charge of laying the keys at his feet. -Still another mark of humiliation was demanded of -them, and a day or two later came the Sacred Car -itself, with the banner of the Cross, and all the most -venerable insignia of the Republic, to be surrendered -for the completion of Milan’s shame.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Then at last the voice from the throne spoke, commanding -that beside every gate of the city the fosse -should be filled up and the walls destroyed, so that he -might march in in triumph. Milan—who for centuries -had proudly claimed the right of keeping all sovereigns -excluded from the enclosure of her walls—was now -herself to lay low her defences to admit a victorious -monarch. A few days later Frederick made his -entrance with his army over the ruined walls, and the -dreadful fiat went forth, dooming the great city to complete -destruction. The inhabitants were ordered to -quit their homes, taking with them what they could -carry. No entreaty, no tears, even of his own followers, -could move Frederick’s resolve. The piteous spectacle -of the outcast people, huddled in masses outside -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>the walls in the bitter cold of March, homeless, not -knowing where to go, and uttering loud lamentations, -could not change his inexorable purpose. With an -extremity of cruelty he committed the work of ruin to -Milan’s neighbours and bitterest foes—the men of -Lodi, Pavia, Novara, Como, Cremona—all burning to -retaliate a thousand wrongs. They threw themselves -with fury upon the doomed buildings, each community -satiating its vengeance on the quarter facing towards -its own city. In a very few days an incredible -amount of destruction was wrought. But it was the work -of months to raze to the ground the towers, the fine -palaces and public buildings, many of them surviving -from the days of the Roman Empire, and the crowded -habitations of a vast population. The churches and -religious houses alone were spared, and for a while the -campanile of the Cathedral, a tower of admirable beauty -and height, which had not its like, they say, in all Italy, -still rose untouched above the ruins, a beacon of consolation -to the despairing people. But at last, the -implacable decree of the conqueror pronounced its sentence, -and that, too, fell. Finally not more than a fifth -part of the fair city, which men called the flower of -Italy—the May City—was left standing.</p> - -<p class='c000'>From the spectacle of burning Milan, which he -watched with his own eyes, the magnanimous Avenger -passed on with his Empress to celebrate the Feast of -Olives at Pavia! Frederick was now the dread of -all Italy. The trembling cities of Lombardy crept to -his feet and kissed them. The crown of Italy, -hitherto withheld from him and now conceded by -fear, was set upon his head. As for the Milanese, -crowded in the poor villages and suburbs around their -ruined city, and barely able to exist, they were fain to -accept any conditions which he imposed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the great Emperor’s fortunes had reached the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>flood, and the turn was at hand. To have made his -triumph enduring he must have exterminated all -Lombardy. While the Milanese people breathed, the -Republic lived in spirit, only awaiting the least relief -from the pressure of the conqueror to take substance -once again. And now that its sins and arrogance -had been wiped out by such an awful expiation, the -hatred and jealousy of the sister Communes changed to -compassion. The deep roots of a common nationality -began to stir. Moreover, all were enslaved alike, all -groaned together under the intolerable oppression of -the imperial officers who had been substituted for their -old system of self-government. ‘They who had -been used to live without restraint at ease and in -liberty, and to dispose of their own affairs according -to their will, held this bondage as the deepest shame, -saying among themselves that it was better to -die than to suffer such shame, such dishonour,’ -writes Morena. Ground down with grievous and -irregular taxation, their noblest citizens flung as -hostages into the governors’ dungeons, their industry -and commerce strangled, they began to regard war -even with the terrible Barbarossa as preferable to this -degradation and slow ruin. Their spirit of revolt was -encouraged by that great counterbalancing power to -the Empire, the Papacy, which after a period of schism -and depression was lifting its head once more. In -Alexander III., now completely victorious over the -rival Pope Victor, nominated by Barbarossa, the Communes -found that inspiration and direction which it -was Rome’s traditional part to give to the cause of -freedom and nationality. The papal excommunication -laid upon their oppressor gave the consecration of -a religious cause to rebellion. Fomented by secret -emissaries from Rome, the movement grew and -gathered head. Disturbances broke out everywhere -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>in North Italy, and culminated in a meeting of envoys -from five Communes—Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, -Mantua, Ferrara—with the delegates of Milan at a convent -near Bergamo (1167), and the formation of a defensive -alliance, which was to become the famous Lombard -League. The first thing resolved on by the allies was -the rebuilding of Milan and the protection of the city -from every foe until she should grow strong enough to -defend herself. A week or two later the unhappy -Milanese, huddling together in their wretched hovels, -and momentarily expecting a second destruction from -their old enemies of Pavia, were rejoiced at the sight -of the horsemen of Bergamo, with their banner displayed, -riding swiftly to their succour. Troops from the -other friendly cities followed. The Milanese were -solemnly conducted into their ruined city on the 27th -April 1167, and the work of restoration began. With -marvellous rapidity new walls and dwellings grew up. -Gathering confidence and strength every day, the -League soon broke into active hostility against those -communities which remained faithful to the Emperor, -and the castles occupied by his garrisons. Lodi was -compelled by force to join the new fellowship. Fresh -accessions came continually, and by the end of the -following year the League numbered twenty-three -cities, all sworn to resist the usurpations of the emperor -with the sword. Pavia, almost alone, remained aloof, -faithful to her hate of Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Frederick, returning hastily from a campaign against -the Pope, found his castles captured, Milan re-risen -defiant from her ashes, and all North Italy armed against -him. The Emperor was not equal to this new situation. -His former triumph had, in fact, only been achieved by -the aid of a part of the cities themselves, and his -German levies, diminished by fighting and pestilence, -were powerless to contend with a vast hostile combination -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>of all together. His army and his very person -were in utmost peril. There was one way only of -salvation for him—retreat. In a manner very different -to the majesty of his coming, with furtive haste, unknown -even to his allies, he stole back to Germany -early in 1168.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Six years passed before the Emperor felt himself -strong enough to confront his rebellious vassals again. -In his prolonged absence the Lombard League had -acquired mighty strength. Milan had arisen from her -chastening of shame and sorrow stronger and more -honourable than before. Renouncing her old vexatious -claims upon her smaller neighbours, she now contented -herself with the dignity of leadership among the Communes. -The League gathered itself together to meet -the new onslaught of Barbarossa, and though he spread -terror and desolation throughout the land, his effort to -subdue the steady resistance of the cities was fruitless. -His purpose was contrary to the laws of nature, and the -stars in their courses fought against him. Pavia, Como -and the Marquis of Montferrat supported him alone of -all North Italy. In May 1176, impatient to strike a -crushing blow against the rebels, Frederick was marching -with new reinforcements from Germany to join his -Lombard allies when, a few miles from Milan, between -Busto Arsizio and Legnano, he encountered the -Milanese army, which had come forth with the Sacred -Car in its midst to stay his progress. A great battle -took place. Driven back at first by the Teuton cavalry, -the Republican soldiers, who had taken a desperate vow -to conquer or to die, rallied around the Caroccio, and -fought with such obstinate courage that they beat back -every assault of the foe, and at last, with a sudden rush, -utterly routed them and drove them into flight. The -slain, the captives, and the fugitives drowned in the -Ticino could not be numbered. The monarch’s treasure-chest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>fell into the hands of the victors, and a more -precious booty still, his shield, his banner and his lance. -His very person was missing after the battle, and the -Empress, waiting in the Castle of Baradello, clothed -herself in black and mourned him for dead. He had, -however, escaped in safety, and a few days later made -his way to Pavia.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The splendid victory of Legnano decided once and -for all the fate of Lombardy. Frederick realised at -last the strength of the despised citizen forces, and condescended -to seek for peace. In the following year -(1177) at Venice was held that famous meeting of Pope, -Emperor and the Consuls of the Lombard Communes, -at which legend and art express the humiliation of the -invader and the triumph of Italy, by picturing the monarch -prostrate beneath the foot of the Pope. A truce -of six years was agreed upon at this Congress, and at -the end of that period the famous Peace of Constance -(1183) finally confirmed to the cities all the privileges -for which they had so nobly fought. The right of self-government, -of war and peace, the possession of the -regalia, with other minor prerogatives, were secured to -them in perpetuity, and the only dues to be paid by -them to the Emperor were a ceremonial fealty, an -annual tribute, certain supplies when he visited the -country in person, and the acceptance of his legate as -the ultimate judge in the courts of judicature.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus did Lombardy win freedom. For reborn -Milan, her new position and dignity was signalised in -1186 by the appearance of her late foe and oppressor -in the character of a gracious guest, and the celebration -of the marriage of his son, Henry, King of the Romans, -with Constance of Sicily, in the basilica of St. Ambrogio. -But the narrow crooked streets that had grown hastily -up around the churches, and the few surviving fragments -from the destruction of 1162, were no image of the imperial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>Milan of the past, nor did the fair words and -mutual promises of friendship which passed between -Frederick and the citizens express the real feelings of -either party. When, sick at the failure of his worldly -projects, the yet vigorous warrior turned his ambition to -that holier enterprise, the conquest of the Sepulchre of -Christ, and leaping one hot day into an insignificant stream -in Syria, was drowned in its shallow flow, all Milan -broke into rejoicing. Nor was there ever kindness between -the Republic and his descendants. The Milanese -consistently opposed and thwarted the policy of Henry -VI., and after his early death did their utmost to depress -the House of Suabia by warmly supporting Otho IV. -against the interests of Henry’s infant son Frederick.</p> - -<p class='c000'>During the reign of Otho, while the political field -was divided between him and the young Suabian prince, -the disputed imperial authority had no power to harm, -and Milan was free to resume the interrupted process -of development and expansion. As before, this process -was not a peaceful one. The subsidence of the Teutonic -flood had left behind bitter dregs in Lombardy -in the shape of new causes of feud and animosity -between individual Communes. Relieved from the -pressure of Frederick’s tyranny, the cities readjusted -themselves on the lines of their former divisions. The -Lombard League broke up into warring elements, and -the restless land fermented with a cruel internecine strife.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span> -<img src='images/i_073.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>ATRIUM OF ST. AMBROGIO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>But when, some years later, Frederick II., grown to -manhood, had cast off the bondage in which the Pope -had fettered his youth, and seated on the imperial -throne proved himself indeed <i>the third blast of Suabia</i>, -heir in spirit as in blood of his mighty grandsire, the -Communes proved true to one another, and to the newly -threatened cause of freedom, and the great Lombard -League, with Milan at its head, sprang to life again to -face the tyrant. During the long and desolating wars -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>which Frederick’s ambition inflicted upon North Italy, -Milan steadfastly fought against him, even when most -of her fellows had been induced by fear or self-interest -to desert the good cause. Late in 1237 her army, -which had marched to the aid of the Brescians, was -surprised by the imperial host at Cortenuova and -suffered a crushing defeat. Multitudes of her soldiers -perished, and the Sacred Car itself, stuck fast in -morasses, had to be abandoned in the retreat. Its -defenders were able, however, to save the Cross and -Banner, and break the car to pieces. Frederick’s exultation -over these fragments, upon which he bound the -captive Podestà of Milan, Pietro Tiepolo, son of the -Doge of Venice, and dragged him, in imitation of a -Roman triumph, through the streets of Cremona, is a -measure of the importance which he attached to his -victory over the Lombard city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the defeat of Cortenuova the cause of the -Communes seemed lost. All trembled beneath -the heel of the conqueror, save Milan and the -‘lioness’ Brescia, and one or two others. To the -Emperor’s summons to surrender at discretion the -Milanese returned messages of defiance. They had -the support of the Pope, whose emissaries, the mendicant -friars, mingled everywhere with the masses of the -people, exhorting them to resistance. In 1239, -Gregory proclaimed a crusade against the oppressor, -whose destruction thus became a sacred obligation upon -the faithful. The Cross and the Sceptre, irreconcilable -emblems, now confronted each other with a clear -and definite issue.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A year and a half passed after Cortenuova before -Frederick actually invaded the Milanese territory. -The Republic, heartened by the magnificent example of -Brescia, whose successful resistance to a nine months’ -siege had delayed the Emperor’s designs against the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>chief city and greatly dimmed his military glory, went -boldly forth to meet him. A noble of gigantic stature, -named Ottobello da Mandello, towering in his mail of -proof over friends and foes alike, led the citizen knights -undauntedly against Frederick’s Saracen troops from -Sicily, whose dark faces and infidel garb, joined to -ferocious courage, made them a name of terror -throughout Italy. With the Milanese fought Gregorio -da Montelungo, papal legate, and the Franciscan Fra -Leone da Perego, afterwards Archbishop of Milan, -besides a great number of friars, Minor, Preaching -and Umiliati, <i>who not only, girding themselves with -swords and putting on helmets, displayed the false -image of soldiers</i>, but also excited the citizens to the -conflict by promising absolution to all who offended -the person of the Emperor or of any of his followers, -as Frederick himself complained in a letter to the King -of England. No regular pitched battle, however, took -place. The Republicans fought with the stratagem of -those attacked in their own country, and by cunningly -entangling the enemy amid their streams and canals, -opening dams and loosing the waters upon him, plunging -him into hidden pitfalls, and surprising him with -sudden attacks in his most embarrassed moments, drove -him by the aid of sword and flood out of their -territory.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Six years later (1245) the Emperor again invaded -the Milanese country, which in the meanwhile had -been laid bare by a desolating war of several years with -his ally, Pavia. But fortune was still against him. His -son Enzo, newly created King of Sardinia, encountering -a citizen force one day, ventured himself too boldly -in single combat with a Republican knight, and was -overthrown and made prisoner. Frederick, having -obtained his release, withdrew his army, and made no -further attempt to subdue the great Lombard city.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>Thus was Milan’s account with the House of Suabia -closed for ever. With the failure of Frederick’s -fortunes and his death in 1250 was extinguished the -last appearance of that great mediæval idea—the Holy -Roman Empire—as a dangerous element in Italian politics. -The imperial tradition might linger on and cause a -temporary disturbance from time to time in the peninsula, -influencing the vicissitudes of its internal quarrels, -but it had no longer power to revolutionise or molest -the settled constitution of the free Lombard Communes. -The mediæval triumph of Italy over the foreigner was -accomplished. In the course of the last two centuries, -Milan, in whose development is mirrored that of all -Lombardy, had completely asserted and defined her -nationality. In her Church, in her constitution, law -and sentiment, she was now one at last with the rest of -Italy. It remained for her, leader in the long struggle -now happily determined, to produce in the epoch of -Strong Men which was about to succeed the epoch of -the People, the man strong enough to overthrow all -rivals and to weld the many independent cities and -States of the peninsula into a united Italy under an -Italian king. How she tried to do this and failed will -be seen later.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Reign of Faction</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Factions alone are the cause of our great ills.”—<span class='sc'>Prato.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>So wrote a Milanese chronicler in the sixteenth -century. Had the people but one mind, he adds, -assuredly no city would be more pleasant and fortunate -than theirs. His complaint holds equally good for the -thirteenth century. The presence of a foreign invader -did indeed produce a temporary union of heart and hand, -and so far the earlier generations show a noble contrast -to their descendants of three hundred years later. But -even while Frederick II. was still in the land, and in -response to opportunities of selfish advantage offered by -alliance with him, there were constant defections from -the League, and we find the whole of North Italy -seething with the warfare of city against city. After -his death, when the mutual rage and hate was no longer -checked by any fear of a general oppressor, the strife was -continued with worse fury under <i>the diabolical names of -Guelf and Ghibelline</i>, to use the expression of a contemporary -writer, the divisions between city and city -being repeated within each community itself. The -Lombard scene dissolves into a whirling confusion of -fratricidal war, in which beneath the cross-currents -and blind purposes of individual passion and greed, we -may distinguish the two steady principles of the Church -and democracy on the one side, and the aristocratic and -feudal element, deriving its right from the Empire, on -the other. In Milan the issue, which had long before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>defined itself as a struggle between nobles and people, -remains fairly clear. The plebeians had forced their -way more and more into the government. Their right -to share in the election of the Consuls had been long -conceded, and some among them had even taken a -place in that august body. In 1198 they had acquired -the strength of union and organisation by forming themselves -into an association calling itself the <i>Credenza di -Saint Ambrogio</i>, with elective magistrates and officers -of its own, and a certain share in the government and -the revenues of the community. This body consisted -of the lesser trades and guilds, but excluded the mass -of poorer artisans and labourers. The merchants, -bankers, traders in wool, etc., had their corporation -also; the lesser nobles were banded in a society called -the <i>Motta</i>, and the great nobles formed the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Società dei -Gagliardi</span></i>, so that no less than four <i>factions</i> existed in -Milan at the opening of the thirteenth century, besides -the populace, which threw its weight on one side or -another, with the quick inconsistency of irresponsibility -and impulse. Each faction had its separate claims and -ambitions, but the tendency of the three lower ones -was to unite against the great nobles, who, amid continual -uproar and conflict, were gradually stripped of -their exclusive power and privileges. And in 1258 -the last and most sacred enclosure of their caste was -stormed and carried by the Vulgar: a decree of the -Republic threw open the highest offices of the Ambrosian -Church to plebeians. The twelfth and thirteenth -centuries were, in fact, the Epoch of the People, -and though all classes, high and low, fought loyally -together against Barbarossa and Frederick II., it was the -democratic preponderance in the city which determined -its steady opposition to the imperial pretensions. The -same principle threw Milan on the Guelf side, which -she upheld with ardour in the general Lombard warfare, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>manifesting her party zeal especially in a fierce -intermittent war with Pavia. That city was as necessarily -Ghibelline, though the party cry on either side -was but the excuse for the efforts of the one to hasten -and the other to delay the inevitable absorption of the -lesser by the greater.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the power of the people was associated as of -old the predominance of papal influence in the city -and the depression of the archiepiscopal See. St. Peter -had now completely subjected St. Ambrose. The -assumption of supremacy in temporal as well as -spiritual matters on the part of the Popes, their -constant interference by means of legates, the activity -of their innumerable and ubiquitous agents, the friars, -had indeed reduced the seat of Ariberto to comparative -insignificance, while the decay of feudal power and -the depression of the aristocracy had robbed it of its -wealth. But even assisted by the Pope, and at the -height of their strength and triumph, the popular -forces were impotent to establish any enduring order -in the city. The nobles were still too powerful -to submit peaceably to political inferiority. Moreover, -as the offices and honours once confined to them became -open to all, the successful and wealthy plebeians tended -to join the upper class, which began to lose distinction -of race in that of wealth and ability. The aristocracy, -thus continually replenished with new blood, received -fresh vigour and life, and the old divisions gradually -merged into two classes, the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">milites</span></i>, who fought on -horseback and in armour, and the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">plebs</span></i>, or general mass -of citizens, who, little trained and lightly armed, -accompanied the horsemen into battle on foot. The -struggle between these two radical orders transformed -Milan’s short period of republican liberty into a scene -of anarchy and civil warfare, leading to the inevitable -end of faction and strife, the tyranny of an individual.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>Already by the end of the twelfth century the -struggle of the factions over the annual election of the -Consuls occasioned so much tumult and bloodshed, -that the citizens in despair agreed with one accord -to submit themselves to the government of a Podestà -chosen from outside. But this device for peace ended -by aggravating the strife. The faction uppermost for -the time appointed a fierce partisan from another city, -perhaps the leader of an exiled faction, who embroiled -Milan with his own Commune, and exalted his sympathisers -within her walls at the expense of the other -party. The general discontent and disorder was -reflected in constant changes in the Constitution. In -the absence of any stable principle of government the -power tended to fall into the hands of individuals. -This was the opportunity of the nobles, from whose -order the leaders of men naturally sprang. Taking -advantage of the forces ready to their hands, these put -themselves at the head of aristocrats or plebs, without -much regard for principle, and in so doing resumed -their ancient pre-eminence in the community, and -initiated the new Epoch of Great Men, which was -to succeed the failing Epoch of the People.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This process, at work throughout Lombardy, is -shown in the second half of the thirteenth century in -Milan by the gradual narrowing of the general party -issue into a struggle for predominance between two -great Houses, who represent and sum up in their -mutual quarrel the diverse aims of the factions, and -divide the community into two sharply defined and -bitterly hostile bands, which fall inevitably, though by -no means very precisely, into the wide general division -of Guelf and Ghibelline. These were the Houses -of the Della Torre, or Torriani, and of the Visconti.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the race for supremacy the first far outstripped -the second. The Della Torre were country nobles, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>who had, however, long been subjects and citizens of -Milan, and though living usually on their estates in the -Valsassina, they often appeared in the city and took -part in its government and politics. They are named -among the Capitani—the great secular nobles of Milan—from -early in the twelfth century. They had from -the first aided and protected the cause of the people -against their own order, and it was this sympathy -which lifted them to greatness on the democratic wave -of the thirteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The power of this House in Milan arose first out of -the gratitude of the city for the compassionate succour -which Pagano della Torre, head of the House in 1237, -gave to the wounded and starving fugitives from the -disastrous battle of Cortenuova, whom he sheltered -and tended in the Valsassina, and afterwards helped to -get back safely to Milan. The Commune rewarded -him with offices and with gifts of houses, and from -that time the Torriani became regular inhabitants of the -city and the principal leaders of the people’s faction.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Pagano <i>the Good</i> himself died in 1241, but left a -numerous kindred to inherit his popularity. In this -year Frate Leone da Perego was elected Archbishop -of Milan. The new Primate secretly aspired to raise -his See to its old power and importance, and to shake -off the tutelage of the Pope, and though but a year or -two before he had fought loyally, as we have seen, -beside the papal legate in the ranks marshalled against -Frederick II., he now put himself at the head of the -aristocratic party, and even invoked, it may be suspected, -the aid of the powerful forces of heresy. But -against the nobles was ranged Martino della Torre, -nephew of Pagano, as leader of the people, who, in -1249, elected him their head with the title of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Anziano</span></i>,—Ancient—of -the Credenza, and the Franciscan Leone -was more than matched by the Dominican Pietro da -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>Verona, whose zeal, sanctity, and awful inquisitorial -powers were the strongest support of the Papacy in -Milan. The murder of the Inquisitor in 1252 was -almost certainly prompted by partisan motives. But -it failed signally in its political as in its sectarian purpose, -and for Papacy, people, and the Dominican -Order alike, the bloody crown of the Martyr became -an emblem of united strength and triumph. His death -was followed by insurrections of the people. After -a few years of comparative peace under the strong -Podestà Manfredo Lancia, the feud between the two -parties broke out afresh, and the Archbishop and nobles -were driven out of the city. The following year a reconciliation -took place (1257), and was solemnly confirmed -in a treaty called the ‘Peace of St. Ambrose.’ -In this the privileges already won by the popular party -were formally conceded to them. All dignities and -offices in the Commune, from the highest minister down -to the town-trumpeter, were to be equally divided -between the nobles and the Plebeians. Both sides -swore to observe the peace in perpetuity. Yet two -months later it was broken, and the nobles once more -banished by the all-powerful Della Torre. They -united with the Ghibellines of the other cities, and -even treated with the terrible Ezzelino da Romano, -whom the trembling populations of North Italy believed -to be the son of the Devil. They promised him the -Lordship of Milan if he would aid them, and in 1259, -the last desperate year of his evil course, the Trevisan -chief, issuing forth from Brescia, made a sudden -stealthy dash with his famous horsemen upon the city. -Martino della Torre, deceived as to the invader’s -movements, had led the Milanese to meet him in -another direction, and the city was undefended for the -moment, and must have fallen into Ezzelino’s hands -had not warning reached Martino just in time for him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>to hasten home and man the walls, thus defeating -Ezzelino’s purpose.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The growing power of the Della Torre began before -long to rouse suspicion and distrust in Rome, in spite -of their steady championship of the popular cause. -The hold of the Papacy upon Milan was in fact somewhat -uncertain. The people still remembered with -pride the ancient tradition of their Church, and were inclined -at times to resent the constant interference of -the Pope and his inquisitorial friars. In this feeling -lay the possibility of a union between the Archbishop -and the democratic party, which it was the policy of -Rome to avert, even at the cost of prolonging and -aggravating the miserable state of civil war in Milan. -On the death of Frate Leone in 1257, the Della Torre -sought to raise Raimondo, a son of Pagano the Good, -to the archiepiscopal throne. Their intention was -defeated by the opposition of the nobles, secretly instigated -by Urban IV., and after some years of controversy -over the vacant seat, Urban, thinking to hold -the balance of parties in his own hands, appointed to it -Otto Visconte (1263). The paradoxical spectacle of -the Pope raising a Ghibelline noble to power, and the -noble accepting it from the Pope—one of those strange -eddies constantly occurring in the political current of -the day—was completed by the alliance of the Della -Torre with the celebrated Captain, Oberto da Pellavicino, -protector of heretics, close comrade once of -Ezzelino and the Ghibellines, and mortal foe of the -Church. Into the hands of this typical figure of the -North Italian drama, Martino, pressed by the hostility -of the nobles and the secret machinations of the Pope, -had in 1259 surrendered the Lordship of Milan for five -years. Under his leadership the Torriani oppressed -the friars, drove out the papal legate, Cardinal Ottaviano -da Ubaldino, and on the elevation of Otto Visconte to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>the See, seized upon all the episcopal territories and -revenues, and kept the new prelate for years out of his -ecclesiastical capital. Pope Urban retaliated with -spiritual thunders, and Milan lay long under the heavy -spell of the papal interdict.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Visconti and the Torriani were already deadly -foes. The House of the Snake, which in Archbishop -Otto, was now about to begin its great ascent, to the -overthrow and destruction of the Tower of its rivals, -probably derived its origin and name from one of the -Viscounts of the Carlovingian rule, who had succeeded -in converting the territory entrusted to his administration -into an hereditary appanage. It was, in any case, of great -antiquity in the city. The famous cognizance which -its later career invested with a peculiar terror, is said to -have been won by a noble crusader of the House, also -an Otto, in single combat with a Saracen, who carried -a shield emblazoned with the device of a seven-coiled -serpent devouring a child. Otto slew the Saracen and -adopted the device, which he transmitted to his descendants, -and with it who knows what mysterious and -persistent curse of guile and cruelty?</p> - -<p class='c000'>It is with Archbishop Otto, however, that the real -fortunes of the House begin. Strong, crafty and determined, -with a power of biding his time observable -in a singular degree in all the notable members of his -race, Otto was the right man to foster and direct the -gradually reviving power of the nobles in Milan and -lead them to victory over the Della Torre and the -people. But for fifteen years he fought and intrigued -in vain, leading his fellow-exiles and the forlorn hope -of the Ghibelline party in Lombardy against the swelling -tide of Guelf success, which the death of Ezzelino -da Romano, the overthrow of the House of Suabia in -Manfred and Corradino, and the ascendency of Anjou in -the South, had brought to the full. The domination of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>the Torriani seemed to become every day more assured. -Heads of the Lombard League, Martino and his family -were all-powerful in North Italy. They drove the -Ghibellines out of the surrounding cities, and established -their own sympathisers in power everywhere. Many -of the Communes accepted the actual sway of the great -House. Martino died in 1263, and was buried in the -Monastery of Chiaravalle. He was succeeded by his -brother Filippo, on whose death, two years later, Napo, -a son of the good Pagano, assumed the chieftainship.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id006'> -<img src='images/i_086.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CHIARAVALLE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile the capital itself, spared, under the protection -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>of these great lords, the bloody succession of -sieges and captures which laid waste its neighbours, -where the more evenly balanced parties caused revolutions -with bewildering frequency, increased rapidly in -wealth and luxury. The narrow, tortuous streets overflowed -with the full, rich-coloured, sharply chequered -life of the thirteenth century. Some terrible scene of -Ghibelline prisoners slaughtered in the market-place, -and dragged, mangled and bleeding, at the tails of horses -through the streets, with yelling crowds of children after -them, is succeeded by a May-Day holiday, when the -most illustrious youths and maidens of the city, splendidly -adorned, ‘weave joyful dances’ beneath pavilions -spread in all the open spaces. And the blue sky roofing -the sunny squares is suddenly darkened by the smoke -ascending from the death-pyre of a heretic, while lean -mendicant Brothers look on with triumph, certain that -the cry which comes from that breaking chrysalis is -the voice of the Devil discomfited. Now troops, -knights and men-at-arms in clanking armour, with -tattered banners held high, trample in over the drawbridge, -returning from some exploit against the Ghibellines. -Or it is a multitude of moaning Flagellants, in -white shrouds stained with blood, whose self-inflicted -lashes can scarcely fall fast enough to keep time with -the pangs of their guilty consciences, as they hurl themselves -against the gates, which the stout captains of the -city keep shut, judging that fifteen different sects within -their walls are enough, without admitting these crazy -penitents to upset the unsteady minds of the people.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The narrow streets were filled with the hum of busy -industries. Fine palaces and comfortable dwellings -abounded, with wells and mills and all the necessaries of -a prosperous existence. But wealth and its pleasant -habits were causing the Milanese to forget the liberty -for which they had once made all sacrifice. That word -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>of sinister omen—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Signore</span></i>—was heard without protest -among them. They had granted the title voluntarily to -Martino della Torre, and both he and Filippo called -themselves Perpetual Lords of Milan. The people -preferred a domination which at least secured them -peace, to the loss and suffering caused by continual -civil struggles. Moreover, absorbed in trade and in -peaceful industry, they had no time or inclination -for the rapidly developing art of war, and a class -of highly trained professional soldiers, fully equipped -with weapons and armour, who engaged themselves for -hire to any Commune, were superseding more and more -the old city militia, composed of all the able-bodied -men. These mercenaries, who owned no allegiance except -to the master who paid them, lent enormous power to -the ruler of a city, who, by means of them, was able to -overawe discontent in the people. Thus, aided by the -conditions of the times, the Torriani gradually established -a virtual despotism over Milan, though careful -not to alarm the popular mind by any grander sounding -titles. It was not long, however, before they abandoned -even this degree of caution, and in 1273 Napo persuaded -the Emperor Rudolph to grant him the title of -Imperial Vicar of Milan, thus obtaining a legal sanction -for his usurpation.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id007'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span> -<img src='images/i_089.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>VIA DEL PESCE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>Napo was a wise and prudent man, but in this step -he went too far. The Della Torre fortune was even -then on the wane. The Milanese might rejoice in the -peace which despotism bestowed, but they loudly resented -being called upon to pay for it by new and heavy -taxation, and all the lovers of liberty feared the novel -and arrogant title of Imperial Vicar. Among the supporters -of the ruling House themselves, the long course -of power enjoyed by the Torriani had bred envy and -enmity. Dissensions arose, and the discontented were -punished by spoliation and banishment. Numbers abandoned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>the party and joined Otto Visconte. Tumults -shook the city once more, and sedition secretly gathered -head. Napo, feeling his power slipping from him, used -the cruel and tyrannous measures of despair to save -himself and his House. Otto and the exiles, on the -other hand, braced by adversity and clinging together -in a determined band, were daily gaining strength. -They were aided by the other Ghibellines of Lombardy, -especially by the Pavesi, and with continual attacks and -raids upon the Milanese territory they strove to vex and -weaken the party in power. Nevertheless, for some -years still their cause seemed hopeless. The Della -Torre, who had cast off Oberto da Pellavicino when -they were strong enough to do without him, had -reconciled themselves with the Papacy in 1274, and -their great prestige was apparently strong enough to defy -defections and subdue discontent.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But time and circumstance were steadily undermining -the great House, and with a sudden crash it fell. On -a certain January night in 1277, the wife of Matteo -Visconte was delivered, we are told, of her first son, -who, because he was born <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ad cantu galli</span></i>, as the -cocks were crowing—heralding a false dawn, as their -habit is in winter midnights—was named <i>Galeazzo</i>, -first of the many of that name who were to crow over -Milan. It was at this very moment that Otto Visconte—who, -with his great-nephew, father of the new-born -babe, and the rest of his kinsmen, had been making -desperate attacks upon various points in the Milanese -country, with little success so far—was creeping stealthily -in the darkness, at the head of a strong body of fighting -men, towards Desio, a village ten miles from Milan, -where the Della Torre, disdainful of their oft-beaten -foe, were sleeping encamped, with but a small force and -under a careless watch. Awakened by the noise of -attack, these latter rushed to arms; but too late. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>enemy was in their midst. Francesco della Torre, son -of Napo, fell pierced with wounds. The chief himself, -overthrown in his weighty armour, lay grieving helplessly -upon the ground, and with a crowd of sons and kinsmen -was made captive. All was over. Otto Visconte -rode victorious at last into Milan, where the citizens, -who had heard of the discomfiture of their lords as they -were starting with the Caroccio to the rescue, suited -their faith to the occasion, and with immense applause -and jubilee proclaimed the prelate Lord of Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus, by the hazard of a moment’s battle, the long -supremacy of the Torriani was overthrown. Napo was -imprisoned in the terrible Tower of Baradello, whose -ruins still crest a hill a mile or two on the Milanese -side of Como. Here, within the bars of a cage, the once -mighty chief languished for a year and a half till he died.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile, the change of ruler had brought the city -none of the relief from war and its burdensome cost, -which the people had fondly expected. The kinsmen -and adherents of the exiled family in the city were very -numerous and strong, and the whole Guelf party in -Lombardy was anxious to bring about the restoration -of the Torriani. The new Lord of Milan was attacked -with fury, and could only maintain himself by the energetic -use of the sword, and by those same methods of -proscription and banishment with which his predecessors -had made themselves odious.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Otto was now, however, an old man, and worn out -by the ceaseless struggles of his life. His mind was -beset with the fears and suspicions of one who, under -the stress of ambition, had himself practised overmuch -deceit and treachery, and some years before -his death, in 1295, he had surrendered the chieftainship -to the young and ambitious Matteo. With -extraordinary prudence and sagacity, Matteo steered -his way amid the rocks and stormy waves of his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>course, beating back the open attacks of his enemies, -matching their plots and snares with an invincible -subtlety, and so ingratiating himself with the citizens -by a show of moderation, piety and benevolence, that -in a few years his somewhat unstable authority had -transmuted itself, in accordance with the apparent will -of the people, into virtual sovereignty. By force of -craft rather than arms he had made himself master in -Como, Alexandria, Novara and the Montferrat territory, -and his conciliatory policy towards the opposite -party won for him enormous influence as arbitrator in -the disputes which ever racked Lombardy. He even -propitiated Pope Boniface VIII. by politic concessions, -which in no way lessened his own power. In 1294 -his gifts and flattery prevailed upon the Emperor -Adolfo to grant him the potent title of Imperial Vicar -of Lombardy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the stealthy march of the Visconte’s ambition -did not go unchecked. His pretensions roused the -Guelf party to new efforts against him, and the impetuosity -and recklessness of his sons as they grew up -wrecked his careful plans, and excited once more to -fiery heat those party passions which it was his aim to -smooth and allay. His love for the splendid Galeazzo, -born at the cock-crow of the Viscontean day, -was the father’s undoing. In pursuance of his policy -of tranquillising the party strife which forbade all stable -and settled government in North Italy, Matteo made a -marriage for this son with Beatrice d’Este, widow of -Nino Visconte, Judge of Gallura, and sister of the -Marquis of Ferrara, recognised chief of the Guelf -party in Lombardy. The marriage was of evil omen -for the Visconti. We all know those sad words on -the little durability of woman’s love which fall from -the ghost of the forgotten husband in the <cite>Purgatorio</cite>.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </span>Canto viii., vv. 73-81.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>The foreboding of disaster which they contain was -justified; for though in the end the Viper was able to -give Beatrice as fine a sepulture as the Cock of Gallura -could have done, yet the events which soon fell out -might well have made her regret the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bende bianche</span></i> -which she had exchanged for the bridal garland. The -marriage, far from reconciling the two political parties, -had only thrown together a pair of extremely hot and -indiscreet heads in Galeazzo and Azzo VIII. of Ferrara. -The vast ambitions which both were suspected -of nourishing roused the fear of Guelfs and Ghibellines -alike. Appointed Captain of the Milanese people, -Galeazzo only succeeded in alienating the citizens and -strengthening his enemies by his injudicious and unfortunate -military enterprises. The Torriani and their -partisans, who had long suffered eclipse, had begun to -regain influence and allies, and a formidable league was -formed in Lombardy to overthrow the Visconti. A -long struggle followed, and day by day Matteo’s power -waned in the city. The people, whose inveterate distrust -of the nobles his sagacity and conciliatory measures -had been unable to overcome, grew more and more -discontented. Jealousy of the Visconte’s power, and -resentment at his policy towards the Guelfs, had alienated -many of the nobles themselves. The day came -when Matteo perceived that his position was no longer -tenable. Without waiting for a catastrophe which might -have ruined his House for ever, he quietly abandoned -the city to his foes and took his departure (1302).</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Guelf supporters of the Della Torre now entered -Milan, and were received with a great outburst of popular -joy. A short period of anarchy followed, caused by -the nobles, who had helped to drive out the Visconti, -but had no desire to see the Della Torre in their place. -After a few months, however, the sons of Napo succeeded -by the favour of the lower classes, to whom their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>name was still dear, in restoring themselves to power, -while in all the surrounding cities, whose fortunes were -always bound up with Milan’s, their partisans drove -out the Ghibellines and reinstated the Guelfs.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Mosca, Guido, and Enrico della Torre now ruled -the city, at first with a show of deference to the will of -the Republic, but after a few years with a sovereignty -fuller than that which the Visconti had enjoyed. The -people were, in fact, accustoming themselves to a single -rule. In 1307 Mosca died, and Guido assumed sole -authority. Meanwhile the Visconti were dispersed in -various directions. Galeazzo and his wife Beatrice -had taken refuge with her kindred at Ferrara, and the -other sons of Matteo had found places of safety where -the powerful alliances of the family secured them from -pursuit by the Della Torre. The shrewd chief himself, -after vainly attempting to reverse the fortune of -war, had withdrawn to a remote country villa on the -Lake of Garda, and having apparently renounced all -public activity, was passing his time in the innocent -pastimes of fishing and thinking. But his keen eye -watched every movement on the field of politics. He -had spies and agents everywhere, and was but waiting -the moment for a spring upon his foes. With cynical -satisfaction he noted the inevitable course of the new -tyranny in Milan; the jealousy and suspicion awaking -within the city itself, and in the subjects and allied -communities around at the growth of Guido’s despotism, -the disloyalty of his near kindred and dependants, -greedy for a share of power, and all the embarrassments -of a chief in whom a noble and generous temper was -not seconded by the sagacity and self-control which -distinguished the observer himself. An oft-told story -relates that Guido, at the height of his prosperity, sent -a messenger to his fallen rival to ask him derisively -how he fared, and when he hoped to see Milan again. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>Matteo was wandering beside the lake, discoursing with -a companion. ‘You see how I live,’ he said to the -envoy, ‘suiting myself to my fortunes. Tell your -Lord that I am waiting till the sins of the Torriani -have reached the measure of mine to return to my -country.’ The expectation of the philosopher was -justified as time went on, and Guido began to resort to -cruel and oppressive means of preserving his power. -In 1309 he imprisoned his cousin Cassone, Archbishop -of Milan, and his nephews, the sons of Mosca, on -suspicion of plotting against him, and was only withheld -from further revenge by the protests of his own -friends. The subsequent banishment of these kinsmen, -who thenceforth sought his ruin, helped to prepare the -disasters which were soon to fall upon his House.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Guelf party was indeed fast losing its hold once -more on Lombardy, owing to the hostile feeling in the -cities towards King Robert of Naples, who, as champion -of the Church and head of the Guelfs, was seeking to -establish his sovereignty over North Italy. At the -same time a new turn of the wheel was preparing in -Germany, where, in 1310, Henry of Luxemburg was -elected Emperor, and immediately manifested his intention -of descending into Italy to exercise the imperial -authority for the purpose of restoring order and peace -in the factious Communes.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Matteo Visconte in his hut of exile saw that his -moment was come. With characteristic insight he gauged -the noble soul of the new Emperor, with its lofty ideals -and conviction of a divine mission as peacemaker. His -agent, Francesco Garbagnate, made his way to the -imperial Court, where he insinuated himself into Henry’s -favour, and ever at his ear whispered of the woes of -Lombardy, and of Milan, the splendid city, groaning -under a despotic oppressor; of thousands of exiles -languishing in poverty; of their chief, patiently enduring -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>his evil fortunes without attempting retaliation or -revenge.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The anticipation of the Emperor’s coming was by no -means so pleasing to Guido della Torre and his friends. -The mere thought of this spectre of imperialism, which, -when men believed it was well laid at last, ever rose to -disturb the settlement of the turbid elements of Italian -life, seems to have stirred the Republican chief to uncontrollable -indignation. ‘What have I to do with -Henry of Luxemburg?’ he cried, stamping furiously, -in a great assembly of his party convoked to deal with -the situation. To his experienced and unillusioned -mind the Emperor’s purpose was simply the exaltation -of the Ghibellines and the destruction of the Guelfs. -With passionate entreaties and prophecies of impending -peril, he sought to raise a league against Henry, but -nearly all his former supporters and allies, tired of his -ascendency and afraid of the King of Naples, had -pledged themselves to welcome the new-comer.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In November 1310 the Emperor arrived at Asti, -whither almost all the magnates of North Italy, both -Guelf and Ghibelline, hastened to do him homage. -One day there entered the Court a man who, by the -simplicity of his attire and following, appeared a person -of little consequence. Throwing off his hood and -cloak, he ran and knelt before the Emperor, and kissing -his feet, saluted him as the longed-for peacemaker and -consolation of the exiles, and implored his compassion. -The suppliant was Matteo Visconte, who, for fear of his -enemies, had come thus disguised and secretly. Henry -welcomed him with the greatest kindness, and having -listened earnestly to his recital of the wrongs which -he and his had suffered, promised to give them speedy -relief. Matteo then turned to some of the Guelf nobles -present, his fiercest enemies, and with the most admirable -display of a meek and forgiving spirit, offered to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>embrace them. But they, knowing well the perfidy of -his fair seeming, repulsed him with scorn and heaped -revilements upon him. To all of which the Visconte -replied with perfect mildness and goodwill, pointing to -the Emperor—‘Here is our king, who is come to give -us peace; the end of all our woes is at hand.’ His -foes, perceiving how completely he had put them in the -wrong and won the Emperor’s confidence by his show -of magnanimity, began to misdoubt them of the future -and wish that they had heeded Guido della Torre’s -warnings. The game was now, in fact, despite Henry’s -good intentions, in the hands of the wily Ghibelline -chief. Besides all the barons and magnates of his own -faction, the exiled Archbishop Cassone della Torre and -a number of other Milanese Guelfs, whom Guido had -offended by his tyranny, ranged themselves under -Matteo’s leadership, and by the advice of this greatly -preponderating section of his Italian vassals, Henry was -persuaded to turn his steps early towards Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>He sent officers before him to prepare for his reception -in the ruler’s palace, which as sovereign he expected to -occupy. But he had forgotten Milan’s traditional privilege -of keeping the Emperor outside her gates. Relying -upon this, Guido della Torre refused to give up the -palace. Nevertheless Henry proceeded on his way, -and as he neared the city, the Milanese, who had heard -the rumour of his great goodness, came forth in multitudes -to meet him. At his right hand rode Matteo -Visconte. The obsequious bearing of the Ghibelline -chief contrasted strangely with the grudging welcome -offered by the Lord of the city, who appeared last of all -to greet the monarch, and forgot to lower his standard -before the Imperial Eagles. This omission was roughly -remedied by some of the German soldiers, who seized -the defiant banner and flung it in the mud. His pride -met only a mild rebuke from the Emperor, who, having -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>entered in state with his queen, took up his abode in -the archiepiscopal palace. At first all went well. The -Archbishop and all the other exiles were restored to -their homes and possessions, and Henry made the -Visconti and Torriani swear perpetual peace. The -reconciliation was celebrated in the eyes of all the -people by a ceremony in the Piazza of St. Ambrogio, -where the Emperor appeared seated on a great throne, -with the members of the two rival Houses placed side -by side at his feet. An Imperial Vicar was appointed -to keep peace in the city, and the factions in the -neighbouring Communes having been pacified in like -manner, Henry was crowned in Milan by Archbishop -Cassone, amid extraordinary joy and festivity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Not for long, however, did the lion and the lamb -thus couch together. Even while the Emperor still -lingered in Milan, suspicion and discontent began to -seethe among the citizens. The old fear and hatred -of the Empire, which still lived in the descendants of -Barbarossa’s victims, was fanned by the heavy exactions -of the imperial officers, who demanded an enormous -sum as a coronation gift from the already exhausted -citizens. The German troops were also a continual -vexation to the people. The Torriani did all they -could to foster the growing spirit of revolt. Guido -and his cousin the Archbishop forgot their feud in their -common desire to get rid of the Emperor, and the -Visconti themselves were found ready to sympathise -with the general discontent. It was rumoured in the -imperial palace that Galeazzo Visconte and Francesco -della Torre had been seen joining hands in sign of -amity at a meeting outside the gates. But whatever -the other members of his House might be doing, the -Head of the Visconti sat aloof, peacefully unconscious, -apparently, of what was going forward.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Henry and his ministers grew uneasy, as the hostility -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>of the city became ever more visible and menacing. -At last, on a day in February, the storm burst. The -whole of Milan rose suddenly in wild tumult, crowding -and clamouring round their old leaders, the Torriani, -who appeared with all their followers in full armour in -the market-place. Before long Galeazzo Visconte also -arrived upon the scene, mounted on his war-horse and -arrayed for battle. But to the surprise and dismay of -the conspirators he ranged himself with the imperial -troops, who came charging down upon the Torriani and -their disorderly host. Meanwhile, at the first sound -of tumult, the Emperor, suspecting treachery, had despatched -officers to arrest Matteo Visconte. They found -that veteran sitting in the quiet loggia of his palace, -most innocently occupied in reading a book. Hastening -with them to the Court, he cast himself down -before the Emperor, protesting his perfect loyalty and -innocence of all offence, and offered his best services to -aid in subduing the rebellion. The adherence of the -Visconti was the Emperor’s salvation. By the powerful -assistance of Galeazzo and his followers, the Germans, -after a brief, fierce battle, completely overcame -the rebels. The Torriani perceived too late that they -had been outwitted and ruined by the cunning of the -rival House, on whose help they had been led to depend. -Simone and Francesco, Guido’s sons, fled at -a gallop out of the city, while the old chief himself rose -with difficulty from a bed of sickness and crept over a -garden wall into the precincts of a nunnery, whence he -was able after a while to escape into safety. Their -adherents were put to the sword, and their houses were -sacked and utterly destroyed by the Germans, who -with vindictive fury, swept through the streets, slaying -and spoiling without mercy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus was the power of the Della Torre in Milan -for ever overthrown. The Visconti, having cleverly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>disposed of their rivals, had now to rid themselves of -the Emperor, in order to regain their old sovereignty. -Henry, vexed at the bloodshed which had already -stained his fair white banner of peace, and beginning to -realise the secret strength of the spirit of faction, sent -Matteo and Galeazzo into exile, lest he should appear -to have favoured the Ghibellines in the late affair. -But the fall of the Torriani had filled the Guelfs with -distrust and fear of him. He passed on his way, to -find the cities of Lombardy arming against him and -his task of peace-making growing more and more difficult -of accomplishment. Hardly was he gone from -Milan before the Visconti returned, and in a very short -time Matteo succeeded in making himself once more -all-powerful. A year later the wisdom of the Milanese -Serpent appeared to have completely charmed the Imperial -Eagle, when in return for a timely supply of gold -to support the Emperor’s enterprise, Matteo won the -legal confirmation of his authority over the city, with -the title of Imperial Vicar of Milan.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER V<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Visconti</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Maudire la puissance, c’est blasphémer l’humanité.</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>The Visconti had now firmly established their -dominion in Milan, a dominion destined, in the -story of the unstable mediæval governments of Italy, -to be equalled by few in duration, and by none in extent. -For good or for evil the great city, with her -command of the chief passes of the Alps for war -and commerce, her wealth as the capital of the vast -alluvial plain of Lombardy, was delivered into the -hands of a race singularly fitted to use these natural -advantages for the creation of a mighty State. The -Visconti, as a family, were characterised by exceptional -ability and tenacity, and above all, by a subtlety of -brain and suppleness of conscience which, under the -stress of ambition or necessity, induced a perfidy so quiet -and so effectual that the Snake upon their shields became -for all Italy a symbol of their political methods, and -an object of horror and fear. The vices and weaknesses -which ruined other Italian dynasties seemed to -have little power over these Milanese princes. Hot -and rash of blood in the earlier generations, they rarely -allowed passion to override prudence; those of them -who did were quickly rooted out. Even that most -fruitful disorder in a reigning House, the jealous rivalry -of its own members, could not avail to overcome their -political coolness or sagacity, or sunder their union -against a common enemy. With time this self-control -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>became a habit of cold and passionless judgment, all-powerful -in the management of men and States. Even -the fatal weakness of remorse and superstitious fear, to -which they were all prone, could not undermine them; -they were able to parry their consciences, and delay repentance -until their successors were old enough to carry -on their unscrupulous policy. Nor did the arrogance -and cruelty which tyranny bred in this sovereign race -prove their overthrow. In spite of its record of crime, -no retributive catastrophe ended the dynasty. It died -out of itself, and we shall see the last of the Visconti -sink into the grave under the burden of an empire -greater almost than any other in Italy.</p> - -<p class='c000'><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Il Gran Matteo</span></i>, as posterity named the founder of -the dynasty, was the prototype in character of all the -great sovereigns who were to follow him. He ruled -from the cabinet rather than from the saddle. Statecraft -was his victorious weapon, and his calculating and -passionless nature had its complement in a humanity -remarkable for his time. But it needed not only his -incomparable prudence and foresight, but also the strong -arms of his three elder sons, Galeazzo, Marco, and -Luchino, to assure his dominion and restore it to its -old extent. The remaining years of the chief, as head -of the Ghibelline party in North Italy, were spent in a -constant warfare with the Guelfs and their allies, King -Robert of Naples, and the Church. The awful papal -ban fell again and again upon the Visconte and his subjects. -Nevertheless Piacenza, Bergamo, Lodi, Como, -Cremona, Alexandria, Tortona, Pavia, Vercelli, and -Novara were brought one by one beneath his sway by -the victory of diplomacy or arms. His success was -embittered, however, by estrangement from his beloved -first-born, Galeazzo, who coveted his father’s supremacy, -and jealously resented the rivalry of his brother -Marco. But Galeazzo’s hot temper had been chastened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>by exile and time, and in spite of their mutual anger, -he supported his father’s policy with a wise loyalty.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The fortunes of the Guelf party sank low before -the rapid growth of the Viscontean power. Its hereditary -leaders in North Italy, the Marquises of Este, -were entangled in an unnatural struggle with the Papacy, -which was itself enfeebled by the exile of Avignon, -and by the operations of its own selfish greed. But -in 1319 the party gathered itself together once more -for a mighty effort to overthrow the Ghibelline domination -in Milan. The Cardinal Legate, Beltrando del -Poggetto, in the name of Pope John XXII., formed a -great league of the Guelfs against the Visconti, and -hurled at them afresh the spiritual weapons of the -Church. Matteo was summoned repeatedly to answer -for his sins at the feet of the Pope. In 1322 he was -cited finally before a tribunal of the Inquisition at -Alexandria. Instead of him, his son Marco appeared -there at the head of an army with banners spread. -The Inquisitors hastily retreated to Valenza, where in -security they solemnly cursed Matteo for twenty and -five different crimes and heresies, and invoked every -conceivable penalty upon him and his House, even to -the fourth generation. Full remission of sins was -offered to all who took arms against them.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The old Ghibelline chief, weakened by age and -bodily infirmity, quailed before this onslaught. Many -of his own adherents and kinsmen were deserting him. -Milan, trembling under the ban of the Church and -excited by the papal agents, was verging on revolt. -Matteo summoned the offending Galeazzo, forgave -him, and resigned to him the chieftainship. Retiring to -a village at a little distance from the city, he died -shortly after, full of years and sorrow.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Galeazzo and his brother Marco, bitter rivals, forgot -for the time their mutual wrongs, and with the other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>sons of Matteo stood up in manful union against their -foes. For fourteen days they concealed their father’s -death from the Milanese, while Galeazzo calmed the -city by conciliatory measures, and assumed the supreme -power. The storm broke heavily upon them now. Immense -numbers from all North Italy joined the standard -of the Legate, which, impiously displaying the Cross in -a worldly quarrel was carried towards Milan, with the -avowed purpose of overthrowing the Visconti and restoring -the Torriani. Monza and Piacenza fell (1323), and -the capital itself was attacked, the suburbs sacked, and -the walls closely blockaded. The straits of the Visconti -appeared desperate. But the brothers fought with -invincible spirit, and they were supported by the Emperor, -Louis of Bavaria, who sent succour from Germany. -The papal army itself began to dissolve through -rivalries and dissensions, and sickness. The siege was -soon raised, and early in the following year (1324) the -Visconti took the offensive and inflicted a signal defeat -upon the allies at Vaprio. Their fortunes now revived. -Within the next few years they recovered many of the -lost cities of their father’s State, and the Pope, realising -the impossibility of overthrowing them, began to listen -to emissaries from Galeazzo with suggestions for peace -and reconciliation.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the desire of the Visconte for a settlement of -the long and exhausting strife was baffled by his own -party and his own household. The other Ghibelline -chiefs, especially the great Can Grande della Scala, -viewed unwillingly the increase of the Milanese power. -Marco Visconte, a splendid warrior, more skilled and -daring in arms than any other Lombard of his day, -but unlike the rest of his House none too wise—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">savio -non fu troppo</span></i>, says Villani—could not brook his elder -brother’s supremacy. Their kinsman Lodrisio fiercely -resented his own subordinate position. The citizens -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>groaned under the heavy taxes exacted to pay Galeazzo’s -great army of German mercenaries. Complaints of the -Visconte’s arrogance, and information of his negotiations -with the Pope, were carried by intriguers to the Emperor.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Louis descended into Italy early in 1327, at the -general call of the Ghibellines. Galeazzo Visconte -alone was silent, foreseeing that the Emperor’s appearance -would inflame anew the partisan strife. Louis appeared -shortly in Milan, followed by the Ghibelline lords -of North Italy, chief among them Can Grande. He -was received with great homage and ceremony and -crowned in St. Ambrogio by two schismatic bishops, -who alone dared to anoint his excommunicated head. -The Visconti appeared to enjoy his full favour, and as -vassals of the Empire were confirmed by him in -various honours and privileges. But intrigue was busy -at work, and the fair seeming was suddenly broken by -a tragic event, if the chroniclers tell us true. Stefano, -the youngest of Galeazzo’s brothers, as he was offering -the cup to the Emperor at the banquet one night, was -called upon by the suspicious monarch to taste the -wine. Having put his lips tremblingly to it, he was -struck with mortal sickness, and died shortly after. -This evidence of intended treachery naturally inflamed -Louis’ resentment against his hosts. The next day -he summoned Galeazzo to a council, and seizing as a -pretext the refusal of the prince to demand an enormous -coronation gift from the almost revolting citizens, he -arrested him, with his son Azzo and his brothers, all -except Marco. The Visconti, surprised, could make -no defence, and were carried off to Monza and thrown -into the dungeons of the Castle there which Galeazzo -himself had lately built.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus did the Visconti once more lose Milan. A -governor, appointed by Louis, reigned in their stead. -Marco, if he owed his escape to disloyalty, soon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>rued his mistake. The ruin of his house involved -him too, and he wandered in poverty and exile. Louis’ -high-handed act was, however, displeasing to many of -his Ghibelline supporters, and he found it prudent to -release Galeazzo at the end of a year, at the request -of Castruccio, Lord of Lucca, the most powerful member -of the Ghibelline party at that time. The Visconte, -broken by his sufferings in prison, and unable to recover -his State, joined his friend Castruccio, and died a few -months later. His son and brothers succeeded soon -after, through the intervention of Castruccio, in making -their peace with the Emperor. For the promise of -sixty thousand golden florins, Louis granted to Azzo, -the dead prince’s heir, the title of Imperial Vicar of -Milan, and the Visconti once more took possession of -the city with the full approval of the people (1329).</p> - -<p class='c000'>Once restored to power, they were at little pains to -pay the stipulated sum to the Emperor, who by this -time was fast losing prestige in Italy. They reconciled -themselves with the Church instead, and when -the enraged Louis presented himself with an army -beneath the walls of Milan, he was received with -derision and jeers. The Emperor, enfeebled by the -contempt and desertion of nearly all his partisans, was -helpless against the renewed strength of the great Milanese -House. He was glad to compound with Azzo and -to reconfirm him in the position of Imperial Vicar.</p> - -<p class='c000'>From this moment began the unbroken prosperity of -Matteo Visconte’s sons and of the great city which -they ruled. Secure in the weakness of both Empire -and Church from further interference, Azzo was able -to devote himself to the expansion and development of -his State. The short reign of this prince, who had -won great fame for his prowess in the Tuscan wars -with Castruccio, was wholly fortunate. The menace -offered to its prosperity by the rebellious attempts of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>his uncle Marco was overcome by the death of that -turbulent warrior, who was killed in 1329 apparently -by a fall from a window in his nephew’s palace, though -it was generally believed that he had been first strangled -and then flung out by order of his kinsmen. The other -enemy within the House, Lodrisio Visconte, was not so -easily disposed of. Abandoning Milan, he allied himself -with the Scaligeri of Verona, with whom the Visconti -had come into inevitable collision, now that the weakness -of their common Guelf foe had left the field of -North Italy open to the rival ambition of these two great -Ghibelline powers. In 1339 Lodrisio, with forces supplied -by Martino della Scala, invaded the Milanese territory, -and approaching the capital, spread terror and -desolation everywhere. At Parabiago they encountered -the Milanese, under Luchino Visconte, who, after a tremendous -struggle, won a complete victory. Lodrisio -was captured with his two sons, and imprisoned in a -strong castle. A few months later Azzo died of gout, -at the age of thirty-seven. In the brief years of his -reign he had completely restored the power and prestige -of his House. He left Milan fortified by new walls, -beautified by new palaces, churches and towers, a city -fairer and greater than that ruined by Barbarossa, and -full of a rich, industrious and joyous life.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Azzo had no heir. He was succeeded by his uncles, -Luchino, and the ecclesiastic Giovanni, who was now -Archbishop of Milan. The two brothers thus held -the whole dominion, spiritual as well as temporal. -They worked together with rare unanimity for the -aggrandisement of their House and State. Luchino -pressed with his arms energetically against the Scaligeri, -whose empire was fast receding before the attacks of -the rest of the Ghibelline powers of North Italy, who in -uniting with the Visconti to crush this predominant -member of the party, were but smoothing the way for -the rise of a State destined to be far greater than Verona -ever was. The Milanese prince added many cities to -the dominion of his House, and was the first to carry -the fear of the Visconti across the Apennines into -Tuscany, where he had almost acquired Pisa when -recalled to Lombardy by the outbreak of war there.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id008'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span> -<img src='images/i_109.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>TOWER OF S. GOTTARDO FROM THE CATHEDRAL</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>Luchino was a careful ruler, thoughtful for the welfare -and progress of his subjects, and just towards the -lower classes. He promulgated new laws for the protection -of the poor and weak, and for the encouragement -of industry, and refrained from excessive taxation. -Nevertheless, he had the same violent temper as his -elder brothers, Galeazzo and Marco, and soon developed -the characteristic vices of tyranny—lust, cruelty and -suspicion. In Giovanni, on the contrary, all the rarer -qualities of the Visconti appeared, the subtle brain, the -self-control and power of biding their time, combined -with a benignity which was never disturbed except to -good purpose, so that while steadily pursuing ends as -vast and ambitious as his brothers’, he still kept the -respect and love of the people. He well knew how -to influence the course of events without falling foul -of his suspicious brother.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The younger princes of the House, however, the -three sons of the dead Stefano, were less cautious, and -soon incurred the wrath of their despotic uncle. He -discovered, or perhaps invented, a conspiracy on their -part to oust him from power, and drove them mercilessly -into exile and poverty. The eldest, Matteo, -took refuge with his wife’s family, the powerful -Gonzaga of Mantua, but Bernabò and Galeazzo had -to fly to France to escape from the tyrant’s snares. -A confederate in their plot, Francesco della Pusterla, -head of one of the great Milanese Houses, whose -wealth and influence were necessarily a menace to the -power of the Visconti, was betrayed into Luchino’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>hands and beheaded, with his sons and his beautiful -wife Margherita, who, according to the chroniclers, -had rejected the unlawful love of the tyrant.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Luchino is said to have come himself to an unnatural -death in his old age, through poison administered to him -by his third wife, the young and lively Elisabetta della -Fiesca, in whose hearing the suspicious husband, enraged -by a report of light conduct on her part, had declared -that he would light a fine fire and do the greatest act of -justice which he had ever done in Milan. The accusations -against this lady may, however, have been trumped -up to justify the persecution which she and her son, -Luchino Novello, and all the dead tyrant’s children, -who had grown too arrogant for the peace of the State, -had to suffer from the Archbishop after their father’s -death. Giovanni imprisoned or banished them all. -Towards his other nephews, the banished sons of -Stefano, whom misfortune had chastened, Giovanni -used a different policy. He won their loyalty and -obedience by recalling them from exile, granting them -lands and honours and making them his heirs, and -about this time he obtained a solemn act from the -General Council of the people, still nominally the ultimate -authority in the community, recognising him and -his nephews after him as the true, legitimate and natural -Lords of the city, district, diocese and jurisdiction of -Milan. Thus was the hereditary dominion of the Visconti—already -an established fact—formally legalised -by the will of the Commune.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Under the able rule of the Archbishop the power of -the Visconti advanced steadily, but more by the -gentle pressure of a scheming and cunning statesmanship -than by the brute force of arms. His apparently -peaceful temper had lulled the jealousy and fear of the -other powers, when in 1350 they were thunderstruck -by his secret acquisition of Bologna—the great object -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>of contention between the two parties in North Italy—which -Giovanni de’ Pepoli sold to him for a large sum. -Corio, the fifteenth century historian, relates that -Clement VI. sent a legate to the Visconte to demand -its restoration to the Holy See, and to bid him renounce -either the spiritual or temporal jurisdiction of -Milan, since his exercise of both together was a scandal -to Christians. The high-hearted Archbishop for -answer unsheathed his sword in the midst of the -Cathedral, and raising the Cross in his other hand, -cried—<i>This is my spiritual weapon, and with this sword -will I defend my temporal empire undiminished</i>. Summoned -to defend his contumacy before the Pope, he -sent his people to Avignon to provide lodgings and -victuals for twelve thousand horsemen and six thousand -foot soldiers. But when Clement heard of these preparations -he called the envoys, and hastily reimbursing -them with their charges, sent them back with a message -to Giovanni excusing him from coming. Later historians -throw doubt upon this circumstantial tale. And -certainly it seems strange that the Pope should condemn -the union of spiritual and temporal dominion. There -is no doubt, however, that the Papacy was powerless to -check Giovanni’s ambition, and was glad to confirm -him in possession of Bologna for a price.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Giovanni’s method was to inflame by unseen agencies -the party spirit in the cities which he coveted, and -when both factions were exhausted, to step in with his -money-bags and quietly establish his own dominion. -Thus by a skilful manipulation of the vast wealth with -which Milan supplied him he succeeded with little -expenditure of blood in embracing more and more -territory within his coil. In 1353 Genoa was yielded -to him, and Milan for a short time became a naval -power, defying the fleets of Venice. The importance -of securing maritime outlets for a commercial community -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>turned the Archbishop’s attention on the seaport -of Pisa also. But here Florence interposed a barrier -against both fraud and force, and though he plagued the -Tuscan Republic grievously by invading her territories, -raising the Barons of the Apennines against her and -intriguing with her foes in Pisa and Lucca, she successfully -prevented him from gaining a footing in Tuscany.</p> - -<p class='c000'>While the Visconti were thus extending their -dominion far and wide and creating a sovereignty -more powerful than any in Italy, the capital itself was -making corresponding strides in wealth and civilisation. -The strong and single government, though involving -so much cruel sacrifice of rival interests and pride, and -carried on by crafty and often iniquitous means, was -for the general advantage of the people. The citizens -lacked only freedom, and this very lack saved them -from the awful faction struggles which hindered the -progress of the neighbouring Communes. Under Azzo, -Luchino and Giovanni Visconte, the city enjoyed an -unexampled length of peace. No hostile banner was -seen from the walls, no blood was spilt in fratricidal -strife within. The Visconti employed foreign and professional -troops in their wars, thus weaning their -subjects from the habit of arms, dangerous to a -tyrannic supremacy, and sparing them for more profitable -work. All classes, noble and plebeian, engaged -in commerce and industrial arts, and produced an ever -increasing flow of wealth, wherewith these princes were -able to pay handsomely for the hired support of their -tyranny. Finding no opportunities of sedition or -turbulence, the more restless spirits abandoned the city, -and, joining the bands of military adventurers which -roamed the country, they fought for any prince or -community that chose to hire them. The general -security of life and property in the Milanese State -was assured by the severe and, on the whole, impartial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>justice of Luchino and his brother, and the wise statutes -which they formed aided the development of trade and -industry. Safe from depredating troops and robber -bands, the fertile territory was brought to high cultivation, -and wildernesses, untilled before, now submitted to -the husbandman. The engineering art was actively -practised in draining and irrigating the country and connecting -the city by canals with the great river waterways.</p> - -<p class='c000'>One of the chief sources of Milanese wealth was -the breeding of war-horses in the rich and well-watered -pastures round the city. At the same time the Milanese -merchants were travelling all over England, France -and Flanders, buying fine wool, ‘with which in this -city,’ says the fourteenth century chronicler Fiamma, -‘very fine and beautiful clothes are woven in great -quantities and dyed with every different colour and sent -to all parts of Italy.’ Silk was also manufactured here -after 1314, when the silk-weavers of Lucca, disturbed -by the invasions of Uguccione da Faggiuola and of -Castruccio, abandoned their city for Milan. The -constant wars abroad encouraged the armourer’s craft, -of which Milan became one of the greatest centres in -Europe. With wealth, a love of luxury and the soft -pleasures of life grew in the people. Fiamma notes -with disapproval the changes in the antique costume, -the superfluous embroideries, the gold and silver and -pearls, and the broad fringes used in dress, the richness -of the meats, and the esteem in which masters of the -culinary art were held, things conducive, according to -him, of the soul’s damnation.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Both Luchino and Giovanni lived much in the -sight of their subjects, keeping open Court and sharing -in the public feasts and pleasures. The benevolent -Archbishop was much beloved. One of his first acts -of undivided sovereignty had been to release Lodrisio -Visconte from the dungeon in which he had dwelt -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>ever since Parabiago, a resounding generosity which -covered many quiet deeds of harshness and oppression. -He died in 1354, leaving his dominions to Matteo, -Bernabò and Galeazzo II., to the entire exclusion of -Luchino’s sons.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The new sovereigns had much ado at first to preserve -their great heritage. Many cities, patient under the -Archbishop’s yoke, rebelled against his successors, including -Bologna. The Guelf enemies of Milan tried to -enlist the new Emperor Charles of Bohemia against the -Visconti; but that monarch preferred the large sum -which they offered him for his sanction of their rule as -Imperial Vicars, rather than the hostility of princes who -could assemble six thousand men-at-arms and numberless -foot soldiers beneath his window as a spectacle for -his entertainment when he visited them in Milan. The -Gonzaga of Mantua, once their allies and now their -bitterest foes, leagued, however, with the Church and -the hereditary foes of the Visconti and dealt them -some heavy blows. The German company which the -Mantuan princes employed invaded the Milanese -territories under the formidable Count Lando, and -penetrated nearly to the capital. But the citizens, in -spite of their softness and lack of military practice, -went forth with the courage of despair and defeated -and drove away the Count, who was greatly surprised, -since he <i>nothing esteemed the Milanese</i>. In other directions -the Visconti suffered great losses. Genoa revolted -in 1356, and to secure peace they were compelled to -surrender Parma and Asti two years later.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The eldest brother, Matteo, had died in 1355. -Weak, injudicious and a glutton, he was only a hindrance -to the progress of his House. General report -laid his death to his brothers’ charge. Bernabò and -Galeazzo made a fresh division of the State, and Milan -itself was split up between them. They worked together, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>however, with a single aim, in spite of mutual -hatred and jealousy, to repair the losses of their State. -Pavia had set up a free government, headed by the friar, -Giacomo de’ Bussolari, who, an earlier Savonarola, -sought to purge his city from tyranny and sin at once. -Steadfastly beset by Galeazzo’s army, it had to yield at -last to famine and sickness. Further afield Bernabò -spent years in a desperate struggle to recover Bologna, -under a tempest of papal anathemas, and though baffled -himself, he prepared the way for his successor. He -was constantly in fierce conflict with the Marquises of -Este, whose rebel kinsmen he sheltered while they -employed Luchino’s disinherited sons against him. -Galeazzo on his side had to sustain the assaults of -Savoy and Montferrat, which came near to ruining him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But multitudinous and determined as their enemies -were, the inimitable statecraft which was the Viscontean -heritage, backed by their vast resources, enabled them to -restore their power and to make Milan feared and respected -everywhere abroad. These princes rarely took -the field themselves, but entrusted their enterprises to the -foreign companies by whom the Italian wars were now -chiefly waged. These bands of hardy and unscrupulous -adventurers, who were proof against the enervation -which wealth and civilisation had induced in the -Italians, were become powerful factors in the politics -of the country. Most formidable of all was the company -of Sir John Hawkwood. These English mercenaries, -says Azario, were more excellent robbers than -any of the other plunderers of the Lombards. By day -they mostly slept and waked by night. And so diligent -and skilful were they in capturing towns that their -like had never been seen. After suffering much from -Hawkwood’s zeal against him in the service of the -Pope, Bernabò bribed him to his own side; but after a -few years the great captain, faithful only to caprice, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>suddenly deserted the Visconte, with disastrous results -to the latter. Later on, Bernabò tempted him again -by the gift of one of his own daughters in marriage, -with a large dowry. Nevertheless, the later part of -Hawkwood’s career was spent in the pay of Milan’s -inveterate foe, Florence.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Milan, unaffected by the quarrels of her sovereigns, was -now the richest, most populous and luxurious city of -Italy. The capitals of the great European kingdoms -had no such splendid palaces, such comely-paved streets, -such fair-fountained gardens and pleasaunces trodden by -beautiful exotic beasts and birds, as this seat of citizen -princes. The Visconti assumed the dignity and state -of royalty. Galeazzo was himself married to a princess -of the ancient House of Savoy, and both brothers -pursued the sagacious policy of making alliances for their -children with the sovereign Houses of Europe. Bernabò -made statesmanlike use of his ten daughters and five -sons by his wife Regina della Scala, and his score or -so of illegitimate children, wedding them, according to -the conditions of their birth, to royal princes and great -Italian potentates, or to lesser nobles and successful -soldiers, such as Hawkwood and Count Lando. Galeazzo -married his one son and daughter with even greater -splendour, and endowed them so lavishly that it was -almost the ruin of his State. For his heir, Gian Galeazzo, -he obtained the hand of Isabella de Valois, for -a sum of five hundred thousand florins. The maiden -Violante he gave to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of -Edward III., with two hundred thousand florins and -many fair lands and castles in Piedmont.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This last marriage was celebrated in 1368, with unexampled -magnificence. The bridegroom arrived in Milan -accompanied by the Sire le Despencer and a train of two -thousand Englishmen. A splendid cavalcade went forth -to meet him. First came Galeazzo himself, who was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>said to be more beautiful in person than any other man -in Italy, wearing, as his custom was, a wreath of roses -on his flowing golden hair, and attended by his greatest -vassals. With him was his wife, Bianca of Savoy, and -his daughter-in-law, the young French Isabella, and -other noble ladies, followed by eighty damsels apparelled -in scarlet, with sleeves of white cloth embroidered with -trefoils, and girdles so richly worked that their worth -was eighty florins each. Gian Galeazzo, a boy of -fifteen, came next, leading a company of knights on -steeds caparisoned as if for a joust, and after these followed -the officers of State and of the household with -their pages, all gorgeously arrayed. At the marriage -feast the very meats were gilded, and with each of the -sixteen courses splendid gifts were offered to the guests—highly-bred -hounds with velvet and silken collars and -leashes of silk; falcons with chains of gold and hoods -of velvet, and silver buttons enamelled with the Snake; -richly ornamented saddles and other horse furniture; -suits of armour fashioned by the famous Milanese smiths; -brocades of gold and richest silk, silver flagons worked -with enamel, silver-gilt basins, mantles and doublets -thickly sewn with pearls for the prince, and seventy-six -splendid coursers and war-horses, each more generous, -beautiful, and gorgeously caparisoned than the one -before; and last of all twelve fat oxen. Galeazzo and -the bridegroom sat at one table with the noblest of the -guests, among whom was Messer Francesco Petrarca -the poet, in the most honourable place. At another -were placed Regina della Scala and a number of ladies. -Such scenes as these are dimly pictured for us in -primitive frescoes here and there, in which we see assemblages -of ladies in jewelled robes and lofty peaked -head-dresses, and gentlemen correspondingly fine stiffly -seated at narrow boards, or pacing with slow and stately -step through the dance within some spacious pillared hall.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>Though extravagantly lavish for State purposes, the -Visconti did not keep open Court like their predecessors. -No tables were set out in the streets for the -common people on holidays, no oxen roasted whole or -wine-vats broached for all who liked to drink. The -chroniclers complain of the avarice of their Lords. -The taxes were continually increased. Pressed by the -huge cost of their wars and their alliances, the Visconti -were in fact always in need of money, and so assured -was their supremacy in Milan, that they no longer -feared the discontent of the citizens. With the development -of their despotism the social gulf between -the Visconti and the rest of the community had grown -wide. Both brothers were proud, suspicious and cruel. -But the severity of the silent Bernabò, and his terrible -fits of rage and strange capricious temper, made -him the most feared. He was laudably resolved -to maintain justice and order, so that a man might -go unarmed through any part of his dominions, and -to suppress the old faction hatreds, but his methods -were intolerably harsh. No one was allowed to call -himself Guelf or Ghibelline on pain of having his -tongue cut out. To be found abroad in the city -at night, for any reason whatever, was to lose a foot, -and so forth. Moreover, on mere suspicion people were -put to cruel death or torment. This arbitrary severity -was, however, of little avail, and crime was far more rife -in the city than before Bernabò’s time. The tyrant’s -passion for dogs was as extravagant as his disregard for -human suffering. He had five thousand hounds, which -his subjects were compelled to keep and tend for him, -and if one were found to be either too fat or too lean -for the chase, or to have come to any harm, woe to its -guardian. Every sort of game was sacred to the -prince’s sport, and the peasants who slew wild boars or -other forest creatures for food during a severe famine, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>were hanged or blinded. Two Franciscan brothers, -who dared to expostulate with the prince for his harshness, -were burnt as heretics, an act something ironical -on the part of one who himself spent nearly all his life -under the ban of the Church. There was a certain -grim humour in some of Bernabò’s fierce deeds, as in -his treatment of two dignified Benedictine abbots, -who were sent to treat with him by the Pope. The -prince met them on a bridge over the Lambro, where, -with due reverence, they presented to him the pontifical -Bulls. Bernabò read them, and looking up, -eyed the legates grimly, and asked them whether -they would prefer food or drink. Perceiving a sinister -meaning in the question, the trembling clerics glanced -at the deep river flowing beneath, and said that they -would rather eat. Whereupon the papal missives, -parchment, seals, silk cord and all, were crammed down -their throats.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Galeazzo was not so capriciously cruel as his brother, -but his rule was equally oppressive. To add to the -afflictions of the people, the country was devastated -by the foreign Companies, who robbed friends and -foes alike; and years of famine and pestilence came, -which their Lords took no more thoughtful measure to -relieve than hanging some of the chief ministers. -To both brothers clings the horrible reproach of a -decree, condemning prisoners of State to the so-called -Quaresima, a series of tortures lasting forty days. -Yet Galeazzo was conspicuous for domestic virtues, -and both princes were very devout, and founded many -churches and convents, and gave largely in alms. One -has to remember in judging these sovereigns that -the Florentine chroniclers, who have always held the -ear of the world, hated them as the enemies of their -city. They depict them as barbarous and ignorant -tyrants, sunk in gross vice. Yet Petrarca, the recognised -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>sovereign of thought and letters in fourteenth -century Italy, spent several years at Milan, in the -service first of Archbishop Giovanni, and afterwards of -Galeazzo, and speaks of the city and its Lords with -great affection and respect. The high honour which -the Visconti paid to the poet shows their regard for -the things of the spirit. Their capture of Petrarca -was felt to be as great a triumph as the conquest of a -province. Boccaccio and other Tuscan writers inveigh -fiercely against their countryman for his adherence to -the Visconti, pretending that he who loved freedom -had been deluded by the vulgar worship of riches and -luxury, and had become a slave. But Petrarca, whose -close acquaintance could judge better of his hosts, -probably appreciated the large and far-reaching political -ideas which were the heritage of the Visconti, and -perhaps saw in Milan a hope for Italy, outside the -conception of the Florentines, the possibility of a larger -freedom in national union, which should restore the -successors of the Romans to their lost glory.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Visconti, moreover, took great pains to advance -learning and culture in their dominions. They founded -the University of Pavia, the once celebrated school of -jurisprudence there having long decayed, and richly -endowed its chairs, and it was Galeazzo who started -the famous library at Pavia, to which all students were -allowed access. Bernabò was something of a scholar -himself, and had studied the Decretals in his youth; but -the anxiety of constant wars and the cares of State -hindered him from doing all that he would willingly -have done for the intellectual welfare of the capital.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The bitter jealousy which prevailed between the two -brothers divided them much in later years, though it -could not disunite them in the face of their foes, and -Galeazzo had left Milan and removed his Court to -Pavia, though still keeping his share of the government -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>of the capital. He died in 1378. His son, -Gian Galeazzo, was delicate of constitution, of retiring -habits, and much given to study. The gentleness -with which he began to rule, remitting taxes and -seeking to propitiate his subjects, excited the scorn of -the grim Bernabò, who readily accepted the proposal -of the young widower—Isabella de Valois having -died—for the hand of his daughter Caterina, thinking -thus to get an extra hold upon him. Little did the -veteran prince suspect that this mild recluse, who was -hardly ever seen out of his palace at Pavia, was the -very quintessence of that subtlety, tenacity and ambition -which had made the House of the Visconti the most -dreaded in Italy. Gian Galeazzo’s genius for statecraft -had been carefully trained by his father. While -Bernabò regarded him as of little account, he was -strengthening his position both at home and abroad by -quiet diplomacy, and evolving mighty schemes in his -mind, while he patiently waited the ripe moment for -their accomplishment.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There is nothing more dramatic in all the sensational -story of mediæval Italy than Gian Galeazzo -Visconte’s sudden spring to power. Seven years -had passed since his father’s death, and Bernabò’s -tyranny had grown ever more oppressive, in sharp -contrast to his fellow-ruler’s. One day in 1385 Gian -Galeazzo set forth from Pavia for Milan, escorted by -four hundred men-at-arms, having announced his intention -of visiting a holy shrine near Varese and his -desire of embracing his honoured uncle on his way. -He had arranged not to enter the capital, but to skirt -the walls till he reached the castle beside Porta Giovia, -recently built by his father. Laughing at the young -man’s caution and his pusillanimity in bringing so large -an escort, the elder Visconte sent two of his sons on -ahead, and swinging himself into the saddle, galloped -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>off, with two or three servants only, to meet his nephew. -The two Sovereigns had but exchanged greetings when, -Gian Galeazzo signed to the captain of his escort, -Jacopo dal Verme, who laid his hand upon Bernabò’s -shoulder, and in a moment the tyrant found himself a -prisoner. With his sons he was hurried into the Castle -of Porta Giovia. Gian Galeazzo entered the city and -was received with immense joy. Not vainly had he -counted upon the terror and hatred which his uncle had -excited. The people, rushing to the houses of the fallen -tyrant and his sons, sacked them from end to end, fired -and tore them down, and razed them to the ground. In -a General Council of the citizens the sole and absolute -dominion of Milan was unanimously conferred upon -Gian Galeazzo and upon his male heirs.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Bernabò was removed soon after to the Castle of -Trezzo, and died seven months later, of poison, it was -said. His sons, except the two captured, had fled in -all directions, and were doing their utmost to raise help -against the usurper. But so perfectly had Gian -Galeazzo conceived and accomplished his great stroke, -and with the exercise of such consummate diplomacy -and such victorious arms did he secure himself afterwards, -that not one of Bernabò’s children, in spite of -their princely alliances, were able, with all their constant -efforts, to overthrow him or recover any part of -their heritage.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The usurper’s one excuse for his treachery was that -his uncle and cousins had been openly intriguing against -him. Immediately after the capture of Bernabò he -drew up a solemn indictment against him, charging him -with a catalogue of appalling crimes, and with insidious -designs against his, Gian Galeazzo’s, life, and -sent it to all the Courts of Europe. This characteristic -attempt to give legal justification to his action deceived -nobody. Italy at large regarded the young ruler with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>an admiration and dread which events soon proved well-founded. -The brain which had shown such sovereign -dissimulation cherished ambitions before which whole -cities and states were to fall. It was not long before -his schemes began to be fulfilled. The story of Gian -Galeazzo’s military enterprises is one of almost unbroken -conquest. He was no soldier himself, but he -knew how to choose his generals, and he got the best -out of them by interfering with them little and rewarding -them very generously. The chaotic state of Italy -at the time gave him his chance. So extraordinary -was his success, that he was regarded as something -almost diabolical. It seemed to his terrified enemies -that he fascinated those whom he marked for destruction, -so that they fell with eyes open into his snares. -Francesco da Carrara, Lord of Padua, was persuaded -to aid him to overthrow the Scaligeri of Verona. That -city having been conquered in 1387, Gian Galeazzo -picked a quarrel with his ally, besieged and captured -Padua (1389), and sent Francesco to die in the dungeons -of Monza. Master now of Verona and Padua, the Visconte -had touched the Adriatic shore. Meanwhile -Mantua and Venice looked on stupidly and awaited their -own destruction as if paralysed. General fear possessed -Italy at the rapid progress of the conqueror, who, unseen -himself, directed his instruments with such unfailing insight -to his desired ends. The Visconte’s policy was to -strike at the weak first and gradually prepare the way for -greater enterprises. The Church was at this time in -the throes of the Great Schism, and Gian Galeazzo, -protesting conscientious difficulties in deciding to which -Pope he owed spiritual obedience, played them against -one another, while he seized the papal fiefs in the -Romagna. His armies climbed the mountains and -poured into Umbria and Tuscany. Aroused at last by -the example and exhortations of Florence, Italy shook -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>off her stupor, and a general effort was made to stem -the advance of the Visconte. Yet still he crept on, -remedying the checks to his arms by his stealthy -diplomacy. The King of France, in answer to the -appeal of Florence, sent an army to invade his States, -but it was routed by Jacopo dal Verme, and Charles -VI. was himself converted into an ally by the Visconte’s -flatteries and promises. In 1399 he triumphed over -Florence again by acquiring Pisa, without a blow, from -Gerardo d’Appiano, while Perugia, Siena and Assisi -submitted to his generals.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Already in 1395 Gian Galeazzo’s great increase of -power and prestige had been marked by his elevation -to a new dignity. His untiring negotiations, backed -by the offer of an enormous sum, persuaded the Emperor -Wenceslaus to constitute the Milanese State, including -a number of conquered cities, into a Duchy, and to -invest the Visconte and his male heirs with it in perpetuity. -The ceremony of investiture took place in the -Piazza of St. Ambrogio, where upon a great throne the -imperial legate robed and crowned the new duke in the -sight of all the people, in the midst of every pompous circumstance, -while in the basilica afterwards the Bishop -of Novara, destined to become Pope Alexander V., -preached the sermon and lauded the subject of his oration -for his illustrious blood, his conspicuous beauty of person -and the virtuous tranquillity of his mind.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Gian Galeazzo was as great an administrator as -statesman and conqueror. By wisdom, economy, careful -distribution of taxation and supervision of finances, -he relieved the people from the cruel and ill-considered -burdens imposed by the bad management of his predecessors, -while increasing his own resources enormously. -He was the very genius of order. He saw that the law -was properly and effectively carried out, justice done to -all, and perfect rule maintained throughout the State. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>It was by his generous, just, and wise government of -the cities which he conquered that he consolidated his -vast dominions.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In these favourable conditions Milan flourished exceedingly, -and could contribute without overwhelming -distress her share of the duke’s annual revenue of -twelve hundred thousand florins, and of the extra levies -for special purposes, amounting sometimes to eight -hundred thousand florins in one year—sums far exceeding -those commanded by any other Italian prince.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Gian Galeazzo’s rule, though sometimes oppressive, -was not carried on by the harsh methods of his predecessors. -Violence and wanton cruelty were probably -repugnant to his sensitive physical temperament and -despicable to his unimpassioned mind. He was never -bloody, except for a purpose, as in the awful sack of -Verona after her revolt and recapture in 1390. But -for a refined and ingenious cruelty which exercised -itself in long worming plots ending far off in some unexpected -catastrophe, Gian Galeazzo seems to have -had an artistic predilection. It was he, men said, who -by Iago-like suggestions drove Francesco Gonzaga of -Mantua to slay his wife Agnese, one of Bernabò Visconte’s -daughters, in a frenzy of jealousy, that he himself -might be first and loudest afterwards in proclaiming -the innocence of the lady and exciting general execration -of the murderer. The beheading of young Obizzo -d’Este at Ferrara has been also attributed to evil suspicions -which the Milanese prince instilled into the Marquis -Alberto for political ends. The Visconte’s influence -is plainer still in the hideous treachery and ingratitude -of Jacopo d’Appiano, who, with a kiss of peace, slew -his protector and friend, the noble Pietro Gambacorti, -and made himself Lord of Pisa for Gian Galeazzo’s -benefit, as very shortly appeared.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Duke’s piety was as marked as his less estimable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>characteristics. He did not doubt his own righteousness -or hesitate to invoke the aid of Heaven for all his enterprises. -He was assiduous in his devotion to the Saints -and observance of the Church’s rites and ceremonies. -The Cathedral of Milan, the vast Certosa of Pavia, and -many other great buildings, were planned and founded -by this prince. These works were not done solely for -a spiritual reward, but also to proclaim his own glory to -the world and to encourage art and industry. All -Gian Galeazzo’s greatness of spirit showed in his buildings. -His engineering schemes were as mighty and -daring in conception as undaunted and patient in -accomplishment. To subdue Padua and Mantua he -undertook the gigantic task of diverting the Brenta and -Mincio. But here he measured himself too audaciously -against natural forces. One night the Mincio, ‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">in -piena</span>,’ hurled its waters at the huge dam and swept -away the work which had cost untold labour and gold.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With all his occupations of war and statesmanship, -Gian Galeazzo found time to continue his father’s -patronage of Letters. He had as a youth studied -deeply himself in the University of Pavia. An early -fresco at Pavia, now long lost, represented him as a -child standing in a crowd of nobles and distinguished -men in his father’s palace, and in answer to the -question, who was the greatest man present, pointing -to the poet Petrarca. This allegory recorded the -honour which he paid all his life to intellect and -learning. He called the greatest scholars to the -Chairs of the University, including Emanuel Chrysoloras, -who thus brought to Milan the newly reviving -knowledge of Greek. He made these men his -councillors and familiar associates. They read poetry -to him and discussed the new discoveries of antiquity, -so that his castle has been called a temple of wisdom. -Architecture, sculpture, painting were equally fostered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>by him. There was no sort of human activity which -he did not seek to stimulate for the advantage and -glory of his State.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Though its operations meant destruction to lesser -powers, Gian Galeazzo’s brain was essentially kingly -and creative. This was the moment in Italy of the -formation of great States. The old faction struggles -of the era of freedom had come to an end with the -establishment of tyrannies, and of these the lesser were -now being swallowed up by the greater. In this -process Milan under the Visconti was the leader. -Its natural outcome seemed to be the foundation of a -great settled kingdom in the peninsula, like France -and England in the North. The patriotic spirits of -the time dreamed of such a kingdom as the redemption -of Italy from her woes of constant dissension and warfare. -The idea took practical shape in the mind of the -great Matteo’s descendant and heir, in whom character -and circumstance united to carry the large political -thought and ambition of the Visconti nearest to its -supreme fulfilment. And it was to Gian Galeazzo that -the dreamers looked for the realisation of their desire, -as perhaps Petrarca had looked to the earlier generation. -Fazio degli Uberti, the fourteenth century Florentine -poet and exile, who lived long at the Viscontean -Court, in one of his canzoni makes Rome cry—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">O figliuol mio, da quanta crudel guerra</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Tutti insieme verremo a dolcie pace</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Se Italia soggiace</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">A un solo re....</span>’<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c014'><sup>[2]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. </span></p> -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Oh my son, from what cruel warfare</div> - <div class='line'>Should we come all together to sweet peace</div> - <div class='line'>Could Italy be subject</div> - <div class='line'>To one sole king....’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c000'>To such a single crown Gian Galeazzo undoubtedly -aspired. And though he was defeated in the end, it was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>by no mortal means. All the efforts of the hostile league -of Florence, Venice, the Pope, and the lesser Italian -Princes, could not hinder his advance. His dominions -at the beginning of the fifteenth century embraced -nearly the whole of Lombardy and the Romagna. -The Umbrian cities Perugia and Assisi were his. Lucca, -Pisa and Siena obeyed him. The tide of his success -crept on. He foresaw and discomfited every move of -his opponents. In 1401 Bologna, long an obstacle in -his path, was surrendered to him by the Bentivogli. -His bravest and most obstinate foe, Florence, lay -virtually at his mercy. On every side of her he was -supreme. Cut off from all help she waited his deadly -attack. The moment of his triumph was at hand.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In July 1402 the Duke instructed his armies to -close round the city of the Arno. Retiring from Milan, -where the plague had appeared, to his villa at Melegnano, -he had the mantle, sceptre and diadem prepared -for his coronation as King of Italy. He had nothing -to fear now from mortal enemies. There was one power -only which his arms and calculations could not defy. -On the 10th of August he was seized with the deadly -contagion, and a few days later he died, at the age of 49.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Who can tell the thoughts of the man as he lay on -his death-bed, in his hands at last all that he had -laboured for day and night without ceasing, and they -powerless to close upon it. Who can measure the -passion of that defeated brain? His death caused -infinite joy in Florence, and in Italy generally. Yet -there were many who, with an anonymous poet of the -time, wept for the loss which had deprived</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">questo emisfero</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">de quel che col pensiero</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Sanar volia l’italico payese.</span>’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Their lament was justified. The direct result of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>tyrant’s death was the release of all the elements of -disorder and reaction in Italy, the revival of angry -faction, the break-up of a great organised State among -a host of greedy and warring pretenders, and the -terrorism of military adventurers over the whole country, -ending in the establishment of a dynasty in Milan -destined to sell Italy to her final shame and ruin. -What if Gian Galeazzo had lived a few years longer? -Florence would probably have fallen before him, -Florence whose incurable spirit of individualism had -been the one barrier between him and his ambition. -But was that single little torch of liberty, which itself -was soon to waver and be spent, worth the sacrifice of -a united and peaceful Italy, strong enough to resist all -outside foes, forward enough to lead all Europe in the -path of progress?</p> - -<p class='c000'>Yet if that noble fruition of art and civilisation -which glorifies the fifteenth century in Florence was -conditional on her independence, then Italy through -all the tears of her after centuries of sorrow and humiliation -might well answer Yes.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_131.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>THE SNAKE OF THE VISCONTI</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <span class='large'><i>From Visconti to Sforza</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Una città corrotta che vive sotto un principe ... mai non si può ridurre libera.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Macchiavelli.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>Gian Galeazzo’s three sons by Isabella of -Valois had died in infancy, leaving him with one -daughter only, Valentina, whom in 1387 he had married -to the Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI. of -France, an alliance of immense immediate advantage to -the Visconti, but of fatal issue for Milan and Italy generally, -in days beyond even his far vision. After some years -of marriage, his second wife, Caterina Visconte, had borne -him a son, whom he had named Giovanni Maria, decreeing -that every one of his descendants should thenceforth -bear the name of Maria, as a token of his gratitude -to the Virgin, to whose intercession he attributed the -birth of his heir. A second son, Filippo Maria, was -born later. At the time of the Duke’s death the elder -was only fourteen, and the younger ten. In addition to -their youth, they had the enduring disadvantage of -issuing from parents both of the same stock, which -already, in the ferocity and capriciousness of Bernabò -and the physical timidity and weakness of Gian -Galeazzo himself, had shown signs of vitiation. This -taint in the blood became in Giovanni Maria a moral -disease, amounting to mania, and in his brother an exaggerated -misanthropy and timidity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Giovanni Maria succeeded to the dukedom, and -Filippo became by his father’s will Count of Pavia, which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>had been erected into an appanage of the sovereign House. -The charge of the young Duke’s person and state immediately -became the object of a wild scramble among -the different parties in the city. The dead man’s will, -appointing his widow regent, was utterly disregarded, -and she and her adviser, Francesco Barbavara, were -driven out by Estorre and Carlo Visconte, two of Bernabò’s -sons, who now reappeared after long exile, hoping -to recover their heritage. The Duchess died in -1404, poisoned, it was believed, by her son. But -this unhappy lady, who had seen her father entrapped -and murdered and her whole family ruined by her -husband, and whose sons were now helpless in the hands -of robbers and foes—who had been driven hither and -thither in the whirl of faction and was already paralytic—might -well sink beneath her sorrows, without the help -of this unnatural crime, which there seems to have been -no better reason than his general wickedness for laying -to the young Duke’s charge.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile Bernabò’s sons were swept away by other -faction leaders, to return and be again overthrown, as -the fortunes of the struggle surged backwards and -forwards. One after another of Gian Galeazzo’s -great captains snatched and held the city for a time. -Now Ottobuono Terzo—now Carlo Malatesta—now -Facino Cane, the most famous of them all, ruled in the -name of the utterly incapable Prince, while out of the -ruins of Gian Galeazzo’s vast State, which Venice, -Florence and the Church had hastened to dismember, -each faithless governor seized some remaining fragment -wherewith to create a small independent dominion for -himself. Thus while the great Duke’s conquests, -further off, were quickly lost, cities close to the capital -and long subject to the Visconti fell to these lesser -depredators. Pavia and other towns were captured by -Facino Cane, who kept the young Filippo a virtual -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>prisoner, and Monza became the stronghold of Estorre -Visconte and his spirited sister Valentina.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The confusion and struggle in Milan continued -throughout the ten years of Giovanmaria’s reign. The -condition of the city was lamentable. Peace and order -were destroyed, and the names of Guelf and Ghibelline -were heard again in the streets, inflaming household -against household and awakening the horrors of civil -war. The Duke made no attempt to rule for himself. -His only share in the government was the execution of -State prisoners, whom he caused to be torn to pieces, -under his own eyes, by dogs trained for the purpose. -The extraordinary passion for dogs, together -with the hatred of humankind, visible in Bernabò and -others of the Visconti, had become an extravagant ferocity -in this degenerate member of the race. The story of -Milan during his reign is like some dreadful dream, in -which, when sleep has fallen on the incessant riots and -fighting, through the darkness of the night stalk the -awful figures of the maniac Prince, gloating in his sport, -and his huntsman, Squarcia Giramo, beside him, with -their terrible hounds in leash, on the scent of human -blood.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Duke’s appetite for blood was rewarded with -Dantesque fitness. He died in 1412, suffocated in his -own blood in the precincts of the palace, under the -daggers of three Milanese nobles, who had sworn to -rid the world of a monster, and his body, lying in its -blood in the Cathedral, whither it had been carried and -left alone by the general horror, had for its only pall -blood-red roses strewn upon it by a harlot.</p> - -<p class='c000'>At the moment of Giovanmaria’s murder, Facino -Cane, who for some years had dominated Milan, lay on -his death-bed. Filippo Maria Visconte, whose youth -had passed in confinement at Pavia, now found himself -at one stroke free, and in nominal possession at least of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>the Dukedom. He was twenty years old. The astute -young man’s first step was to marry Beatrice Tenda, -Facino’s widow, through whom he became at once -master of Pavia and the State which the Condottiere had -conquered for himself, and of Facino’s fine army and -immense treasure. He then led his troops to Milan, -where his entry was opposed by Estorre Visconte and -a strong faction. The great stronghold of Porta Giovia -was, however, held for the legitimate prince by the -Castellan, Vincenzo Marliano, who roused the citizens -against Estorre. That brave soldier, the Hector of -his race, was overthrown, and he and his nephew -Giovanni Carlo, with all their supporters, were compelled -to fly after a few days. The young Duke -marched in without opposition and was received with -enthusiasm by the people.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The city felt at once the presence of a master. -Order was restored, factions calmed, peaceful industry -protected, and punishment inflicted on Giovanmaria’s -murderers. Filippo proceeded to engage the most successful -Condottieri of the day to defend and restore his -State, seconding their valour and generalship in the -field by the most careful and industrious diplomacy in -every Court of Italy and the principal European kingdoms. -The rebel Visconti were subdued by the death of -Estorre and the surrender of Monza (1412), which the -brave Valentina relinquished, making honourable terms -for herself and the remaining descendants of Bernabò. -Lodi, Como, Piacenza and Brescia were recovered in -the course of a few years, and in 1422 Genoa was won. -Filippo’s rapid progress awakened the old terror of the -Snake once again in Italy. The third Duke of Milan -had indeed many of the successful qualities of his race, -the craft, the patience, the untiring industry. But they -were vitiated by his timidity of mind and body, which -made him both suspicious and superstitious. Supremely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>perfidious himself, he dared trust no man, and constantly -laid snares for his own agents, and ended by -falling into them himself. Thus in 1424, fearful of -the glory of his great general, Carmagnola, who had -been the chief means of restoring his fortunes, he -offended and alienated the Condottiere, with disastrous -consequences. In his fear and dislike of all men he -shut himself up in the innermost recesses of the Castle -of Porta Giovia, and maintained as many precautions -as if he dwelt in a city of traitors. He tolerated few -persons around him, except his astrologers, who ruled -him through his fears. He dared take no step without -consulting them. He was never seen by his subjects -except upon some rare State occasion, surrounded by -guards, or when some peasant, working in the solitary -fields, spied him slipping hastily in his barge along the -canals between Milan and his favourite country palace -of Abbiategrasso.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This dark habit of life made him odious to the -sunny-tempered Milanese. They shuddered at this -pale fat man, who increased their horror by condemning -his own wife to death in 1418. To Beatrice -Tenda and her vast dowry Filippo owed almost entirely -his possession of the Dukedom. Her years much exceeded -her second husband’s, though the Duke, like -his father, had never been young. Because he was -tired of her, or because she was cross and avaricious, -as the chroniclers variously aver, or more probably -because she had served her purpose and was no longer of -any use to him, Filippo accused her of infidelity. She -was arrested and carried to the Castle of Binasco, together -with her supposed lover, a handsome young -knight, Michele Orombello, who had solaced her -dreary existence with his skill upon the lute, and after -having resisted torture inflicted to make her confess -herself guilty, she was beheaded. Orombello and two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>of her ladies shared her fate. Ten years later the -Duke married, for political reasons, the Princess Maria -of Savoy. This poor lady was hardly less to be pitied -than Beatrice. The Duke neglected her himself, yet -jealously kept her secluded from all but her own -women, allowing no man to appear in her presence. -Meanwhile Agnese del Maino, the lady who had -secured the tyrant’s affections, reigned in the Castle as -his wife in all but name. Filippo’s love for Agnese, -a woman of spirit and culture, and his devotion to the -daughter she bore him, his only child, Bianca Maria, -were human traits in his otherwise unamiable character. -Though no lover of learning, Filippo continued, as -much as circumstances allowed, the Viscontean patronage -of culture and letters, the tradition that had descended -from his ancestors, the hosts of Petrarca. He kept up -the University of Pavia and called great scholars to -its chairs. The celebrated humanist, Pier Candido -Decembrio, was for many years his secretary. He -employed artists of renown, including Brunelleschi and -Pisanello, in various works. To his daughter the -Duke was careful to give the scholarly training which -with the revival of learning had become a necessary -ornament for the women as well as the men of the -great Italian Houses, and Bianca Maria added the accomplishments -of Latin and Greek to the beauty and -spirit with which nature had endowed her.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the Duke had neither means nor leisure amid -the struggles of his ambition and the pressure of his -fears for much attention to the peaceful arts. He was -entirely occupied in redeeming his heritage and preserving -it from the greed of Venice, the inveterate hate -of Florence, the envy of the smaller States, and, from -what he feared most of all, the ambition and intrigues -of the Condottieri in his own employ. The fortunes -of Italy were now, in fact, in the hands of the great -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>military adventurers. After a century and a half of -physical lassitude, during which her wars had been -carried on by foreign mercenaries, she had bred a race -of warriors who had learnt their craft so well in the -camps of the German and English Condottieri that -they had now superseded the foreigners. With hosts -of trained and disciplined soldiers at their command, -who knew no faith except to their leader, they took -service now with one sovereign, now with another, and -with their fickle arms and policy made and unmade -States at their will. Facino Cane and Jacopo dal -Verme had already played their parts, to the disruption -of the Milanese State. Carmagnolo, after serving Duke -Filippo for many years, went over to Venice, and for -long balanced the two States one against the other, by -his crafty conduct of the war, till he fell a victim to -the superior cunning of the Doge and his councillors -in 1432. And now, in the midst of the noise of battle -and the ferment of intrigue, in which all the years of -Duke Filippo were wrapped, the great name of Sforza -is first heard in Milanese story.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the first Sforza and his son Francesco on the -one side, and Braccio Montone and Niccolò Piccinino -on the other, the age of the Condottieri culminated. -The whole of Italy was plunged into strife by these -great leaders, in whom the old faction divisions of the -country were revived, and cities and States split up -once again into hostile parties, Guelfs and Ghibellines -reappearing under the new names of Sforzeschi and -Bracceschi. These rival forces were at once the -salvation and the torment of Duke Filippo. The hope -of succeeding to the heirless man’s dominions—an -elevation not beyond the attainment of an obscurely -born individual, in an age and country in which men -made themselves, and everything was possible to strength -and ability—was a bait which drew them to his service; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>and with all his cunning and perfidious diplomacy he -manipulated them for his own advantage, pitting them -against each other, now encouraging one, now compassing -his downfall by means of another. But they, -too, were cunning. It was a game of wits, and Filippo -often found himself outdone. Yet to the very end, -though plagued, cajoled and defeated on all sides, he -succeeded in circumventing all the efforts of either -party to seat itself securely in Milan, preferring, with -his strange spite towards mankind, to leave his kingdom -to anarchy rather than adopt an heir.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In spite of him, however, destiny had raised up in -a rustic race hailing from Cotignola, in the Romagna, -a regenerator for the worn-out tyranny of the Visconti. -Muzio Attendolo, the founder of the Sforza family, is -pictured by legend as a peasant boy, who, when twelve -years old, flung his woodman’s axe into a tree, and ran -away to the wars. He appears to have been really the -son of a small landowner, rich only in the possession of a -progeny mighty in number and in strength. The name -of Sforza is said to have attached itself to him, in consequence -of some signal effort of his extraordinary -strength and will. These qualities, joined to his great -energy, raised him to the highest military fame. His -life was chiefly spent in the wars of Naples and the -Church, but he had just accepted service with the Duke -of Milan, when one day he plunged into a swollen river, -under the arrows of the enemy, to save a drowning boy, -and sank beneath the weight of his armour (1424).</p> - -<p class='c000'>His son, Francesco, though only twenty-two, took -command of his army, and soon showed equal valour -and much greater ability. Engaged, in 1425, by Duke -Filippo, he rapidly became a power in Milan, where -he struggled with the rival Condottiere, Niccolò -Piccinino, for supremacy in the councils of the Prince, -and in the favour of the people. In 1432, Filippo gave -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>him the highest mark of favour by promising him the -hand of Bianca Maria, and with all solemnity the little -girl of eight years old was betrothed to the great -general. But no sooner had the Duke thus exalted -Sforza, than he hastened to depress and humiliate -him in every way. Niccolò Piccinino was given the -chief command of the Visconte’s forces, and Francesco -was fain at the time to abandon Milan, and his hopes -of eventually possessing the Dukedom in his promised -wife’s right, and to accept the standard of Pope -Eugenius IV., Filippo’s bitter enemy. For many -years the brilliant genius of Piccinino and the subtlety -of the Duke were victorious over all enemies, and -baffled every effort of Sforza to obtain his little -princess and regain his footing in Milan. The climax -of Filippo’s success came in 1435, when his Genoese -fleet defeated the Neapolitans at Gaeta, and brought -back captive the Kings of Naples and Navarre and a -great company of lords and gentlemen. The Duke -on this occasion completely belied his usual character -and astonished the whole world by his kingly spirit. -He received the two monarchs with the utmost honour, -and immediately granted them their freedom. Moreover, -he entertained them and their trains for a whole -month, with great splendour and a joyous festivity, rare -indeed in Milan during his reign. His generosity was -doubtless calculated; in Alfonso of Naples he disarmed -an enemy and made a lasting friend, and by -cunningly rousing in that monarch a hope of succeeding -to the Milanese state, he raised up an aspirant who -might be useful as a weapon against the conflicting -pretensions of Piccinino and Sforza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Before long, however, fortune turned against the -Duke. Sforza, at the head of the League of Venice, -Florence and the Church, routed his generals and captured -his provinces and cities. In this predicament, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>Filippo appealed to the great Condottiere’s ambition, -and allured him once more by offering him his bride at -last with a rich dowry of territory and gold. Francesco -thereupon ceased to press the attack upon him, and the -war became little more than a languid pretence. -Having thus nonplussed his foes, who were completely -dependent on the caprice of their general, the Duke, with -his interminable negotiations, continually delayed the -accomplishment of his promise, and meanwhile secretly -endeavoured in every way to entangle and overthrow -Francesco. In this he was only baffled by the almost -equal craft and caution of his would-be son-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But as time went on, the Duke began to grow old -and to weary of the eternal struggle. He was oppressed -with languor and excessive fat. The fear of -total blindness came upon him. Nearly all Italy was -armed against him. The parties in the State grew -ever more clamorous, his captains more unmanageable. -Each of the latter seized upon one of his cities and -domineered over it as its Lord. Disasters accumulated -upon him in the field. Piccinino’s daring raid into -Florentine territory, in 1439-40, ended in the great -defeat of Anghiari, and Sforza, enraged by the Duke’s -duplicity, was capturing his cities for the League and -devastating his territories far and wide. Meanwhile, -the peace which all Italy sighed for was delayed by -the great Condottiere, who, having triumphed over all -his rivals, would not sheath his sword till he had secured -Bianca Maria and the enormous dowry which he demanded -with her. At last, yielding to the persuasion -of his only friend, Niccolò III. of Ferrara, the general -peacemaker, Filippo agreed to the marriage, and the -maiden of seventeen was conducted to the city of -Cremona, which was to be her rich portion, by the -fatherly Marquis Niccolò, and there wedded to her -mature bridegroom.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>Sforza’s purpose was, however, only half accomplished. -Though the lady was won, the Dukedom -remained to be secured. But he had to reckon with -his father-in-law’s antipathy, doubtless originating in a -deep-seated pride of race, and also with the hostile -party—led by Niccolò Piccinino and his sons—which -was all-powerful in Milan and virtually ruled the now -decrepit Filippo. The Milanese armies before long -moved once more against Sforza, who retaliated -by accepting the command of the Venetian forces and -carrying fire and sword right up to the walls of -Milan. The terrified Filippo was compelled to seek -reconciliation with his offended son-in-law, and to the -chagrin of Venice, Sforza abandoned her side in the -hour of success and rapidly won back for the Visconte -the Milanese territories which he had just -conquered for the Republic. At this juncture the -Duke, plagued by the irreconcilable importunities of -the two parties, used the only resource left to him -wherewith to baffle them both. Without confirming -his promises to Sforza he fell sick, and, obstinately -refusing all remedies, let himself die (1447), reiterating -with his last breath a wish that after his death everything -might fall to ruin.</p> - -<p class='c000'>And so it did. The city was immediately plunged into -confusion and uproar. Pretenders sprang up on every -side, and the old faction trouble threatened to overwhelm -all order. The cities subject to Milan rebelled, -and once more the great State of the Visconti broke -up into independent fragments. Meanwhile, in the -midst of the tumult in the capital itself, the beautiful -word Liberty, still remembered from the glorious -days of Milan’s Republican freedom, was breathed by -a few noble and disinterested citizens. It was acclaimed -by the people, who thought it meant relief from taxation, -and was accepted by the various factions, each -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>hoping to make profit out of it. Amid enormous enthusiasm -the Golden Republic of St. Ambrogio was -constituted, and the supreme authority delegated to a -few leading men, who were called Captains and Defenders -of the Liberty of Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The first act of the Republic was to sweep away the -Castle of Porta Giovia, stronghold and symbol of hated -tyranny. The people exulted to see it fall, but many -thoughtful men, remembering the predatories who -coveted the rich city, were dismayed. Nor did the new -Constitution prosper. The Milanese had lost all capacity -for self-government under the long-continued despotism -of the Visconti. ‘Nothing could make Milan free,’ -pronounced Macchiavelli later, ‘being altogether corrupt, -as was seen after the death of Filippo Visconte, -when desiring to establish liberty she neither was able, -nor knew how, to maintain it.’ The tyranny of -hostile factions triumphed over the best intentions of -the Republicans, and the thoughtless people arrayed -themselves one against another, behind leaders whose -only aim was to subjugate them. Those who had -really pure motives were drawn hopelessly into the -whirlpool, and the Defenders of Liberty oppressed each -other, and the citizens generally, with every cruelty and -injustice.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile the Duchy was claimed by the Guelf -party for Alfonso of Aragon, on the strength of a -will which his supporters had extracted from the -dying Filippo. A pretension—first threat of the misfortune -that was to fall later on Milan—was also advanced -by the Duke of Orleans, son of Filippo’s -sister, Valentina Visconte. The Emperor claimed the -Duchy as a vacant fief. More dangerous than any of -these pretenders was Venice, greedy to extend her -empire. But strongest of all was the resolution of -Francesco Sforza, who mended the flaw of illegitimacy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>in his wife’s claim by the strength of his good sword. -General of the Milanese armies at Filippo’s death, he -used his power to defend the State from the attacks of -Venice, and to subdue it gradually to his own sway. -But his enemies were strong. The Piccinini, Francesco -and Jacopo, warred against him with arms and -intrigue, in alliance with the old Guelf faction. They -held Milan against him, but their councils were confused -by passion and divisions, and the great general -drew steadily nearer to the city. He defeated the -Piccinini in the field, and outwitted their perfidious -diplomacy with an equal craft. He leagued with -Venice and Florence against the new Republic, defeated -the Duke of Savoy, whom Filippo’s widow, -Maria of Savoy, had enlisted against him, and cutting -Milan off from all friends or help, laid siege to the -capital itself.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Yet still the citizens clung to their illusion of liberty, -and obstinately refused to submit to a new master. -Amid fierce tumult they appointed fresh magistrates -from the lowest ranks, persecuted and proscribed the -nobles, and put an enormous price on the head of the -‘perfidious’ Francesco Sforza, decreeing death to any -who breathed his name without a curse. But their -resolution was useless. For some time they kept the -invader at bay with great spirit, aided by his party foes; -but the death of Francesco Piccinino at this juncture -was a serious blow to the defence. All trade was -stopped by the siege, and general ruin threatened this -community, long used to wealth and ease. The city -was now reduced to grievous straits by famine. The -desperate struggles of the democratic leaders, Gio. -Ossona and Gio. da Appiano, to maintain their rule by -blood and torture in the face of the growing discontent -and the ceaseless intrigues of Sforza’s partisans, made -them odious to all. Tumults broke out, and everywhere, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>says Corio, were heard lamentations, weeping -and cries. The Captains of Liberty were no longer -feared or obeyed. When in desperation they began to -parley with Venice, the citizens unanimously agreed -that submission to Sforza was a lesser evil than falling -into the jaws of San Marco, and a rising of Ghibellines -and friends of the Condottiere succeeded in sweeping -away the Republic of St. Ambrogio, and opening the -gates at last to the victorious Francesco, and to a -new era of peace, prosperity and servitude (1450).</p> - -<p class='c000'>Amid the wild applause of countless thousands, the -great warrior rode in, followed by his soldiers, whose -necks and shoulders were hung round with loaves of -bread. <i>It was a fine thing to see</i>—in Corio’s words—<i>with -what eagerness the people snatched off the bread, -and with what voracity they devoured it</i>. So enormous -was the throng, all shouting Sforza and Duca, that the -conqueror and his horse were literally lifted up and -carried on men’s shoulders. But even yet one or two, -among them the high-hearted Ambrogio Trivulzio, opposed -his entrance, demanding of him guarantees for -the liberty of the city. They were overpowered, -however, by the multitudes, and Francesco Sforza -was proclaimed Duke by general consent of the -citizens.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Milan had immediate consolation for her lost liberty. -By the wise provision of the conqueror, such generous -abundance flowed in after the herald loaves of the -soldiers, that in three days it seemed as if there had -been no siege at all. Order was restored with a firm -and kindly hand, and the splendid feasts and tournaments, -continuing for nine days, and drowning the -memory of past afflictions, hid no cruel deeds of vengeance -upon the Duke’s political opponents.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Italian historians generally agree in a favourable estimate -of Francesco Sforza. Corio, the historian, whose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>father was a gentleman in the service of the Sforza, and -he himself from his youth up, attached to the ducal -household, describes the first Duke as <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">liberalissimo</span></i>, full -of kindness, a lover of justice and religion, and declares -that none observed faith better than he. This last, in -fifteenth century Italy, was not saying much. More impartial -writers, while praising his courage, ability and -general humanity, recognise that his triumph was due as -much to perfidy and political suppleness as to valour. He -was a man of his time, and his moral standard was that -expressed by Macchiavelli later, who, writing of the -Sforza, excuses him on the ground that great men are -ashamed to lose, not to gain, by deception.</p> - -<p class='c000'>As Duke of Milan, Francesco still resorted to the same -practices. The long tyranny of the Visconti, the strange -cruelties and mysterious misanthropic habits of the later -princes, the intercourse of the last Duke with astrologers -and necromancers, which had wrapped him in a sort of -diabolical atmosphere, made the idea of a despot repulsive -and awful to the people, apart from their fear of -oppression. But the brave, robust presence, the frank -and genial manner of this lord of the battlefield and -camp, <i>who nothing esteemed astrologers</i>, did much to -overcome their prejudices, and his rejection of the -gorgeous symbols of sovereignty prepared for his entry -as <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">superstitioni dei Re</span></i>, and unfit for a simple soldier, -was carefully calculated to win their confidence. But -he dared not trust them. No sooner was he seated on -the throne than with false assurances that his only -motive was the safety and embellishment of the city, -he began to rebuild the castle of Porta Giovia, and to -fortify it with enormous walls, and with two huge -round towers commanding the habitations of his subjects -themselves, an ever visible warning against -rebellion. The Milanese, however, made no attempt -to shake off the yoke. The bulk of the people resumed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>with joy their industrial occupations, too content -with relief from immediate afflictions to question of -the future. They might well, too, recognise that submission -to the successful soldier was Milan’s only hope -of salvation as an independent State.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In Italy, as a whole, the elevation of Francesco Sforza -meant the boon of peace. It enrolled on the side of -order and stability the chief element of disturbance in the -country. For more than a century continual strife had -been kept up by the Condottieri in their own interests. -But now that the greatest of them all had attained a -solid throne, the era of their irresponsible energies was -over. The splendid title and wealth of the Visconti, -and the immense resources of the Lombard capital, -united with the military skill and renown of the Sforza, -could consolidate and safeguard once again that great -empire of the Snake, whose decrepitude had been the -chief opportunity of the Condottieri, and the provocation -of the late wars. On the part chosen by Milan depended -largely the fate of the whole peninsula. The -far-eyed ambition of the Visconti had chosen war. -The new dynasty, on the contrary, preferred to develop -the vast wealth of the State which it had won rather -than increase its bounds, and was content to relinquish -for the sake of peace all pretensions to the cities once -belonging to the Visconti, and now usurped by Venice. -Neither Francesco nor his successor sought the aggrandisement -of their dominions. And where the Visconti, -aggressive though they were, had studied the peace of -Italy in the larger sense, they were nobly followed by -the two first Sforza. Gian Galeazzo’s national policy—Italy -for the Italians—his care to keep those Alpine -gates, whose keys had been committed to Milan’s charge, -locked against a possible invader, was adopted and carried -on by the Sforza, through nearly half a century; -and when it was reversed, and the flood of disaster and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>ruin let loose upon the country by Francesco’s younger -son, the brilliant prince to whom Fate had denied no gift -except just those two qualities which had made the -Visconti great—judgment and knowledge of men—there -is reason to believe that fear rather than ambition -was the motive.</p> - -<p class='c000'>During the last century of the Viscontean domination, -Milan, which had suffered little herself from the -wars of Gian Galeazzo and Filippo Maria, and had -never been taxed beyond her strength by those able -tyrants, had grown into an enormous centre of trade. -The rich produce of the East, transmitted from Venice -and the other Italian ports, and the exports of the -country itself, passed through the Milanese warehouses -to the marts of the North. The Milanese woollen -fabrics clothed all well-to-do Europe, and her smiths -forged the panoply of the knights and men-at-arms on -every battlefield and in every jousting-list of Christendom -and of civilised Heathenesse as well. So great -were the workshops of the master armourers that -two of them alone are said to have armed on one -occasion four thousand horsemen and two thousand -foot soldiers for Duke Filippo in the space of a few -days. The abundant products of the fertile plains -around flowed into the capital, and with increasing -population and wealth new industries arose, adding to -the general prosperity, so that this city could with ease -keep up an army which would have beggared Venice -or Florence. In her almost inexhaustible resources -lay the secret of her power in Italy, and of her great -influence even in the Councils of Europe.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The new Duke laboured to breed, by all the arts of -peace, yet greater wealth, and to secure its full advantage -for the State. Especially he desired that Milan -should have a due share in that splendid patrimony of -light and learning which Italy was now inheriting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>across the chasm of the Middle Ages from her rediscovered -Past. This man of war, bred up from -childhood in the camp, entertained all the liberal ideals -of the day. He particularly honoured virtuous and -learned men, Corio tells us, and to his encouragement -of art the city owed many beautiful buildings. In his -patronage of the humanities, as in all his affairs, the -Duke was nobly supported by his wife, Bianca Maria -Visconte. This lady—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">donna d’animo virile</span></i>—had been -from their marriage-day the prop of his ambition and -resolve. Her invincible spirit had never allowed him to -flinch a moment from his task of conquest, had restored -his courage under misfortune, and had even inspired -him by donning helmet and cuirass, and herself leading -troops to his succour on the battlefield. Aided by her -clever mother, Agnese del Maino, Bianca Maria had -acted for him in critical moments in his absence, with -invariable constancy and promptitude, so that he was -wont to declare that he had more confidence in her -than in his whole army. In the acquisition of Milan -she was his chief councillor, and now that the throne -of her ancestors was won, she claimed her full share of -it. One may suspect that this conqueror of men—not -alone in history—was somewhat mastered by the young -woman at his side. Bianca Maria is celebrated by -the chroniclers for her goodness. ‘This lady,’ says -Cagnola, ‘in piety, compassion, charity, and beauty of -person, as well as every other virtue, surpassed all the -women of our age, and was the splendour and mirror -of all Italian women.’</p> - -<p class='c000'>Francesco left the government of his sons entirely -to this notable lady. She herself superintended their -Greek and Latin studies. But instruction in the art of -ruling was the chief feature of her training, and that -famous pedant, Filelfo, the Florentine, who was one -of their tutors, had to remember that his task was to form -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>princes, not merely men of letters. She was careful to -have them taught chivalrous exercises, habits of courtesy, -and the good manners proper to princes; and so rigorous -was her discipline that no boys were ever better behaved -than the ‘fantastick’ of after days, Galeazzo Maria, -and he who was to betray Italy, Lodovico il Moro.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the change from the worn-out domination of -the Visconti, rooted in the Middle Ages, to the rule -of the soldier of fortune, who owed his success to -personal genius and character, the Renaissance era, -that opportunity of individual talent, may be said to -have opened in Milan. The aspect of the city soon -showed the operation of a new vitality and enthusiasm, -in the splendid buildings which now arose, and in the -activity of all artistic and industrial employments. But -Duke Francesco’s designs for the improvement of his -State were hampered by the last convulsive struggles -of the long-continued wars of North Italy. It was -some years before Venice, Savoy, and the rest of -Milan’s enemies were quieted and propitiated by the -arms and the prudent diplomacy of the new ruler, who -with time found means of overcoming all the dangers -which threatened him. An alliance with Louis XI. -of France protected the Duke from the pretensions of -Orleans. With Cosimo de’ Medici he maintained a -loyal friendship, and thus disarmed Florence, and with -Naples he concluded a treaty of peace, which was -sealed by the marriage of his daughter Ippolita to -King Ferdinand’s son, Alfonso of Calabria. Francesco -was well aware, however, of the secret hostility harboured -against him by a strong party in the city, and -was ever on his guard. The death of Jacopo Piccinino, -in 1465, rid him of the last survivor of the great -family of Condottieri, who had been his most formidable -foes and rivals. Historians have charged Francesco -with a share in the horrid deception by which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>this brilliant captain was decoyed to his destruction at -the hands of Ferdinand of Naples.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A year later (1466<a id='t135'></a>), when the Duke himself died, his -dynasty seemed to be securely founded in Milan. Yet, in -the absence of the heir, the Duchess and her councillors -hastened to put the Castle into a state of defence, and to -take every precaution against rebellion. Galeazzo Maria, -was hurriedly summoned from France, where he was -fighting for Louis XI. in the Barons’ War. His return -was accomplished with the utmost speed and secrecy, -and the story of his passage through the dominions of -Savoy, disguised as the servant of a travelling merchant, -the attempt to capture him as he passed by a certain -castle in the mountains, his escape into sanctuary, and -thence, after three days’ concealment, into the fastnesses -of the hills, where by difficult ways he was conducted -into his own territory, strikes at once that note of -romance and extravagance which accompanies the -strange personality of Galeazzo Maria Sforza throughout -his short course to the grave.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Once in his own dominions the new duke had -nothing to fear. The habit of servitude had become -only too confirmed in the Milanese, and they sealed -their submission to the House of Sforza by accepting -Francesco’s son without protest as their Lord. Galeazzo, -born too late to remember aught but the triumphant -days of his House, or to have known any interruption -in the flattery, servility and fear which waited on -princes in the fifteenth century, found himself at -twenty-two monarch of a great State and vast -riches, lord of the lives and destinies of large -populations, and master, in all the vigour and freshness -of his youth and of the unexhausted Sforza -blood, of that incomparable treasure of delight and -varied human experience which the Renaissance of -learning, of knowledge, of beauty, had added to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>heritage of power bequeathed to the Italian tyrants by -their immediate ancestors. Is it a wonder that the -princes of that bright new day, in all the pride of -the restored faith in human greatness and possibility, -should have believed themselves more than men, and -like the old Roman emperors, whose histories they -read and whose heirs they considered themselves, -should have assumed the proud appellation of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Divi</span></i>—Gods? -These favourites of Time and Fortune lacked, -however, one thing: that discipline of the will—more -rigorous than the self-mortification of the apostles of -asceticism—which the religion of beauty and joy requires -in its followers.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In Galeazzo Maria Sforza the characters of a -Renaissance tyrant appear in an exaggerated light. A -strain of the bizarre, inherited from his Visconte -ancestors, working in the strong new blood of the -Sforza, produced in him an extravagance of temperament -which ruled all his thoughts and acts. He had -been instructed in the new learning by Filelfo and -other humanists of repute; but from the classic -example and precept thus set before him by men who -themselves often abused the ideals which they taught -his unbalanced nature had learnt only licence. His hot -passions, romantically shown in youth by his love for -Lucrezia Landriani, and his adoration of the child she -bore him, that famous Caterina, afterwards Lady of -Forlì, developed rapidly into unbridled lust. His -vanity was nothing less than preposterous, and his care -for his tall and splendid person, and in especial for his -beautiful white hands, was a sort of idolatry. His insatiable -appetite for gorgeous surroundings and rich -display glutted itself with an orgy of colour and ornamentation, -rioted in costly fabrics and priceless gems -and gaudy equipages. Never before in Italy had such -pomp been seen as accompanied his journey, in 1471, to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>visit Lorenzo de’ Medici, who, as head of the Florentine -Republic, had been entertained a short time before in -Milan. With him went his consort, the beautiful -Bona of Savoy, the princess who was to have married -Edward IV. of England, had not her fickle suitor -fallen in love with Elisabeth Woodville instead. -Bona became Galeazzo’s wife in 1467.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Besides his Duchess, all the great feudatories and -ministers of State, arrayed in cloth of gold and silver, -accompanied the Duke, himself a magnificent figure in -royal crimson. The courtiers wore velvet and finest -silk, the dresses of the chamberlains and pages were -exquisite with needlework, the lackeys were in silk -and cloth of silver, and the very cooks and scullions -in velvet and satin. An immense train of horses, with -trappings of silver and gold, carried grooms in silken -liveries of the Sforza colours, purple and white. -Mules, with housings of white and purple damask -embroidered with the devices of the Sforza in silver, -bore litters hung with gorgeous stuffs, and containing -beds of cloth of gold. Huntsmen leading five hundred -couple of dogs, falconers with highly trained hawks -upon their wrists followed, and a host of trumpeters, -pipers, musicians and jesters played their lively part in -the procession. The description of this gallant train, -winding out in all its fresh new bravery into the green -Lombard plain from the serrated walls and gates of the -mediæval city, in the radiance of a May morning, suggests -something of what Milan once was and of the lost beauty -of Renaissance pageantry. The luxury and extravagance -of the Milanese visitors greatly impressed the -Florentines, and, according to Macchiavelli, helped to -corrupt them and induce them to abandon their sober -habits for pleasures and vanities.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Galeazzo’s love of decoration vented itself in the -adornment of his palaces with paintings and works -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>of art. He employed a host of artists, and in his impatience -and excitement demanded miracles of them. -He would have marble palaces and painted chambers -rise as at the stroke of a magician’s wand; and an oft-told -tale relates how he commanded a certain artist to -decorate a whole wall with portraits of the ducal -family in a single night. And woe to those who displeased -him. The glittering, gaudy figure of this -prince, with the great black eyes and hawk nose, and -the white effeminate hands, dressed in the motley -parti-coloured dress, red and white, used by the Dukes -of Milan, moves through the pages of history in an -alternation of black shadow and garish light. He -was pointed out in whispers as the murderer of his own -mother. It is true that his imperious temper had -quickly resented Bianca Maria’s attempt to share in -the government and to retain the power which her influence -on her husband had given her. A short -struggle had ensued between the mother and son, and -ended by the defeated Duchess resolving to withdraw -to her dower city of Cremona and there exercise her -lawful authority. But neither did this division of the -State suit the new Duke, and he detained her in the -Castle of Melegnano, where, devoured by anger and -grief, she fell sick after a few months and died, -poisoned, according to common belief. But the -accusation appears to rest only on Galeazzo’s general -reputation for wickedness, and the ingratitude and -want of filial piety which he had already shown himself -capable of towards his mother. He is not a singular -instance, however, of a young sovereign disagreeing with -a dominant queen-mother. With as scant evidence, -the death of his first betrothed, Dorotea Gonzaga, -which freed him to make the more advantageous -alliance with Bona, is laid to Galeazzo’s charge.</p> - -<div id='t138' class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/i_155.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>GALEAZZO MARIA SFORZA, BY PIERO POLLAIUOLO (UFFIZI, FLORENCE)<br /><br /><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></i>]      [<i>Alinari, Florence</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>To such a personality as this prince’s, so conspicuous -and so frenzied, legend readily clings, even in his own -lifetime, and the imaginations which peered into the -secrets of his dungeons carried, perhaps, some of their -morbid visions with them. We must, however, believe -the contemporary writers, who record hideous deeds -committed by the Duke even in the light of day, grim -pranks of punishment and devices of cruelty inflicted -upon offenders, under his own eyes. There was a -strange touch of imagination in his adjustment of -torments to offences, and often a kind of wild -justice and sympathy for the oppressed, horribly -manifested, as when he punished a priest, who had -refused the funeral rites to a poor man, by burying -him alive in the same grave as the corpse. Galeazzo -Sforza was in fact an embodied paradox—a monster -of vices and virtues, as he has been called, or -better still, in his daughter Caterina’s word, a ‘Fantastick.’ -This mad, bad prince had the theoretic admiration -of his age for virtue, and was possessed with a very -rage for cultivating it in his subjects. Abuses, such -as bribery of magistrates, corruption in the public -administration, oppressive restrictions on trade and -commerce, were vigorously put down. He allowed -none but himself to take money from petitioners, or to -seize other people’s property. His passion for justice -and good government had planted so many gallows in -his realm, that when his young bride came to Milan -she trembled at the spectacle and fell on her knees, -imploring pardon for prisoners and offenders, a boon -immediately granted to her compassionate beauty. -Though greedy of treasure and guilty of robbing his -rich subjects, Galeazzo was punctual and exact in -paying his servants—a rare virtue in an Italian prince. -So trustworthy was his word as a sovereign that men -regarded it as if it had been money. He had great -personal attractions, was merry, affable and familiar -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>with those around him, and willingly gave audience to -his subjects. The courage which the populace expect -of a prince was conspicuous in him—<i>a man who never -knew fear</i>, as his fearless daughter Caterina proudly -describes him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Better still, Galeazzo Sforza knew men. No one -of proved worth and activity had to fear his caprices. -Cecco Simonetta, his father’s faithful minister, was retained -in the highest offices throughout his reign; and -his chief engineer and architect, Bartolommeo Gadio, -kept undisturbed command of the great works of the -Castello. Nor did the Duke’s heated temper affect -his political judgment. He reconciled himself with -Savoy, and with Lorenzo de’ Medici and Ferdinand of -Naples formed that triple alliance which gave Italy her -most splendid period of peace. In the cordial relations -which he maintained with France he never forgot -Milan’s appointed task of guarding the gate of Italy. -Within his own dominions he held party passions in check, -and followed his father’s prudent policy of employing -in the important offices of State foreigners like the -Sicilian Simonetta, and men who owed everything to -the House of Sforza, and of diminishing the influence -of the great nobles.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id010'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span> -<img src='images/i_159.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>BRIDGE OVER NAVIGLIO NEAR SAN MARCO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>With peace without and order within, the tide of prosperity -rose ever higher in the populous city. The vast -lands of the Duchy were everywhere being brought to -full fertility by irrigation works and the draining of -wastes. Palaces surrounded by beautiful gardens and -fruitful orchards and vineyards were springing up where -before had been wilderness. Great schemes for new -waterways between the different cities of the State were -in hand, and all the immense increase of the country’s -resources, resulting from improved agriculture and -greater facilities of traffic, flowed by a thousand streams -into the coffers of the capital. An extraordinary vitality -seemed to possess all classes in this morning of the -Renaissance. The larger horizons revealed to the spirit -by the revival of ancient literature and thought, the -multiplicity of new interests created by increased knowledge, -the joy of the release from the mediæval sense -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>of guilt and sorrow, gave to this age the vigour and -enthusiasm of a regenerated world. Milan was one vast -hive of vivacious energies, busy in commerce, in art and -all kinds of handiwork, in learning, poetry, music. The -Duke’s excited spirit was eager for all intellectual and -artistic novelties. His Court was thronged with scholars -and philosophers. Not content with the magnificent -library of Pavia, he formed a fine collection of books -in Milan, and printing-presses were set up in the city -at this time. But above all else Galeazzo loved music. -Milan had been from early times the resort of troubadours, -minstrels and those skilled in ‘divers musicks,’ -but never before had such beautiful singers been heard -there as the Duke summoned from Flanders and all -parts of Europe to compose the choir of the ducal -chapel in the Castello. Music and the chase were -Galeazzo’s favourite diversions; and the vast hunting-grounds -and deep forests of the Duchy, full of wild -boars and stags and all sorts of beasts and birds, the -wide meres and watery channels crowded with waterfowl, -were continually visited by gallant hunting and -hawking trains. The picturesque interest of that far-off -princely life, rich in all the adornments of rarest art, -and fresh with the springing joy of that hopeful age, is -enhanced for us by its dimness. It has all the poetic -charm of a half-obliterated fresco. These historic figures -appear to our vision in that stiffness and innocence and -decorative grace, that mingling of mediæval romance -and Renaissance beauty with which they were doubtless -represented by the primitive painters who covered the -walls of Galeazzo’s palaces in Milan and Pavia with -scenes of the ducal life—frescoes, alas! long perished.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The picture of the city at this time would be bright -indeed but for the plague-spots of vice and cruelty in -the ruler, and of corruption in the people. Acquiescence -in tyranny, and the new luxury of life, had bred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>effeminacy and servility in the citizens. But there were -some among them who could not forget their shame. -This motley prince, himself an early and crude product -of the still undisciplined spirit of the Renaissance, was -destined to perish by the operation of that same spirit. -The very arrogance of blood and brain which drove him -to excess swelled the indignation of the youths who assembled -in the school of the humanist Cola Montana, and -followed the finger of their preceptor as he pointed with -scorn to the spectacle of the Duke passing with extravagant -pomp across the Piazza dell’ Arengo, and to the -obsequious train of nobles and magistrates in gorgeous -attire attending him, and contrasted the degradation and -pusillanimity of these courtiers with the noble simplicity -of the Carthaginian and Roman patriots who had won -immortal fame by giving their lives for their country. -Cola, who was himself secretly envenomed against the -Duke on account of personal wrongs, never ceased to -hold up before his pupils the example of Brutus and -the lofty ideal of virtue and self-sacrifice which inspired -their classic ancestors. Inflamed by his eloquence and -by a mingling of pedantic pride and youthful enthusiasm, -these sons of fathers who remembered the brief hope -of the Ambrosian Republic formed a resolution to rid -the State of the monstrous tyranny which oppressed it. -Girolamo Olgiati, Gio. Ant. Lampugnano and Carlo -Visconte were the chief conspirators. The lofty indignation -of the two latter was aggravated by personal -grievances, but the motives of Olgiati, whose sensitive -mind had been moulded for years by Cola Montana, -seems to have been pure of all egoism except a beautiful -self-conceit. They communicated their plot to a -few trusty comrades, and went about the city secretly -stirring up discontent. In spite of the general prosperity -poverty existed, and it happened that the season had -been bad and scarcity threatened. The populace could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>not see beyond this immediate evil, and all groaned together -under the taxation which they supposed went -only to provide for the limitless luxury of the Court. -Many citizens were hereditary Guelfs and foes of the -Sforza. The idea of rebellion was familiar enough in -every North Italian city, and the conspirators received -so much sympathy and so many promises of adherence -that the excited vision of young Olgiati pictured the -whole city awaiting the signal of the great deed to rise -and set him and his fellows at the head of a Republic -as noble as those of antiquity. Day and night Lampugnano’s -house was crowded with enthusiasts for -liberty. All preparations were made for the rising, -deputies were appointed to ensure the safety of the city -in the confusion which was sure to follow the overthrow -of the government, and the day and the particulars -of the great act of judgment on the tyrant -were carefully arranged.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On St. Thomas Day (1476), Duke Galeazzo entered -early in the morning into his capital, after a short victorious -campaign against the encroachments of Burgundy -in the mountains of Savoy. Let it be remembered -of him that his last deed was thus to beat back invaders -of Italy. As he rode to Milan from his Castle of -Abbiategrasso, in the bitter cold which had numbed -the streams and fogged the air, three ravens slowly -rose and flew across his path, one after the other, -uttering hoarse croaks. The Duke seized a gun and -fired at these evil augurs, and was half-minded to turn -back. He went forward, however, but a heavy presentiment -of ill had fallen on his soul. As he rode in, -welcomed by the nobles who had thronged the city to -do him homage, the conspirators noted his heavy -countenance, and knew that the hour was at hand. -Instead of mirth he carried gloom into the Castle, all -prepared for his coming, and though it was the season -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>of joy, he ordered the ornaments of the chapel to be -draped in black, and bade the Flemish priest, Cordiero -and his thirty fellow-singers from beyond the mountains, -chant every day in the Mass a verse from the Office of -the Dead. Nevertheless the great Christmas festivities -took place as usual, and the tall figure of the Prince, robed -to the feet in crimson damask, and accompanied by the -fair Duchess and a crowd of nobles, stalked gesticulating -though the splendid chambers of the Castello, vaunting, -in the midst of a strange and mournful oppression, -his own magnificence, and the glory and enduring -strength of his House.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The next day was the Feast of St. Stephen. Very -early in the morning, Gio. Antonio Lampugnano and -Girolamo Olgiati knelt and heard Mass together, like -knights entering into battle. A great crowd gathered -in S. Stefano, where the Duke was to attend Mass later. -Some of the conspirators mingled with the people, -while the three leaders waited in a house close by. -The slow moments passed. At last the appointed hour -arrived and the procession was at hand. Girolamo, -in his confession, tells the rest in breathless words. -<i>Soon a noise; it is the Prince. We hide our daggers, and -in an instant stand in the church. The Duke passes, I -transfix him, he falls and expires.</i></p> - -<p class='c000'>Corio, who was one of the Duke’s chamberlains -and was present in the church, describes how Galeazzo -entered between the Ferrarese and Pisan Envoys, -preceded by a pompous train of guards and servants. -The writer saw the daggers flash from the little group -of conspirators and bury themselves in the gaudy -body of the Prince, and heard his one cry, <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">O Nostra -Donna!</span></i> as he fell back in a pool of blood. In the -uproar which immediately arose, Lampugnano was killed -as he fled through the press of shrieking women; but -Girolamo and Carlo Visconte, with their accomplices, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>succeeded in escaping from the church. The mangled -body of the tyrant was carried into the adjoining -Canonica, and its gory dress was exchanged for a robe -of white cloth of gold, and all the ducal ornaments and -insignia set upon it. Meanwhile Girolamo, hounded by -the rage and terror of his father out of his home, whither -he had fled, took refuge with a priest and waited in -violent agitation, his exalted brain seething with hopes -and fears. The people must be even now rushing to -arms. His friends must be coming to find him and -place themselves under his command. They would -sack the palaces of Cecco Simonetta and the hated -ministers, seize the gates, abolish the taxes, proclaim a -glorious Republic. The hours went by and nothing -happened. Hearing a great noise, he looked eagerly -out and saw the lacerated remains of his comrade -Lampugnano being dragged along by yelling children -with every hideous insult.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Hope began to desert him. He was sought, not by -friends and admirers, but by officers of justice, and -fleeing miserably from one refuge to another, was soon -captured. In his dungeon, the mind of the young man—he -was twenty-three—maintained its exaltation, though -it was a wonder, says Corio, that amid such torments -as he underwent, the afflicted spirit did not abandon -the agonised body. He managed to compose a long -relation in Latin of all the circumstances of the plot, a -document of poignant human interest which shows the -effect of the prevailing enthusiasm for antiquity upon -a serious and lofty soul. Even at the last frightful -moment, when the iron of the executioner was at his -breast, the fainting youth had courage to animate himself -in the tongue of Brutus and Cato with the words—<i>Collect -thyself, Hieronimo. The memory of thy deed -shall live long. <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mors acerba, fama perpetua!</span></i></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Opening of the Gate</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Il Duca perse lo Stato e la roba e la libertà, e nessuna sua opera si finì per lui.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Leonardo da Vinci.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>If the great movements of history could ever be said -to turn on the existence of an individual, one -might regard as the paradoxical result of Galeazzo -Maria’s death the loss of Italy’s freedom. The young -Milanese Brutus, in his noble rage against tyranny, -little foresaw the three centuries of dark and hopeless -servitude which by the unimpassioned workings of -fate his blow would indirectly bring upon his country. -The exclamation of the cynical Sixtus IV. at the -news of the murder—<i>To-day is the peace of Italy dead</i>,—showed -a clearer vision. The scheming Pope saw and -gauged the unstable elements in the situation—the -ambition of Naples and Venice, the helplessness of -Duke Galeazzo’s ten-year-old successor, the contagion -of disorder throughout Italy; remembered the aggressive -Turk in the east, the adventurous Frank in the north, -and forthwith set to work to precipitate the inevitable -upheaval in the interests of his own family.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The trouble ahead was, however, as yet hidden. -Milan kept calm. The air-bubble expectations of the -conspirators had perished at the touch of reality. -There was no attempt at a rising. The widowed -Duchess assumed without opposition the supreme -authority as regent for her son, the child Gian -Galeazzo, with Cecco Simonetta as her chief minister. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>The dead Duke’s brothers, Sforza, Duke of Bari, -and Lodovico il Moro, were absent in France, Ascanio -the priest in Rome. But the situation was pregnant -with danger, as Simonetta well knew. He suspended -all Galeazzo Maria’s works of embellishment in the -city, set the engineers and builders to construct new -defences, threw a strong garrison into the Castle, and -adopted every precaution against revolt. The chief -menace came from the nobles of the old Ghibelline -party. They hated Simonetta, who was a Sicilian and -the creature of Francesco Sforza, with no interest -apart from his master’s House, which he strengthened -by depressing the great feudatories. The veteran -minister was unpopular with the people too, because he -was a foreigner, and because of the heavy taxes. -Sforza and Lodovico, hurrying back from France, and -joined by Ascanio, found a powerful party, headed by -the fiery and restless soldier, Roberto di San Severino, -ready to support them in overthrowing the government. -But Simonetta was on the watch. He seized one of -the chiefs of the disaffected party, and filled the city -with troops. San Severino promptly fled to Naples, -and the three princes retreated to a little distance, -ready to escape. Their youngest brother, Ottaviano, -a youth of eighteen, who was involved in their plot, -also rode hastily out of the city, and finding himself -pursued, leapt into the swollen Adda, and was washed -off his horse and drowned. A formal decree banishing -the elder princes was issued, and for the moment the -danger was over and Simonetta triumphed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Naples, however, ambitious for a foothold in Milan, -embraced the cause of the exiles, and sent San Severino -with an army to worry the ducal territories. The -brothers themselves, from their different places of -refuge, kept up communications with their partisans in -the city, and intrigued against the government. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>Simonetta’s power depended upon the will of the -Duchess Bona, a lady ‘of little good-sense,’ according -to Commines. Though she left the guidance of -affairs entirely to the minister, his influence could not -compete with the charms of her handsome Ferrarese -secretary, Antonio Tassino, to whom she could deny -nothing. The inordinate presumption of this favourite -soon conflicted with Simonetta’s authority. Lodovico -Sforza, who far away had eyes and ears everywhere, -was quick to profit by the dissension between these two -powers at Court. The death, in 1479, of the elder -brother Sforza—from excessive fat—helped to clear -the path for the ambition of the Moro, who was now -created Duke of Bari by the King of Naples, in succession -to Sforza. To him the rebellious spirits in -Milan looked henceforth as their leader. A number -of the great nobles, the Borromei, the Da Pusterla—those -old foes of the Dukes of Milan—the Marliani -and others, aided the upstart Tassino to turn the -Duchess against her husband’s faithful old servant. -Beatrice da Este, wife of Lodovico’s half-brother -Tristan, and other ladies in her intimacy, plied her -with complaints of Simonetta, and entreated her to -dismiss him and recall the banished Moro, who with -the mercenaries of Naples was now preying on her -territories. Tassino whispered the same persuasions -between the endearments which she permitted from -him. At last, one day Lodovico himself knelt before -her, having at great risk returned to the city and made -his way secretly through the gardens into the Castello. -Heedless of his disobedience to her decree of banishment, -the thoughtless woman received him with the -utmost joy, and the whole city burst into a frenzy of -welcome. Simonetta’s clear vision read the future. -<i>Most illustrious Duchess</i>, said he, <i>I shall lose my head, -you your State</i>. Deaf to his warning, Bona committed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>the government to her brother-in-law. Three -days later Simonetta was arrested and carried to the -Castle of Pavia, where, after he had lain a whole year -in captivity, he was brought to trial, before one of the -most vindictive of his personal enemies, on a charge of -enormous crimes against the ducal House. He was -tortured, and finally beheaded in the Castle yard. For -putting him to so merciful an end, Bona took much -credit to herself in an official notification of his trial -and death sent to the various Courts of Italy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The minister disposed of, the turn of the favourite -came. From being Lodovico’s ally and tool, Tassino -was now become a serious hindrance to Lodovico. -His arrogance was overweening. He had boundless -power over Bona, and was rapidly making himself absolute -master in the palace. The crisis arrived in a -struggle over the Rocchetta, the inner Keep of the -Castle of Milan, which, with its strong garrison and -impregnable defences, gave its commander virtual -dominion of the whole city. Tassino persuaded the -Duchess to appoint his father as Castellan, in the place -of Filippo Eustachio, who had been put in charge of -it by Duke Galeazzo. But Filippo, a staunch adherent -of Lodovico’s, disobeyed her repeated commands -to give up the keys, and sturdily resisted all her -efforts to remove him, defying her threats and sentences, -until the Moro had prepared a swift and sudden stroke. -One day, at Lodovico’s bidding, Filippo and Gio. -Francesco Pallavicino entered the apartments of the -little Duke, at an hour when most of his attendants -were out of the way, and snatching up the child, -carried him across the narrow bridge which led from -the Corte Ducale into the Rocchetta, and delivered -him into the custody of his uncle. With the person -of the sovereign in his possession, behind the defence -of drawbridges, portcullises and artillery, and a strong -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>body of soldiers faithful to himself, the Moro could -dictate terms to the Duchess. She had no alternative -but to surrender to him the regency and the guardianship -of her son. As for Tassino, seeing himself overreached, -he fled incontinently, to escape a worse fate, -and stripped of everything but his perfumes and ivory -combs, which were bundled after him, he disappears -ignobly out of history. Bereft at once of lover, son -and sovereignty, Bona was a piteous figure of helpless -rage and grief. She declared she would abandon the -Duchy, even if she had to climb out of the windows -and cross the moat at the risk of her life. Lodovico, -however, gently detained her in the Castle of Abbiategrasso, -a virtual prisoner, until the subsidence of -her shallow passion enabled her to submit to the -new order of things and settle down, without power -or authority, to a quiet life with her children, in the -Castello of Milan again.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus, by a series of successful palace intrigues, -Lodovico Sforza made himself supreme in Milan. He -had still, however, to cope with the resentment of the -nobles who had helped him to power, and now found -themselves denied any share in it. Like all usurpers, -Lodovico found ingratitude necessary to self-preservation, -and from the first he studied to depress his more -powerful subjects, choosing foreigners and men of -modest degree as his ministers and advisers. Roberto -di San Severino with many other nobles now took up -arms against him. But they were completely defeated -by Constanzo Sforza, an able general and a kinsman -of the reigning House, and the turbulent San Severino, -transformed into the Moro’s bitterest foe, quitted the -Duchy, and went off to serve Venice in the war -against Ferrara.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The masterly craft by which Lodovico Sforza had -achieved his triumph, roused the admiration and fear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>of all Italy, which increased as, with the progress -of time, he became the most conspicuous figure in -Italian politics. About the enigmatic personality of -this prince, history has confused our minds with contrary -judgments, which romance has translated into a -various caricature. His peculiar association with Italy’s -greatest glory and greatest shame has thrown an exaggerated -light and shade upon his memory. The -Italian historians of this period make him the scapegoat -for that calamity of Italy, which no one man, but the -ancient and inherent sin of the whole nation, brought -about. Guicciardini, while recording his many virtues -of mind and heart, is glad to believe him guilty of the -worst crimes of ambition and perfidy, and to discover -in him a fatal self-conceit. Paolo Giovio speaks of -him as <i>born for the undoing of Italy</i>. Modern inquirers -have modified the traditional view of the Moro, by -showing the baselessness of some of the worse charges -against him, and by a diligent prying into all the -details of his domestic existence, they have at once -humanised and belittled the old picture of the man. -Yet still the real Lodovico seems dark to us. It is not -for nothing that the name of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">il Moro</span></i>—the Moor—given -to the dark-skinned boy in his childhood, has -clung to him through history; it shows the conviction -of his contemporaries and of posterity that it fitted -not only his bodily appearance, but the complexion of -his soul.</p> - -<p class='c000'>By his actions he must be judged. In the Italy of -the Quattrocento, to do evil that good might come was -excellent morality. The best men practised it, and -differed only from the worst in the ends they pursued. -Lodovico’s usurpation of power had its immediate -justification in the salvation of the State. The prestige -of his name, and his fine statesmanship, could alone -avert the civil war and anarchy which Bona’s government -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>was leading to, and oppose a barrier to the greed -of Venice and Naples for Lombardy. The deposition -of a weak woman by a strong and able man was an -act unsingular in a country where beneath all law and -convention reigned the tacit conviction that character -was the true legitimacy. Once in power, he found -that internal peace necessitated the sacrifice of the -turbulent elements of which he had served himself to -climb, and personal ingratitude became a public virtue. -Freed from the prepotence of these restless spirits, the -citizens could pursue their occupations undisturbed, and -the prince could devote himself to his great schemes -for the improvement of agriculture, the facilitation of -commerce and the humanising of the people. It is -these things—in which he carried on the noblest tradition -of the Sforza domination—which are the Moro’s -apology for much wrong-doing; it is these and not his -ceaseless political activity, and immense prestige as a -statesman, which make the story of Milan great during -his reign, a period brilliant, joyous and prosperous -beyond compare.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Though in title only regent for the young Duke, -Lodovico was absolute sovereign. His extraordinary -activity, resource and subtlety, backed by the boundless -wealth of Milan, soon made his influence felt -abroad. For the first year or two his cares at home -kept him from interfering much in general affairs. The -balance of power in Italy, deprived of the weight of -Milan, wavered in consequence, and Sixtus IV., Naples -and Venice did their utmost to swallow up Florence. -The safety of the great Tuscan Republic, secured -partly by the courage and address of Lorenzo de’ Medici, -but more by the timely knock of the Turk at the door -of Italy, at Otranto, was further assured by the fast-rising -power of the new ruler of Milan, who by uniting -his State in 1484, in a fresh alliance with Florence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>and Naples, restored to Italy that equilibrium which had -been first established by his great father, Francesco.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The eleven years that followed the Peace of Bagnolo -(1484-95) were the most splendid in the history of -mediæval Italy. They were the culmination of a great -ascent, preceding as great a downfall. Pressing upwards -through the continual struggles, amid the phantoms and -shadows of the earlier centuries, the chosen spirits of -humanity had at last emerged upon a height, where, as in -the light of unclouded morning, the whole world seemed -spread out before and behind them, heaven itself within -their reach, the gods themselves their fellows. In the -general material prosperity out of which the fine flower -of Italian civilisation in the Quattrocento had sprung, -as in the cultured and artistic joy of life which was its -highest expression, Milan, led by Lodovico Sforza, held -a foremost place. Whatever may have been his secret -motives, this prince exerted himself ceaselessly to conceive -and carry out projects of enduring benefit to the -country. Summoning the greatest brains in Italy to his -service, he set on foot immense hydraulic works, by -means of which wildernesses were converted into fruitful -tracts, and new ways opened for the passage of -merchandise and general traffic. He widened his -father’s famous canal, the Naviglio Martesana, and the -Naviglio encircling the city, employing the inventive -genius of Leonardo da Vinci, to overcome the difficulty -of the different levels by a system of locks, still existing -in Milan to this day. He joined these canals with -the ancient channel between Milan and Pavia, thus -forming a navigable waterway between the Adda and -the Ticino. Large districts hitherto unfertile owed -their after prosperity to this enlightened ruler. He -fostered agriculture, founding model farms and introducing -improved breeds of cattle and horses. His -pleasaunces and orchards round the Castello at Milan, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>and his country palaces and villas were so beautiful -and fruitful that they were called earthly paradises. -After a brief half century of the Sforza rule, the Duchy -of Milan was become a vast garden, supporting an -enormous population of hardworking peasants. Commerce -flourished more than<a id='t155'></a> ever, every way being opened -to it by wise and considerate measures. In the higher -branches of industry the Moro’s vitalising interest and -enthusiasm was as effective. His splendid patronage -of art and letters made this city of prosperous traders -the richest centre in Italy of the æsthetic culture of -the Renaissance. Attracted by his liberality and large -ideas, the rarest genius of the age was at his command. -Bramante of Urbino spent many years at Milan, building -cupolaed temples and colonnaded palaces, and transforming -the old mediæval city of the Visconti into the -fair Renaissance vision of the Moro’s desire. For -Lodovico and for Milan, Leonardo da Vinci did his -greatest works. Perugino painted for the Moro the -splendid Madonna with the Archangels, now in the -National Gallery, and in the stimulating atmosphere a -number of native artists of considerable distinction -sprang up. Lodovico equally favoured men of letters -and scientific inquirers. He invited them to Milan, -and gave them great rewards, and did his utmost by -grants and personal care to raise the University of -Pavia and the schools founded at Milan by Galeazzo -to a flourishing condition.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_173.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CANAL, VIA SAN MARCO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>But the merits of the Moro’s government were obscured -to the people by his tyrannic methods. The -peasants, groaning under the oppression of forced labour -and of heavy and unjustly distributed taxation, were too -preoccupied by their immediate grievances to care for -the rich harvest which would ensue some day from the -sacrifice of their sweat and their scanty gains. In -their belief the Prince sought only self-glorification and -the increase of the already fabulous ducal treasure. -Their simple lamentations sound in the pages of the -chroniclers like a dull threatening undertone in that -wonderful symphony of rich and various instruments -which the life of the Milanese Court was at this time.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span> -<img src='images/i_175.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CANONICA OF ST. AMBROGIO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>One of the worst characteristics of a tyrant was, -however, conspicuously absent in Lodovico Sforza. -He was not cruel. Galeazzo’s horrible ways of enforcing -the law no longer prevailed. The gallows -vanished; fragments of quartered traitors adorned the -gates no more, and such pains as justice or policy -necessitated were administered out of the sight and, if -possible, knowledge of the Moro. Even Guicciardini -describes the Moro as <i>mild and merciful</i>. The sight -of bodily suffering hurt his fastidious delicacy, his love -of fair and seemly appearance, his fine sensibilities. -His shrinking from blood was perhaps a sign of what -may explain much that seems dark in his history—fear; -of the decadence which fatally awaits races risen -too swiftly to greatness. However that may be, his -mildness did not win the hearts of the people for a -sovereign who addressed them from behind the protection -of iron bars and never admitted them to free and -friendly audience. An ever-widening gulf divided their -lives of elemental want and passion from the exquisite -existence of subtle and various delight within the impassable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>walls of the Castello. It was for the Moro, -we remember, that Leonardo sketched the plans of an -ideal city, with an upper system of streets in which the -sovereign and his chosen society of nobles and courtiers -might pass, uncontaminated by the breath and odour of -the multitudes below.</p> - -<p class='c000'>To the princes of the Quattrocento the people were -but the necessary foundation of existence, ‘the mud -on which proud man is built.’ And how incomparable -was the fair fabric, so based, and composed of all -the rarest elements of life. The story of the Moro’s -Court is well-known to English readers. The joyous -figures that peopled it are familiar to us, and the gorgeous -pageants, the processions of princes and potentates -and fair ladies, the stupendous display of wealth and -beauty, the tourneys, feasts and dances, are tales oft told -in biography and romance. In 1489 the long arranged -marriage of the young Duke with Isabella of Aragon, -granddaughter of King Ferrante of Naples, was celebrated -with extraordinary pomp, and two years later -the festivities were renewed for the double nuptials of -the Regent himself with Beatrice da Este, daughter of -the Duke of Ferrara, and of her brother Alfonso, heir-apparent -of Ferrara, with Anna Sforza, sister of Gian -Galeazzo. All these splendours were far overpassed, -however, in 1493, when the Moro’s diplomacy was -rewarded by an imperial alliance for the House of -Sforza, and Bianca Maria, the Duke’s remaining sister, -rode forth from the Castello in a chariot of gold to her -marriage with the Emperor Maximilian. The imagination -reels with the descriptions of the rich robes and -jewels, the pavilions and triumphal arches, the garlands, -the blazoned hangings, the allegorical masques, the noise -of music and of applauding crowds on these occasions. -One would feel that Milan must have suffered an intolerable -surfeit of colour and delight, did we not know -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>that the gorgeous riot was shaped into symmetry and -order by the supreme decorative taste of the Italian -Quattrocento. All the beautiful neo-pagan conceits, -the new vision of the gods of Olympus granted to that -age, inspired these brief spectacles. Leonardo—Bramante—fashioned -those gorgeous edifices of an hour, built -up that wonderful seeming, ephemeral as the glories -which it celebrated, and stayed those passing moments -for ever in the history of the world.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Though it was the desire to outdo every other -princely Mæcenas which impelled Lodovico to bid -highest for the services of great artists and scholars, -it was not merely his liberality which held such a man -as Leonardo at Milan, but rather his large appreciation, -his sympathy with great and original ideas, his rare -wisdom in leaving genius free to work in its own way. -He had this, moreover, in common with that unique -among the sons of the Italian Renaissance, that -he, too, was a far seeker and the designer of things -never to be finished. Leonardo came to Milan -about 1483. There exists a copy, apparently in -his own handwriting, of a letter recommending -himself to the Moro, in which he enumerates all -his qualifications for employment, beginning with his -skill in the invention of military engines, and ending -with his capacity to carry out any work in sculpture or -painting <i>as well as any other man, be he who he may</i>. -Vasari tells us that on his arrival in Milan he offered -Lodovico a silver lute which he had fashioned himself -in the form of a horse’s head, and in such a manner -that in beauty and sonority of tone it surpassed every -other instrument at the Court, and that the prince -quickly became enamoured of his admirable gifts and -conversation. The more intimate knowledge of the -man revealed in his own notebooks has, however, -changed the traditional picture of Leonardo as a fine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>courtier and brilliant wit and conversationalist, the -centre of attraction at the Court, enjoying great revenues -from the Moro and dissipating them in splendid living. -We see him, instead, secluded with his pupils in the -pleasant home which Lodovico gave him on the outskirts -of the city, beside the Castello gardens, poring -over some problem of construction or hydrostatics, -striving to create a flying-machine or other novel -engine. Or passing rapidly, according to his mood, from -modelling the great horse to his painting in the refectory -of Sta. Maria della Grazie, or tracing the -exquisite contours of those beautiful favourites of the -Moro, Cecilia Gallerani and her successor, Lucrezia -Crivelli, mocked and allured in each shadowy face by -that inscrutable smile of woman in which the secret of -life seemed to hide itself. He evidently cared little to -mingle with the social life of the Court, where perhaps -he was neither able nor willing to express to a circle, -alive to intellectual interests but enslaved by pedantry -and charlatanism, those occult thoughts which even in -his writings he hid in left-handed hieroglyphics. Yet -he must have been a familiar presence in the palace, -where he was constantly summoned for some work -which to us seems strangely disproportioned to his -genius—the arrangement of the water-supply for the -Duchess’s bath, the designing of triumphal arches for -a wedding pageant, or the costumes and accessories of -some spectacular joust. Whatever it was, he did it -with the interest of one for whom there is no great nor -small, and for whom a moment as much as countless -centuries holds eternity, and little things and big manifest -alike the divine law of necessity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Leonardo’s figure overshadows for us all others of -Lodovico il Moro’s Milan. There were many others -besides him, however, of highest reputation at the time -in the chosen circle of the Court. The Moro, in his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>care for the intellectual improvement of his subjects, -imported poets from Tuscany to teach them the art of -composing sonnets. Ancient prejudice against all -things Lombard withheld many of Leonardo’s countrymen -from accepting the Sforza’s offers of honours and -emoluments. But the sunshine of Court favour, come -whence it might, was greedily accepted by the Florentine -Bernardo Bellincione, whose gift for stringing together -appropriate and flattering verses secured him -the position of Court poet for many years at Milan. -Nor could any small local passion restrain that bare-boned -vagabond genius, Antonio Camelli—called il -Pistoia after his native city—from quenching his perennial -famine at the ducal table. But though he played -the fool to amuse his patrons, il Pistoia was of much -rarer stuff than Bellincione. Behind his cloak of -buffoonery the tragedy of a serious and prophetic spirit -hid itself, and a fine satire inspired the sallies of his -fantastic muse. An irrepressible sonneteer, he poured -forth streams of verse at Milan. A number of his -sonnets allude to the politics of the day, and are of great -interest.</p> - -<p class='c000'>These professors of poesy were very successful in -propagating their art in Milan. Francesco Tanzi, one -of the many versifiers at Court, declared that after the -example of Bellincione, Milan was full of sonnets, and -all the rivers and canals ran with the water of Parnassus. -The poetic frenzy had invaded the whole of society, so -that every young knight who desired the favour of ladies -and princes had needs be skilled in making rhymes and -improvising to the music of his lute. A flourishing -school of poetry rewarded the Moro’s patronage and -encouragement, and its most distinguished graduates -were young nobles of the first rank—Gaspare Visconte, -of the same stock as the old ducal House, and Antonio -di Campo Fregoso, of a famous Genoese House. A -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>singer of older and still higher repute in the ducal -circle was that mirror of the graceful and cultured -chivalry of the day, Niccolò da Correggio, who as the -son of Beatrice da Este, wife of Tristan Sforza, was -constantly at Milan, in devoted attendance upon his -cousin, the younger Beatrice da Este. Marchesino -Stanza, Girolamo Tuttavilla, Galeazzo di San Severino, -Galeotto di Caretto, a lettered noble and chronicler of -Montferrato, all swelled the tuneful choir. The Moro -himself is said to have included sonnet-making among -his myriad activities. Around these distinguished figures -hovered a host of lyrists of various rank and accomplishment, -both natives and pilgrims attracted from afar -to this now famous shrine of the Muses. Men of other -occupations added their voices in moments of leisure. -Among these was Bramante, who, in the intervals of -his labours as architect, engineer, painter and master of -revels, competed eagerly for the laurel wreath.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The chief theme of their song, and the object of -the gallant adoration and service of all, was the -younger Beatrice da Este, who at fifteen came to -Milan to be the Moro’s bride. To this child of -tuneful Ferrara, trained from childhood upwards in all -the æsthetic traditions of its famous Court, an atmosphere -of poetry, music and art was as natural as the -air she breathed. With that full and eager vitality -which she shared with her father, Duke Ercole, and her -sister, Isabella of Mantua, she sought all beautiful and -joyous things. In the Court of her rich and indulgent -lord she could satisfy every desire. For the rich -equipment of her person and her surroundings she had -the rarest talent at her command. Leonardo da Vinci -devised curious girdles for her. That finest of goldsmiths, -Caradosso, carved the beautiful gems which she -wore, and spent his most delicate workmanship on pax -or reliquary for her oratory. To create her presentment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>in marble she could choose a Gian Cristoforo -Romano, most cultured and graceful of young sculptors. -Her love of sweet melody was fed by the crowd of -skilled musicians who frequented this Court, where their -art was traditionally welcome. Besides the Flemish -priest Cordier, and the other ultramontane singers of -Duke Galeazzo’s celebrated choir, there were here the -viol player, Jacopo di San Secondo—the Apollo of -Raphael’s Parnassus—whose strains were able to soothe -the Moro in moments of fever and pain, Atalante -Migliorotti, the friend and companion of Leonardo, and -others numberless, nameless to us now. An incomparable -craftsman, Lorenzo di Pavia, made instruments -for her of purest tone, in cases of ivory and ebony most -exquisitely worked. She played herself upon these, -and had a sweet voice. Many a time with her devoted -knight, Galeazzo di San Severino, model of all fashionable -graces, and himself an accomplished singer, and -her favourite Daino, most musical and delightful of -fools, she and her ladies would make harmonious concert. -As became a daughter of Este, Beatrice extended -a princely patronage to scholarship and serious literature. -Her secretary, the learned Vincenzo Calmeta, -tells us that she engaged men suitably gifted to read -aloud to her the <cite>Divina Commedia</cite> and the works of -other Italian poets. She would give serious attention -to literary debates, such as the lively poetic contention -we read of between Bramante and Gaspare Visconte, -on the respective merits of Dante and Petrarca.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Such encounters of sharp-sworded wit, so much in -vogue at that time, were conducted at Milan with less -pedantry and self-conceit than in Courts ruled by more -strictly humanistic traditions. A freedom, gaiety and -freshness animated the intellectual atmosphere here. -The Moro’s extraordinary activity of mind and wide interests, -Beatrice’s ardour, and capacity for enjoyment, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>fired all around them. The Duchess’s eagerness for -culture was tempered by her love of sport and outdoor -life. Her hawks and her hounds were a primary -passion in this Ferrarese princess, and many a fair -morning was passed in adventurous chase of the wild -creatures in her husband’s vast hunting demesnes. She -was a splendid horsewoman, and had unbounded -courage. The lively sports in which she indulged -with her ladies and cavaliers were not always of a -refined order. The gaiety of the fifteenth century was -ministered to by jests and practical jokes of incredible -coarseness, and by all the obscenities of the allowed -fools and monstrosities of nature who capered in -grotesquely brilliant garb round every Renaissance -princess. Yet into this full life the Duchess herself -carried a redeeming innocence. In spite of her free -intercourse with the young nobles, no lightest shadow -ever rested on her fair fame.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The society in which she passed her bright, pure -existence had, however, but lately had Galeazzo Maria -for leader and example, and had forgotten all moral -restrictions. When Beatrice came first to Milan she -found her husband’s mistress, the beautiful poetess -Cecilia Gallerani, installed in the palace itself. The -whole of Milan was rotten beneath its fine vestures and -its art and learning. Wealth and luxury had encouraged -the love of pleasure natural in the people, and -the ideal of freedom in thought and manners, the search -for novel experience and sensation, the worship of the -new old gods, born of the revived knowledge of -antiquity, had induced immorality and corruption more -than elsewhere in this city where voluptuous tastes -were not restrained, as in the Florentines, by natural -temperance. Everywhere in the midst of the joyous -revels lust and evil passions were heaping up sins -ready for the retribution to come. Corio, an eyewitness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>of these times, preludes his story of the -great catastrophe by a vivid picture, adorned by -the fashionable pagan conceits, of Milanese life -during these years before the fatal 1495, when it -seemed to the city and its Lord that everything was -more firmly established in peace than ever before. No -one thought of other than accumulating riches. Pomps -and pleasures ruled the hours. <i>The Court of our princes -was splendid exceedingly, full of new fashions, dresses and -delights. Nevertheless, at this time virtue was so much -lauded on every side that Minerva had set up great -rivalry with Venus, and each sought to make her school -the most brilliant. To that of Cupid came the most -beautiful youths. Fathers yielded to it their daughters, -husbands their wives, brothers their sisters, and so thoughtlessly -did they thus flock to the amorous hall that it was -reckoned a stupendous thing by those who had understanding. -Minerva, she too, sought with all her might to -adorn her gentle Academy. Wherefore that glorious and -most illustrious Prince Lodovico Sforza had called into -his pay—as far as from the uttermost parts of Europe—men -most excellent in knowledge and art. Here was the -learning of Greece, here Latin verse and prose flourished -resplendently, here were the poetic Muses; hither the -masters of the sculptor’s art and those foremost in painting -had gathered from distant countries, and here songs -and sweet sounds of every kind and such dulcet harmonies -were heard, that they seemed to have descended from -Heaven itself upon this excelling Court.</i></p> - -<p class='c000'>We who know the after days of Milan watch the -golden hours gliding by towards the darkness ahead, -and the glory centring round the two doomed figures of -Lodovico and Beatrice is pregnant for us with tragedy -and grief. Corio continues with a description of these -princes, <i>in this so vain felicity</i>, passing their time in -divers pleasures, and speaks of the magnificent jousts and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>tournaments and military shows, and of the homage -paid by the poets to the Moro as Lord both of war and -peace. Yet, he adds, with all this glory, pomp and -wealth, which seemed as though nothing could be added -to it, Lodovico, not content, or unaware of his felicity, -must needs reach higher still, that his fall might be the -greater. And the chronicler, preparing himself to -compose the cruel and unheard-of tale, fears that compassion -will not suffer him to arrive at the piteous end -without tears.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Moro’s power was in fact unstably based. His -was the right of natural ability to rule. But beside him -the lawful sovereign had grown to manhood during these -years. Gian Galeazzo Sforza—the engaging little boy -reading Cicero in Bramantino’s fresco, now in the -Wallace Collection—showed with advancing years -little desire or capacity to govern. Amiable, weakly, -and self-indulgent, he was perfectly content to leave the -power to his uncle, for whom he had a love and admiration -which are a touching element in the relationship of -the two men—usurper and legitimate prince. Had -they only been concerned, the Moro’s peculiar difficulties -might never have arisen. He seems to have regarded -himself sincerely at first as the vicegerent of his nephew. -<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Dum vivis tutus et laetus vivo. Gaude, fili, protector -tuus ero semper.</span></i> These words, in the mouth of nephew -and uncle, are the motto on a miniatured page in the -<cite>History of Francesco Sforza</cite>, by Gio. Simonetta, printed -in 1490. The picture shows Lodovico and Gian -Galeazzo kneeling on the edge of a lake; in the midst -of the water a ship with a youth in it and a Moor at the -helm, and in the background a mulberry-tree (<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">moro</span></i>) -spreading wide branches. This allegory—one of many -such that we read of—may have expressed some real -affection as well as self-exaltation in Lodovico, though -after-events give it a strange irony.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>But the respective marriages of the two princes introduced -another element into the situation. Beatrice da -Este was not only the joyous spirit of festival and sport -and all artistic delight, but a woman of strong character -and intelligence. She quickly gained influence over her -husband, and asserted herself in State affairs. The very -narrowness of her youth and sex gave her power over -the complex and wide-minded Moro, who adored her -spirit and courage, and yielded to her as his great sire -Francesco had yielded to Bianca Maria. Beatrice -wanted the semblance as well as the substance of -sovereignty, and the birth of her son, in 1492, added -the new ambition of a mother to her desire. Isabella of -Aragon, on her side, had a royal spirit; her soul swelled -with rage and offended pride when the regent showed -no intention of relinquishing the government to her -husband. In vain she urged Gian Galeazzo to assume -his rights; her exhortations only passed straight from -the confiding boy into Lodovico’s ears. Her sense of -wrong was further exasperated by Beatrice, who usurped -the homage and consequence which should have been -Isabella’s as consort of the sovereign. The rivalry between -the princesses began very soon after Beatrice’s -appearance on the scene, and that playful boxing-match -of which we read, in which the Duchess of Bari knocked -down her of Milan, was the symbol of a contest which -involved fatal issues reaching far beyond the two women -themselves.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Influenced by his wife’s ambition, and the birth of -his son—also perhaps by the impossibility, when the hour -came, of relinquishing the sweets of power and sacrificing -his vast projects and the fruits of his past incessant -labours to the claim of mere primogeniture represented -by the feeble and already failing Gian Galeazzo—Lodovico -was evidently scheming, after 1490, to make himself -Duke of Milan. From the time of the Moro’s marriage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>the ceremonial homage which had been paid till then -to the young Duke was gradually lessened. The tutelage -which had been proper in his boyhood was now -used to emphasize his incapacity. No single office or -dignity was at his disposal. Ministers of State, captains -of fortresses, generals and magistrates, all were appointed -by Lodovico. At no point did his subjects come into -contact with their real sovereign. He was dependent -for all supplies upon the Moro, who kept absolute control -of the immense Sforza treasure. The birth of his -heir was but scantily celebrated, while that of Lodovico’s -a little later was made the occasion of the most -pompous rejoicings. The halls of the sovereigns in the -Corte Ducale were gradually deserted, while Lodovico -and Beatrice’s apartments in the Rocchetta were -thronged. The self-seeking courtiers knew well where -their devotion was most profitably placed. Besides, it -was melancholy in the chambers of a sickly prince and -a sad princess ever brooding over her wrongs. The -two appeared less and less in public, and finally retired -altogether to the Castle of Pavia, and their pathetic -figures were almost forgotten on the joyous stage of -Milanese life.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But they existed—a constant menace to the Moro, -a weapon for his thousand enemies in the State, and for -jealous Italy outside. Isabella’s piteous complaints to -her grandfather, whom she implored to right her -husband, inflamed the long-standing Aragonese hatred of -the Sforza. The other powers—Venice, baulked in -her greed of conquest by the strong hand of the Moro, -and ever nervous for the cities which she had wrested -from Milan in Filippo Maria’s time; Pope Alexander -VI., who allowed no gratitude to the Sforza, although -through Cardinal Ascanio they had been the means of -his election, to interfere with his schemes for a new -Borgian Italy; Florence, politically and commercially -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>jealous of the Lombard State—all would have gladly -seen the Moro overthrown and Milan depressed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>During these years of peace and of expansion for -Milan, the suspicious fear with which the disproportionate -prosperity of one power was always regarded -by the rest of Italy had concentrated itself upon -Lodovico Sforza. His extraordinary success and untiring -activity, his powers of intrigue, his ability and -resource, were the theme of every tongue. The extravagant -adulations of his Court poets were repeated -and unwillingly credited throughout Italy. With the -vast wealth of Milan at his command what might he -not do? Fear of Milan was an old habit. Was it -she that should give Italy a master after all? Was this -dark prince, mysteriously potent, to be the destroyer -of her liberty at last?</p> - -<p class='c000'>Had men looked more closely into the monster of -their imagination, they might have perceived that it -was not Lodovico’s ambition that was most to be -apprehended. The fatal situation which now developed -seems to have been the product of two opposing -fears. The Moro’s faith in himself and in his good -fortune was a superstition which supported itself upon -the lying prophecies of the astrologer ever at his side, -and was at the mercy of every ill omen. His intrigues -were often the devices of a man on the defensive, -rather than the confident moves of a conqueror. To -give a colour of justification to his now almost complete -usurpation, he set casuists to work and evolved a -specious doctrine, pronouncing himself lawful successor -of his father, as the first son born to Francesco after -he became Duke of Milan. By means of this argument, -and the better persuasion of an enormous gift of gold, -he obtained from the Emperor Maximilian the promise -of the investiture of the Duchy, an obsolete legality -which neither Francesco or Galeazzo had troubled to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>obtain in confirmation of the right won by the sword. -These devices, however, aroused only derision and -scandal in his own country, nor could they quiet his -own uneasy mind. He felt Italy against him and was -afraid. His particular dread of the House of Aragon -never slept. Though old King Ferrante urged with -pathetic sincerity the maintenance of the league which -had preserved the peace of Italy for so many fortunate -years, he might at any moment be succeeded by Alfonso -of Calabria, who did not disguise his hatred of the -Moro and his longing to right his daughter and son-in-law. -Lorenzo de’ Medici had died in 1491, and peace -was already threatened by the injudicious policy of his -son Piero. The covetousness of Venice, the faithless -selfishness of the Pope, completed a situation of general -peril, which might easily beget a great combination to -crush Lodovico and reinstate Gian Galeazzo, to be -followed by a scramble for the States which all knew -the young Duke incapable of governing.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Moro resolved to anticipate the blow. With -fatal confidence in his power to control the force which -he was evoking, he opened the gate which it was Milan’s -sacred duty to keep shut against the foreigner. He -invited Charles VIII. of France to lead an army into -Italy against the Princes of Aragon, and to recover the -Kingdom of Naples for the House of Anjou.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Lodovico’s act did not perhaps at the time wear the -magnitude of guilt which subsequent events gave it. -Italy was so disunited, so lacking in any general -principle of patriotism that her various tyrants had not -scrupled to appeal at times to France or the Empire -in their needs. Men were used to sporadic attempts -of the Princes of Anjou to overthrow the Aragonese -dynasty in Naples. But now that the Angevin claims -were vested in the King of France, such attempts -must be more perilous for Italy. Naples was not the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>only State to which France had pretensions. Louis -of Orleans—next in succession to the throne of France -after the sickly Charles and his infant son—claimed -the Duchy of Milan itself through his ancestress -Valentina Visconte. The success of the French -enterprise in Naples could scarcely fail to be followed -by a vindication of this other claim. Nothing but -that strange and fatal belief in himself, which not only -inspired Lodovico but had infected his contemporaries, -could have blinded the Moro to the madness of his -proceedings and induced Venice, Florence and the -Pope to abet his projects at first by forming a new -league with him and abandoning Naples to its fate. -There was some strange glamour about this remarkable -man which deluded his own generation. The Renaissance -spirit felt itself represented and fulfilled in him. -Its boundless confidence in human possibilities was -exemplified by the reputation of almost superhuman -powers with which it invested Lodovico Sforza. <cite>God -in Heaven and the Moro on earth</cite>, so dared il Pistoia to -sing, and the prince to hear. The tragic fall which -awaited this exaltation is a part of the inward as well -as outward history of an age when pride built so high, -only to be smitten with incompleteness. Strangest of -all, perhaps, was the self-deception of Lodovico himself, -shown by the persistence in him, throughout his hopeless -captivity, of this superstitious faith, after it had -utterly failed him in the crisis of his life, so that in -his last moments, in his prison at Loches, he could -attribute his overthrow to nothing less than the direct -intervention of God, to punish him for his sins, <i>since -only the sudden might of destiny, he said, could have subverted -the counsels of human wisdom</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In inviting Charles, Lodovico doubtless thought to -produce a temporary diversion, which should weaken -Naples and produce a political upheaval, amid which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>he should be able to secure the ducal throne, and once -seated in it, readjust by adroit diplomacy, the balance -of power in the peninsula after the retirement of the -invader in due course. But he had left out of account -the respective conditions of France and Italy—the -pent-up military fury in the noble classes in the first -country, which raged for an outlet, the fatal weakness -of disunion in the second, and the enervation which -peace and unparalleled prosperity had produced in its -people. He may have hoped to achieve his ends by -the mere threat of French invasion, and counted on -the indecision of the young king and his own subtle -craft to keep the matter from going any further. -Charles, however, whose weak head swam with the -flatteries of venal councillors, and with romantic ideas -imbibed from the tales of the Paladins, was easily persuaded -to undertake the conquest of Naples as a -preliminary step to the redemption of Christendom -from the Turk.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the preparations for the expedition were very -dilatory, and more than two years passed before they -were completed. During this time of suspense Italy -was full of doubts and fears. Lodovico’s allies began -to hesitate, and there were daily shiftings of policy in -the various States, now in favour of Naples, now of -France, all actuated by self-interest, which guided -them finally in this crisis of their country’s fate to a -despicable neutrality, waiting upon events. The -Moro’s own policy was shifting and tortuous, even -displaying at times an anxiety—little credited by his -neighbours—to save Naples from the catastrophe -which he himself was bringing upon her. Already he -was working for a reaction against the French in the -event of their success in Italy. But his advances to -the opposite party won for him only the distrust of -his friends, and in France many warned Charles of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>folly of relying upon this man, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">homme sans foy, s’il voyoit -son profit pour la rompre</span></i>, as Commines pronounces him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile, careless apparently of the future, Italy -continued her wild dance of pleasure. In Milan, -gaiety and licence reigned supreme. Yet there are -many signs that a sense of sin and of a reckoning at -hand had begun to awaken. The sonnets of il Pistoia -grew grave with prophecies to laughing Italy of the -much weeping which time would soon draw from her, -and of the shortness of the hours between her and her -immense, irreparable sorrow. The superstitious Moro -himself must have been shaken by the blind friar who -is said to have appeared in the Piazza of Milan at the -time of his negotiations with the French King, crying—<i>Prince, -show him not the way, else thou wilt repent -it</i>. From Florence came the echo of Savonarola’s -annunciation, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gladius Domini super terram cito et -velociter</span></i>. More poignant still to ears that could hear -was the tremulous voice of the octogenarian King of -Naples, warning Pope and Moro, again and again, of the -peril clear to the terrible prevision of the dying—<i>He -who will may begin a war, but stop it, no!</i></p> - -<p class='c000'>But the voices cried in the wilderness. King -Ferrante’s was spent by death early in 1494, and in -the following autumn Charles appeared at last at the -head of a splendid host, and was welcomed with immense -pomp and revelry by Lodovico and Beatrice at -Pavia. There in the Castle the young Duke lay dying. -The King visited him, and the piteous spectacle roused -the sympathy of the monarch and his followers, for -whom the person of legitimate sovereignty had a sacredness -unfelt by the Italians. Charles was, however, much -embarrassed by the Duchess Isabella, who besought -him to have mercy on her father, the King of Naples. -<i>She had better have prayed for herself, who was still a -young and fair lady</i>, observes Commines.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>The invaders passed on, finding their path cleared -before them, and their progress already an assured -triumph. Their cruelty when they had first entered -the country had terrified all inclination to oppose them -out of the Italians. Piero de’ Medici’s shameful surrender, -Florence’s welcome, the inactivity of the Pope, -the speedy fall of Naples, all the details of the pitiful -story are well-known. Charles had not gone far when -Gian Galeazzo died. The cruel report at once arose, -and was widely believed by both French and Italians, -that Lodovico had had him poisoned, and the Moro’s -memory has come down to our day loaded with this -detestable sin. Modern inquiry has, however, shown -how little foundation there is for the charge, disproving -the preliminary accusations against Lodovico of starving -and ill-treating the ducal couple, and making it clear -that Gian Galeazzo was surrounded by physicians and -carefully tended. It is evident that Lodovico’s temperament -was incapable of such a crime—that he would -have been repelled by the mere idea of murdering this -nephew whom he had brought up, and who loved him -with a pathetic fidelity to the last. Gian Galeazzo’s -longing on his death-bed for the uncle, who was far -away, riding in splendour beside the French King, -his touching questions to one of Lodovico’s gentlemen -whether he thought his Excellency the Moro <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">li volesse -bene</span></i>—loved him, Gian Galeazzo—and whether he -seemed sorry that he was ill, go far to dissipate -the cruel suspicion. Nevertheless, the young Duke’s -death relieved Lodovico’s conscience of its last -scruple with regard to the Dukedom. He hastened -back to Milan and had himself invested with the -ducal mantle, cap and sceptre, in the midst of a -stupendous pomp.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile, the success of the French was producing -the result anticipated by the Moro. Venice, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>awaking to the danger which the terrible prestige of -the conqueror’s arms meant for all Italy, was ready to -listen to Lodovico’s proposals for a remedy. The -invaders were now to add to their experience of -Italian pusillanimity an acquaintance with the craft -which had superseded brute courage in this advanced -nation. Scarcely had the French King turned his -back on Lombardy, when the Venetian ambassadors -were treating with the new Duke of Milan for -an alliance against him. A few months later, -Charles and his knights, sick with the Southern -delights of their newly-conquered realm, and longing -like homesick children for France, found their return -barred by a powerful coalition of their late ally with -Venice, the Emperor, the King of Spain, and nearly -all the minor States of Italy. The story of their -homeward march, more like a flight, need not be -repeated here. At the approach of the French to his -dominions, the faithless Lodovico trembled in his -palace, in spite of the mighty host of allies which was -awaiting them, while his people, beside themselves -with fear of the cruel Northerners, and exasperated by -the grievous taxation imposed upon them to oppose -this evil which the Moro had himself provoked, -murmured against him as the murderer of Gian -Galeazzo, and the oppressor of the widowed Duchess -and her son. Lodovico well knew that he could not -lean upon his subjects in adversity. But the battle of -Fornuovo (1495) relieved Lombardy of all fear of the -French for the time, though the Italians let slip their -chance of annihilating the hungry and enfeebled enemy, -and crushing the Northern terror for ever. The irresistible -conqueror of a year back, having with miraculous -good fortune escaped with the best part of his troops to -Asti, was compelled to negotiate for peace with Milan -and Venice. At the meetings of the Duke and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>Venetian Ambassadors with the representatives of -Charles, Lodovico was accompanied by his young -wife, who took part in all the discussions, and astonished -everybody by her intelligence and wisdom. All -through this critical period of the French invasion, -Beatrice was the true helpmeet of her husband, sustaining -by her courage and will his more sensitive -temperament under the fears and doubts which -assailed it.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Peace at last concluded, the French finally made -their way home, leaving so weak a hold on Naples that -the Aragonese quickly reinstated themselves. In the -universal joy at the disappearance of the invaders it -appeared to all that the Moro had saved Italy. His -prestige, of late clouded, was now more brilliant than -ever. Securely seated on the ducal throne, strong in -the new alliance in which his initiative had bound Italy, -he seemed indeed to have succeeded in all his calculations -and schemes. Those seeds of future danger—the -fatal knowledge of Italy’s weakness, which the French -had acquired, the declaration of the Duke of Orleans, -that he should return to conquer his rightful heritage -of Milan—were unheeded. In his new exaltation the -Moro vaunted himself the child of fortune, and believed -himself to be, as astrologers, poets, courtiers, ambassadors -told him, arbiter of the destinies of Italy, -and incarnation of almost divine wisdom and prudence. -He put his trust more and more in destiny, and -prompted by his venal astrologer, Ambrogio da Rosate, -thought to read in the stars his triumph. As if blinded -by the gods in preparation for the sacrifice, he passed -all bounds in his arrogance. The old jealousy and distrust -of his fellow-sovereigns now revived with new -force. His jester’s vainglorious trumpeting—<i>the Pope -is my chaplain, Venice my treasurer, the Emperor my -chamberlain, and the King of France my courier</i>, was repeated -in every city of Europe, as if Lodovico himself -had seriously spoken it. The many guests at the Castello -of Milan told everywhere of the painting on the walls -there, depicting Italy as a queen, and the Moro, with -a <i><span lang="nap" xml:lang="nap">scoppetta</span></i>—his personal emblem—brushing the dust -from her robes, whereon were inscribed the different -Italian cities. These boasts of exaggerated self-confidence -rankled in his contemporaries. But while -they hated him, they feared him too. More than ever -now all Italy waited upon his motions.</p> - -<div id='t176' class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/i_195.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>LODOVICO IL MORO, BY BOLTRAFFIO (TRIVULZIO COLLECTION)<br /><br /><i>To face p.</i> 176.]      [<i>Anderson, Rome</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>The months that followed the conclusion of peace -with Charles were joyous beyond compare. In the -summer of this year (1496) the Duke and Duchess had -a meeting with the Emperor, and returned loaded with -honours, which added a new lustre to Lodovico’s -fame.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Suddenly, at the height of his fortune, Fate struck -her first blow at the Moro. Beatrice died (1497).</p> - -<p class='c000'>The golden days of Milan changed all at once to -gloom. Silence shut down upon the dancing and -sweet music. The Duke, to whom even his children -and State seemed no longer worth living for, sat for -nine days in a darkened chamber alone, refusing all -comfort, while in Sta. Maria delle Grazie the monks -chanted incessant masses for Beatrice’s soul. The -Moro was overwhelmed. <i>He who had ever lived happy, -now began to feel great anguish</i>, says the Venetian -Sanuti. The fabric of his dreams had crashed upon -him. What were kingdoms to him without that clear-sighted -and dauntless spirit at his side? Not only was -his strong affection rent, but his profound faith in his -good fortune was awfully shaken. As if the evil -augury had to declare itself unmistakably, on the -night of Beatrice’s death a large part of the walls of -the vast pleasaunce which he had created round the -Castello fell with a great crash, ruined by no storm or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>wind, or agency perceptible to human sense. From -this moment, so much is man’s destiny affected by his -own spirits, all Lodovico’s misfortunes began. He -entered on that downward course which was to drag so -much to ruin with it—and to the husband’s loss of the -blessing of this Beatrice, the poet of the Italian Renaissance -ascribes not only the fall of Moro, Sforza, and -Visconte Snake together, but the captivity of Italy.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Beatrice bea, vivendo, il suo consorte,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">E lo lascia infelice alla sua morte.</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Anzi tutta Italia, che con lei</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Fia trionfante e senza lei, captiva.</span>’<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c014'><sup>[3]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. </span>Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, canto xlii.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The gate which the Moro had thought to shut so -easily upon the departed stranger was once more ajar. -A second French expedition threatened Italy, and -Milan in particular. Early in 1497, the great captain -Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, head of the party in Milan -hostile to the Sforza, and a bitter personal foe of the -Moro, who had abandoned his country and was high -in the French service, made a raid into the ducal -dominions. At the same time his partisans stirred up -the discontent of the people, and inspired their volatile -minds with desire for a change of masters. And soon -the League began to show its internal weakness. The -interests of the two chief parties in it were fatally opposed. -Venice found her designs on Pisa thwarted by -Lodovico and in her rage began to ponder the advantages -of making friends with the French. Out of the -struggle for Naples now renewed between the French -garrison and the Aragonese she might by a prudent -policy, when both combatants were exhausted, secure -the sea-kingdom of the South, and might not a second -descent of the French King, lasting long enough to -overthrow the Sforza and no more, put rich Lombardy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>at last within her reach? With such hopes the grave -senators flattered their ambition and forgot their faith -to Italy. The Pope, for his own interests, had turned -his back on the Sforza, and was parleying with the -common foe, while in Florence the Frate and the people -still looked to Charles for the establishment of the -Kingdom of God on earth and the restitution of Pisa.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The King, however, swayed by opposite counsels, let -the months go by, and the Moro, with desperate trust -in his own statesmanship, still hoped to save his Dukedom. -In spite of his anxieties and embarrassments, -his unconquerable instinct of order maintained the fair -aspect of his dominions. But on the great artistic projects -of his triumphant days an arresting spell was laid. -The resources of the State were exhausted in war and -defensive preparations. The people were already taxed -to rebellion, and no supplies were forthcoming for his -painters and sculptors. Leonardo asked in vain for -the bronze for casting the statue of Francesco Sforza. -The clay model, raised in front of the Castello in 1493, -on the occasion of Bianca Maria’s marriage with Maximilian, -had remained there since, and it seemed more -and more likely that this high thought of prince -and artist combined would never take on any but an -ephemeral form.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The brief, uneasy quiet was broken by a stroke of -fate. Charles VIII. died suddenly (1498), and was -succeeded by the Duke of Orleans. Louis XII. had -no sooner ascended the throne than he announced his -immediate intention of invading Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Once more put to the trial, Italy proved again unfaithful -to herself. And the pity of it was that the -fault lay in her long-rooted political conditions, not in -the will of the people. The sentiment of patriotism was -strong in the country, and <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bon</span> <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">italiano</span></i> was the current -expression for one who hated and opposed the French. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>Yet it could not avail to overcome the conflict of interests -among the different States, which was, after all, -the blind continuous struggle of the national instinct, -whether represented for the moment by Republic, -hereditary tyrant or military usurper, towards the -creation of a single and united kingdom. This time -Venice was the arbiter of the situation. Answering -the Moro’s piteous and self-humiliating appeals for -help and protection only by cruel taunts of perfidy, the -Republic concluded an alliance with the French (1498).</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Moro’s old disloyalties were now repaid to him -tenfold. He looked round him in vain for a friend. -The reward of usurpers and short tyrannic dynasties -based on force, not love, met him in an alienated -people, who refused to endure hardship or make sacrifices -to save him, but looked instead to any change of -government as desirable. His armies, composed chiefly -of foreigners, were undisciplined and rebellious, serving -only for pay. They were badly generaled by the -Duke’s favourites. Lodovico, with all his ability, had -little judgment in his choice of servants. He was led -by his affections, which betrayed him. Chief among -his trusted officers were the San Severini brothers—the -Conte di Caiazzo, Galeazzo, famous champion of the -tourney-lists, and the Moro’s son-in-law, and the gruff -Gaspare, better known as Fracasso. They were the -sons of Roberto di San Severino, but Lodovico had -kept them always beside him and heaped honours and -places upon them. Galeazzo, the prime favourite, had -the chief command of his army. Francesco Bernardino -Visconte, Antonio Maria Pallavicino, Antonio Trivulzio -and the rest, all were alike unprepared in heart to sacrifice -themselves for the sovereign in whose sunshine they -had warmed themselves. The slight tie that bound together -the various elements of the State could not endure -against fear, ambition, greed and hereditary hate. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>situation was further aggravated by the arrogance and -exactions of the ducal favourites which excited the rage -of the people and increased Lodovico’s unpopularity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Events moved rapidly. In March 1499 the treaty -between France, Venice and the Pope was publicly proclaimed. -Louis was to conquer Milan, and Venice, as -the price of assistance, was to share the spoils. Florence -was nominally the Moro’s ally, but had neither means -nor will to help him now. Naples was too weak -to count, and Lodovico’s one friend, the unstable and -spendthrift Maximilian, gave only empty promises. -The Duke was left to make his desperate defence alone. -In spite of his energetic preparations the presage of -doom lay heavy on his soul, and affected all around him. -He believed that Fortune, once his friend, was now contrary, -and that God was angry with him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In June the French army arrived in Asti, and immediately -invaded the ducal territories. Every obstacle -fell before them. Treachery and fear delivered castles -and cities one after another into their hands. The -Conte di Caiazzo made secret terms with them, and -withdrew his troops from action. The rapid progress -of the invaders brought them soon to the strong city of -Alessandria, in which Galeazzo di San Severino and -the main Milanese army lay to check their advance -upon the capital itself. Here they met a promise of -resistance, but the place had not been besieged many -days when for some extraordinary and unexplained -reason it was delivered to them. Some say that -Galeazzo was seized with despair, others that he was -deceived by a forged order to retire. Anyhow, one -morning before daybreak he stole out with a few other -nobles and galloped to Milan, and his army, when they -found their general gone, incontinently fled in all -directions.</p> - -<p class='c000'>No obstacle now remained between the enemy and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>Milan. With the same fatal spirit of despair which -had undermined the whole defence, Lodovico gave himself -up for lost. Though his great Castle at Milan -was the strongest fortress in Europe, its garrison nearly -three thousand, its artillery enormous in number and -size, its munitions of war and all necessaries infinite, he -could see no salvation except in abandoning the city and -seeking aid in person from the Emperor. There may -have been something of the instinct of bending before -the storm in his decision. He knew that he could not -hold the city, where the insurgent mob was already -sacking the palaces of his favourites. If the citadel -only stood firm, however, there was every chance of -some revolution of the political wheel carrying him back -before long. But blinded again by affection, he made -a fatal mistake in his choice of a Castellan. In spite -of many warnings he confided the entire command of -the castle to one Bernardino da Corte, whom he had -brought up from childhood and loaded with favours, -charging him to guard it faithfully against the enemy, -and promising to relieve him before three months were -past.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Lodovico Sforza’s departure from the city which his -father had won and he himself had ruled gloriously for -many years; the tears and kisses with which he parted -from his little motherless sons, sending them before him -into Germany; his last visit, attended by weeping -monks, to the tomb of his wife in Sta. Maria delle -Grazie; his rapid ride out of the city next morning, -after a night of fever and anguish, accompanied by a -very few friends and followers, while the people’s cry -changed from ‘Moro, Moro’ to ‘Franza, Franza,’ even as -he passed—these things are all recorded with deep compassion -by Corio, whose chronicle sadly concludes with -this downfall of the House which he had served from -boyhood.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>Behind Lodovico’s back, amid the flames and smoke -of the burning palaces, the streets and squares broke -out into a garish splendour of decoration to welcome his -conqueror. Four days later Gian Giacomo Trivulzio -rode in at the head of the French, amid the wild enthusiasm -of the mob. The General, elated at his -triumphant return to his native city, promised them -anything and everything in the name of their rich, -powerful, and all benign new master, the King of France. -They believed that the millennium was come.</p> - -<p class='c000'>They soon learnt their mistake. Meanwhile, Fate had -dealt the decisive blow to the domination of the Sforza. -The rock of their fortunes, the impregnable Castello, -provided by the extreme care and thought of the Moro -with every necessary for a lengthy siege, was after a few -days basely sold to the enemy by the traitor Castellan. -On reception of the news in his distant retreat Lodovico -is said to have remained as if mute, and to have finally -uttered these words only—<i>Since Judas was there never -a greater traitor than Bernardino Curzio</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This condemnation was echoed by the whole world, -and with especial emphasis by the French themselves, -who were amazed at such treachery and cowardice. -But the Castellan was not the only traitor. Bernardino -Fr. Visconte and others of Lodovico’s great ministers -were his accomplices, and partakers of the spoil. -Hardly was the old master gone, ere they bent before -the new. Louis XII. followed his army in person to -Milan, and entered in great state, wearing the ducal -beretta, and greeted by the same artistic demonstrations -of joy and loyalty as had so often celebrated the -pompous occasions of the Moro’s rule. After a short -stay he departed to France, leaving Trivulzio as -governor, an imprudent choice, which inflamed the old -faction spirit. Most of the nobles were Trivulzio’s -hereditary enemies. They began at once to scheme -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>his overthrow, aided by the French guards, who could -not bear to see Gian Giacomo preferred before them to -such high place. In the populace discontent soon -reawakened. They found themselves in worse case -than before. Their master was different, but the taxes -remained the same, and in addition they had to endure -the cruelties and excesses of the French troops. The -partisans of the Sforza worked insidiously upon their -minds and excited them to cries of ‘Moro, Moro,’ once -again. The city seethed with intrigue and sedition. -Every day tumults arose, and the brave Trivulzio, -beset with snares and embarrassments, tried vainly -with his frank methods and simple soldier’s choler to -rule this mass of conflicting passions, greeds, sufferings -and cunning ambitions.</p> - -<p class='c000'>While the way was thus being prepared in Milan -for his restoration, Lodovico, in his exile at Innsbrück, -was using every means to accomplish it, even to the -desperate expedient of inciting the Turk to attack the -Venetian State. At the same time he gathered together -a strong body of Swiss and German mercenaries, -and prepared to start for Italy as soon as he learnt -from his friends in Milan that the moment was come. -The French strength in the Duchy had been greatly -diminished by the departure of large detachments for -Naples and the Romagna, when the report ran through -Milan that the Moro was come back and had retaken -Como (1500). The whole city was immediately in an -uproar, and the mob surged round the palace of the -governor, who, after vainly endeavouring to quiet them, -was forced to hide from their insults and threats. A few -days later he left Milan. Immediately after, Lodovico’s -forerunners, Cardinal Ascanio and two of the San -Severini, rode in at the head of four thousand Swiss. -Messer Galeazzo, flowering once more in the sunshine -of his Lord’s success, had arrayed himself all in white, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>with a great feather on his head, and a pair of shoes on -his feet much more fitted for the service of Venus than -of Mars, as a sarcastic chronicler observes. The Duke -himself followed a day later and re-entered his capital -in state. But his triumph was only apparent. The -Castello was now the bulwark of his enemy. It stood -with its huge bastions and vast squares of parapets -furnished with a thousand engines of war, frowning -over the defenceless city. Even as the Moro paced -in stately procession through the streets the bells rang -out, and a terrified cry arose that the French had -sallied from the fortress. The Duke was not strong -enough to attempt its reduction, and unwilling to face -the constant peril of its presence, he left the city, which -he was never to see again, and removed to Pavia.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The same sickness of doubt, indecision and fear, the -same presentiment of failure which had attended the -Moro for so long, now seemed to attack this great -adventure for the redemption of his fortunes. He -neglected to strike a decisive blow at the French before -they could be reinforced, and contented himself with -retaking a few cities with as little shedding of blood -as possible. In vain Fracasso and his bolder captains -exhorted him to more energetic steps. His fierce -Swiss mercenaries, to whom he refused the satisfaction -of sacking the conquered towns, grew violent and -rebellious. His treasury was exhausted, nor could -all the expedients of Cardinal Ascanio in Milan, even -the appropriation of the treasure of the Duomo and -the other great churches, raise enough money to content -the voracious Swiss, of whom new hosts were -continually swarming into the city on their way to the -camp, clamouring for employment and pay. The -citizens, terrified by these rude allies, squeezed of every -penny to supply the Duke’s necessities, found their -plight worse than ever. Hearing of the great reinforcements -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>even now pouring down from the mountains -to swell the French army, they trembled with fear of -the consequences of their rebellion against Louis XII. -In Novara, where the Moro now lay, despair and confusion -prevailed among the leaders, while the temper -of the Swiss mercenaries grew daily more ominous.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The French army, gradually increasing in number and -strength, was encamped at Mortara, a few miles away, -and constantly made bold dashes up to the very walls -of Novara. A battle could no longer be avoided. -On the 4th of April the enemy advanced to within a -mile of Novara and challenged the Italians to the -combat. Lodovico’s army issued forth in noble array, -but it was nothing more than hollow show. The -whole of the Swiss, who formed its greater part, refused -to fight, on the pretext that they could not shed the -blood of their fellow-countrymen engaged in the French -ranks. Their leaders had in fact secretly treated with -the enemy. Returning into Novara, followed in wild -confusion and panic by the rest of the army, they -proceeded to arrange terms of capitulation with De -Ligny, the French commander. The promises, entreaties, -tears even of the unhappy Moro, could not -move them from their purpose. All he could obtain -was a promise that they would carry him into safety -disguised in the midst of their ranks when they abandoned -Novara. And even this small mercy was a -sham and a treachery. Someone among them warned -the French generals of the arrangement, and a careful -scrutiny of the troops, as in accordance with the agreement -with the French they marched out unmolested, -soon detected the Duke by his well-known features -and complexion and the undisguisable height and -majesty of his person. With him were captured also -Galeazzo di San Severino and one or two other nobles.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus unbloodily, as if by the decree of Fate, fell -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>Lodovico Sforza. We watch his dark and mournful -figure—more dignified in adversity than when tossed -amid the rude and difficult circumstances of active war—as -it passes slowly out of Italy in its vesture of -tragedy, conducted with respectful compassion by the -chivalrous French, taunted and reviled by his own -countrymen. It bears a significance reaching far beyond -the immediate event and the immediate victim. So -much was passing away with it. Italy, that fair queen -whose robes the too-aspiring Prince had desired to -brush free from every stain, was a captive with him, -befouled and bloodied by the ignorant barbarian, and -all the joy and exaltation of her wonderful Quattrocento -was to fail, and her new-found strength and hope, with -its sky-aspiring projects but half realised, to be bound -down in the sad fetters of disillusion, despair, and a new -spiritual tyranny, while the grand ideal of the Renaissance -was to travel away with her freedom and find -its perfect fulfilment elsewhere.</p> - -<p class='c000'>As Lodovico Sforza was the first to utter the fatal -invitation to the French, he was fitly the first scapegoat. -But, not alone in his sin, he was not alone in the -punishment. If we condemn him for starting the ruin -of his country by delivering Naples to Charles, what -shall we say of Venice, Florence and the Pope, who -each for their own selfish interests completed it by -selling Milan to Louis? The inexorable retribution -did not fail to fall upon them also. The first years of -the sixteenth century are its history. Alexander, -dying, dragged down that son and that earthly -dominion for which he had given his soul. Venice, -shaken nigh to destruction in her turn, by an iniquitous -combination, had to forget her wide dreams of empire -and be content with a narrow liberty, passing into -stagnation and decay. Julius, continuer of Alexander’s -worldly policy, may well have seen with prophetic eye, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>when death called him too, his unaccomplished scheme -of a renovated Church,—Papacy and Empire in one, -head of a new heaven on earth, which should lay the -sword of temporal and spiritual victory at the feet of -the purified Venus, Madonna with her Son upon her -knee, shrink to the monastic ideals and the rigid -excluding tyranny of the Catholic reaction. Last of -all, Florence, most constant of the lovers of liberty, -with her most melancholy fall filled up the cup of expiation -and sealed the final subjugation of the country.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_208.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>SCOPETTA OF LODOVICO IL MORO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Sorrow of Milan</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Il povero Milano cridava, pensando di poter cridare, ma fu</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">una mala cosa per Milano.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Burigozzo.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>At Novara, Milan lost her independence for ever. -The restoration of the Sforza, witnessed twice -over in the first thirty years of the sixteenth century, -was a mere puppet-show, barely concealing the hand of -greater Powers behind. The Gascon archers, who -from the Castello walls amused themselves by shooting -to fragments the great clay model of ‘the Horse,’ had -ruined as effectively the fair social fabric, as unique, as -fragile, and as incomplete, which Leonardo’s work symbolised -in the person of its founder, Francesco Sforza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the captivity of Lodovico began in fact that -long foreign subjugation of Milan which was to endure -into modern times. Her vicissitudes during the short -period that still comes within the scope of our mediæval -story are too sad to linger over. Reoccupied by the -French after Novara, the city was mulcted in an -enormous sum as the penalty of rebellion, and instead -of the comparatively mild régime under a native -governor, first instituted by Louis, she had to suffer -the iron rule of a foreign viceroy, whose aim was to -stamp out every spark of free and patriotic aspiration -in the people.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But for several years Milan enjoyed at least outward -peace, under the triumphant Lilies, governed in succession -by the Cardinal de Rohan, the Sieur du Benin, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>Charles d’Amboise, Sieur de Chaumont, the last of -whom ruled from 1505 to his death in 1511. In 1509 -domination of the French was shaken by a sudden reversal -of policy on the part of Pope Julius, who, having used -their aid to humble Venice, suddenly made friends -with that Republic, and loudly roared to all Europe his -intention of driving the French out of Italy. The -immediate result for Milan was a great inroad of Swiss -allies of the Pope, under that terrible peasant priest, the -Cardinal de Sion, and the devastation of the fair Lombard -provinces. The French, whose forces were -weakened by dispersion in various directions and could -ill resist this furious onslaught, endeavoured to dismay -their adversary by raising a so-called General Council -for the reform of the Church, in the shape of a few -partisan cardinals, who sat solemnly in the Duomo at -Milan and pronounced futile sentences of excommunication -and deposition against the bellicose Pontiff.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But Julius, strong in alliance with the Emperor and -the King of Spain, laughed at the feeble thunders of his -rebellious sons. The French found better aid in the -military genius of Gaston de Foix, the King’s nephew, -who succeeded Chaumont as Governor of Milan and -commander of the army in 1511. With a stern and -silent rapidity which amazed all Italy, the young -general of twenty-two swept through Lombardy, retaking -lost cities, relieving those beleaguered, and carrying -his arms against the Papalists and Imperialists right -up to Ravenna, where he routed them utterly in the -famous battle of Easter Day, 1512. The victory, -however, issued fatally for the winners. The hero of -it was borne dead from the field in slow and mournful -procession back to Milan, followed soon after by his -paralysed army in retreat before the renewed hosts -which the inactivity of the new French commander, -Palissy, had allowed the dauntless Pope to collect. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>Pressed on all sides in the Duchy by the Swiss, Palissy -was unable to maintain his position there either, and -continuing their retreat the French passed away over -the Alps, abandoning all their conquests in Lombardy, -except the fortresses of Milan and Cremona.</p> - -<p class='c000'>And now once more a Sforza was proclaimed Lord -of Milan, amid the thunderous rejoicings of the people. -But the son of Lodovico and Beatrice, Massimiliano, -whom the Pope and the Cardinal de Sion, for their -own political purposes, lifted to the throne of his -ancestors at this juncture, was nothing but the feeble -tool of those two potentates, a helpless and rotten -bark tossed amid the storms of those contentious times. -For the little authority which he wielded, he was utterly -unfit. Bred up in exile at the Emperor’s Court, he -had no affection for his country, and regarded his new -sovereignty merely as an opportunity for extravagant -pleasure and dissipation. The maintenance of his -luxurious Court, and of the huge army necessary to -defend the State, demanded enormous sums, to raise -which he recklessly alienated the ducal revenues, and -continually imposed unexpected taxes on his subjects. -To satisfy rapacious allies and favourites, he flung -away his fiefs, seeming, as a chronicler says, to follow -the proverb—<i>The fewer possessions, the fewer cares.</i> -While the light-minded youth forgot all duties and -cares of State, in feasting, jousting and the dance, the -resentment of the people was rising against him, his -ministers and captains were intriguing with his foes, and -the roar of the great guns at intervals from the Castello -might have reminded him that the key of Milan was still -held by the enemy, and that Louis in France was -quickly preparing an expedition to reconquer Lombardy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The first attempt of the French in 1513, under -Louis de la Tremouille and Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, -met, however, with an unexpected and signal defeat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>from the Swiss at Novara, which drove them back -over the Alps. This was followed by the capitulation -of the French garrison in the Castello of Milan, and -Massimiliano seemed now firmly established in his seat. -But Julius II. was dead, and the whole political scene -had shifted once again. The Venetians were now -ranged with France against the Papal League, and the -accession of Francis I. to the French throne, early in -1515, raised up against the Sforza a young and -enthusiastic foe, who was undaunted by the sad experiences -of his two predecessors in their Italian ventures. -The King hastened to raise an enormous army, with -which he crossed the mountains in person, and, skilfully -guided by Trivulzio, surprised and made captive Prospero -Colonna, general of the ducal forces, who was awaiting -him in a strong position. Advancing unopposed, -almost up to Milan, Francis seemed about to complete -a bloodless conquest, when a sudden rising of the -Milanese themselves, and the arrival of a great force of -Swiss to the aid of the Duke, checked his progress. -And now at Marignano (Melegnano) outside Milan -was fought that mighty battle (14th September 1515<a id='t192'></a>), -not of men, but of giants—as the veteran Trivulzio -affirmed—in which the fierce and stubborn Swiss and -the gallant French contended all one evening and again -the next day, till seven thousand of the mountaineers lay -dead upon the field, and their brave comrades, utterly -exhausted, were forced to give way and fly into Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>At news of the defeat Massimiliano retired into the -Castello, abandoning the city to the enemy. Here he -might have held out awhile, but his spirit was too -small, and by the advice of Girolamo Morone, one of -the most astute statesmen of that day, and the chief -stay of this generation of the House of Sforza—who -counted on the existence of a more promising younger -brother, Francesco—the incompetent prince renounced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>his Duchy to the French King for a large pension. -Retiring to France, this elder son of the Moro disappears -ingloriously out of the story of Milan.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Duchy remained for the next six years in -French possession, and was ruled with comparative -justice and beneficence by the Constable de Bourbon, -till the just, generous, and propitiatory impulses of the -new sovereign yielded to indifference and forgetfulness, -and it was abandoned to the cruel and arbitrary government -of the Sieur de Lautrec, brother of the King’s -mistress, the Comtesse de Châteaubriant. His tyranny -helped to provoke another revolution in 1521, when the -young Emperor Charles V. united with Pope Leo X. -in a new <i>Holy</i> League, and proclaiming his right to -Milan as an imperial fief, sent an army to invade the -Duchy. Lautrec, having executed some of the noblest -citizens on suspicion of intriguing with the Imperialists, -abandoned the city, leaving the Castello garrisoned, -and took up his stand four miles from the city, at the -Bicocca, where he suffered a tremendous defeat, which -lost Milan again to France. This turn of the tide -carried Francesco, Lodovico’s second son, to the ducal -throne. The wild joy with which the oppressed and -suffering Milanese greeted this new Sforza, in whose -name they trusted with touching hopefulness for a -return of the old glory of their city, was not wholly -misplaced. Duke Francesco II. has left a memory of -good repute. The misfortunes of his reign were not -due to his faults or weaknesses, but to the political -circumstances of the time, which deprived him of all -real power, and made him a mere pawn in the great -game played between Charles V. and Francis I. with -Italy for stake. Milan was, in fact, dominated by the -Spaniard, and the presence of a great army of these -foreigners was a crushing burden upon prince and -people. Though there to defend the city, they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>wrought little less destruction and cruelty than the -French, when the latter returned as enemies in 1523, -and advancing close to the capital, spread havoc and -desolation all around. Though unable to take Milan, -they established themselves in some of the neighbouring -towns, and the approach of Francis himself with a large -army in the following year (1524) drove the Duke into -flight. The city, bereft of half its population and garrison -by a terrible pestilence, was utterly unable to make any -defence against the French monarch. Francis, having -entered Milan in triumph, passed on to besiege Pavia, -which kept him heroically at bay through many months.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Meanwhile the Emperor was rapidly gathering -force for the relief of his vassal State. From -Naples came Lanoy with the garrison of that province; -from Germany the ferocious giant Fründsberg, -leading twelve thousand lanzknechts; while -mercenaries from every part swarmed to the camps -of Charles’ other commanders, the Constable de -Bourbon and the Marquis of Pescara. This horde of -hungry and rapacious villains, whom the Emperor left -to gather supplies and pay out of the unfortunate -country which it passed through, swooped down upon -the gallant army of the King, which, falsely secure in -its vainglory and sense of personal valour, allowed itself -to be entrapped in the Park of Pavia, and on 24th -February 1525, that vast and exquisite pleasaunce, -created for the summer dalliance and the gay winter -sports of the Dukes of Milan, became an awful red-mown -field of all the chivalry of France. Never, -perhaps, was such an oblation of knightly grace and -virtue poured out to Death as on that day. One after -another the gentlemen of France fell around their King. -The famous veterans of the Italian wars died together -with the youngest scions of their Houses, new come to -this fatal Italy. Among many Milanese nobles who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>also fought in the King’s ranks and fell was Galeazzo di -San Severino, who, after mourning for his friend and -lord, the Moro, through several years of exile, had -taken service with the conqueror and risen to the position -of Grand Ecuyer of France.</p> - -<p class='c000'><i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Madame, tout est perdu sauf l’honneur</span></i>, wrote Francis -to his mother. Among other things the Duchy of -Milan, but just retaken, was lost again, and this time -for ever. Monseigneur le Roy being a prisoner at -Pizzighettone, his army destroyed and the survivors -of his gentlemen confined in different fortresses, Duke -Francesco returned again under the imperial protection -to his capital. But though he was beloved by his -people, his restoration meant a renewal of the intolerable -Spanish tyranny, and fresh exactions for the -benefit of the Emperor’s treasury, worse than any the -city had ever suffered before. The Duke himself -groaned under a slavery for which the empty title and -insignia of sovereignty little compensated him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>And now at the very height of Charles’ success, there -seemed to come a hope of freedom for his oppressed -vassal. Italy and the whole European world had -been startled by the overwhelming victory of Pavia, -and began to fear the further advance of a conqueror -whose triumph was a menace to all. Pope Clement VII., -whose projects for the aggrandisement of the Medici -were hampered by Charles’ predominance in the peninsula, -seized the opportunity to draw the Queen-Mother -of France, Henry VIII. of England, Venice and the -smaller Italian States into a vast alliance against the -Emperor. This seemed the moment for Milan to -throw off the yoke of Spain, and Francesco, or rather -his chancellor, the able and faithful Morone, entered -into secret relations with the League. He was, however, -betrayed by the Marquis of Pescara, whom he -had endeavoured to seduce from allegiance to Charles. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>Morone came near to losing his head, and the Duke -himself was denounced for high treason to his feudal -Lord, and was forced to take refuge in the Castello, -where he was closely blockaded by Pescara and De -Leyva; while the miserable citizens, who had found -the Spanish troops intolerable enough as their allies -and defenders, had now to suffer unspeakable things -from them in the character of conquerors.</p> - -<p class='c000'>For many months the Duke held out in the hope of -the relief promised by the League, till provisions grew -short and famine appeared at hand. Meanwhile the -city, driven to frenzy by its oppressors, rose again and -again in desperate tumults, which were quelled each -time by the Spanish generals with treacherous promises -to relieve the general misery, and followed by severities -and outrages more dreadful than ever, till the fair city -became a very hell of slaughter, lust and rapine. In -vain the forces of the League, under the brilliant young -Giovanni de’ Medici, approached to the Duke’s succour. -They were driven back by the Imperialists, and Francesco -was at last forced by extremity of want to surrender -the castle and abandon the city altogether (1526).</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the League was daily growing in strength and -soon returned to the attack. The Imperialists were -closely besieged in their turn in Milan, till the descent -of Fründsberg with fresh hordes of mercenaries compelled -the assailants to retire and concentrate themselves -on the defensive against the once again -overwhelming Imperialists. Lombardy was now -become the complete prey of the occupying armies. -The ferocious and undisciplined hosts that nominally -served the Emperor no longer heeded the commands -of a master who gave them no pay, and was himself -far away in Spain. They were practically an independent -robber horde, following whom, and going -where, they pleased, supporting and enriching themselves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>on plunder, torturing and murdering peasants -and citizens without distinction, to squeeze from them -their last possession. It meant nothing to the soldiers -that Charles was entering into negotiations for peace -with the League. Nor could their captains control -them. The Constable de Bourbon, who became -Governor of Milan for the Emperor in 1526, promised -the afflicted people to move the army from their -midst, but even if he had been sincere, he could not -have kept his word. Yet the army loved him above -all their other leaders, this rebel and exiled prince of -France, who was an adventurer like themselves.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Before long Milan and the country round was -changed into a bare desert, out of which even Spanish -cruelty could no longer extract a subsistence. The -thought of the unvisited regions farther on began to -spread and agitate among the famished hordes; the -names of Florence and Rome, cities of untold riches, -were breathed from one to another, and as one man -they rose at the offer of the Constable de Bourbon to -lead them southwards. As a swarm of locusts lifts -from a devastated plain, they swept suddenly away on -the awful, irresistible course which ended in that final -catastrophe of the Middle Ages, the Sack of Rome.</p> - -<p class='c000'>This tragic event, though hardly a part of the pious -Emperor’s plans, made the last link in the chain which -Spain was forging round Italy. Neither the Pope, nor -Francis I., who had regained his liberty early in 1526, -were able to offer any further serious resistance to the -conqueror, though for some years yet the French continued -to make desperate efforts to regain Milan, and -the city had to endure both the tyranny of the Spanish -governor, De Leyva, and the horrors of blockade. -The Treaty of Barcelona between the Pope and the -Emperor, and the peace signed by Charles and Francis -at Cambrai—that <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Paix des Dames</span></i>, arranged by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>most famous ladies of France and Italy—followed by -the Congress and Coronation of the Emperor at Bologna -in 1530, secured peace at last for the tormented country -by laying the destinies of Italy finally in the conqueror’s -hands. Francesco Sforza, who threw himself on the -Emperor’s mercy, was graciously pardoned and reinstated -in his Dukedom. The return of this amiable -prince inspired a faint joy in the exhausted people, and -gradually, in spite of the enormous subsidies exacted by -the Emperor, and the burdens imposed to drive off the -attacks of the independent condottieri and pirates who -ranged the disordered country, a certain amount of life -and activity crept back into the cruelly-wronged city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Such consolation and remedy for her wounds as his -fettered powers and grave embarrassments allowed, -Francesco administered, introducing order into the wild -confusion of the government, and reviving trade and -industry by careful regulations. But what a changed -Milan from that in which his father and mother had -reigned gloriously, in beautiful stainless palaces, surrounded -by the finest productions of art, was this -wrecked, defiled and devastated city, in whose deserted -streets and suburbs nettles grew rankly, and wolves, -grown used to feed on human flesh, roamed at will, -attacking armed men, and snatching children from their -mothers’ arms! ‘What an incredible evidence of the -change of fortune,’ writes Guicciardini, ‘to those who -had seen her not long before overflowing with inhabitants, -and not only full of all gaiety and delight from -the natural inclination of her inhabitants to feasting and -pleasure, but because of the wealth of her citizens, the -infinite number of her shops and industries, the delicacy -and abundance of all the things which form man’s food, -the superb apparel and equipages and sumptuous adornments -of both her women and her men, more flourishing -and happy than any other city of Italy.’</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>There is an interesting record of these years of -tribulation in the chronicle of a Milanese mercer named -Burigozzo, who, sitting in his dark-browed shop, set -down from day to day, as they passed before his eyes, -the vicissitudes of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">el povero Milano</span></i>. His quaint simplicity -and patriotic grief make his tale very moving. -It is a picture of confusion, tumult and misery, relieved -at first by brilliant gleams, such as the hollow pomps -and glories of the entries of kings and conquerors, but -darkening ever to a more tragic gloom and terror and -despair as it passes from the milder sufferings of the -period of French occupation to the unspeakable horrors—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">cose -da non dire</span></i>—committed by the Spaniards and -lanzknechts of Pescara and De Leyva. All the great -events of the time are made vivid to us in his pages. -We hear the ceaseless noise of battle outside, the guns -of the Castello, often directed upon the terror-stricken -city itself, roaring continually and answered by the -great bell of the Duomo sounding <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">a martello</span></i>, to -summon the citizens to arms. These, maddened by -exactions and cruelty, or inspired by hope of driving -out oppressors, or excluding assailants, gather in -thousands at the call. Suffering has made them merciless, -and they attack and butcher parties of mercenaries -in the streets. Once they make a holocaust of the old -wooden Campanile of the Duomo, with a whole company -of Spaniards within it. And through the streets, -crowded with blaspheming and bestial soldiery, we see -endless processions pass, white-robed children, men -and women with bare feet and clad in sackcloth, monks, -friars, all the hierarchy of the Cathedral, filling the air -with penitential wailings and cries of <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">misericordia</span></i>, as -they wind from the Duomo to St. Ambrogio to implore -the help of the great patron saint of the once fortunate -Milan. Churches crowded with suppliants; the excited -populace pressing round some upstart prophet—some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>fierce bearded monk who drives the timid priests from -altar and pulpit, and calls upon the people in the name -of Christ to slaughter the French. In street and -temple alike confusion and foulness, where so shortly -before the genius of order had presided. Then upon -the uproar falls the sick and heavy silence of the -pestilence, and the mercer’s tale moves as with a hushed -step, while, imprisoned for a whole month within his -house, he watches his children die, himself by the grace -of God untouched and well—while no sound is heard -but the carts going by laden with the sick, and the -ceaseless <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">campana del corpo</span></i>—while the graveyards spread -and double in extent round the numberless churches. -A hundred thousand persons perished, he tells us, -during the summer months of 1524.</p> - -<p class='c000'>As the picture unrolls itself before us we are fain to -turn away from the spectacle of anguish and all abomination -during the hideous years of the Spanish occupation -after 1525. The city preyed upon by the fiendish -mercenaries, the people outraged, pillaged, and -tortured till they yielded up their last mite of buried -treasure. Multitudes flying from their homes to avoid -worse things and sheltering in the country round, though -that was infested by human beasts and wild ones only -less cruel, or worse, stopped and bound, little children -and all, by their ruthless tormentors, to prevent their -escape. And withal siege, starvation; <i>such a leanness -of men from hunger as was an anguish to witness</i>, the -little bread which they possessed seized by the governor, -the dying poor driven into so-called refuges, whence -every days scores were carried out dead.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the story of these thirty years is not entirely of -gloom. If we turn from the people to the great -Milanese nobility, we see a different aspect of life, no -less tragic in a sense, but brilliant enough and glorified -by the fine culture and rare artistic taste of the age. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>Within their sumptuous palaces and wide secluded -gardens, defended by great names and powerful interests -from the intrusions of marauding soldiery, or in pleasant -country villas beside the lakes and placid rivers of -Lombardy, whither they retired when pestilence or -famine held sway in the city, they created for themselves -that unreal world of ladies and cavaliers, arms and love, -of which Ariosto sings. It was during these years -that the courtly Dominican friar, Matteo Bandello, was -Prior of the Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, and -was collecting in the most elect circles those gay and -scandalous tales, which, retold by his witty pen with -introductions describing the circumstances in which -he heard them, give a vivid picture of the incomparable -cinquecento society of Milan, with its fine literary -accomplishment, vivacious wit and over liberal -manners—a society presided over by such gracious -figures as Ippolita Sforza, the lady of Bandello’s own -particular adoration, and Cecilia Gallerani, the Moro’s -old favourite. Ippolita, a granddaughter of Duke -Galeazzo Maria, was married to Alessandro Bentivoglio, -a son of the deposed Lord of Bologna. She and Cecilia, -now the Contessa Bergamini, and Camilla Scarampi -made up a trio of Milanese poetesses and literary connoisseurs -of finest discrimination and judgment and of -wide renown. Apparently careless of the woes of -their country, these ladies and others of their rank, -with the graceful cavaliers and dilettante ecclesiastics -who made their court, occupied themselves in romantic -vanities, in amorous intrigues, and in learned and -philosophic dalliance. Close relations united them with -the other courts and aristocracies of North Italy, and the -famous Marchioness of Mantua, Isabella da Este, was -often the centre and queen of those elegant gatherings -of beauty and wit and gallantry described by -Bandello. History shows us that most typical lady of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>Italian society dancing with the King of France at the -great ball which the usurping monarch gave in 1507, in -the Castello of Milan, in the very halls where her -sister and brother-in-law had once reigned—a -spectacle significant of fallen Italy. Like the princes -of the neighbouring States, the great nobles of Milan, -once powerful in the story of their city, had lost all -patriotic and independent spirit. The severe repression -of party-passion, that unfailing symptom of vigorous -life in an Italian community, by the French conquerors -in 1500, reduced them to idleness and political -nullity. They made friends with the new powers and -entered their service, but they had no longer any real -influence on<a id='t202'></a> affairs. The revolutions which placed the -Sforza princes on the ducal throne in turn afforded the -nobles opportunities of intrigue and brought home to -them the terrible realities of foreign subjugation. In -1521, for example, those who had embraced the side -of the old dynasty suffered the reprisals of the savage -Lautrec, and on mere suspicion Milan was desolated of -its noblest inhabitants by summary executions, banishment -and forfeiture. These families were, however, -restored to their old position by the elevation of -Francesco Sforza to the Dukedom, and they made no -attempt to rebel against the Imperial Eagle, which was -their real master. When the intolerable persecution -inflicted by the Spanish and German mercenaries from -1525 to 1529 maddened the people to repeated insurrection, -not one of the nobles came forward to give them -courage and to organise and direct their undisciplined -efforts to effective action. A certain Pietro della -Pusterla, of a House which through all the story of Milan -had been distinguished as leaders of popular movements, -seems to have assumed some authority over them, but -even he abandoned them in the hour of need and danger.</p> - -<p class='c000'>These futile attempts exhausted the last remains of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>aspiration for liberty and self-government in the -broken-spirited Milanese. They made no attempt to -rebel against the settlement of 1530, which resigned -them finally into the Emperor’s hands. Though -utterly dismayed—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">tutto smarrito</span></i>, says Burigozzo—by -the heavy fine inflicted by Charles as a penalty for the -rebellion of the Duchy, they resigned themselves to -<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">patientia</span></i> and hope for better days to come.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Much <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">patientia</span></i> was necessary before those days came. -The country round was depopulated, and it was long -before the old abundance flowed again into the city. -There were times when bread lacked and the people -murmured against the helpless Duke. Prices remained -very high and there was little trade. A visit, however, -from Charles V. in 1533, expected with fear and dismay -by the citizens, to whom his name was only associated -with ravaging lanzknechts and Spaniards, brought -them, to their joyful surprise, good luck—a great influx -of custom and rich payment for their goods, instead of -robbery.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In 1534 a brief reflection of its old glory brightened -the city on the arrival of a bride for the Duke, the -sixteen-year-old Cristina of Sweden, whose portrait by -Holbein is in the National Gallery. The streets and -squares were magnificently decked for her reception. -The young princess, whose countenance, says the -chronicler, was more divine than human, rode in under -a golden baldaquin, surrounded by twelve of the -noblest gentlemen of the city, so splendidly arrayed -that each appeared an Emperor, and with such great -white plumes in their caps that her Excellency seemed -to move in the midst of a forest. The joy with -which she was greeted was, however, shallow enough, -and changed quickly to groans when the money for -the Duchess’ maintenance had to be squeezed out of -the people by a special tax.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>The fine bridal feast was soon followed by a still -more pompous, but lugubrious pageant, when eighteen -months later (1535), the last Duke of Milan was carried -to his tomb in the great temple founded by the first -Duke, Gian Galeazzo Visconte. Always delicate of -constitution, and worn out by the great anxieties of his -life, Francesco fell a victim to a severe illness in 1535. -He left no child to inherit the ducal throne.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There still survived, however, a Sforza, Gian Paolo, -son of the Moro by Lucrezia Crivelli. This prince set -off immediately for Rome, to press the Pope to support -his claim to the Dukedom. But on his way he was seized -with sickness and died. Men said that he was poisoned -by those to whom his existence was an inconvenience.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus was spent the dynasty of the Sforza, and -Milan devolved as a vacant fief to the Empire. This -great city, once the seat of Roman Emperors, the -crowning place of Carlovingian and German monarchs, -the capital of North Italy, and for centuries the heart -of the most powerful principality in the peninsula, was -now to sink to a mere provincial position, to become -an impotent fragment of dismembered and captive -Italy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We need not occupy ourselves with the further -vicissitudes of the city under the now settled dominion -of Spain, which all the chivalrous and repeated efforts -of France in the sixteenth century was unable to -overthrow. It is enough to note her transference from -Spanish to Austrian rule after the War of Succession -in the early years of the seventeenth century, and her -continued subjection to the House of Hapsburg—with -the brief Napoleonic interruption of 1796 to -1815—till in 1848 she rid herself by insurrection of -the Austrian garrison, and ten years later became free -and national at last as a member of the new-born -Kingdom of Italy.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>Her mediæval life ended with her mediæval liberty. -Its robust passions, its vigorous and restless activity of -body and mind, the sense of human power, the wide-ranging -speculation, the audacious flights of the spirit, -which mark its florescence in the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries, turned to weariness, disillusion and despair. -Individuality lost itself in the bonds of convention and -submission. In art, in literature, everywhere—decay. -On thought, on science, the blight fell. The same -hand which had stilled the political aspirations of -Milan was laid heavily upon her soul. The prepotence -of Spain and the revival of dogmatic zeal in -the Papacy meant the employment of every engine of -oppression against that spiritual freedom which Italy -had used both for good and for evil. The Holy -Office was set up in the Convent of Sta. Maria delle -Grazie, and our friend Burigozzo lived long enough to -see the pitiful ceremonies of the public recantations and -penances of heretics before the door of the Duomo. -But the most powerful agent of the Catholic reform in -Milan was the famous Cardinal Archbishop, Carlo -Borromeo, known to religious history as San Carlo. -As Ambrose stands at the entrance of Milan’s mediæval -era, with back turned upon the ruined Empire behind, -and strong gaze broadening down the centuries of new -faith, new hope, new ideals, so Carlo Borromeo stands -at its close, as sternly facing towards the past, and -closing the door upon the new world of thought and -knowledge beyond. Her independent story is consecrated -at its beginning and at its end by the mighty -personality of a saint, who, whatever his influence upon -her actual progress, gives by his example of will, of -courage, and of spiritual exaltation, an everlasting inspiration -to mankind.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Carlo Borromeo was a scion of the great patrician -family of that name in Milan, founded far back in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>mists of mediæval antiquity by a certain pilgrim, the -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">buon romeo</span></i> from whom it took its name. The House -was conspicuous in the story of the city, and was -foremost in consequence and in wealth in the fifteenth -and sixteenth centuries. Carlo was born in the ecclesiastical -purple. His uncle, Pius IV., of the Milanese -House of Medici, created him a cardinal in 1559, at -the age of nineteen, and heaped benefices upon him. -In 1560 he became Archbishop of Milan on the retirement -of Cardinal Ippolito II. d’Este, who had occupied -the See for a great number of years in succession to -his uncle Ippolito I. The young Cardinal was now -wealthier than any other prince of the Church. A few -years later, however, he renounced all his benefices, -<i>which having he was great, and casting away, greater</i>, -as his biographer observes. He retained the Archbishopric -only, and taking up his abode in the city, he -devoted himself to the government of his diocese, with -an immense zeal and fervour of reform. The Jesuits, -the Teatini, and other of the new and reformed orders -which sprang up in obedience to the religious impulse -of the time, were introduced by him into Milan, and he -suppressed the immensely wealthy and influential order -of the Umiliati, and alienated its revenues to the support -of the new communities and to the furtherance of his great -schemes. An ascetic of purest and most exemplary -life, he indulged as representative of the Church in a -boundless pride and pomp. He was a despot, and his -despotism opposed itself to all independence of thought. -He extended his ecclesiastical jurisdiction to its utmost -limits, and seizing delinquents almost under the nose of -the civil authorities, filled the dungeons of the episcopal -palace with them. His imperious will came into -conflict with the governors, but his powerful influence -in the bigoted Court of Spain gave him supremacy, -and he was in fact the ruler of Milan. His -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>splendid temper of Milanese patrician vented itself in -grandiose schemes for the building, restoration and -ornamentation of churches and religious institutions. -But as his authority was exerted to suppress all individuality -and spontaneity in literature and thought, -so his rich patronage was lent only to the decadence -in art. A nobler manifestation of the man was seen -during the pestilence of 1576, when, with heroic self-forgetfulness, -he fulfilled his duty as chief pastor of the -afflicted people, succouring them by every means in his -power. His exalted figure, with cross borne high, -leading processions of penitent and supplicatory citizens -through the streets, is one of the saintly pictures of -history.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Carlo Borromeo died in 1584, having lived but just -forty-six years. Beyond him is the long sleep of -Milan. Under the pall of stillness her historic virtues -lie dormant, her historic names inglorious. But not -dead. When the long-deferred moment of the -awakening comes, the old courage, the old faith, the -old sense of fellowship arises stronger and more lively -than before, and the names of old resound again -among the champions of Lombard and Italian freedom, -in the prisons of repressive tyranny, round the -barricades of the Cinque Giornate, on the fields of -Custozza, Novara, Solferino, side by side with the -patriots sprung of the nameless blood which long ago -watered the rich tilth of Legnano.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER IX<br /> <span class='large'><i>Art in Milan</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Cosa bella mortal passa e non d’arte.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Leonardo da Vinci.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>The Milanese as a people do not take a great -place in the story of Italian art. They show -at no time the spontaneous artistic character which -was the blessed birthright of the Florentines, Sienese, -Umbrians, Venetians. They granted, however, splendid -hospitality to the art of others. Talent of every -kind was attracted to this wealthy and luxurious city, -and the concourse of foreign artists roused and developed -considerable industry in the natives from early times.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Lombardy, and in particular Milan, its principal -city, were exposed to influences which did not reach -further south. The strain of northern blood in the -people, derived from their Gallic origin, readily received -the impress of the ultramontanes who flowed down -throughout the centuries into the fertile plains of Po -and Ticino, and the thoughts and ideas which they -brought, assimilating with the natural instincts of the -soil, and with the ancient traditions of the Latins, -resulted in an artistic character which is quite Italian, -though very different from the more southern populations. -It lacks their spontaneity and daring, their lofty -imagination and idealism, has little of their sense of -beauty, falls short in sheer ability. But it is distinguished -by sincerity, a love of realism, a humble and zealous -industry, and also by certain marked and inveterate -mannerisms. And though the Milanese, or rather the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>Lombards who peopled the wide Duchy of the -Visconti and Sforza, remained always very receptive, -looking for a lead, and owing their strongest artistic -impulses to some genius from abroad, their work keeps -always its strong native character.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Milan’s greatest moment was one in her art, and in -her public life. The same spirit of freedom which -stood up to Barbarossa and Frederick II., raised her -incomparable brick buildings of the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries. In this development of architecture on the -large and reasonable lines of the old Roman building, -modified by the mystic ideas and melancholy sentiment -of the North, and by the capabilities of the rich and -plastic material yielded by the alluvial soil, Lombardy -shows the highest result of the mingled elements of -her artistic life. When no longer inspired by freedom, -architecture was still fostered in Milan by ostentatious -tyranny, and continued to be the most genial art of -the people. In the fourteenth century, the Visconti -raised beautiful churches and palaces, but the builders -inclined more and more to abandon the national traditions -for Gothic lightness and grace. In the crowning -work of the Cathedral, the false Gothic ideal finally -triumphed. The classical revival, which followed under -the Sforza and filled the city anew with churches and -palaces, was communicated to Milan by Tuscan architects. -It was cherished by the eclectic spirit of -princes and nobles, and owed nothing to popular impulse. -But in adapting her peculiar material, brick, to the new -style, Lombardy gave it a local and special character, -and only when the vulgar exaggeration of the classic -fashion overwhelmed Italy in a general flood of baroque -extravagance, did Lombardy lose architectural individuality.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sculpture, as the handmaid of architecture, was also -actively practised in Milan from the twelfth century -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>onwards. The same masters from the shores of Como, -from the valley of Antelamo, close to Maggiore, from -Campione near Lugano, who carried the Lombard or -Romanesque style all over North Italy and into -Tuscany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, built -her churches and carved upon the façades mystical -figures and devices. The Romanesque sculpture remaining -in Milan is very rude, and the names of its -authors are in few cases remembered. In the fourteenth -century the family or guild of masters from -Campione is prominent in the records of Milanese -architecture and sculpture, and individuals are distinguished -by name. Under the guidance of the Pisan -sculptor Giovanni di Balduccio, one of the ablest of -Nicola Pisano’s followers, who worked long in Milan, -these Campionese produced numberless sepulchral -monuments, a few of which survive still in the churches -and museums. The Pisan traditions appear in them, -modified by the native character. The classic nobility -and severity, the ideal grace of Nicola and Giovanni -Pisano degrade into heaviness and coarseness in these -ruder and more realistic hands, and the forms learnt -from them are remoulded according to certain inveterate -predilections which persist always in Lombard sculpture.</p> - -<p class='c000'>At the end of this century, artistic industry received -an extraordinary impulse throughout the Visconte -States from the splendid patronage of Gian Galeazzo. -His vast new foundations, the Duomo of Milan, the -Certosa of Pavia, his mighty engineering enterprises, -gave endless employment to workers in stone. In this -fervour of activity Lombard sculpture began to evolve -clearly its special character, and agreeably to the gorgeous -tastes of the Prince, which became a tradition for -his successors, a love of excessive and exaggerated ornamentation -appears, and marks it henceforth.</p> - -<p class='c000'>After Gian Galeazzo a lull came in art with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>civic confusion of Gian Maria’s few years, and the -continuous wars of Filippo Maria’s thirty-five. This -period represents the pause between the mediæval era -and the Renaissance in Milan. The building and -decoration of the Cathedral was continued slowly by -men whom the old principles no longer inspired, and -the new had not yet reached. No great names occur -in the host of craftsmen engaged in the work. The -Campione fraternity was still represented, and continued -to exist for a long time, though its traditions were -dying out, and Jacopino da Tradate, who worked in -the earlier half of the century, was a sculptor of some -power.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The triumph of Francesco Sforza in 1450 began a -new era of prosperity for Milanese art. A long peace, -a succession of sovereigns in whom a policy of -splendour was assisted by stupendous wealth and a -genuine love of beauty and culture, the concourse of -strangers of genius to their Court, bringing the inspiration -of the great classic revival from Tuscany and Central -Italy, roused the Lombards to an enthusiasm and -activity which carried them to their highest pitch of -achievement at the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth -centuries. Brunelleschi, employed by Filippo Maria -to build a fortress, Antonio Averulino, known as -Filarete, whom Francesco Sforza summoned to design -the Ospedale Maggiore and to assist on the Castle, -Michelozzo, builder of the beautiful Portinari Chapel, -and finally the great Bramante, twelve years resident in -the city in the Moro’s days, and Leonardo da Vinci -himself, master of all the arts and sciences, were their -guides in the new or rediscovered mysteries of architecture. -Giuniforte Solari, and Pietro his son, -architects of the Duomo, Certosa, and many of the -churches and convents raised everywhere by Francesco -and Bianca Maria in the ardour of their piety and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>joy of their newly-won glory, show the transition from -Gothic to the Renaissance style, slowly accomplished -however, for the Lombards were tenacious of their -local traditions and not ready to accept new ideas. -Even in the next generation of builders, Amadeo, -Dolcebuono, Cristoforo Solari, Briosco, and the rest, all -nursed in the precepts imparted by the Tuscans, and -fully inspired by the Renaissance spirit, there was still -a lingering adhesion to certain Gothic predilections. -The Lombard character, especially noticeable in a love -of ornamentation, still expressed itself in the forms -learnt from foreign example. In all that peculiarly -graceful building in Milan of the later fifteenth and -early sixteenth centuries, which is called indiscriminately -Bramantesque, and attributed to the influence of -the Urbino master—cloisters and cortiles with elegant -pillared porticos and sculptured capitals of rich and -fanciful design, and archivolts and cornices decorated -with terra-cotta mouldings, grand arched portals often -decorated with classic heads—a Lombard character -may almost always be detected.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In sculpture the Mantegazza are the first of the -Milanese artists to show signs of the Renaissance. -These two brothers, Cristoforo and Antonio, natives -of Milan, were working from about 1443 until late in -the century. They represent the old Campionese traditions -revivified by contact with the new ideas, as expressed -by the Paduans and Florentines. Their work -is marked by that excessive zeal in the search for realism -common to North Italian art at this time, leading -to the representation of exaggerated action and emotion. -With the Mantegazza violence is not always accompanied -by strength, and their conception is not lofty -enough to save their naturalistic tendency from vulgarising -the sacred subjects which they set forth. The -Northern element in them, encouraged by the German -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>and Flemish artists at the liberal Sforza Court, appears -in their extreme sincerity and pains, their lack of grace -and idealism, their attention to minutiæ rather than to -broad effect. Their figures are usually long and ill-proportioned, -with small heads, the contours angular -and sharp, the faces rude, with projecting cheek-bones -and cavernous eyes; and the Lombard peculiarity of -numberless arbitrary folds, flattened to the form beneath -as if the draperies had been wetted, gives to the whole -compositions of these sculptors the appearance of -crumpled paper. The Mantegazza are closely followed -by an artist of much more sweetness and geniality, -Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (1447-1522), the most -productive and typical of the new generation of sculptors. -The joyous vitality of the Renaissance overflows in -Amadeo and carries all his native characteristics to unrestrained -excess. The Lombard love of pomp and -gorgeous decoration runs to a riot of ornamentation in -his reliefs, which are crowded and overloaded with rich -and fertile fancies. Builder as well as sculptor, he -sacrifices architectural effect without scruple for the sake -of decorative detail, as the extraordinarily ornate façade -of the Colleoni Chapel at Bergamo, one of his most -famous works, testifies. This is a fault common to the -Lombard architects. The façade of the Certosa, that -museum of Renaissance art in Lombardy, the characteristic -production of the busy school of the Mantegazza, -Amadeo, Benedetto Briosco, and their assistants and -followers, is an enduring monument of architects spoiled -by being decorative sculptors, the building being treated -chiefly as a space to load with decoration. The production -of Amadeo’s prolific talent, during a long and -prosperous career, was very large, and continued till -shortly before his death. Amadeo shares the naturalistic -tendency of the Mantegazza and their native mannerisms, -especially that of the crumpled paper folds. A -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>love of story-telling, amounting to loquacity, appears in -his subject reliefs, with their multitudinous figures and -redundant action. The florid, extravagant fancy of his -decorative work is not restrained by his sense of proportion, -and in his indiscriminating use of classical -motives borrowed from other schools—heads of emperors, -allegorical conceits, etc.—a want of culture and -scholarship is evident. The vulgarity of Lombard art -in comparison with the Tuscan is exemplified in -Amadeo, but is redeemed by the sympathetic qualities -of gaiety, spontaneity and artlessness, which give his -work often much charm and sweetness.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Amadeo’s activity was at its height at the time when -Leonardo was working in Milan upon the equestrian -statue of Francesco Sforza. Duke Galeazzo Maria’s -failure to find a native to do the work shows the limitations -of the Lombard sculptors. All shunned the -problem of casting a bronze figure on so large a scale. -But Lodovico il Moro, taking up the interrupted project -after his brother’s death, found in the Tuscan -Leonardo one who feared no difficulties. The completion -of the model of the horse, after years of preliminary -study, was the greatest sculptural event that -ever happened in Milan. But it remains outside the -story of the Lombard sculptors. Unlike the painters, -they seemed to have been little disturbed in their course -by the tremendous personality of the Florentine. If -traces of his influence appear in their work, it is in types -borrowed from his paintings.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A host of well-known sculptors accompany and -follow Amadeo. Gio. Dolcebuono, Cristoforo Solari, -known as il Gobbo (the Hunchback), Benedetto -Briosco, the Cazzaniga brothers, Agostino Busti, called -il Bambaia—all show the local characteristics. But -an inclination to softness and sensuousness and a lack -of the old virile energy begins to vitiate their work -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>as time goes on, and signals the coming of the decadence, -though the technical skill of the school increases. -Il Gobbo, scion of the old artistic stock of -the Solari, was one of the most highly-reputed of the -sculptors, though he has left little of high worth behind -him. He was much favoured by the Moro, who chose -him to execute the monument for Beatrice’s tomb. -The interesting sepulchral figures of this ill-fated -pair, completed many years later, and now in the -Certosa, are his work. In Agostino Busti the school -reaches its highest technical proficiency. But the -old freshness and inspiration is gone. Il Bambaia, -who is at times great—as in the beautiful recumbent -figure of Gaston de Foix—degenerates often into coldness -and conventionality, and his decorative taste was -as ill-regulated as that of his less accomplished predecessors -and contemporaries. A number of other -artists—Gian Giacomo della Porta, Andrea Fusina, -Cristoforo de’ Lombardi, Angelo Siciliano, and, later -on, Gabrio Busca, Vincenzo Seregni, etc.—were engaged -on architectural and decorative work in Milan in the -sixteenth century, chiefly on the never-ending subject -of the Duomo, the exterior of which is a vast object-lesson -in the artistic decadence of the Milanese. The -pious zeal of S. Carlo and the cultured tastes of his -nephew and successor in the Archbishopric, Cardinal -Federigo Borromeo, gave a new impetus to art; but it -was ill-directed by the false taste of the age, and Lombard -sculpture, like the architecture, ends in the empty -pomposity and extravagance of the baroque style.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The other branches of mediæval and Renaissance -art found a busy centre also in Milan. The decorative -crafts of the goldsmith, wood-carver, of the intarsia -worker and embroiderer, flourished here early. In the -fourteenth century the fame of the Milanese armourers -was shared by the hands which engraved the swords -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>and shields and cuirasses forged in the clanging quarter -of the Spadari. The unparalleled wealth and luxury of -the Visconti and of their nobles called for the finest -skill of the embroiderer and goldsmith to adorn their -apparel and harness, and lavished ornamentation on -their palaces, their pageants, their feasts, which shone -with gold and glowed with costly and beautiful colour. -In the following century all these crafts were still more -encouraged by the Sforza. Matteo da Civate was -a goldsmith of repute, and the Mantegazza and others -of the sculptors pursued this delicate craft also -with great success. The fame of the Milanese goldsmiths -was finally crowned by Ambrogio Foppa, known -as Caradosso, whose figures chiselled in gold were of -such admirable workmanship that Cellini himself -praised and envied him as one of the greatest masters -in this art that he had ever known. The native -workers were, however, but a few of those employed -at the Sforza Court, which in the days of Lodovico -and Beatrice was a very museum of artistic work of -every kind, contributed by the finest talent of Italy, -Germany, Flanders and Spain.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Nor was the art of painting less cherished in Milan. -The Visconti, for the adornment of their great palace -at Pavia, the Sforza for the splendid halls of the Castle -of Milan, and of their hundred villas and palaces of -pleasure, engaged an army of painters. But until the -later half of the fifteenth century not one name occurs -there of any significance in the history of painting. -Giovanni da Milano, mentioned by Vasari as a pupil of -Taddeo Gaddi, and an excellent painter, shows in his -surviving works the conventional style of the later -Giottesque school, varied by something of that heaviness -and darkness of colour which we see afterwards in -the Milanese Quattrocentists. From Giovanni onwards -the few artists that we hear of, and the many that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>certainly worked in Milan, have left little trace behind -them, and that little does not differ from the rude and -homely style common in North Italy before the -development of the Paduan school. Early in the -fifteenth century the influence of Pisanello, who worked -in the Visconti Court, and of the artistic ideals which -he represents, made itself felt in Milan, and painters -like Michelino da Besozzo and the Zavatarii peopled -the walls of the ducal and aristocratic palaces of the -Milanese state with such decorative, but strangely proportioned -figures as are still to be seen in a chamber of -the Palazzo Borromeo. Other and stronger influences, -however, must have been working in the Milanese at -this time, and under the spur of Florentine and Paduan -example, and that of the German artists who thronged -the court of Filippo Maria and Francesco Sforza, they -were doubtless evolving obscurely the more or less -distinctive character which emerges first into notice -with Vincenzo Foppa. Were the works of the earlier -contemporaries of Foppa, Bonifacio Bembo, Pietro dei -Marchesi, Stefano de’ Fedeli, Constantino da Vaprio, -Bernardino de’ Rossi, etc., still existing, we should probably -find that they were already moving in the direction -which his greater talent was able to pursue -definitely and to point out to his successors.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Foppa’s is the first figure that stands out for real -artistic excellence in the history of Milanese painting, -and he is always called the founder of the school. -Born at Brescia sometime in the first half of the -fifteenth century, Foppa is generally supposed to have -studied in the school of Squarcione. His earliest -known work is the Crucifixion, at Bergamo, dated 1456. -He worked chiefly in Milan and the neighbourhood, -and died in 1492. He was a very serious painter, and -though he had not the inspiration of genius, with sound -artistic sense he grasped the material facts of nature -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>and gave force and reality to his creations. His treatment -of forms is simple and direct, and his sincerity -and singleness of purpose redeem the homeliness of his -types, and render his figures noble and impressive. -The Squarcionesque tradition is to be seen in the -classical backgrounds and inlaid marble thrones, etc., of -his pictures, but the general character of his work -shows a distinct departure from the Paduan style. -The heavy forms and dark grey flesh tones are native -qualities, and are very persistent throughout the -Milanese school of painting.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Zenale, born at Treviglio in 1436, died in 1526, is -little more than a name to us, for in spite of his long -life scarcely any of his work has survived. The altarpiece -at Treviglio, in which Buttinone was associated -with him, is the only work extant that can with -certainty be called his. Buttinone was his contemporary -and co-worker in the frescoes in S. Pietro Gessate in -Milan, as well as in the Treviglio altarpiece. Zenale’s -share in these frescoes is quite unrecognisable, and there -is nothing else in Milan that can be identified as his work.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Buttinone’s paintings are rare, but some survive in -Milan and the neighbourhood. He has a good deal -in common with Foppa, and probably derived his training -from the same source; but there is a decided individuality -in his work, an almost painful struggle after -realism which results in a strange ugliness. His faces -have great protruding foreheads and enormous ears, -the flesh tones are dark and grey with streaks of high -light, the children have large heads and disproportionately -small limbs. There is something pathetic in his -painstaking efforts and their poor results.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ambrogio da Fossano, called Borgognone, is a much -better artist. His name first appears in 1481 as a -painter of the University of Milan. His early work -is characterised by a simplicity and refinement and a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>sense of beauty which is much developed later on. He -has at first the same tendency to grey flesh tones as -Foppa and Buttinone, only with him they are modified -to pleasant cool colour harmonizing with the silvery -hues of background and draperies. Later he develops -a freer expression, which we see at its best in the -beautiful frescoes of S. Satiro (now in the Brera) and -the Certosa. He may have felt the influence of Leonardo, -but he never lost his individuality. All through -his life he kept the religious feeling which is his marked -characteristic, and which makes the deepest appeal of -his work. His drawing, however, is often bad; his -flying angels are wrongly foreshortened, and there is no -movement in his figures. He did an immense amount -of painting and there is a sameness in his pictures, graceful -though they are.</p> - -<p class='c000'>About 1483 Leonardo da Vinci came from Florence -and settled in Milan. His art must have been a revelation -to the Lombard painters. Not only was his -technique infinitely superior to theirs, but his scope was -so great, his imagination so profound, he created new -forms, new types, a new world of light and shadow -and perspective. His enterprises were gigantic, not in -painting only, but in sculpture, architecture and engineering. -The Milanese, who had little originality of -their own and were always susceptible to outside influence, -gathered round him, and a school of painting -was formed in which we see his types imitated to such -a degree that much of his pupils’ work has been -attributed to the master himself, until modern criticism, -headed by Morelli, has given it back to the true -authors. The painters we shall now mention must all -have felt more or less Leonardo’s influence.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ambrogio de Predis was Court painter to -Lodovico il Moro in 1482, and therefore was a -painter of repute when Leonardo arrived in Milan; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>but that he became a close follower of the master is -shown by the fact of his being associated with him in -the altarpiece of the Virgin of the Rocks, of which -de Predis painted the two side panels, the angels in -the National Gallery, and many critics think he also -executed the London version of the central part under -the direction of Leonardo. Of the portraits attributed -to him, some are very good, a profile of a girl in the -Ambrosiana being the best. So much better is it than -the coarsely-painted clumsy angels of the National -Gallery, that it is difficult to recognise the connection -between them; we can only suppose, however, that -portrait painting was more congenial to him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Bartolomeo Suardi, called Bramantino, painted at -the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth -centuries. He is said to have been a pupil of -Foppa and of Bramante, working architecturally with the -latter. His work is free and broad in manner, though -often empty and wanting in drawing; the forms are -full and the faces wide, with very regular features, -particularly noticeable in the profiles. The blonde -colouring of his flesh tones is unlike the usual low -tones of the Milanese. There is little evidence in his -work of Leonardo’s influence.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Andrea Solario, born about 1460, was an accomplished -painter. Of his early training we know -nothing; but his elder brother Cristoforo was a -sculptor, and may have helped Andrea to arrive at -the excellence of drawing which we see in his -portraits. Some of his work shows the influence of -Leonardo, but he was also affected by the Venetians, -and especially by Antonello da Messina; his portraits -also show affinity with the Flemish school, in their -clear outlines and high finish. The landscape backgrounds -to his subjects are fine in colour and effect. -He was fond of painting half-length pictures of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>Madonna and Child, and treated the subject with a -tender realism that is very charming. Technically he -reached a higher excellence than any of his fellow-Milanese -painters. With the exception of the large -altarpiece at the Certosa, his pictures are mostly small -and unambitious in subject. He was, however, employed -by Charles d’Amboise, in 1507, to decorate -with frescoes the chapel in his Castle of Gaillon in -Normandy. These have perished.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Boltraffio, Cesare da Sesto, Gianpietrino, Bernardino -dei Conti, Marco d’Oggionno, Melzi and Salai were -all close followers of Leonardo. Their work is not -strong or original, nor is the drawing very good, but it -has a charm nevertheless, that of earnest and conscientious -effort, striving after the ideal of beauty their -great master set before them, which degenerates in -their hands, however, into a fatal prettiness. Their -fault was an almost morbid exaggeration of the gradation -of tones in the modelling of contours, by which -they lost all freshness and vigour. Boltraffio, born -1467, was of noble family, and was a favourite pupil -of Leonardo’s. His painting is highly finished and -has distinction; his Madonnas, clad always in rich -garments, are stately and beautiful, with oval faces and -regular features. The painting is very smooth, which -gives a cold and unnatural effect to the flesh. The -fresco in St. Onofrio in Rome, formerly ascribed to -Leonardo, is now given to him, and some critics consider -him the author of the much-disputed Belle Ferronière -of the Louvre.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Cesare da Sesto’s work was very Leonardesque to -begin with; later on he was influenced by Raphael. -His manner is lighter and more graceful than most of -the Lombards. In Gianpietrino’s painting the Lombard -greyness of flesh tones is carried to an almost -gloomy extreme. His Madonnas and Magdalens often -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>have charm, but in the former he imitated Leonardo too -closely, and the execution is timid.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Bernardino dei Conti painted Madonnas in the -Leonardesque manner, but the colour is peculiarly hot -and the contours lumpy. His drawings, which are better -than his paintings, have a great resemblance to those of -Ambrogio de Predis, by whom, Morelli says, he was -much influenced. Marco d’Oggionno’s pictures are -lifeless imitations of the master, in which all the subtlety -is lost, the chiaroscuro is too strong and the colours -too intense. In his large canvases, such as the Archangels -of the Brera, he fails signally. Of the work -of Melzi and Salai we know little. Salai is mentioned -by Vasari as a youth of singular grace and beauty with -waving curly hair. He may have served as model for -some of those Leonardesque drawings of youths with -curling hair with which we are familiar.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Painters deriving still from Leonardo but who have -achieved a great celebrity of their own are Bernardino -Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari. Luini is the most -popular painter of the Lombard school, probably because -his paintings are so numerous and therefore -widely known. There is always a sweetness and -charm in his work, though rather superficial and -sentimental, and in the best examples he attains beauty -and dignity; but his forms have the Lombard heaviness -and his drawing is not good. There is want of imagination -and a tameness in his pictures that make them very -monotonous. The dates of his birth and death are unknown, -nor is anything known of his early training. He -certainly imitated Leonardo, but his best work has a -character and individuality of its own. The frescoes -of the Monastero Maggiore in Milan, of Saronno and -Lugano are considered very fine.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Gaudenzio Ferrari was born about 1481 at Valduggia. -Little is known of his early life; he must have felt the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>influence of Bramantino and Luini; his work is sometimes -confused with that of the latter painter. He had -much more inventive and dramatic power than Luini, -as his frescoes show. He was a most prolific painter, -and had too much energy and too little self-restraint. -His colour is fiery and his compositions overcrowded. -In spite of his ability he fell into bad taste and careless -workmanship, showing unmistakable signs of that decadence -which gradually overtook Italian art.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The most talented of all the Lombard painters was -Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called il Sodoma, for though -Tuscany and Rome were the scenes of his activity and -possess his greatest works, yet he derives his artistic -descent from Lombardy. He was born at Vercelli in -Piedmont in 1477, and studied painting for two or three -years at Milan before going to Siena, where we hear of -him in 1501. His painting shows plainly his origin, and -some of his works have great affinity to Leonardo, though -he is not known to have been actually his pupil.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Leonardesque tradition was carried on by the -brothers Martino and Albertino Piazza of Lodi, whose -work is suave and pleasing, but weak. The family of -Campi, two generations, worked through three-quarters -of the sixteenth century. Their work is able, but without -distinction; they show a Venetian influence.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Bernardino Lanino was a pupil and imitator of -Gaudenzio Ferrari; he was active through the middle -of the sixteenth century. The school dies away with -Lomazzo, more famous for his writings on Art than for -his paintings, and with Daniele Crespi, in whom we see -all the exaggerated realism of the decadence of Art.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER X<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Duomo</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The far-famed Cathedral of Milan, which men call the eighth wonder of the world.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>In Milan, as we see the city to-day, modernised, -commonplace, characterlessly handsome, there is -one great redeeming thing—the Cathedral. Other -churches there are, greater and more beautiful in every -sense except size, but they are smothered in the dull -drift of everyday buildings. The Duomo, as is befitting, -has a supreme position. It is the heart of the -city, the converging point of all the far-coming ways, -the irresistible magnet for the eyes of the myriads -thronging those ways. It rises up in its immense stature -above the petty interests and activities of the crowds at -its base, an embodied exhalation of the holy spirit of -man, a witness to the irrepressible upward flight of his -thoughts and to his eternal need of beauty and light.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The impression which a traveller coming from the -station first receives of the Duomo is of a vast ethereal -presence at the end of the long street, so light, so cloud-like, -so delicate that it seems to be no temple piled up -slowly by men’s hands to the measure of their prayers, -but a fabric of some upper sphere, built of air and -dreams. Broad set in its main proportions, it gives -high and ample seat to the swelling contour of the cupola, -which a hundred pinnacles guard like serried spears, pointing -into the upper blue around the spring of the midmost -spire. In the silvery light of afternoon it appears a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>shadowy forest of upward-springing shafts, with sharp -gleams along edges and salient lines. The details are -lost in a soft mass, and the atmosphere casts over all a -veil of illusion. Through such a veil this famous -Cathedral of Milan is best seen and best understood.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the view of the whole building from the great -Piazza on the west side, its faults are more apparent—the -inadequacy and insignificance of the cupola, or central -tower, the incongruity of the façade, the extravagance -of the ornamentation. Nevertheless, the huge white -marble pile has always majesty and splendour, if only -from its size and material and the amazing number of -its airy embroideries and fripperies of stone. It has a -magic, unearthly beauty of colour, silver, dove-like, rosy -against the blue, according to the changing light of the -day—most wonderful in the strange, pale, clear moment -when the sun has just set. An exotic in this flat country -of the alluvial soil, where brick is the natural medium for -the builder, it seems to bring into the hot and stifling -city at midsummer a cooling breath from that marble -cave close to Lago Maggiore whence its material was -drawn. One could almost believe that it was the dripping -of water through countless ages which had built -up its clear substance into those strange fantastic shapes, -those spires and fretted edges and fairy shafts.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Their Cathedral is the pride and joy of the Milanese. -Yet not so much this billowy heap of stone, but the spot -upon which it stands should be consecrate to their hearts. -None of the noblest memories of their past sanctify the -church which Gian Galeazzo Visconte founded, which -opened its doors with equal welcome to Francesco -Sforza, the usurper, and to French and Spanish and -Austrian conquerors by turn, and which was finished by -Napoleon Buonaparte. But the ancient, half-ruined -church, which Gian Galeazzo pulled down to make -room for his new temple, enshrined the dearer history -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>of Milan’s liberty. Sta. Maria Maggiore, as it was -then called, was the representative through many transformations -of that <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">basilica nuova intramuros</span></i> in which -Ambrose entrenched himself in his great struggle with -the Empress Justina and achieved his victory for the -new organisation of the Church, protector of the people, -over the corrupt despotism of the Empire. And if -what is one of the spiritual events of the world’s history -must be fixed in time and place, it was no doubt at the -gates of this, the chief church, that Ambrose interposed -his hand between the blood-stained Emperor and the -altar of Christ. In later centuries, in the figures of the -enthusiasts Arialdo and Erlembaldo, of the courageous -Peter Damian, fronting the excited and hostile multitudes, -the memories of the old Cathedral church were -still of the victory of the spirit over the forces of the -world, of liberty over oppression, of a new order of -things over the corrupt system of the past. And in -the early days of the Milanese Republic the church -was closely associated with the life and struggles of the -people. All business, public and private, was transacted -in the piazza outside. The portico of the church was -the house of parliament, and the politics of the city -were sanctified by the benediction of religion. The -chief priest was likewise the head of the people, and -the pastoral staff which topped the lofty Campanile -stood for temporal as well as spiritual dominion. In -times of peace the Sacred Car was housed within the -church, and in the church those warlike decisions were -taken which occasioned it to be drawn forth that it -might go in the midst of the host against the enemy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the noblest moment in the story of the old Cathedral -was its restoration after the ruin of the city by -Barbarossa in 1166. The ruthless destruction of the -Campanile, a tower <i>of such marvellous beauty, such great -breadth and admirable altitude that there was said to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>none other like it in Italy</i>, had wrecked it in great part. -The labour of the men, the jewels of the women, went -to the rebuilding, till the church stood up once more in -the midst of the re-risen city, defying the destroyer.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the building of the present Duomo all the -vestiges of those ancient and good days were swept -away. Milan’s liberty was gone, and the church which -symbolised it, both in association and in its Lombard -style of architecture, had been allowed to become half-ruinous. -The population had outgrown the capacity of -the church, and in their rapidly growing wealth and -importance it was natural that prince and people should -desire a cathedral more suited to their condition. So -the old building fell for ever.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The citizens acquiesced in the scheme for a new -Cathedral, but the enormous temple which rose on the -site of the old one, the Duomo of to-day, was the conception -of Gian Galeazzo Visconte, and of him alone. -It was the measure of his vast ambition and audacious -will. He planned it great enough for the capital of a -Kingdom of Italy. The citizens seconded him with -generous offerings, but whether their enthusiasm was -genuine or merely flattery of the tyrant’s wishes -mattered nothing. Gian Galeazzo was doubtless moved -to this work by a desire to expiate the crime by which -he had acquired sole sovereignty, and to entomb it in -the memories of his subjects beneath this proud ornament -to the city. He is said to have had another -motive, shared by the people. A strange evil, we are -told, afflicted Milan at this time. Some say that the -women were unable to bring their male children safely -to the birth; others, that a mysterious malady prevailed -among the boy babies, withering them within a few -years. The citizens were filled with terror at the doom -of extinction which seemed to impend over them. -Gian Galeazzo’s three sons by Isabella of France had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>all died in infancy, leaving him only the girl Valentina, -and at this time his second wife, Caterina Visconte, was -still childless.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Duomo was then a votive offering from Gian -Galeazzo Visconte to Heaven for a son to inherit the -great destinies which he intended to conquer, and from -the Milanese people for children to continue their race. -It was dedicated, not to the Birth of the Son of God, -but to hers who brought Him into the world—<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mariæ -Nascenti</span></i>, as the inscription on the façade proclaims—to -the Birth of Motherhood.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Thus the great church rises in worship of the -mystery of Life. When one thinks of its origin, the -wonderful ribbed and perforated and pinnacled building -appears in a new light, rising as it were out of -the still hovering darkness of the Middle Ages, the -embodiment of a people’s aspiration towards renewed -life. The moment of its inception was that pregnant -one for Italy when the mediæval pessimism was yielding -to hope and joy in life, and when to the worship of the -Nascent Mary was to be joined the worship of that -twin mystery, the Venus Reborn.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The building was begun in 1386. The story of its -actual rise is extremely lengthy and tedious. The -multitude of conflicting counsels, the number of architects -concerned with it, make its very existence seem -a miracle. It is not known who first designed it, or -whether he was a native or foreigner. Milan’s close -relations with the countries beyond the Alps, and the -alliances and constant intercourse of the Visconti with -the Courts of France and Germany, naturally induced -Gian Galeazzo to call Northern architects to his aid -and to choose the Gothic style of the North. There is -little doubt that the original plan proceeded from a -Northern mind. The work of carrying it out, however, -passed very soon into the hands of native builders, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>most of whom belonged to the celebrated guild of -stoneworkers from Campione. Marco da Campione -was chief architect—<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ingegnere</span>—in 1386. Others of -the company, Zeno, Bonino, Jacopo, and Maffiolo, -appear in the records of the first years, with Simone -Orsenigo, the dei Grassi and a host of other noted -craftsmen of the day. Among the crowd there was -evidently no conspicuous master spirit, and the post of -chief was obtained, especially later on, as much by -interest and intrigue as by merit. Many foreign -artists were called from time to time by Gian Galeazzo -to give help and advice. Their intervention always -led to heated argument and loud contention in the -Council of the Fabric, the foreigners criticising and -condemning the work of the Lombard builders, and -these defending it with jealous zeal, and invariably -defeating and driving out the intruders. Johann von -Fernach and Heinrich von Gmünd were employed for -a short time in the latter part of the century. Their -strenuous objections to important points in the structure -were overruled by the Italians. In 1400 the Frenchman, -Jean Mignot, having been engaged to take a prominent -part in the work, pronounced the building -unsafe, and proposed radical alterations. The indignant -Lombards, headed by the celebrated military architect, -Bertolino da Novara, disputed his opinion and persuaded -the Duke that all was well. Mignot was dismissed and -condemned to replace what he had already pulled down -in conformity with his own ideas.</p> - -<p class='c000'>So the battle raged for years. It had a negative -rather than positive result on the building, which progressed -on the lines already laid down, but without -receiving any impress of individual thought or genius. -In its complete state to-day it shows, with all its immensity, -a poverty of ideas, both within and without, -which no wealth of ornamentation can hide. It rose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>with great rapidity at first, in response to the energy and -will of the prince. In 1392 the walls had reached the -full height of the side aisles, and all the pillars of the -interior were already standing. That forest of lofty -shafts soaring to dim heights, in which we wander -to-day, astonished and awed, must once have enclosed -the puny mortal form and the immeasurable spirit of -the first and greatest Duke of Milan. His death in -1402 robbed the great enterprise of vitality and inspiration. -In the misfortunes of Giovanmaria’s reign, -both funds and encouragement lacked, and the general -mediocrity of the builders was equally blighting to the -progress of the work. The local architects had by -this time obtained undisputed charge of it, and the -clamour of controversy had died down. Sons had -succeeded to their fathers’ posts, and continued slowly -in the old track. By the time Francesco Sforza -attained the Dukedom, in 1450, general interest in the -Cathedral was much diminished. Architectural ideas -were changing. The Renaissance was begun. The -great Tuscan masters, summoned to Milan by this Duke -and his predecessor, had recalled to the Lombard -builders those classic principles native to Italy and -long forgotten under the Gothic influences of the -Middle Ages. The earlier Sforza sovereigns used -their patronage to raise new churches, and it was not -till the fervent artistic atmosphere of the end of the -century had developed a certain eclecticism in cultured -minds that the Duomo received a new impetus from -Lodovico il Moro.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The main body of the church was already finished, -but the façade, the cupola, and other details were still -to do. A German master, Johann Nexempilger von -Gratz, was first invited by the Moro to continue the -work, but was quickly dismissed, the severity of his ideas -being unacceptable to the Italians. A number of native -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>artists were then set to work to design a cupola which -should reconcile the curves and rectangles dear to the -Renaissance with the acutely-pointed style of the rest -of the Cathedral. Over this problem great minds -pored. Leonardo da Vinci made several designs and -models of a cupola, but they were not accepted. -Bramante also made models for it. The assistance -of the Tuscan Luca Fancelli, and the Sienese Francesco -di Giorgio was also called upon. But the work -remained finally to the local artists, men of industry -and ingenuity, but of no great genius. Chief among -them were Cristoforo Solari, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, -and Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono. To Amadeo was -finally entrusted the building of the cupola, which he -carried out and completed, with the exception of the -crowning pinnacle. This artist held the post of chief -architect from 1490 till his death in 1522, becoming -the repository of all the traditions and secrets of the -long-continued work.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Though the great fabric was apparently carried on -in the old style, it reveals a new spirit from this time. -The true feeling for Gothic was dead, and the architects -of the late Quattrocento could only reconcile it -with their artistic conscience by flamboyant excesses. -Moreover, Amadeo and his companions were sculptors -first and architects second. The opportunities of -Gothic were fatal in their hands. It was they who -first started the building on that evil course of elaborate -and excessive ornamentation which has made it what -it is to-day—a building generally admired for its resemblance -to a monstrous sugar-cake. Their lead was -followed with an ever-diminishing sense of artistic -propriety and an increasing love for florid effect by -their successors in the middle and latter part of the -sixteenth century. The impulse imparted to the work -by the zeal of Carlo Borromeo and the great religious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>revival, expressed itself only in cold and uninspired -artistic platitudes, the emptiness of which is ill concealed -by superficial exaggerations. The seventeenth and -eighteenth centuries are represented by an increase of -bad taste and meretricious effect, and the story of the -long evolution of the temple ends in a climax of bombast -in the Napoleonic era, to which is owed the -present grandiose façade and the battalions of pinnacles -which crown the whole edifice.</p> - -<div class='figright id012'> -<img src='images/i_252.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CUPOLA OF THE DUOMO, FROM THE ROOF.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>A building conceived in a spirit foreign to the place -where it was to rise, and carried out by men to whom -its design and idea was naturally unsympathetic and -incomprehensible, through ages in which all the original -inspiration was lost, could not well be a wholly satisfactory -achievement. Milan Cathedral sins grievously -against the principles of pure Gothic. The pointed -style is carried in it to an acuteness in which all -grace and flexibility of line is lost. In fretful moments -one feels that these endless sharp angles scrape one’s -nerves. The effect of solidity and strength has been -completely sacrificed for the sake of ornamentation, -and dignity and repose lost in a restless reiteration of -trivial details. The huge-ribbed flanks gape with -enormous windows. Every nook and cranny, every -jag and angle is crowded with statues. The outlines -of the roof are frilled by an elaborately-pierced balustrade -with crocketed pinnacles. From the central roof -to the lower level of the side aisles spring a host of -flying buttresses, so perforated that they look like wisps -of foam rather than solid props intended to support the -fabric. A myriad spears quiver upwards from the roof -far into the sky, and upon each dances a statue. No -wonder that the guides call upon you to admire its -likeness to lacework or confectionery, and that people -compare it to a drift of snow, a billow dashing into -spray, a white mountain bird alighted in the midst of -the city—anything except a building of solid bones -and substance.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Restorations and continual repairs have almost -effaced the handiwork of the original builders. The -north-east part of the exterior is the most ancient. -The three magnificent windows of the apse, with their -rich tracery, are one of the most beautiful features of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>the original design. And amid the swarms of baroque -saints, in every contorted attitude of theatric sentiment, -which have settled on this part, as everywhere over the -building—four thousand four hundred and forty, outside -and in, they say—a patient observer may pick out some -which, by their dignified simplicity, refinement and -repose, show the purer taste of the fifteenth and early -sixteenth centuries. The lowest figures on the northernmost -window of the apse are an Adam and Eve, and -have been attributed to Antonio Rizzo, a fifteenth -century Venetian sculptor, known by his work in the -cortile of the Doge’s Palace. Cristoforo Solari, -Andrea Fusina, Tomaso da Cazzaniga, il Bambaia, -are all represented by sculptures on the apse. Higher -up are works by earlier and less accomplished hands, -huge gargoyles of fantastic form—dragons, a serpent -coiled round the nude body of a woman, a child entwining -itself with a bough, a female figure with great -curling hair, a siren with bat’s wings—monstrous -creations of the Northern fancy, which dominated in -the first years of the Cathedral. Beneath these gargoyles -are ranged the so-called Giganti, colossal statues -of warriors, heralds, huntsmen, foresters, slaves—figures -of romance and of the rude fields too. Some are by -German sculptors, and by Lombards under their influence; -others of rather later date show new and -realistic tendencies.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There is little of interest on the south side and in -the lower end of the exterior. The monotonous -length of the vast flanks is unbroken by the rich interest -of doorways, such as were originally projected. The -classic façade is frankly discordant, though it is no less -thickly littered with bad sculptures. The bronze -doors of the middle entrance are a very recent work, -showing the hark back of the modern sculptor to -Quattrocento models. But if the exterior of the Duomo -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>lacks in impressiveness, the interior makes amends. -Wonder and awe overwhelm one on entering. In the -dim religious light from the great stained windows, -one is aware of vast echoing aisles, of mighty columns -passing away, one behind the other, into depths and -distances of rich gloom, where the pointed lines of -arch behind arch become visible, broken by long slits -of glowing glass. A quiet reigns as of places untrodden -by earthly things. Pigmy human forms -creep here and there over the immense expanses of -the pavement, or kneel at the foot of a column, -bowed in devotion.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In this solemn interior it seems as if the native -and foreign ideals had united for once, with harmonious -result. Here is the breadth and spaciousness -of Latin thought—the loftiness of Gothic. -With its five aisles, transepts and apsidal east end, -the church is of striking simplicity. There are no -chapels built out, few side altars, and few monuments. -The High Altar, with its canopy, and the florid pulpits -and marble screen round the sanctuary, are the only -conspicuous objects. There is little incident in the -building itself. A feeling gains upon one, after a time, -of a certain emptiness, monotony, even poverty, in all -this grandeur of height and space. The inadequacy of -the short light arches of the nave, in comparison with -the colossal shafts supporting them becomes visible, and -the eye is offended by the shameless deception of the -roof, which is painted to simulate open tracery, and -give a false effect of added height. The endless repetition -of line and arch ends by being wearisome, and -one longs for the rich symmetric light and shade of -triforium and clerestory, for the beautiful mouldings, -the star blackness of trefoil and quatrefoil piercings, -and for all that deep and varied interest which grows -upon the eye slowly, and in just relation to general -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>effect, in the best Gothic architecture. The curious -and elaborate capitals, like huge rings, are the most -conspicuous details here. Each in itself is a wonderful -piece of Gothic ornament, with arcades and crocketed -pinnacles and niches filled with statues, but they are so -high up that one can hardly appreciate them in detail. -As capitals, one must quarrel with them. They do -not seem natural members of the columns, but things -put on merely for effect, and look as if they were meant -to slip up and down, and might be at the bottom as -well as at the top. That on the great pier to the left -of the High Altar is said to be the handiwork of -Heinrich von Gmünd, and to have been the model -of the rest. The statues which decorate the lofty -interior of the cupola, high up, are in the characteristic -manner of the late fifteenth century Lombard sculptors, -and the busts of the Fathers of the Church in the -spandrils are by Cristoforo Solari. The rest of the -ornamentation in the church is mostly of the Borromean -and later periods. It is the ascetic cardinal’s -fault that all the picturesque incrustations which had -gathered upon the old building, with priceless historic -associations, are missing. He ruthlessly swept away -the shades of the rich and lively past, its profanities -and sincerities together. The tombs of the old Lords -of Milan, Visconti and Sforza, in the ambulatory, were -cleared away, and other monuments were destroyed or -displaced in too zealous obedience to the decree of the -Council of Trent, forbidding the burial of bodies in -monuments in churches. The doors in the transepts -were walled up, and his favourite sculptor, Pellegrino -Tebaldi, a belated follower of Michaelangelo, whose -neo-classic predilections were in utter disaccord with -the spirit of the building, was set to work to re-garnish -its devastated spaces.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id013'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span> -<img src='images/i_257.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>WITHIN THE DUOMO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>There are no paintings of account in the church. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>The few pictures belong to the same period as the -altars, designed by il Pellegrini, over which they hang. -The original Gothic design did not admit of frescoes -on the walls. The necessary colour is given by the -windows. In many of these the glass is modern, but -some very fine fifteenth and sixteenth century glass -still survives. It has not the supreme beauty of very -early glass; the designs are pictorial, but the colour is -gorgeously rich and deep, and in the earlier ones the subjects -are treated with due regard for decorative effect.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A few things of interest may indeed be found in -the vast spaces of the nave and ambulatory. Low -down against the north wall is the rude granite tomb of -Archbishop Ariberto, eleventh century, brought hither -in 1783 from the suppressed Church of St. Dionysius. -The ancient crucifix of Byzantine style above it, upon -the foot of which is a relief of Ariberto holding a -model of St. Calimero, a church restored by him, is -said, but without foundation, to be the crucifix which -used to be carried into battle on the Caroccio. Beneath -a window further up stands a sarcophagus, -raised upon columns of Verona marble; in it are -the bones of the two Visconte Archbishops, Otto, -Lord of Milan in the thirteenth century, and his great -grand-nephew Giovanni, who ruled See and city in the -first half of the fourteenth, and who elected to be laid -with his great predecessor when he died. The recumbent -statue of Giovanni on the top is probably by a -Campionese master. This monument, which had once -an honourable place in the apse, is the only memorial -in the church of the great family which founded it. -Higher up is the Gothic tomb of Marco Caselli, a -merchant who died in 1394, and gave his large fortune -to the building of the Cathedral. The tomb was -designed by Filippino da Modena, but the recumbent -statue and the figures of Evangelists and Fathers on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>the front and sides are by another hand, a Venetian or a -Lombard influenced by the Venetian school.<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c014'><sup>[4]</sup></a> We come -next to a refined little sixteenth century monument to -Giovanni Antonio Vimercati, by Agostino Busti, il -Bambaia. Three altars designed by il Pellegrini follow. -Over the last there is a bas-relief of Madonna with SS. -Catherine and Paul, a poor and primitive work by one -Jacomolo di Antonio (1495), recently placed here.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. </span>Malaguzzi Valeri, <cite>Milano</cite>, vol. i. p. 73.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>In the south transept the beautiful window over the -door into the street is mainly the work, much mutilated -and added to, of Michelino da Besozzo in 1438. -Here on the west side is a great monument by Leone -Leoni of Arezzo, a disciple of Michaelangelo, to -Gian Giacomo de’ Medici, brother of Pius IV., a -princely pirate who terrorised Lake Como and led his -undisciplined troops in the service now of one, now of -the other of the combatants struggling for North Italy -in the sixteenth century, till Charles V. compounded -with him by creating him Marquis of Melegnano. On -the east side is an altar with a relief of the Presentation -of the Virgin, and statues by the school of il -Bambaia. A statue close by representing St. Bartholomew -flayed is admirable only for the impudence -of the inscription on it—‘<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non me Praxitiles, sed Marcus -finxit Agrates.</span></i>’ Marco Agrate was one of the crowd -of early sixteenth century Lombard sculptors who -helped to people the Duomo with statues. This one -was originally on the exterior of the church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The choir in its present form is due to Pellegrini, -whose assistants executed the grandiose work after his -designs. It is enclosed by a high marble screen, which -is sculptured on the side towards the ambulatory with -reliefs of the life of the Virgin and decorative figures of -late Renaissance style. Two extremely ornate gilded -pulpits stand in front of the choir, one on each side. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>The organs are embellished with heavy gilded decoration -and paintings by Proccacini and the late Lombard -school. The choir has very fine decorative panelling, -and the triple row of stalls are of walnut wood very -richly carved, those behind showing scenes from the -story of St. Ambrose and effigies of the martyrs and -saints and prelates of Milan. The bronze ciborium -over the altar is a good work of its period; it is in the -form of a round temple, and beneath is the richly-ornamented -tabernacle given by the Milanese Pope, -Pius IV. (1559-65), to the Cathedral.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Beneath the choir is the crypt, also built in classic -style by il Pellegrini. The outer chamber was restored -in 1817. In the inner sanctuary lies the body of San -Carlo in a silver coffin given by Filippo IV. of Spain. -Vault and coffin are remarkable only for gorgeousness. -Pomp and magnificence outside, an emaciated ascetic -within, contrast significant of the Church of the Catholic -Revival. An aperture in front of the choir above -allows a view of the saintly resting-place.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The door into the sacristy on the south side of the -ambulatory is decorated with a rich and interesting Gothic -canopy of the earliest period of the Cathedral. This -sculpture was designed and partly executed by Hans -von Fernach in 1393 and finished soon after by an -Italian, Porrino de’ Grassi, who doubtless did the -graceful subject reliefs, while the rude, vivacious little -figures, from the Gospel story, in the decorative border -round, are evidently by a hand of different nationality, -that of the German Hans. Within the sacristy there -is a richly-sculptured Gothic arch over the lavabo, -enshrining a relief of Christ and the Samaritan Woman, -signed by the sculptor, Giacomo da Campione.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c014'><sup>[5]</sup></a> -Also a statue of Christ at the Column, by Cristoforo -Solari, a heavy and flaccid work.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. </span>See Malaguzzi Valeri, op. cit. vol. i. p. 56.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>The famous treasure of the Cathedral is kept in this -sacristy. Here are great <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">seicento</span> figures of St. Ambrogio -and S. Carlo in solid silver, and other silver -objects of the same period, precious in material but -artistically of little account. In a small case there are, -however, some veritable treasures. The covers of a -Book of the Gospels, presented to the Cathedral by -Ariberto, beautiful examples of the goldsmith’s art in -the Romanesque period, adorned with chiselled reliefs, -with enamel, gold filigree work and precious stones. -On one is represented Christ between the Virgin and -St. John, with Ariberto presenting the book to her, -and below, St. Ambrogio between SS. Protasio and -Gervasio. The work shows the Byzantine influence, -which was still supreme in this branch of art in the -eleventh century. A pastoral staff of silver gilt, ornamented -with enamel, is of the same period. Two ivory -diptychs, one of very early date, carved with the freedom -and grace still surviving in Greek artists in the fourth -and fifth centuries; the other of heavy and debased Lombard -workmanship of the ninth century must be noticed, -and also a little ivory vessel carved with figures of the -Virgin and Evangelists, tenth century Lombard work. -Among many precious mediæval and Renaissance objects -there is a golden pax, with a finely carved Deposition -between columns of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">lapis-lazuli</span>, and a group -of angels above, with the arms of the donor, Pius IV. -This is attributed, but erroneously, to Caradosso.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The magnificent tapestries in the possession of the -Cathedral were shown at the Great Exhibition of 1906, -and several of them perished in the fire which occurred -on that occasion.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Beyond the sacristy, in the ambulatory, is a copy of -the sacred painting of the Annunciation, in the SS. -Annunziata in Florence. It is said to have been painted -by Bronzino, and given by Francesco I. de’ Medici to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>Cardinal Borromeo. The Madonna del Parto further -on is apparently a restoration of an ancient painting, and -the object of a very special devotion. A bare inscription -beneath it records that Niccolò Piccinino is buried -with his son Francesco in this spot. The great Condottiere -had prepared a splendid tomb for himself, but -the marble was seized at his death for other purposes, -and when Francesco Sforza became Duke, he preferred -that the memory of his rival should go uncelebrated. -The statue of Martin V. close by, a colossal seated -figure, was sculptured by Jacopino da Tradate in 1421. -In the long inscription in verse, by a Milanese gentleman -of humanistic tastes, the sculptor is likened to -Praxiteles. Beyond we come to the monument of -Cardinal Marino Caraccioli, Governor of Milan from -1536 to 1538—a late and very uninspired work by il -Bambaia. Close to it is a little Pietà, by one of the -early Cathedral sculptors. The three great windows -of the apse were originally filled with stained glass, by -Stefano da Pandino and Franceschino de’ Zavatarii, -early in the fifteenth century, but only in the upper part -of the middle window does any of it survive; the rest -is modern. In the sculptured tracery of the middle -window appear the favourite emblem of Gian Galeazzo -Visconte, the Dove in the midst of rays, and figures, -sculptured after the design of Isacco da Imbonate, of -the Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation, and of -the two bishop saints, Ambrogio and Galdino. The -latter was Archbishop of Milan from 1166 to 1176, -and a notable foe of heretics and Ghibellines.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Under the window further on is an ancient -Crucifix, with head restored, brought here from the -chapel of Filippo Maria’s castle when it was demolished -by the Ambrosian Republic. Tablets under -the great windows record members of the Sforza -family buried here. It was in the apse that the biers -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>of the Dukes of Milan used to be suspended, between -the columns, till San Carlo reformed them away. The -body of Gaston de Foix was given royal place among -them, being hung between the two great pillars on the -left hand of the altar. Cardinal Borromeo did not have -the displacing of that, however. He was anticipated -by the Swiss mercenaries under the brutal Cardinal de -Sion, who, only a few years after the hero was buried, -tore down the bier and scattered the remains, to the -scandal of all Christendom. A fresco further on in -the ambulatory, of the Crucified, with Saints, a poor -work with a certain charm of simplicity and prettiness, -by Isacco da Imbonate, in 1423, seems to show an intention, -quickly abandoned, of clothing the walls with -paintings. Beyond we come to a fifteenth century -painting of Madonna, and St. John the Baptist, standing -in a flowery landscape, showing little merit except -decorative charm. High up against the wall is a statue -of Pius IV., by the sixteenth century sculptor, Angelo -Siciliano.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Gothic ornamentation over the door of the -north sacristy takes us back to early days again. It -is by Giacomo da Campione.<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c014'><sup>[6]</sup></a> The canopy encloses -a relief of Christ in Glory, surrounded by angels -and saints, and in the tympanum below, Christ appears -between the Virgin and St. John. These sculptures -are more accomplished than those of the south sacristy, -though they show the Lombard lack of idealism; the -small profile busts of men in the costume of the period -on the architrave—perhaps portraits of the artist’s -fellow-workmen on the Cathedral—are excellent, well-modelled, -and full of vivacity.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. </span>See Malaguzzi Valeri, op. cit., vol. i. p. 56.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>In the north transept stands the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Albero</span></i>, a colossal -seven-branched candlestick of bronze, in the form of -a tree. An inscription on the base records that it was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>presented to the Cathedral by one of the Trivulzio -family in 1562, but it is usually described as thirteenth -century work. The style, however, proclaims it not -earlier than the late fifteenth, and it might well be -later. The seven branches spring from a bossy stem -supported on winged dragons; the interstices are -filled up with a web of vine tendrils in which figures -of delicate workmanship are wrought—sacred and -symbolic characters, and biblical scenes; the story -of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Dove, the Sacrifice -of Isaac, David with the head of Goliath, etc. The -Procession and Adoration of the Magi are cunningly -arranged round the stem. Up the sides of the chapel -of the Madonna dell’ Albero there are some bas-reliefs -representing the Life of the Virgin, by Cristoforo -Solari, il Bambaia and others of the early Cinquecentists; -these were originally round the door in this -transept which Cardinal Borromeo abolished. The -stained glass window over the altar of St. Catherine in -the corner of the transept to the left is by Stefano da -Pandino (1432). The altar has statues of St. Jerome -and St. Augustine, early works of Cristoforo Solari, -and some little sculptures of earlier date, doubtless -from some older shrine. The tabernacle on the right, -with a figure of God the Father, is by one of the -Campionesi.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On the third altar in the nave on this side is preserved -the wooden crucifix carried by S. Carlo in procession -round the city during the Great Plague of 1576.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A little altar further on, with modern sculptures, is -decorated with beautiful Quattrocento arabesques, fragments -of a monument sculptured by Amadeo in 1480 -for Alessio Tarchetta, a general of the Sforza. Other -parts of the monument are preserved in the Castello. -Beyond is the tomb of Gio. Angelo Arcimboldi, -Archbishop of Milan from 1550 to 1555. Lower -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>down we see some twelfth and thirteenth century -figures representing the writers of the New Testament, -in Verona marble, probably parts of an <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ambone</span> or -pulpit, and perhaps some of the figures of saints with -which Archbishop Uberto Crivelli, afterwards Urban -III., is recorded to have decorated the old Sta. Maria -Maggiore in 1185.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Baptistery is on this side of the nave, between -two of the pillars. The font is an ancient basin of red -porphyry, said to have once been in the Baths of -Maximian Hercules; it was found in S. Dionysius, -with the remains of that saintly prelate of Milan -inside. These were translated to a place in front of -the High Altar. The canopy over the font is an -ornate late Renaissance work designed by il Pellegrini.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Down here in the nave, where the later ornamental -details are lost in the great pillared spaces, it is -possible to call back some of the shades frightened -away by the purifying S. Carlo. Wicked they were -indeed, but in a great way which it is not given to -modern sinners to emulate. First of all we see Gian -Galeazzo, the founder of the temple—he who all but -mounted to a throne of Italy on the body of his -murdered uncle—passing calm, cultured and impenetrable, -between the columns. Then the bleeding -body of his evil son Giovanmaria, carried from the -steps of the palace where he had fallen and flung down -here in haste by the terrified bearers. The cunning -and suspicious Filippo next—who but a few weeks -before had beheaded his wife—following Pope Martin -in the great pageant of the consecration of the High -Altar in 1418, uneasy at finding himself under the eyes -of his subjects. Francesco Sforza, the splendid conqueror, -pressing his way up the great nave on his war-horse, -amid the thronging multitudes, to give thanks -to God that Milan was delivered into his hands. His -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>weak young grandson, Gian Galeazzo, hand in hand -with his youthful bride, Isabella of Aragon, a white-robed -pathetic pair, passing up to the celebration of -their marriage, beneath a specially constructed portico, -simulating a pergola and supported on fifty-two columns. -The usurper Lodovico il Moro, with the ducal beretta -newly set upon his head at the door of the Cathedral, -moving with majestic step towards the High Altar, to -seek the benediction of Heaven upon his unlawful -dignities. We see the latter again a few years later, -during that brief return in 1500, bowed with care and -apprehension, giving hasty thanks to God for restoring -the city to him, while the French guns, thundering from -the Castle, tell him what a mockery that restoration is. -A moment later his tragic figure has vanished into -the shades and the aisles echo to the triumphant tread -of the French conqueror and his captains, Trivulzio -and the rest, and the subservient Italian princes and -ambassadors, coming to give thanks in their turn. And -now the stately figures of foreign kings and emperors -succeed one another in the many gorgeous processions -which pass up between the columns. Thrust between -them is the mournful Triumph of the young French -hero, whose dead body, with the sword of Julius II., and -the standards of the Spanish King and of all the great -captains whom he had overthrown in his last victory -displayed before it, is carried up in silence and tears. -Anon the place fills with the pitiful multitudes during -the dreadful days of French and Spanish occupation; -now they gather round the frenzied <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">frate barbazza</span></i>, who -shrieks to them to rise and slaughter their persecutors, -now marshal themselves in penitential procession, -beating their breasts and wailing <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">misericordia</span></i>. And -as the figure of the reforming Cardinal Archbishop—the -ascetic and despotic saint—rises before us, the -great nave clears suddenly of all that clamorous life -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>of the city which did not fear before to pass in and -out on its daily affairs and to bring its worldly traffickings, -its quarrels, troubles, excitements, sorrows, into -the House of God,—and we lose sight for ever of the -mediæval world.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The roof of the Duomo is ascended from the south -transept. It is a long climb, but well worth the pains. -You emerge at the top into sunshine and air, and find -yourself on the terrace of a vast garden, all of sparkling -candid stone, where you may wander, easily losing -yourself, along paths and alleys, up and down flights of -steps, always between marble groves of flowers and -foliage, with a forest of slender stems springing up -around you, and flowering into human forms high up -against the blue—all the petrified growth of that lake -grotto of Gandoglia, or <i>Candoglia</i>, as the punning old -writers call it. There is no open space in the heart of -Milan where you can take the air so pleasantly on fine -days in winter and spring as up here. But this garden -is suspended in the air, and you look down upon the -thick clustered roofs which cover all the ground below -in an immense roundure, like the low ruddy vegetation -of an island left bare at low tide in the middle of a -purple sea. Immediately beneath, at dizzy depths, -are the narrow intersecting lines of the streets, full of -black, crawling humanity. From up here you see the -city as a whole, and are able to realise something of -its geographic place. If the day is clear there will -appear, rising up on north and west beyond the sea of -plain, the dim shores of what looks like another world—a -vast half-moon of hovering forms, cloud-like, yet -with the clear-cut contours of earthly substances, rising -out of the shadow of earth to shining whiteness against -the sky. The guidebooks give names to these fairy -shapes—Mont Blanc to the west, Monta Rosa -nearer and more conspicuous, the Matterhorn rising -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>close behind this last, and other famous heights. Unless -the weather is exceptionally favourable, however, -one cannot discern with clearness more than the nearer -spurs of the mighty Alpine barrier which defends the -pleasant land of Italy from the cold and gloomy North. -But it is enough to -make one understand -the significance of -Milan in the historic -past, as guardian of the -chief gateways of Italy.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id013'> -<img src='images/i_269.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>PUTTI, GUGLIA DI AMADEO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The Cathedral itself -is a wonderful vision -from the top, with its -vistas of flying buttresses -and crocketed -pinnacles, and all its -immensity of intricate -stone-work. The -colour of the marble, -and the play of light -and shade upon the -fretted surfaces give -it a peculiar enchantment. -Looked at -closely, however, it all -becomes rather frivolous -and wearisome. -Nothing could be more -monotonous than the -uninventive likeness in difference of the endless ornamentation. -No one detail is the same as another, -yet the lines are all alike, for ever and ever repeated. -The actual work is mostly modern. The -most conspicuous and interesting feature is, of course, -the great octagonal cupola, the main part of which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>was built in the early years of the sixteenth century -by Amadeo. He was prevented, however, by the -continual objections and disputes of the experts whose -advice was called in about it, from finishing the -work, and the ornate construction of rampant arches -and pinnacles and central spire which surmounts it -belongs to the eighteenth century. Of the four spiral -turrets at the corners, with staircases in them, three were -not built till the last century, but the one on the north-east -was designed by Amadeo himself, who perhaps -set his own hand to some of the excessively flamboyant -ornamentation. It is called the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Guglia di Amadeo</span></i>, -but the upper part was rebuilt in 1799. The loggetta -connecting it with the body of the structure is encrusted -with charming reliefs, but though the delightful -medley of <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span>, and angels dancing and playing -instruments of music round the medallions of Madonna -on one side, and the Pietà on the other, have much -of the gaiety and abandon of Amadeo’s work, their -execution is too weak for him. The attractive infants, -swinging and playing in the openings of the stone-work -on either side of the passage lower down are -more like his handiwork, and the New Testament -scenes carved in low relief at the base are probably by -a late follower of the master.<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c014'><sup>[7]</sup></a> At the top of the -staircase in this <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Guglia</span></i>, now kept locked, in the little -passage in the loggetta, there is a medallion portrait in -bas-relief, by an unknown hand, of Amadeo himself, -showing the deep-lined bony profile of an old man, -with scanty locks flowing from under his beretta.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. </span>Malaguzzi Valeri, <cite>G. A. Amadeo</cite>, p. 232.</p> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id014'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span> -<img src='images/i_271.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>GIANT STATUES ON THE DUOMO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>Other details of interest are to be seen on and about -the roof of the apse. When in ascending from below -you emerge into the open air, take the passage straight -before you, instead of mounting higher or turning on -to the roof of the south aisle. Passing through a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>covered way you will soon come out upon a little projection -of the roof, close to some of the monstrous gargoyles, -and the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Giganti</span></i> beneath them. These last are robust -and dignified survivals of the fourteenth century, and -of the serious traditions of the Lake Masters, and are -curiously at variance with the later style of ornamentation -on the building. Further on, on the roof of the south -sacristy, to which a stairway leads down, stands the Eve of -Cristoforo Solari, a graceful and expressive figure, lumpy, -however, in its contours. On the corresponding roof of -the north sacristy, on the other side of the apse, is -the companion statue of Adam, leaning in melancholy -pose upon his spade, a heavy and nerveless presentment -of the father of mankind, yet most favourably -distinguished in taste from the later statues on the -Cathedral. The pinnacle at the north-east angle of -this sacristy roof, surmounted by the figure of a Knight -holding a banner, is one of the oldest pieces of work -on the Cathedral. It is fourteenth century pure Gothic, -and the careful and artistic workmanship of all the rich -detail of ornament on it is very impressive in comparison -with its surroundings.</p> - -<p class='c000'>From the roof of the Cathedral one has an unobstructed -view of the tall octagonal Campanile of San -Gottardo to the south. This beautiful and characteristic -North Italian building of the fourteenth century -combines the beauties of Lombard and Gothic with -incomparably harmonious effect, achieving a wonderful -charm of colour and grace by the delicate marble -arcades and slender soaring shafts of marble with which -the solidity of the ruddy brick is lightened. Unfortunately -we see the brick now in the rawness of recent -restoration. The tiled steeple is surmounted by a -bronze angel in stiff pose with wings outspread. This -Campanile was built about 1330 by Magister Franciscus -di Pecoraris da Cremona for Azzo Visconte. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>church beside it which that gouty prince raised in -honour—among other saints—of S. Gottardo, the protector -of sufferers from gout, and filled with precious -ornaments and works of art, replaced the old Baptistery, -San Giovanni alle Fonti. It was completely modernised -in 1770, and the ancient apse—which is -perhaps anterior to the fourteenth century—is the only -survival of the old building. San Gottardo served as -the chapel of the great Visconte palace, which stood -on the south of the Cathedral where now sprawl the -melancholy courts and mean buildings of the Palazzo -Reale. This palace had been originally the seat of -the Milanese Consuls, and the space around it was the -Broletto Vecchio, where the public buildings stood in -the early days of the Republic. When Matteo -Visconte made himself master of Milan, he and his -family, as permanent heads of the Republic, occupied -the palace, and transformed it into a fortress, with -towers and moats, for the defence of their tyranny. -His grandson Azzo beautified it with ornaments and -paintings and fountains. These were all destroyed -by Galeazzo II., who rebuilt the palace on a much -larger and more magnificent scale, with two great -courts surrounded by porticos, wherein took place the -great marriage feasts, and other celebrations of the -splendid Visconte Princes. There, doubtless, was -set the banquet for the young Duke of Clarence and -his bride Violante, when Petrarca sat beside the bridegroom, -among the chief guests, and the boy Gian -Galeazzo brought in the marriage gifts. It was in -this palace that Giovanmaria Visconte, passing through -the courts on his way to hear Mass in S. Gottardo, -was stabbed to death by the waiting conspirators. -Francesco Sforza and Lodovico il Moro repaired and -embellished the palace, and it was inhabited by Isabella -of Aragon after the death of her husband Gian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>Galeazzo Sforza. Restored by il Pellegrini, it was -reduced to its present aspect in 1770.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Archiepiscopal Palace, which faces the Duomo -on the south-east, represents the dwelling-place of the -ecclesiastical princes of Milan for at least a score of centuries, -and probably many more. Standing close beside -the Cathedral church, the Archbishop’s residence was -called, up to the twelfth century, the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Palazzo Milanese</span></i>, -being in fact during the earlier Middle Ages, when -the archbishops ruled the city, the seat of government, -until the Palace of the Commune, or of the elected -Consuls, which rose in its precincts and under its protection, -gradually usurped its place, as the voice of the -public parliament, or Arengo, held in the Piazza, grew -more and more powerful. Under the Visconte -archbishops, who once again united the ecclesiastic -and temporal sovereignty in a single hand, the palace -was enlarged and partly incorporated with the palace -of the Consuls, now become, as we have seen, the -fortress of the Visconti. The Arcivescovato was rebuilt -in the fifteenth century by Archbishop Arcimboldi, -and remains of that date may be seen in the outer -cortile. The great inner court is the work of il Pellegrini -in S. Carlo Borromeo’s time, and the existing -building belongs partly to that period and partly to the -end of the eighteenth century.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XI<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Basilica of St. Ambrogio</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Regina delle chiese lombarde.</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>In a quiet plebeian quarter, remote from the bustle -of the city, surrounded by a wide piazza and a -pleasant grove of lime-trees, stands the old basilica of -St. Ambrogio. It is reached in a few minutes from the -Duomo by the S. Vittore tram. This church, architecturally -and historically, ranks first among all in Milan. -The Duomo, foreign in material and bastard in style, -cannot compare in interest with this grand product of -the Lombard soil and the Lombard spirit. The story -of St. Ambrogio reaches back through the long -centuries of Milan’s modern and mediæval life to the -time of the saintly Doctor himself. It was in 386 that -St. Ambrose founded it beside the already existing -basilica Faustæ. Here he buried, in the place which -he had prepared for himself, the bodies of the martyr -saints Protasio and Gervasio, whose resting-place had -been revealed to him just at the crisis of his struggle -with the Empress. <i>Two men of marvellous stature such -as the first age bore</i>, so he describes the bodies in a -letter to his sister Marcellina. <i>We carried them, as -the evening was falling, to the basilica Faustæ.... The -following day we removed them to the church which -they call Ambrosianam.</i> They were laid beneath the -altar, <i>where Christ is offered up</i>, and Ambrose commanded -that when his own time came he should be -buried in all humility beside them upon their left hand.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>The church was dedicated to the martyrs. Nevertheless, -it continued to be called the Basilica Ambrosiana -according to the fashion of that day, when the churches -were called after their founders, as for example the -Basilica Faustæ, otherwise S. Vittore in Cielo d’Oro, -the Basilica Porciana, also dedicated to S. Vittore, and -the Basilica Paulina, or SS. Felix and Nabor. To later -centuries it has become unalterably Sant Ambrogio.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Being in a peculiar sense the church of the patron -saint and protector of the Milanese people, the basilica -held from the first a very prominent place in the life of -the Ambrosian city. Here the Primates gathered -their suffragans to those synods and provincial councils, -in which in the days of ecclesiastical rule the affairs -of North Italy were decided. The foundation of a -monastery of the powerful Benedictine Order in connection -with the church, in 783, added to its importance. -The archbishops of the reviving See of Milan, in the -ninth century, restored it and bestowed upon it the -utmost honour and reverence, endowing it with great -riches. Here Otho the Great was crowned King of -Italy by Archbishop Walperto in 961, and from that -time, whenever a coronation took place in Milan, it -was performed in St. Ambrogio. Perhaps the curious -privilege which the city enjoyed, of keeping all -sovereigns excluded from its precincts, was the reason -why the Cathedral church was never chosen for the -ceremony. In 1186, Frederick Barbarossa was -present here when with immense splendour Henry of -Suabia wedded Constance of Sicily, the Constance -who is moon-arrested in Dante’s <cite>Paradise</cite>, because of -her supposed inconstancy to monastic vows, though -the old tale of her being dragged from a convent to -marry the Emperor’s son has been proved a fable.</p> - -<p class='c000'>During the factious age of liberty St. Ambrogio was -the church in which the popular party gathered, to seek -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>the sanction and protection of the patron saint and to -discuss their affairs, being shut out from the Duomo -by the Archbishop and the aristocratic party. Here -the short-lived reconciliation of 1258, called the -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Pace di St. Ambrogio</span></i>, was completed and sworn to -before the Altar with great solemnity by the representatives -of both factions.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In St. Ambrogio Henry of Luxemburg, the looked-for -peacemaker, was crowned in 1311, with his -consort, Margaret of Brabant, in the presence of all -the great nobles of Italy and characters conspicuous in -the history of the time. A strange and somewhat -ominous circumstance of this occasion was that the -crown always used for the coronation of the Kings of -Italy—which had become, though only shortly before -this time, known as the Iron Crown—was missing. -With the rest of the treasure of the Cathedral of -Monza—where it was kept then, as to-day—it had -been pawned by the Torriani.<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c014'><sup>[8]</sup></a> So a new iron crown, -in the form of a laurel wreath, was forged to encircle -the brow of Henry VII. The newly anointed -monarch created two hundred knights in the church, -the first upon whom he laid his sword being Matteo -Visconte. From this time the ceremony of knighting -was customarily performed in St. Ambrogio, and later -on those who received the dignity there were called -the Knights of St. Ambrogio.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. </span>The treasure was recovered later from Avignon by Matteo -Visconte.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>It was in St. Ambrogio that Gian Galeazzo Visconte, -newly created Duke of Milan, knelt before the altar -while the Archbishop of Milan and a splendid array -of prelates chanted hymns and offices in celebration -of his elevation to the ducal dignity, in the presence of -princes and ambassadors from all the States of Italy -and Europe. Here, in 1477, the young Republicans -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>who had sworn to avenge the wrongs of their city upon -the tyrant Galeazzo Maria Sforza, bowed themselves -before the image of the Saint, patron of the Milanese -liberties, and besought his blessing upon their enterprise. -In the sixteenth century St. Ambrogio was the goal of -the pathetic penitential processions which used to wind -their way from the Duomo day after day during the visitations -of the plague and the persecutions by the Spaniards.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Basilica as we see it now shows no trace, it -need hardly be said, of the church which Ambrose -himself built. But it still contains his bones. An -interesting proof of his actual burial there beside the -two martyrs, according to his directions, was the discovery, -in 1864, beneath the High Altar, of two cavities -of unequal size, the larger in the middle, the smaller -on its left hand, evidently burial-places. There were -no bodies in them, but the remains of the three saints -were found in a sepulchre of porphyry above the -cavities. It was known that they had been removed -and laid in one tomb together by Archbishop Angilberto -in the ninth century, probably at the time when the -floor of the sanctuary was raised and the golden altar -set up. The church appears to have been completely -rebuilt at this time by Angilberto (824-859) and -Ansperto (868-881), after the instalment of the -Benedictines, in order to suit it to the requirements -of monastic ritual. Angilberto had the main part -built, it is supposed, and Ansperto added the atrium—<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Atria -vicinas struxit et ante fores</span></i>,—as is recorded in -the lengthy epitaph of the said prelate inscribed above -his tomb on the south side of the nave.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But the noble building of to-day, with its grand -forecourt, or atrium, is almost certainly not the ninth -century church of Angilberto and Ansperto, but a reconstruction -on the same lines in the eleventh or early -twelfth century. The date of St. Ambrogio has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>a much-disputed point, and some authorities still cherish -the theory that it is in the main the ninth century -building, and as such, the prototype of all the many -churches of the Romanesque style scattered throughout -Europe. But the advanced system of vaulting, and the -compound form of the pillars, as seen in St. Ambrogio, -are said not to appear in other Italian churches until a -good deal later than the ninth century—later, in fact, -than in more northern countries. If the Basilica be -of this early date, it must have remained for two -hundred years a solitary example of a splendid style -of architecture which had arrived at completeness -without leaving any traces of preliminary stages. -There are many tenth and eleventh century churches, -however, which show what would naturally seem the -early and undeveloped stages of the style, which is in -favour of the belief held by most of the writers on the -subject, that St. Ambrogio follows rather than precedes -them in date, and stands at the zenith and not at the -dawn of Romanesque architecture. The style of most -of the decorative sculpture on the building also points -to a later origin.<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c014'><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. </span>The exponents of the ninth century theory are Dartein, -Landriani, and Mongeri, among others, and more recently, -Luca Beltrami; and of the theory of a later origin, Kügler, -Viollet-le-Duc, Stielh, Cattaneo, Adolfo Venturi, etc.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>There is no actual record, it is true, of a restoration -in the eleventh or twelfth century, but the patriotism -and fervour of vitality which animated the Milanese in -that epoch, and brought them into conflict with Barbarossa, -may well have induced them to rebuild and -beautify this church, which, being the resting-place of -their Patron, was to them as the sanctuary of their -liberties. Italian enthusiasm has always memorialised -itself in brick and stone, and, moreover, in the twelfth -century architecture was the only art in which they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>could fully express themselves. Not only in Milan, -but throughout Lombardy, the churches of this period -are a grand and enduring testimony to the great era of -the Italian Communes, and in St. Ambrogio, queen if -not mother of them all,<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c014'><sup>[10]</sup></a> surely we have before us the -noblest artistic embodiment of the spirit which produced -the Lombard League.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. </span><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Madre e regina delle chiese lombarde</span></i>—Dartein.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The outward form of the church—the large Romanesque -style—is in keeping with that great patriotic -thought and resolve. It is essentially of the soil. The -grand curves of the arches, the massive pillars, the -sense of space and freedom seem the proper expression -of the mediæval Lombard character, in their union of -Latin breadth and clearness with the picturesque -ruggedness, and the rich effects of light and shade -of Northern building. Above all, the material—brick -and stone, that fortunate combination which -produces such glory and enchantment of colour—is -peculiarly Lombard. The effect of it in St. Ambrogio -is most beautiful and satisfying. Even the newness -of much of the brick at the present time—crude -evidence of restoration—cannot destroy the charm.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id015'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span> -<img src='images/i_282.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>SIDE AISLE OF ATRIUM, ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figleft id016'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span> -<img src='images/i_283.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CAPITAL IN ATRIUM OF<br />ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The atrium or forecourt is surrounded on three sides -by arcades supported on massive pillars. It is rather -later in date than the façade of the church, which rises -up in a wide gable, pierced with lofty round-headed -openings above the shadow of the narthex or portico, -triple-arched, which forms the eastern side of the -atrium. On either hand of the church rises a campanile -of characteristic Lombard type. The lower -one is the Monks’ Tower, and dates from the eighth -or ninth century. It is probably the first thing which -the Benedictines built on entering into possession of -the church in 783, bells being a necessity of the -monastic ritual. The tall tower on the left, which, -with its ornamental arcading and delicate ribs of brick -and stone, shows an advance of some centuries on -the simplicity of the older one, was built in 1128 by -Archbishop Anselmo for the Canons, to vindicate the -ancient rights of these, the original servants and custodians -of the basilica, against the encroaching monks, -who are said to have pulled down the pre-existing -belfry of the secular priests. The struggles between -these two bodies of secular and regular clergy, established -side by side and sharing the privilege of serving -the church, were very fierce and continuous through -the Middle Ages. The monks are long gone now, and -the Canons remain in peaceful possession of the altars -and of the quiet courts and shrunken cloisters of the -old place. Both towers have been restored in recent -times. The atrium and façade have also been restored, -but show more vestiges -of the original work. In -the fantastic sculptured -imagery which ornaments -the capitals of the -great columns, in the -curling foliage patterns -of the friezes on archivolts -and architraves, in -the endless knots and intricate -web of the ribbed -stems upon the lintels and jambs and columns of the great -middle doorway, in the grotesque beasts and human -creatures which course up pillars, or writhe round capitals, -we see the hand of the twelfth century craftsman still -shaping the stone into the forms of religious symbolism, -but expressing also his own satiric and pessimistic views -of life, of nature ever at war with itself, and at the same -time beginning to subordinate spiritual ideas to a desire -for decorative effect. The attempts seen here at -representing human figures are still of the rudest and -most primitive, as for example the figure—perhaps -Salome—dancing, while another plays the lyre, on a -capital to the left of the middle door, the Adam and -Eve (?) on either side of the Tree on one of the middle -capitals of the narthex, the huntsman standing triumphant -above a crowd of horned beasts—symbolic of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>the victory of the human over the animal nature. But -many of the capitals are purely fanciful and decorative; -the grotesque creatures writhe into graceful and symmetric -designs, and that sort of flat-ribbed cord that -appears so constantly, and in its endless windings is -emblematic of eternity, is led into graceful curves and -develops into leaves and stems which, growing bolder -and freer, become finally beautiful foliage designs with -masks and grotesques that seem to herald the Renaissance. -This more advanced -decoration is probably -thirteenth century. -Some fragments of the -more archaic ornament, -especially round the -middle doorway, which -has the appearance of -being pieced together -in places, seem to be -survivals of an earlier -existence of the church, -which were embodied in the twelfth century reconstruction—the -symbolic Lion of St. Mark, for -example, and the Abbot’s Cross on a column on the -right hand, which belongs perhaps to the period of -the rebuilding for the monks. The name of <i>Adam -Magister</i>, inscribed round a slender column on the -left of the door, upside down, is no doubt that of -the architect or sculptor of the present or some former -phase of the building.</p> - -<div class='figright id016'> -<img src='images/i_284.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CAPITAL IN ATRIUM OF<br />ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The walls of the atrium and round the doorways of -the church show everywhere traces of fresco paintings -of various periods, from Byzantine to Giottesque and -the fifteenth century Lombard school, carefully uncovered -in recent times, but all hopelessly ruined. The -two large half-obliterated scenes in chiaroscuro on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>either side, at right angles to the front wall of the -church, have been attributed tentatively to the little-known -painter, Zenale. They represent the story -of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. That on the -right hand, which is the least spoilt, shows three -devotees kneeling before St. Ambrose, who are supposed -to be the three successive dukes, Francesco, -Galeazzo Maria, and Gian Galeazzo Sforza. On the -left of the principal door, supported on four columns, -is the sarcophagus of the humanist, Pier Candido -Decembrio (died 1477), secretary and biographer of -Duke Filippo Maria, and of his successor, Francesco -Sforza. It is a graceful Renaissance work, -perhaps by the Lombard sculptor, Tommaso da Cazzaniga,<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c014'><sup>[11]</sup></a> -and has bas-reliefs on the front, showing the -Virgin, with Decembrio kneeling before her protected -by St. Ambrose, and the journey of Tobias and the -Angel, signifying the soul’s journey into eternity. A -very archaic bas-relief representing St. Ambrose, with -the triple-thonged scourge in his hand, is on the wall -beyond the left-hand door. The atrium is a museum -of sculpture of many periods. Here are monuments -and shields of mediæval and Renaissance days—tombstones -cast out from this and neighbouring churches—the -broken original of the carven beasts over the right-hand -door, and various unburied fragments of that dead -Roman world which underlies Milan.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. </span>See Malaguzzi Valeri, <cite>G. A. Amadeo</cite>, p. 295.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The great wooden door of the church, carved all -over with small scenes, and of very ancient origin, has lost -its interest by a too complete restoration. An unrestored -fragment which is kept in the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Archivio Capitolare</span></i> -has been pronounced to be of the time of Theodosius.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The interior of the basilica has the same noble effect -of largeness, dignity, and repose as the atrium. In the -solemn obscurity and devout silence one becomes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>aware of massive arches and deep vaulting, of great -spaces and dim, far-off recesses, of rich colour and -gilding, of grotesque forms and wreathing serpentine -stems in the pallid stone of capitals and pulpit and -screen. The careful restoration of half a century ago -has repaired as much as possible the mishandlings -which the church suffered from the zeal of Carlo -Borromeo, and again two hundred years later, though -the modern decoration of the cupola cannot be admired. -We now see the Lombard basilica in its twelfth century -form, with a great central nave of four bays, and -side aisles with <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">matronei</span></i>—galleries for the women—above -them, an essential feature of a Romanesque -church. The nave is roofed with cross vaults springing -from enormous pilasters, except the last bay before -the choir, which opens up into a lofty cupola, whence -a circumscribed light pours down from a circle of -windows high up, illuminating the beautiful canopy of -the High Altar beneath. This cupola, carried up to a -height not in accord with the rest of the church, is a -thirteenth century restoration, following a disastrous -fall of the roof of this part in 1196.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id017'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span> -<img src='images/i_287.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CIBORIUM, ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The eastern portion of the basilica, which has three -apses, is a survival of the ninth century building. The -apses do not exactly correspond in direction with the -later built body of the church, as is easily seen in looking -up from the nave to the central apse. That they belong -to the church built for the monks, and not to an earlier -basilica, as their obvious priority to the rest of the -building has led the supporters of the ninth century -theory to suppose, is shown by there being three apses, -and by the prolongation of the space in front of them -for the choir, to accommodate the monks, who needed -a place apart from the people for their special functions. -In a very early basilica there would be but one apse, -and it would start from the nave. The sanctuary is -raised a few steps above the level of the nave, and in -its midst, conspicuous and alone as it should be, beneath -the noble curves of arch and cupola rises the four-sided -canopy of the High Altar, upon four antique -columns of red porphyry, glowing with deep colour -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>and gilding against the rich darkness of the great -mosaic in the tribune behind. The decoration of the -canopy is of stucco. Moulded upon the flat pediments -above the semicircular arches are gilded figures in -relief against a background of deep blue; on the front, -facing into the nave, Christ enthroned, giving the keys -to Peter, and the law to Paul; on the back St. -Ambrogio, protected by an angel behind him, stands -between SS. Gervasio and Protasio, who present to -him two kneeling Benedictine monks, one of whom -holds in his hands a model of the canopy, and is -thought to be Abbot Gaudenzio, appointed head of the -monastery in 835; on the left side Madonna, with the -Dove of the Holy Spirit on her head, is standing between -two kneeling princesses, who lift their hands in -supplication to her; on the right is St. Ambrogio and -two princes, who also kneel and seem to beseech -him. The friezes and bands of ornamentation are exceedingly -rich, and very beautiful in design. At the -corners are eagles, with their wings spread and fish -between their claws. The canopy is an early thirteenth -century restoration of a pre-existing one produced by -Byzantine artists, probably in the time of Archbishop -Angilberto, and wrecked by the fall of the cupola in -1196, little but the columns and the capitals surviving. -The new work kept the Byzantine character of the -old—the rigidity of the figures, the conventionalised -draperies, the sacred symbols, though the spirit of a -later age is visible in a certain rude attempt to give -life to the heads.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Beneath the canopy the treasure which it was built -to shelter still stands, the famous golden altar of -Archbishop Angilberto. This altar is the largest and -perhaps the most beautiful example known of the -goldsmith’s art in the Carlovingian period. It is kept -enclosed in a massive case, and a fee of five francs -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>must be paid to the sacristan to see it. On St. -Ambrose’s Day only is it uncovered to public view. -The front of the altar is entirely faced with plates of -fine gold divided into panels by borders of exquisite -mosaic of enamel, and gold filigree work of delicate -and various design, enriched with thickly-set gems, -rubies, opals, sapphires, topaz and turquoise, cats’-eyes -and every sort of strange-hued stone, some of great -size, and edged with pearls. The panels are filled -with figures in relief. In the middle, in a panel of -oval form is Christ, with a jewelled halo, enthroned -amid stars formed of precious stones. Around Him -are the four Evangelic Beasts and the Apostles, three -and three together. On either side are scenes from -the Gospel story. The Resurrection, Ascension and -Pentecost are sixteenth century restorations, quite out -of keeping with the archaic character of the rest. -The back and sides of the altar are of silver and of -silver-gilt. On each of the sides there is a Greek -cross of gold filigree set with gems and bordered with -exquisite enamel, and around are figures of saints and -angels, SS. Ambrose, Simpliciano, Gervasio and -Protasio appearing on the right side, and on the left -SS. Martin, Nabor, Nazario and Magno, the three -latter being Milanese martyrs in the time of Diocletian -and Decius. The back is divided into panels like the -front, but in the middle there are four medallions. -The two upper ones contain figures of the angels -Michael and Gabriel. The two below are of great -interest, as evidence of the origin and antiquity of the -altar. In one is shown St. Ambrose crowning Angilberto, -who has a halo of rectangular form, which -signifies that he was living at the time of the representation; -he offers a model of the altar to the Saint. -The names Sanctus Ambrosius and Dominus Angilbertus -are inscribed beside them. In the companion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>medallion we see Ambrose again, crowning <i>Volvinus -magister phaber</i> (Master Volvinus the Smith), as the inscription -describes him, the German artificer whom the -Archbishop charged to make this altar, art at that -time being far more advanced beyond the Alps than -in Italy. The panels contain scenes from the legend -of St. Ambrose; the Saint as a babe in the cradle -attracting a swarm of bees by his honeyed mouth; -journeying on horseback into Liguria, where he was -prefect; flying at full gallop from Milan to avoid -being Bishop, and admonished by a voice from on high -to return; being baptized and ordained Bishop; celebrating -Mass, while a cleric touches him on the back, -showing how, as the legend relates, sleep has fallen -on him and he is being transported in a vision to -Tours, where in another panel he is represented -laying the dead St. Martin in his tomb; again he -appears preaching, inspired by an angel; treading -beside the altar on the gouty foot of a bystander -and healing it; seeing Christ in a dream, who -announces to him his approaching death; offering -his body to God as he dies; lastly, his dead body -is being carried to Heaven by angels. These reliefs -are very reminiscent of classic forms and have a surprising -grace and freedom for the period. The representations -of St. Ambrose’s story in particular -are full of life and vigour, and show much beauty of -composition and modelling, though they betray the -era of their origin in certain awkwardnesses of proportion -and grotesque attitudes. Here and there cameos -of exquisite and evidently antique workmanship are let -into the borders, and gems with Greek words cut in -them; but perhaps the greatest beauty of all is the -enamel—just beginning at that time to be used extensively -in decorative art—and the delicate designs in -which it is composed.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>This gorgeous jewelled work, flashing out beneath -the splendour of the canopy, seems to gather into a -point all the glory of this rich interior. From the -choir, which is raised several steps above the sanctuary, -one can get a complete view of the mosaic decoration -of the apse, a grand and imposing composition, with a -colossal figure of Christ enthroned in the centre, lifting -His hand in benediction, and on either side of Him -SS. Gervasio and Protasio, and the Archangels Michael -and Gabriel above. The names of the two martyrs -are written beside them, letter beneath letter. Under -the central figure there are three medallions; S. -Satiro, brother of St. Ambrose, in the centre, and S. -Marcellina, their sister, and S. Candida to right and -left. The sides of the composition depict the story -related by S. Gregory of Tours about St. Ambrose -and represented on the altar; how he fell into a trance -as he celebrated Mass and was rapt in spirit to Tours, -where he performed the burial rite over the body of -S. Martin. This mosaic is of the twelfth century, -and though it follows the Byzantine style in arrangement -and general treatment, it shows a tendency to -abandon the old rigid conventions for the sake of more -life and expression in the attitudes and draperies of the -figures, and so sacrifices something of the decorative -effect. The colour is very sombre, lacking the richness -and glow of the best mosaic.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There is a marble episcopal seat of the ninth century -in the choir. The stalls are very beautiful. Some -are of the fourteenth century, as is also the triple seat -on the right hand of the altar; the other stalls date -from 1507. The designs carved upon them—trees -and foliage, with small figures of men and animals, a -peasant gathering grapes, a neglectful swineherd munching -acorns, while the pig climbs the tree to reach some -for itself, a man and a bear facing each other with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>comical hesitation beneath a tree, and other rustic -scenes—are very graceful and delicate, and show a -Renaissance spirit of gaiety.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The richly sculptured pulpit carries us back again to -the earlier ages of the church. It is a very late -twelfth century restoration of the pre-existing pulpit, -which was ruined by the fall of the roof in 1196. -An inscription on the side facing down the nave records -that Guglielmus de Pomo, Superstes—chief priest or -superior of the church—caused this and many other -works to be done. It rests partly upon a Christian -sarcophagus of the fifth or sixth century, and partly -upon columns. The cover of the sarcophagus is -crowded with figures in bas-relief, among which -appear the effigies of the unknown couple, apparently -of high rank, buried in it. On the side facing into -the middle of the church, Christ is represented, seated -among the Prophets, and on the other side He appears -with the Apostles. Abraham sacrificing Isaac is the -subject sculptured on one end, Elijah ascending in the -chariot of fire on the other. These sculptures of the -late Roman age, showing the decadence of a developed -style, contrast strangely with the exuberant twelfth -century decoration upon the other parts of the structure—ornamental -borders and friezes with the characteristic -curling stems that enmesh strange animals in -endless pursuit of one another, innocent creatures, stags -and hares chased by savage-fanged beasts, birds and -grotesque humans forming caryatids, an ass playing the -lyre, an eagle pecked by another bird, etc. Art has -died and been born again in the interval between the -old and the late work. In the twelfth century sculpture -we see the wild rush of a new life, vigorous, cruel -and merry, but at the same time penetrated by the -pessimistic consciousness of youth. The difficulty of -the sculptor in dealing with human figures is shown by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>the absurdly childish way in which the little scenes -of Adam and Eve’s history, in the spaces beneath the -arches, are represented. On the parapet of the pulpit -at the back a Christian feast is sculptured.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The crypt beneath the choir was originally built in -the ninth century, but is now completely modern. -Descending into it you may look into the hallowed -recess, where in an ornate silver shrine of very recent -date lie the bodies of St. Ambrose and of the twin -martyrs, Gervasio and Protasio, still beneath the high -altar, where long ago the great bishop willed to lie.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_293.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>SCULPTURE ON PULPIT IN ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Beside the door leading into the crypt, on the north -side, there is a fresco, by Borgognone, of the Child -Jesus among the elders in the Temple, and being -found by His Mother. The sweet seriousness and -devoutness of the painter are charmingly shown in this -painting; the colour, warmer and gayer than he often -uses, seems a forecast of his famous pupil Luini. A -painting on the wall opposite of Madonna with Saints, -placed so much in the dark that little can be distinguished -in it except its unmistakable Lombard -character, has been attributed to Zenale, but without -sufficient evidence.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A chapel on the south side of the church leads to -the small sanctuary which is all that remains of the -Basilica Faustæ, or San Vittore in Cielo d’Oro, afterwards -dedicated to S. Satiro, who was buried there -in 379 by his brother St. Ambrose. The present -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>chapel, restored in 1859, is the easternmost bay of -the original church, which was probably rebuilt in the -eighth century. The deep cupola is covered with gold -mosaic, with a figure of San Vittore in the centre, -whence the name San Vittore in Cielo d’Oro. The -Evangelic Beasts are represented round the cupola, and -on the walls below are stiff figures of bishops and -saints of the Milanese Church. These mosaics are -fifth century, but have been restored.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A chapel lower down on this side of the church is -frescoed with the legend of St. George, by Lanino, a -follower of Gaudenzio Ferrari. Near a side door -further down still is a painting, in very bad condition, -attributed to Ferrari—Christ bearing the Cross, with -the Three Maries—and some late and inferior frescoes -of the same school. A coloured stucco image of St. -Ambrose, of the eleventh century, done from a portrait -of him taken from life, as the inscription informs us, is -to be seen on the wall nearer the west end. Beneath it -is the stone sarcophagus of Archbishop Ansperto, and -the famous epitaph referring to the building of the -atrium. On the north wall, opposite, a relic of the -pagan past is placed over the door leading into the -belfry, a bas-relief of the Vintage, exquisitely decorative -and gay. It is supposed to be a vestige of a -Temple of Bacchus, which, according to tradition, -stood upon the site of this church and was swept -away by Ambrose. The last chapel on this side is -the baptistery, and here is a fresco by Borgognone over -the altar—the Risen Christ between two Angels. -The long, slender figure of the Christ, graceful but -nerveless, the general expression of pensiveness and -sweetness, the colour no longer grey and pallid, as in -his earlier pictures, but rich and harmonious, are very -characteristic of this artist in his late period.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Two columns standing in the nave are surmounted, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>one by a serpent of bronze, the other by the cross. -The serpent, if we may believe the eleventh century -chronicler Landolfo, is that very one which Moses set -up in the wilderness, and was brought in the writer’s -own day from Constantinople by Archbishop Arnolfo, -who had gone thither to seek the hand of the Emperor’s -daughter for Otho III., and to whom the Greeks, who -owned the sacred treasure, had presented it. Women -used to bring their sick children to the column to be -healed by the serpent.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the Sacristy of the Canons may be seen some -beautiful illuminated books, the most precious of which -is the famous Missal of Gian Galeazzo Visconte, of -the late fourteenth century, which commemorates the -coronation of that prince as first Duke of Milan. It -is exquisitely illuminated, in clear brilliant colour, by a -Lombard miniaturist, Annovello da Imbonate. The -front page depicts the scene of the coronation; a -beautiful composition in which the Duke appears kneeling -in crimson robe and ermine at the feet of the -imperial legate, with his subjects gathered below. -In the ornamental border the emblems of the Visconti -are introduced; the snake, the dog chained beneath a -tree, the dove with the motto, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">A bon droit</span></i>, etc. -There are other pages fully miniatured with scenes of -Gian Galeazzo’s career. Among several Corali of the -late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, there are two -with very fine and delicate miniatures, attributed to -Borgognone and suggestive of that painter in the sentiment -and pose of the figures.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Teca degli Innocenti</span></i>, a silver casket of the late -fifteenth century, containing relics of the Innocents, -and very elaborately decorated with bas-reliefs of the -Massacre, and other New Testament scenes, is kept -in the sacristy, and also a silver pax, called Filippo -Maria Visconte’s, with a bas-relief of the Dead Christ, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>of Lombard workmanship; a fifteenth century ostensory, -of beautiful Gothic form, and a processional cross, -given by S. Carlo to the church, but of earlier date.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A door on the north side of the church leads into -the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">canonica</span>, and one steps out from the grand old -Lombard basilica into a beautiful portico of the -Renaissance period. Lodovico il Moro intended to -raise here a stately residence for the Canons. He -charged Bramante of Urbino with the work, but the -much occupied architect had little time to devote to it, -and it dragged on, so that only this one side of the -cloister, and that unfinished, was built before the -Moro’s fall put an end to all his ambitious schemes. -This fragment, at once so noble and so graceful in its -proportions, and showing a fine and restrained taste in -the capitals, is almost certainly of Bramante’s design, -which is more than can be said of most of the work -attributed to him in this city. The delicious <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i>, in -every charming pose, and plastic as life itself, which -decorate the labels upon the arches, show the development -of Italian art in the three centuries which divide -them from the grotesque sculptures in the church. -How interesting, too, the contrast between the treatment -of arch and pillar, of brick and stone, by the -learned and sophisticated Quattrocentist, and the same -forms, the same materials in the hands of the rude, -vigorous, and deeply religious generation which built -the church. The cloister, in its incompleteness, leaning -up against the old basilica, monument of democratic fervour -and strength, is a poignant relic of the aristocratic -and exclusive ideas of the Renaissance, and of the incomparable -grace and joyousness of their brief reign in -Milan. The profiles of the two presiding spirits of -that moment, Lodovico and Beatrice, are moulded on -either side of the doorway by a mediocre Lombard -sculptor of the Renaissance period.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>A quaint chimney, upon the house facing the cloister, -is an interesting example of a type once common in -Milan, and still often seen in the neighbouring towns.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Adjoining the basilica is the old convent, now a -military hospital, with two fine cloisters, designed, it -is thought, by Bramante.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Among the lime-trees on the piazza, near the church -on the north side, stands an antique column, a relic of -some pagan building, either the Roman temple, which -is supposed to have preceded the basilica, or of a -summer palace of the emperors, which stood beside -it. An ingenious thirteenth century chronicler, one -Daniele, in an imaginary description of the coronation -of the mediæval kings in St. Ambrogio, makes this -column play an important part in the ceremony. <i>The -King must swear the oath outside the church, where a -marble column stands.... He must kiss the said -column, because as the column is upright, so must the judgment -of the sovereign be upright.</i> A more faithful -account of the ritual at the coronations is given by the -tenth century chronicler, Landolfo the Elder.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_297.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CHIMNEY, CANONICA OF ST. AMBROGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XII<br /> <span class='large'><i>San Lorenzo. Romanesque Buildings</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gloriose sacris micat ornata Ecclesiis</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ex quibus alma est Laurenti....</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>In the Via Ticinese, just within the twelfth century -boundary of the city, there stands a magnificent row -of Corinthian columns, the only vestige above ground, -in its original position, of the imperial Milan, whose -splendours were sung by Ausonius. The Roman -building of which they formed probably the peristyle, -has long vanished, but the place where it must have -stood is now occupied by San Lorenzo, the most -ancient existing church in Milan, though much restored -and altered, especially in the sixteenth century. The -large impressive interior, octagonal in form, and surrounded -by a wide ambulatory with a gallery above, -which opens into the body of the church through four -double storied arcades, recalls the style of San Vitale -at Ravenna. Recent studies favour the theory that it -was built in this form, as a church, in the sixth century, -rather than the old idea that it was originally the great -hall of Maximian’s Baths, and was converted to a -Christian temple by St. Ambrose. However that -may be, its form carries us back to a time which no -other building in Milan commemorates, when the -Roman Empire still lived, and the Church had but -lately issued from its martyr struggles, and was still -linked in its architecture with the old world.</p> - -<p class='c000'>San Lorenzo has unfortunately preserved none of -those splendours celebrated by historian and poet in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>the eighth century. Arnolfo the chronicler weeps -over the destruction of its roofs of mosaic and gold -and starry gems, its paintings and sculptured marbles, -in the calamitous fire of 1071. <i>Oh Temple, which had -not your like in the world</i>, he cries. Restored after the -fire, it was again grievously damaged by fire in 1124, -and again restored. The fall of a great part of the -roof in 1573 gave Cardinal Borromeo and his favourite -Pellegrini an opportunity for interference. Pellegrini -was succeeded in the work of restoration by his pupil, -Martino Bassi. The result of their labours was the -present lofty cupola, supported on great pilasters -between the openings into the ambulatory, and the -heavy architectural decoration of neo-classic style, -which impose upon the old building, bare now of the -rich and glowing colour of its original design, a cold, -austere and melancholy character.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Fragments of antique capitals used upside down as -bases of columns here and there, some columns of -African marble in the chapel of St. Ippolito behind the -High Altar, and a beautiful marble doorway with -decoration of pagan character in low relief, at the -entrance to the chapel of St. Aquilino, show that the -church is partly composed out of the wreckage of the -Roman city. The chapel last named, which opens off -the ambulatory on the south, is of the sixth century, -and has kept its ancient form. It is octagonal like the -church, and is roofed with a shallow cupola. The -circle of deep apertures high up, by which it is lighted, -form outside those round-headed niches so familiar in -later Lombard buildings. The Empress Galla Placidia -is supposed to have founded this chapel, and to have -intended to be buried there. A Christian sarcophagus, -of late Roman workmanship, stands in a niche on the -right hand of the entrance. But Galla Placidia lies -in her gorgeous mausoleum at Ravenna. This sepulchre -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>is said, however, to enclose the remains of her first -husband, Athanulph, King of the Goths. Some -mosaics in lunettes on either side of the apse date from -the early days of the chapel—Christ with the Apostles, -and the Shepherds feeding their Flocks. The sixteenth -century tomb of St. Aquilino occupies the apse, which -is decorated with frescoes of the Luinesque school.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There is little else of interest in the church. In the -ambulatory is a tomb of 1411, and above it a much -restored painting of Madonna with SS. Stephen and -Ambrose presenting to her members of the Robbiano -family, and in the chapel of St. Ippolito, a tomb with -the effigy of Antonio Conte, a priest of the church, -who died in 1349, and the late fifteenth century -monument of another of the same family, Giovanni -Conte, who restored the chapel.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The façade is of ornate late classic style, and the unfinished -building on either side of the court in front was -designed by Ricchini, a seventeenth century architect. -An interesting view of the exterior, from the Piazza -Vetra, on the north-east side, shows the enormous dome -rising with incongruous effect, above the brick mass of -the building, between four low towers of Lombard -style, which survive from the eleventh or twelfth century -reconstruction of the church after the great fires.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The archway and towers in the main street just -beyond San Lorenzo represent the old Porta Ticinese, -built by the Milanese consuls in 1171, and restored by -Azzo Visconte in the fourteenth century. The -structure was newly restored in 1858. Upon the outer -side of the arch there is a sculpture of Madonna enthroned -with the Child, and St. Ambrose presenting to -her a model of the city, with SS. Lorenzo, Eustorgio -and Peter Martyr, standing around. Similar groups, -now in the Museo Archeologico, were placed upon Porta -Romana and Porta Orientale by Azzo. They are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>the work apparently of the Campionese followers of -Giovanni di Balduccio of Pisa.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id018'> -<img src='images/i_301.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>THE OLD PORTA TICINESE.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>The Porta Ticinese corresponds to the original gate -of the same name in the old circuit of the Roman -walls, which stood nearer into the centre of the city at -a spot now called <i>Carobbio</i>, a corruption of Quadrivium, -the Four Ways. The modern gate is some little -distance further south. This is the way out of the -city to Pavia, the ancient Ticinum, hence the name -Via Ticinese. Throughout the Middle Ages, from -the time when Pavia was a royal seat, this street was -the scene of all the state entries of conquering kings, -or princely visitors. Barbarossa came this way, passing -in majesty over the flattened earthworks and prone -gates of the humiliated city. Three centuries later, -the victorious soldier of fortune, Francesco Sforza, -made his state entry by Porta Ticinese, appearing -with his wife, Bianca Maria, and his young son, -Galeazzo, upon a triumphal car beneath a canopy of -cloth of gold, followed by the captains and chosen men -of his army. Less than fifty years after, the destroyer -of the brief Sforza domination, Louis XII., passed -up in unparalleled splendour, wearing the ducal cap of -Milan, having been presented by the Constable of the -Gate with the keys of Porta Ticinese on the bridge -over the canal immediately outside. He was preceded -by all the clergy in pontifical array, and by a gorgeous -procession of pages, musicians, men-at-arms, and -courtiers. Immediately before him rode Gian Giacomo -Trivulzio, the golden staff of a Marshal of -France in his hand, and in the throng of cardinals and -ambassadors who followed, the most conspicuous was -that warlike ecclesiastic, known then as S. Pietro in Vincula, -who, as Julius II., a few years later became the -scourge of the French intruders. So is the shame of -Milan and of Italy written on the stones of that street.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>Just beyond the gate the street crosses the canal—the -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Naviglio</span></i> it is called—which follows the mediæval -circumference of the city, on the line of the great fosse -dug by the Milanese as a defence against Barbarossa. -It is the central mesh as it were of the network of waterways -connecting Milan with Pavia and the other cities -of the Lombard -Plain. The narrow -streak of water, -with picturesque -backs of houses -descending into it, -and women in -bright coloured -skirts and gay kerchiefs -on their -heads, washing by -the edge, is a pleasant -interruption to -the crowded, rather -squalid street.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i_304.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>HOUSES ON THE NAVIGLIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Further on, beside -the modern -gate, is the old -basilica of St. Eustorgio, -once famous -as the resting-place -of the Three Kings, and later as the shrine -of St. Peter Martyr. Tradition declares that the -basilica was built by the Milanese bishop, St. -Eustorgio, in the fourth century, on the site of an -ancient font used by St. Barnabas himself to baptise his -converts. The primitive church, whatever its date, -was replaced later by a Romanesque building, which -exists in the main to this day, though with many -alterations and modifications made by successive generations -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>of devotees. Recent restorations have cleared -away the disfigurements which it suffered in the baroque -period.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The exterior gives a striking record of the phases -through which the church has passed. The façade is -in the characteristic style of the thirteenth century, -but dates only from 1865. The south flank, which -was restored at the same time, is of the fourteenth -century, when the Visconti, Torriani and other -great families, eager to show their devotion to the -church where the recent martyr Peter of Verona was -buried, built a series of sepulchral chapels on this side. -With its slender pointed windows, and <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">oculi</span></i> deeply set -within a rich framework of multiplied mouldings, its -gables and characteristic ornamentation of interlaced -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">archetti</span></i> beneath the eaves, it is a very graceful example -of the Gothic brick building of North Italy. A chapel -projecting at the western end belongs to the fifteenth -century, and was built by Pietro Solari. The apse of -the church, with its deep-niched arcade, carries us back -again to the Romanesque period. Beside it rises, in -accordant style, the Campanile, which was begun in -1297, and beyond, at the east end of the church, is a -beautiful chapel, built nearly two centuries later—in -1462—for Pigello Portinari by a Tuscan architect, -probably Michele Michelozzo. The tall brick Campanile, -soaring in its direct simplicity and strength, -each storey marked by a line of graceful <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">archetti</span></i> and of -bricks set pointwise above them, making a sort of dogtooth -ornamentation, and its angles faced with white -stone, contrasts in an interesting manner with the proud -little building below. The Portinari chapel shows the -new development of brick architecture in obedience to -the classic ideas of the Renaissance. The rotund -cupola swelling upon the broad square base, the elaborate -yet harmonious combination of curves and rectangles, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>the restrained decoration of moulded pilasters -and flat-carved capitals, of rich terra-cotta cornices and -deep-moulded <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">oculi</span></i>, the skilful arrangement of colour -in the distribution of stucco and brick, all reveal new -thoughts, new ideals, new knowledge, a sort of human -pride undreamed of by the faithful souls of the earlier -generation, who thought only of glorifying God and -lifting their building as near to Heaven as they -could.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id019'> -<img src='images/i_306.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>EXTERIOR OF PORTINARI CHAPEL, ST. EUSTORGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>The interior of the basilica, though the tribune and -part of the side aisles are said to be late ninth century, -is in the main of the twelfth or early thirteenth century. -It has lofty semicircular arches, showing here and -there the slightest inclination to a point; cross-vaulting, -compound pillars, and at the lower end women’s galleries, -or rather a restored semblance of them—all -Romanesque features. The capitals are sculptured in -the style of the same period, with strange animals and -grotesques. The large and noble architectural form, -combined with the harmonious colour of the faded red -brick and pallid stone, makes a very beautiful and impressive -effect, which is enhanced by the dim light -crossed by misty shafts of sunlight, and lost in deep -shadows beyond, and by the silence, the spaciousness, -the sharp note of voiceless prayer that rises up from a -little group of shawled figures bowed before some altar, -or from a solitary figure suppliant at the foot of a pillar. -The very incongruities in the building and in the ornamentation -add to the interest. Here are fragments of -old fresco peeling from pillar and vaulted roof; there -newly restored gaudy figures; everywhere the past and -the present joining in one living whole. You feel here -the continuity of religious fervour, of Christian love -and faith, through all the changes of thought and taste -during eight centuries.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span> -<img src='images/i_308.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>INTERIOR OF ST. EUSTORGIO.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The institution of a convent of Dominicans for the -service of the church in 1227, and the burial here of -their famous prior, Peter of Verona, murdered by heretics -in 1252, drew the attention of the pious to St. Eustorgio -just when art was showing a new vitality. The church -still contains a number of sculptured monuments of -Milanese nobles, who were buried here in the chapels -which they built in the centuries immediately following. -These are of great interest to the student of Lombard -art. The first chapel on the right at the bottom of -the church was not built till 1484, and the tomb within -it is of the Renaissance period, and is the work of the -Cazzaniga and of Benedetto Briosco. The tomb of a -young fifteenth century knight, Pietro Torelli, who -died in battle at the age of eighteen, is in the next -chapel. His effigy lies on the top, and the Madonna -and Child, with various saints, are sculptured on the -front, perhaps by Jacopo da Tradate.<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c014'><sup>[12]</sup></a> The canopy -is later and inferior work. A chapel farther up has</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. </span>Mongeri, <cite>L’Arte in Milano</cite>.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>ruined fourteenth century frescoes in the vaulting, -representing apparently the four Doctors of the Church -in grand canopied seats. The next contains the rich -Gothic tomb of Stefano Visconte, son of the great -Matteo and father of Bernabò and Galeazzo. The -monument dates from the middle of the fourteenth -century. Upon the front is a bas-relief of Madonna -and Child, with the kneeling figures of Stefano and his -wife, Valentina Doria, the one being presented by his -name-saint, St. Stephen, behind whom stand Peter -Martyr and Peter the Apostle, the other by St. John -Baptist, with St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul -behind. Beneath the cusped arch of the canopy is -Madonna again, a stately maternal type, smiling as she -holds a fruit above the Child, as if playing with His -eagerness to seize it—a motive more graceful and -natural than is usual in the rather stiff and heavy compositions -of the Lombard masters of that period. The -dignity and naturalism of this sculpture altogether -shows the hand of one of the most successful followers -of the Pisan Giovanni di Balduccio.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The monument in the next chapel is to Gaspare -Visconte, of a collateral branch of the reigning House, -who had been sent on embassies to England and was -a Knight of the Garter. It resembles Stefano’s in -design, but the bas-reliefs are later and inferior work. -Opposite is the recumbent statue, torn from its right -place and set up against the wall, of Gaspare’s wife, -Agnese Besozzi (died 1417), with her sons at her -feet. Above this stone is a sarcophagus, with a bas-relief -of the Coronation of the Virgin, with angels and -saints and devotees, also by some scholar of Giovanni di -Balduccio. The Snake emblazoned on it shows that it -commemorates some of the Visconte family, probably one -Uberto and his son Giovanni, with their respective wives. -The last chapel on this side is said to have been dedicated -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>by Martino della Torre to his name-saint of Tours. -No trace of the great Guelf House remains in it. It -seems to have been usurped by their conquerors, the -Visconti, whose Snake appears in the fifteenth century -frescoes—much damaged by the whitewash which once -covered them—upon the vaulted roof. In these, which -represent the Evangelic Beasts and various saints, there -appears on the left a woman’s figure carrying a shield -with the letters ‘B. M.’ and a crown upon it, in -homage, it would seem, to the Duchess Bianca Maria -Visconte Sforza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The arch of the east wall in the arm of the church -is covered with a large faded fresco of the Adoration -of the Magi, attributed by some to Bramantino. In -the Chapel of the Magi below a massive and quite -unadorned sarcophagus purports to be the tomb where -the bodies of the Three Kings reposed. They had -been brought hither, according to tradition, by home-returning -crusaders, and here they lay, worshipped and -plied with rich offerings by faithful pilgrims from all -parts of Christendom, until 1164, when they were -carried off by Barbarossa’s chancellor, the Archbishop -of Cologne, as some of the most precious spoils of the -conquered city. The old story of the Wise Men is -sculptured over the altar by Gio. di Balduccio, or more -probably by one of his scholars. It is a crowded -composition, in which the vivacity and movement of -the short thick figures show the growing tendency -towards realism still restrained by classic traditions.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On the wall opposite this chapel is the fourteenth -century tomb of Protaso Caimi, a noble Milanese -knight; it is decorated with the familiar composition -of the occupant kneeling before Madonna, with saints -in attendance, among whom may be noticed Sta. -Martina, holding her lion across her by its fore and -hind legs. A coloured and gilded statue of St. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>Eugenius, of rigid archaic style, but probably not -earlier than the end of the thirteenth century, stands also -in this part of the church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The richly sculptured altarpiece of the High Altar -still shows the Pisan influence. But it belongs to the -end of the fourteenth century, when it was presented to -the church by Gian Galeazzo Visconte, and shows in -the attitudes and draperies and long slender forms a -new delicacy of workmanship and a new search for -sentiment and grace, notably in the Madonna with -head turned and throat stretched, standing beside the -cross, and the grieving St. John on the other side. -The upper part, with the stucco statues, is a seventeenth -century restoration.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Passing behind the High Altar, through the crypt or -under choir, which was built in 1537 and is supported -on columns once forming part of the cloister of the adjoining -convent, and through a vestibule with remains of -old frescoes on the walls, we come to the Capella di -S. Pietro Martire—the Portinari Chapel—the exterior -of which has been already described. In this rich and -complex structure, rectangular below and rising by the -grand curves of wide-spanned arches to a lofty sixteen-sided -cupola, in the delicate arcade and parapet -running round it high up, in the beautiful terra-cotta -decoration of frieze and cornices, the sculptured arabesques -of the pilasters, the frescoes in spandril and -arch, we recognise the new spirit of the Renaissance. -The architecture is of Tuscan inspiration, though -certain details, such as the point still visible in the -rather ornate windows, are indicative of Lombard -taste. The chapel, which in form recalls the Pazzi -Chapel in Florence—though it lacks the perfect purity -and restraint of that wonderful building—is always -supposed, though without any positive evidence, to be -by Brunelleschi’s pupil, Michelozzo. The general -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>design may be regarded as certainly Michelozzo’s, and -much also of the ornamentation, especially the charming -stucco frieze of dancing angels, light graceful forms -instinct with winged motion and linked by a long -chain from which depend great bells of fruit and -foliage. The same great bells or tassels with fat <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i> -swinging on them, compose the delightful arabesques -on the pilasters. To Vincenzo Foppa, chief of the -early Milanese school of painters, was entrusted the -fresco decoration of the chapel. The four Fathers of -the Church, in tondi in the spandrils, figures of a -robust and quiet realism, full of a naturally-expressed -dignity and fresh and decorative in colour, are some of -his finest work. The other frescoes, four large scenes -representing scenes from the life of Peter Martyr—the -Saint preaching at Florence; confounding a false -miracle-worker at the altar; tending a youth who has -fallen from the top of a building and whom he has -miraculously saved from death; and being stabbed to -death by heretics—are Foppa’s design and in part his -work, but they have been much restored, and in their -present state are hardly worthy of him.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The monument of Peter Martyr occupies the middle -of the chapel, which was built to enshrine his head -only, and not this huge Trecento tomb containing the -rest of his body, which was moved here in the seventeenth -century from its place in the church and is a -superfluous and cumbersome feature, quite out of -keeping with the finished little Renaissance building. -In itself the tomb is a very fine and important work, -the masterpiece of Giovanni di Balduccio—though -in parts the help of his scholars is visible—the model -in thought and style for the monumental sculptors of -the Trecento in Milan. The name of the sculptor and -the date, 1239, are inscribed upon it. The sarcophagus -is decorated with bas-reliefs narrative of the Saint’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>career, crowded and vivacious compositions, in all of -which except that of the healing of the dumb boy an -inferior hand has been traced.<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c014'><sup>[13]</sup></a> Figures of the -Virtues, stately and classic in type though characteristically -thick and short, stand against the pilasters, -each with feet planted on some symbolic creature. -The different orders of angels are represented by -figures on the top of the sarcophagus, and the pyramidal -cover is decorated with more bas-reliefs—a king and -queen kneeling, a bishop, friars and devotees, the -Saint crowned by angels and blessing the people of -Milan. The monument is completed by a beautiful -Gothic canopy with Madonna enthroned between St. -Dominic and St. Peter Martyr.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. </span>Ventura, <cite>Storia dell’ Arte</cite>, vol. 4, p. 562.</p> -</div> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='c000'>S. Vincenzo in Prato, to the west of San Lorenzo, -is a beautiful example of early Romanesque. Built by -Abbot Gisilberto in 833, it was restored after 1000, -and after undergoing the usual transformations of the -baroque period it was reduced quite recently to its old -Lombard form of three aisles ending in three apses, the -principal apse containing the sanctuary being raised -above a deep crypt. The brick exterior, with the row -of deep niches round the apse and the ornamental <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">archetti</span></i> -beneath the roof, is very picturesque and characteristic.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Another interesting building of the end of the tenth -century is the abandoned fragment of the old Church -of S. Celso, which gives its name to the great adjacent -temple of Sta. Maria di S. Celso. The principal part -of the old basilica was pulled down in 1818 to give -light and air to its overgrown neighbour, and there is -little more than the apse now left, and some interesting -capitals of Romanesque style inside and outside the -building. The fine old doorway has fortunately escaped -destruction, and has been embodied in a new façade, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>built in 1851. Upon the architrave is a rude bas-relief -depicting the story of San Celso and his companion, -San Nazaro, who were martyred in the Field of the -Three Mulberry Trees, the very spot where the church -stands. The decaying wooden doors and the Madonna -and saints at the top are of the fifteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Calimero, to the north-east, is also Romanesque. -S. Nazaro, close to the last, one of the oldest foundations, -standing in the days of St. Ambrose, rebuilt in later -centuries and again completely transformed by Cardinal -Borromeo, has preserved some Romanesque features -in its exterior. Within there are some old stained-glass -windows of German workmanship. A very precious -silver coffer, with beautiful reliefs of late Roman workmanship, -is also kept here. Attached to the church -is a sepulchral chapel, built for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio -by Francesco da Briosco in 1518. The tombs of the -great Marshal and of members of his family, with their -recumbent figures carved upon them by sixteenth -century sculptors, may be seen in it.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Giovanni alla Conca, also a very ancient church -and much favoured by Bernabò Visconti, has a fine -thirteenth century façade, restored.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A very ancient church, said to have been the first -built in Milan, on the site of a temple to the Sun, is -the little S. Babila, just opposite the Column with the -Lion, which marks the place of the old Porta Orientale -at the beginning of Corso Venezia. As seen now S. -Babila is a complete restoration, very scientifically accomplished -in the last few years, and presents within -and without a very perfect model of a Lombard church -of the early centuries after the 1000.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Most of these early Milanese buildings have indeed -to be accepted on the faith of the modern restorer, but -for whom these interesting churches would still be -vested in the hideous baroque disfigurements of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. S. Sepolcro, -close to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, is one of these. -The towers, the crypt—studied with much interest by -Leonardo da Vinci—and the exterior of the apse alone -remained of the eleventh or twelfth century church, -and these have been lately restored and a new façade -built in appropriate style to replace the Borromean substitute -for the original. The interior is quite spoilt. -In the sacristy there is a Nativity by Gianpietrino, a -characteristic work, with some infants of attractively -soft contours, but curiously brown flesh colour in the -foreground. Sta. Maria a Beltrade, off Via Torino -on the west side, is of very ancient origin, but has -nothing of interest left except a twelfth century bas-relief -of rudest and most childish style upon the wall -outside, representing the old Candlemas procession in -which an image of Madonna was carried from this -church to the Cathedral, a Christian substitute for the -Pagan ceremony in honour of Cybele.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Another ancient Milanese sanctuary, the Chapel of -S. Satiro, built in 879, was restored in the Renaissance -period, and incorporated with the Church of Sta. Maria -presso S. Satiro.<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c014'><sup>[14]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. </span>See Chapter XIII.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>S. Simpliciano, in the north of the city, has preserved -three beautiful doorways of the Romanesque -period, enriched with sculptured marble columns and -roll mouldings. The eleventh century interior was -enlarged in the late fifteenth century, and transformed -in later restorations. Its chief interest now is the great -fresco in the apse—the Coronation of the Virgin—an -imposing composition by Borgognone in his advanced -years, rich and decorative in colour, and remarkable for -Quattrocento simplicity of treatment and feeling at a -time when the great Cinquecentists had already revolutionised -artistic ideals.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>To the east of S. Simpliciano, close to the Palazzo -di Brera, stands S. Marco, which in the exterior of -the transepts alone shows traces of its original thirteenth -century form. The beautiful pointed door, with the -statues in Gothic niches above, was built more than a -century later. The rest of the façade is modern, and -the whole exterior wears a vesture of new red brick. -The campanile, with its pointed steeple and frieze of -interlaced <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">archetti</span></i>, is early fourteenth century and very -characteristic of the brick building of that period. -The interior is baroque, but in the north transept there -are some fine sepulchral monuments of Milanese nobles. -They are all of the school of Giovanni di Balduccio, -and the bas-reliefs upon them resemble in arrangement -and style the tombs already seen in St. Eustorgio. -One is to Salvarino Aliprandi, of an ancient patrician -family in the city, who died 1344. Another commemorates -Lanfranco Settala, General of the Augustinian -Order and founder of the church, who died in 1264. -His genial effigy is carved on the tomb, seated in his -preceptor’s chair, with his devout and diminutive pupils -around him. Here is also the tomb of Martino Aliprandi, -a man distinguished for his learning and eloquence, -sent as envoy from Azzo Visconte to Pope John -XXII. in 1332, and yet another, that of Giacomo -Bossi, a knight of the Empire, who died in 1355. -The monument of the Birago family, which is placed -above the last, though sculptured as late as 1455 by -Cristoforo dei Luvoni, shows little artistic advance on -the Trecento works.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Of secular buildings of the Romanesque and early -Gothic period hardly anything is now left in Milan. -The Palazzo della Ragione, however, still stands, -though disfigured in later days, on the spot which -was once the Broletto Nuovo, the centre and citadel -of civic life in the Republican era, a space enclosed in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>defensive walls and pierced by six gates, corresponding -in direction to the principal gates of the city. The -walls were built and the seat of the Podestà was -transferred thither early in the thirteenth century from -the Broletto Vecchio beside the Cathedral, a move -significant of the complete liberation of the Commune -from the old domination of the Archbishop. The -word Broletto appears to be derived from <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">brolo</span></i>, -signifying in Milanese a garden, the old Broletto -having been once the garden of the Archbishop; but -the name followed the civic offices with which it had -become inseparably associated—hence Broletto Nuovo. -The move was in fact a return of the chief authority -in the city to its old abode, since the Broletto Nuovo -was apparently the citadel in Roman times, and the -seat later on of the military governors, called <i>Dukes</i>, -under the Lombard rulers. The name of Curia -Ducis, the Court of the Duke, still survives in the -name Cordusio, by which the big modern piazza -close by is called.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Palazzo della Ragione was built in 1228, with -a vast open portico below and a great hall above, which -was reached, not by a staircase in the building, but -over the archway still existing at the north end. -It was altered in later times, and an incongruous -upper storey was added in the eighteenth century. -It is now being restored. The palace stood till -1866 in the centre of a piazza—the original Broletto -in fact—which was enclosed on the north side by the -great Palazzo dei Giurisconsulti. The modern Via -Mercanti now runs between it and the last-named -palace, but on the other side it faces into the little -Piazza dei Mercanti, which represents all that remains -of the Broletto, and is still surrounded by old palaces. -It is the one bit of mediæval Milan left, apart from -single buildings. On this side of the Palazzo della -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>Ragione there is a little equestrian statue of the -Podestà Oldrado da Tresseno, with his name and the -date, 1233, beneath, and some Leonine verses in which -he is lauded in an elegant rhyme for building the upper -storey of the palace and for sedulously performing his -duty of burning heretics.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Qui solum struxit Catharos ut debuit uxit.</span></i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id020'> -<img src='images/i_318.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>STATUE OF OLDRADO DA TRESSENO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The statue is by -Benedetto Antelami,<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c014'><sup>[15]</sup></a> -chief of the so-called -Comacine masters—predecessors -of the -Campionesi—and best -known by his sculptures -on the Cathedral and -Baptistery at Parma. -It is the work of his old -age. It shows a feeling -for nature and a -power of expression -immensely in advance -of the twelfth century -sculptors, and marks -the gradual emancipation -of thought from the -strange terror and the sense of human littleness in the -midst of natural and supernatural forces, which oppressed -the Middle Ages. Here is a work of art in honour of -one who is neither God nor saint—a new conception -of man’s importance in the scheme of the Universe.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. </span>Venturi, <cite>Storia dell’ Arte</cite>, vol. 3, p. 340.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>On the south side of the piazza is the Loggia degli -Osii, built, as a scarcely legible inscription in the wall -records, in 1316, by Matteo Visconte, who had acquired -the houses of the Osii, a Milanese family, for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>purpose. Built in and partly concealed in later times, -the old features of this palace have been quite recently -disclosed by careful restoration. The beautiful pointed -arcade of the loggia rests upon a parapet decorated -with the shields of the Visconti and of the different -divisions of the city, and in the middle projects the -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ringhiera</span></i> or balcony, from which official harangues -were made and decrees proclaimed. The statues of -the Virgin and various saints in the deeply-sunk niches -of the storey above are of the school of Giovanni di -Balduccio.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The palace on the right hand of the loggia, of -heavy ornate style, replaced in the seventeenth century -a much earlier building. The west side of the piazza -is filled by a little palace, originally built by Azzo -Visconte early in the fourteenth century for the -bankers and money-changers. It is decorated with -charming terra-cotta ornamentation, and has been -partly restored, but it is much spoilt by modern -occupation and use for business purposes.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span> -<img src='images/i_320.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>PALAZZO DEI BANCHIERI</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>On this spot of the Broletto Nuovo all the busy -excited life of mediæval Milan once swayed and -surged. This was the point upon which all the -different parts of the city converged, and hither at -the call of danger marched the militia of each -division, called by the name of its gate, Porta -Romana, Porta Ticinese, etc., to go forth again, -each preceded by its gonfalon, to the defence of the -respective gates and quarters. Or if the decree of the -Republic were for an offensive expedition, the Caroccio -would be drawn forth from its place in the Duomo -and brought here, and the combined host, gathering -round it, would pass out in order of battle. In the -upper chamber of the Palazzo della Ragione public -business was transacted, and the portico below was -the assembly place for the citizens for the discussion -of public affairs and for amusement and sport, all that -common social life, shared together by noble and -plebeian, of republican Italy in the Middle Ages. -Here were brought the captured enemies of the -Republic—that is, of the party in power. In some -dark and secure corner of the palace there were -cages inhabited by living prisoners. The chroniclers -relate how Napo della Torre, to revenge his brother -Paganino’s death at the hands of Milanese exiles in -Vercelli, had thirteen noble prisoners carried to the -Broletto and their heads smitten off one by one, till -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>his own young son fell at his feet and vowed that he -himself would not live if the life of the thirteenth—a -certain physician who had lately cured the boy of a -mortal sickness—were not spared. But the statue of -Oldrado, burner of heretics, has not looked down on -grim scenes only. Here many great feasts took place, -such as that one which Francesco della Torre made in -1268 to celebrate the passage through Milan of -Margaret of Burgundy, the bride of Charles of Anjou, -when two oxen stuffed with pigs and sheep were -roasted in the Broletto, and more than three thousand -persons were fed; tournaments also were often held -here in honour of victories and joyful events. We -read of tumults too, and of the Milanese women on -one occasion, when a rumour of new taxes had gone -forth, besieging the palace with knives in their hands -and seizing and selling all the salt, which was then as -always a Government monopoly and was stored in an -adjacent building.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Another monument of Milan’s republican days, and -of her noble struggles for liberty in the twelfth century, -is the old Porta Nuova, often called the Portone,—the -massive arches at the end of the Via Manzoni. This -is one of the gates built in defiance of Barbarossa in -1171. It was originally decorated with rude sculptures -representing the return of the Milanese, after the -destruction of the city in 1162, and with a figure of -Barbarossa seated cross-legged on a devil; these are -now in the Castello. The bas-relief with two Roman -heads, still to be seen on the gate, is said to be a relic -of the older gate corresponding to this one in the -Roman walls. The old towers have been pulled down.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIII<br /> <span class='large'><i>Gothic and Renaissance Buildings</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">O tempo consumatore delle cose e o invidiosa antichità.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Leonardo da Vinci.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>A campanile here and there about the city, as -for example those of S. Gottardo and S. Marco, -already described, the richly decorated belfry of St. -Antonio—near the Ospedale Maggiore—and but little -else, remains in Milan of the graceful Gothic brick -building of the period, early fourteenth century, when -Azzo Visconte beautified the city with many new -edifices. The Duomo stands as the great monument -of Gian Galeazzo Visconte’s time, half a century or -so later.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id021'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span> -<img src='images/i_323.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>DOORWAY OF PALAZZO BORROMEO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>From the beginning of the fifteenth century dates -the Palazzo Borromeo, a rare example, still surviving, -of the domestic building of the Gothic period. The -fine pointed doorway is enriched with sculptured -mouldings of beautiful design, into which at the top is -introduced the heraldic device of the House, the Camel -couched in a basket, emblematic of the patience and the far -journeyings of the <i>Bonromei</i>, the Good Pilgrims. The -cortile, which is exceedingly picturesque, has porticoes -with pointed arches of wide span, resting on low -octagonal pillars with simple capitals of stiff foliage. -On one side, where there is no portico, the windows -are richly ornamented with terra-cotta mouldings, and -are of a somewhat later date. They have been recently -restored, and the fresco decoration in the wall appears -too freshly repainted. The Bit, also a device of the -Borromei, is moulded beneath the windows, and the -motto Humilitas, surmounted by a crown—a suggestive -juxtaposition—is repeated everywhere in the painted -pattern. Fragments of early fifteenth century frescoes -have been uncovered on other parts of the walls in the -cortile. In one corner we see a company of sweetfaced, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>pensive ladies, with the shaven foreheads and -turban-like head-dresses and coiffures of the period, -gathered on a ship, which a reverend Signor, in crimson -cloak and cap, seems to await at a landing-place, a -page without beginning or end of one of those entrancing -stories of Ursula and her maidens, or some -other saint, or of errant knights and beautiful princesses -which, figured thus upon the walls, fed the romantic -spirit of mediæval households. More complete and -of great charm are some frescoes in a chamber on the -ground floor of the palace, which visitors are allowed -to see. They depict the pleasant country life of the -Milanese nobles in the fifteenth century—gaily attired -ladies and gentlemen, with high head-dresses and broad -hats, seated round a table under a tree in a wide landscape, -playing the game of cards called <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">tarocco</span></i>, others -dancing, a lady with an astonishingly tall form and tiny -head performing a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pas seul</span></i>. These paintings suggest -to some extent Pisanello’s style, and are doubtless by -one of the many painters—Michelino da Besozzo, the -Zavatarii, and others, who were covering the walls of -the Viscontean palaces in Milan and elsewhere with -scenes of the same sort, all now long vanished.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Borromeo Art Collection will be spoken of in -a later chapter.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Buildings of the middle and second half of the -fifteenth century, the period of the Sforza, those great -patrons of architecture and all the arts, are much more -numerous. Sta. Maria del Carmine, a little to the -south-west of the Brera, was built under the direction -of Guiniforte Solari about 1446, and is the first of the -transitional period from Gothic to Renaissance. It has -a modern façade, and the nave is the only original -part, the choir having been rebuilt late in the sixteenth -century. In a chapel on the north side there is a -Madonna by Luini, much spoilt.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id015'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span> -<img src='images/i_325.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>CORTILE OF PALAZZO BORROMEO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Sta. Maria Incoronata, further north, near Porta -Garibaldi, consists of two churches in one, that on the -right built by the Augustinian monks, with the help of -Francesco Sforza, in 1451, the other by the Duchess -Bianca Maria ten years later. The twin building is an -interesting memorial of the closely united ducal pair. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>It has been much modernised. The exterior of the -north side and of the apse, and the tower, with its -rich terra-cotta decoration, make a very picturesque -mass of brick building. Inside the church is the -fifteenth century tomb of Gabriele da Cotignola, brother -of Francesco Sforza and Archbishop of Milan, with -his recumbent effigy set up against the wall. Also -monuments to some of the Bossi family, with finely -carved profile heads, perhaps by one of the Busti; a -monument to Giovanni Tolentino, attributed to Fusina, -and one or two other sculptured memorials, also of -Renaissance style.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The interesting Church of S. Pietro in Gessate, in the -east, has kept more of its original form. It was built about -1460, probably by Guiniforte Solari, and enlarged later. -The nave, of a pure and simple Gothic, is flanked with -chapels of the same style, built by noble Milanese -families. Some of these have escaped seventeenth and -eighteenth century disfigurement. The second chapel -on the right has mediocre and much repainted frescoes -of the Marriage and Death of the Virgin. The decoration -of the roof with figures of saints in simulated -niches, and angels in medallions resembling round -windows, is a very favourite arrangement with the -Milanese painters. The frescoes in the chapel of -St. Anthony—the next going upwards—are attributed -to Montorfano. In the large altarpiece Mariotto -Obiano da Perugia, and Antonia de Michelotti, his -wife, founders of the chapel, are portrayed kneeling to -the enthroned Virgin, to whom they are being recommended -by St. Benedict and St. Anthony respectively. -Above is the Dead Christ with St. Sebastian and St. -Roch. The architectural details of this picture are -very rich, and the marvellously patterned dress of the -lady is painted with the utmost minuteness and finish. -The dark ashen hue of the Virgin’s face, the high -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>lights on the salient features, the ugly little angel playing -on the lute, and the general impression of laborious -care are all very characteristic of the uninspired but -painstaking minor painters of the earlier Milanese -school.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The great frescoes of the Capella Grifi in the south -transept are more important, and are interesting as being -in part by Bernardo Zenale, of whom there is only -one other undisputed work known. As in the altarpiece -at Treviglio, so here Zenale was associated with Buttinone. -The frescoes are, however, so much ruined -that it is difficult to judge them or to distinguish the -different hands. On the left wall are scenes from the -life of St. Ambrose, with groups of fifteenth century -courtiers in the foreground. The subjects on the right -are almost obliterated, but we seem to distinguish St. -Ambrose again, seated in judgment. The curious -figure above, of a man hanging, is inexplicable, unless -as a symbol of justice visited on malefactors. The -general colour of the painting is warm and decorative, -and more spontaneous than Buttinone’s laboured easel -pictures would make us expect. The types of some of -the courtiers in the left-hand fresco, and the women -with long plaited hair on the right are so much fairer -and more refined than anything one knows of Buttinone’s -that one is led to attribute that part to Zenale; -but the rather coarse angels of the vaulted roof, very -recently uncovered, seem to be very Buttinone. The -white-robed figure of St. Ambrose below them, on a -white horse against a blue sky, prancing forth against the -Arians, scourge in hand, is extremely decorative. On -the floor of the chapel, bereft of the sarcophagus on -which it once rested, lies the recumbent figure of -Ambrogio Grifi, buried here in 1495.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the Via Filodrammatici, close to La Scala, is -the beautiful old doorway of the Palazzo Vimercati, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>which belongs to the early Sforzesque period. The -portrait of Duke Francesco, sculptured in profile, -decorates the front of the archivolt, with those of -Julius Cæsar and Alexander in flattering conjunction -on either side. The rich band of foliage round the -arch culminates in the pine-cone, one of the emblems -of the Sforza. There is much resemblance between -this door and that of the Borromeo Palace.</p> - -<p class='c000'>One of the greatest achievements of Francesco -Sforza and Bianca Maria, and a proof of an advanced -sentiment of humanity, was the erection of the vast -Ospedale Maggiore for the reception and care of the -sick, still to this day the chief hospital of Milan.<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c014'><sup>[16]</sup></a> It -was begun in 1456 by the Florentine architect, -Antonio Averulino, or Filarete, who made the plans -and carried on the work till 1465, when he was supplanted -by his Lombard rival, Guiniforte Solari. The -southern portion, distinguished by its elegance and -comparative purity of style from the rest, is the only -part of the immense façade which is the original -fifteenth century work. The diversity of architects is -plainly revealed in this portion. The lower part, with its -stately round-headed arcade and restrained ornamentation, -is by the pupil of Brunelleschi; while in the -windows of the upper storey, not interspaced in correspondence -with the arcade below, the Lombard affection -for the pointed arch and for luxuriant decoration -has prevailed over the original design of the Florentine. -The building is one of the richest examples of the -brick and terra-cotta architecture of North Italy, and -this meeting of Gothic and Renaissance ideals in it adds -to its interest. The rest of the façade was built in</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. </span>The famous Lazaretto, outside the old Porta Orientale, a -beautiful fifteenth century building, where the plague-stricken -thousands were huddled in the awful visitations of 1576 and -1630, as described in the <cite>Promessi Sposi</cite>, has been pulled down.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>the seventeenth century, in imitation of the earlier part, -but the coarseness and crowded excess of the terra-cotta -decoration betrays its period. In the great marble -portal, the architect, Ricchini, has frankly followed the -style of his own times. Within there is a vast cortile -of the same date. On the south side part of the -fifteenth century building is incorporated in it. Two -much spoilt paintings of 1472, by Francesco Vico, representing -Francesco and Bianca Maria Sforza and -their benefactions to the hospital, are in one of the -wards. Passages on the right lead out of the principal -cortile into smaller courts, fragmentary and encumbered -with erections for hospital use, but evidently remains -of the original building. The elegance and lightness -of the porticoes here, the graceful terra-cotta ornamentation -of the archivolts, the richness of the moulded brick -cornices, the charming colour of the brick and stone used -together, show how beautiful the hospital must once -have been. These old cortiles have been attributed to -Bramante, but apparently with no more justification -than most of the other buildings of this style in Milan, -labelled indiscriminately in uncritical times as -Bramantesque.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Via dell’ Ospedale opens into the piazza beside -S. Stefano, where Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was stabbed -to death by Girolamo Olgiati and his companions -on St. Stephen’s Day, 1476. The church, of very -ancient foundation, has been completely modernised, -and the atrium where the deed was accomplished has disappeared -altogether. A primitive Madonna and Saints -is frescoed over an altar on the south side, and beside -the west entrance is an archaic bas-relief representing -Christ blessing two saints. Via Brolo leads hence into -Piazza Verzieri, the fruit and vegetable market, where -the rows of women hucksters, in their bright kerchiefs -and coloured skirts, seated beneath vast white umbrellas, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>make a picturesque scene in spite of the modernised -surroundings.</p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='c000'>The traces of Bramante’s handiwork in Milan, -where he is known to have been employed for many -years, have vanished more and more in the light of the -careful studies of recent times. But in the Church of -Sta. Maria delle Grazie we do at last come upon them, -though his part in this building also seems to be much -less than was generally supposed. The famous Dominican -church, with its memories of Lodovico il Moro -and Beatrice d’Este, of Leonardo and Bramante, of the -novelist Prior, Matteo Bandello, brings us to the full -Renaissance. It is in part, however, of the transition style, -and links together the earlier and later Sforzesque periods. -It was built for the Dominicans in 1465, by Count Gaspare -Vimercati, one of Francesco Sforza’s chief supporters, -and became later a special object of interest to the Moro, -who, not satisfied with its already antiquated style, began -to rebuild it completely as soon as he attained the Dukedom. -His project was, however, only carried out as far as -the choir and cupola. This part used always to be, and is -still by some, attributed to Bramante, but there is no -evidence that he contributed except with his advice -and influence to the work. The great clustered pile, -as it appears outside, with its rectangular and circular -projections, its panels and pilasters, parapets, arcades, -columns and candelabra, its medallions and perforated -wheels, seems typical of Renaissance ideas as interpreted -by the Lombard architects, with their dislike for -simplicity and broad effects, their fondness for broken -surfaces and elaborate detail, their natural redundancy. -It is grandiose, melancholy and cold. Round the base -are shields bearing the various devices of the Sforza. -The flank of the church, with its long windows and -round <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">oculi</span></i>, and rich terra-cotta mouldings, is of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>earlier style used by the Solari, as is also the façade, -but here in the beautiful marble portal, the only -part accomplished of the new front projected by -Lodovico, we come upon what is generally allowed to -be actually Bramante’s work. Its large and dignified -character, and the pure design of the arabesques, show -a great artist, and a character foreign to the Lombard. -The <i><span lang="nap" xml:lang="nap">scoppetta</span></i>, il Moro’s peculiar emblem, is introduced -into the pattern on the pilaster on the right hand of -the door.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On entering the church one cannot but feel grateful -that the Moro’s ambitious designs never arrived at the -destruction of this beautiful Gothic nave, so simple and -so graceful, so devout and suggestive, with its grey -columns and hoary colour and touches of faded fresco -everywhere. The story goes that Count Gaspare -Vimercati, the founder, and Fra Jacopo Sestio, who -was in charge of the work for the Dominicans, had -much contention over it, the one desiring a fine handsome -building, the other a sanctuary suited to the -poverty and humility of the friars. They seem to have -succeeded in embodying the ideals of both. From the -dim Gothic aisles one emerges with a curious sense of -contrast into the great space beyond, where immense -arches, springing from heavy pilasters, support a lofty -dome, whence abundant light pours down from a circle -of windows. This is, of course, the later part of the -building. The cupola, which is of nobler and severer -aspect within than outside, is much disfigured by -baroque decorations. The device of painting objects -in perspective, to simulate relief, had already attracted -the architects even of the great age, as is shown here, -where it is used with ingenuity and restraint in the -simulated parts of the gallery in the lowest storey of -the dome. The Evangelists in the spandrils are a -glaring instance of its abuse in later times.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>The choir has fine stalls of 1470, decorated with -figures and elaborate designs in intarsia. High up on -the right, near the organ, is a charming fresco by -Luini, painted in 1517, of the Virgin and Saints and a -devotee, one Laschenaer, an officer of Louis XII.’s. It -was to this choir, still unfinished, that the dead body -of the young Duchess Beatrice was carried in those -mournful early days of 1497, and here that the friars -chanted Masses round her bier for seven days and nights -without ceasing, and that amid a countless host of -mourners bearing torches she was committed to her -tomb. Hither came her husband, to weep and pray over -her grave, before he abandoned his and her Milan to -the invader. Beneath the pavement behind the High -Altar she lies now, her infant children beside her. -Some say that the Moro’s body, recovered from its far-off -exile in France, rests here too beside it, but this is -very uncertain. Anyhow a pitiful obscurity covers -this grave in which those brief years of an incomparable -pride and glory ended—not even a stone marks it -now. The monument carved for it by Cristoforo -Solari, with the effigies of the husband and wife upon -it, has been removed to the Certosa of Pavia.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There are some ruined frescoes by Gaudenzio Ferrari -in the fourth Chapel on the south side of the church. -The old, low-vaulted ornate chapel of the Rosario, on -the north side, has some fifteenth century frescoes, also -ruined. Close to the altar is a large sepulchral monument -to the Della Torre family, late fifteenth century, -attributed to the Cazzaniga. The monument to Branda -Castiglione, with the realistic profile and delicate arabesques, -is perhaps by Briosco,<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c014'><sup>[17]</sup></a> and that to the Della -Valle by Fusina.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. </span>See Malaguzzi Valeri, <cite>G. A. Amadeo</cite>, p. 238.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The most interesting part of the building architecturally -is the small cloister which leads to the old sacristy, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>both recently restored. Here the beautiful porticoes, -in which the characteristic Lombard charm of colour -due to the combination of brick and stone is joined to -a singular purity and grace of form, justify the traditional -belief that Bramante was the architect. The -sacristy also, a lofty rectangular building, is probably -his. The roof is decorated with a curious painted -pattern of intertwisted cords, such as is seen in some -of Leonardo’s drawings. There are beautiful presses, -some of which are inlaid, others painted in imitation of -inlay; they are decorated with small painted scenes, -biblical and legendary. They were begun in 1498 by -the sacristan, Fra Vincenzo Spanzotto, and continued -later under the care of Matteo Bandello. In the recess -at the east end there is a very poor altarpiece, representing -Gaspare Vimercati kneeling before St. John Baptist, -attributed to Marco d’Oggiono; and on either side of -the chapel a profile in bas-relief, one a portrait of the -Moro, the other of his son Maximilian, a charming-looking -youth with curling hair, at about the age when -he returned to Milan as Duke—by some Milanese -sculptor of the early sixteenth century. A fresco on -the right-hand side, by Luini, shows Madonna, with -Beatrice d’Este and one of her little sons kneeling as -devotees. It is a charming presentment, joyous and -young, of the princess as she may have remained in the -memory of the artist from the days of his youth.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The convent, now long converted to secular purposes, -was, like the church, the object of Lodovico -Sforza’s generosity. Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned -by him to decorate the refectory with paintings, -and there the Florentine artist, working slowly -through many years, produced his Last Supper. The -work was probably begun soon after 1483, and apparently -not finished till 1498. The fate that befell -it within a few years is one of the greatest tragedies in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>the history of art. Owing to his experimental use of -oil, instead of the usual method of wall-painting, it was -already quite ruined—<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">rovinata tutta</span></i>—when Lomazzo -wrote his treatise on painting, sixty years later, and as -early as 1536 it was, by Vasari’s testimony, only a blur. -The repeated restorations of the eighteenth and nineteenth -centuries have almost obliterated the faint remaining -traces of the master’s handiwork. The Dominicans -wantonly contributed to the destruction of their -priceless possession by cutting a door into their kitchen -through the lower part of the central group, and -Napoleon’s troops, stabled in the hall in 1796, gave it -a final battering.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The refectory stands beside the church. As one -enters, the ghost of the great picture appears at the -upper end of the long melancholy chamber. It seems -at first sight as if nothing of the real work were left. -<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Cosa bella mortal passa</span></i>, Leonardo has said himself, -and he, least of all, seems to have cared to give immortality -to the beauty which he created. <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">E non -d’arte</span></i>, he adds. And soon we perceive that this too -is true here. For the deep and elemental significance -of the painter’s conception lives still in its largeness -and entirety, expressed in the great lines of the composition, -in the distribution of light and shade, in -the disposition of the figures. Our eyes are carried -up by every line of the composition, every action -of the subordinate figures, and left alone with the -Christ. He sits upright, His hands spread out upon -the table, His head against the space of light framed by -the large middle window of the long chamber. On -either side, but a little apart, so that no other head intrudes -on this central space of light, are ranged the -Twelve, in groups of three. The words have been -uttered—<i>One of you shall betray me</i>—and a tempest of -surprise and questioning agitates them. Peter, half -rising, grasps the shoulder of John, who still sleeps -on. Judas draws fiercely away, clutching the moneybag. -Beyond this group, Andrew, James the Less, and -Bartholomew, variously show distress and wonder. -On the other side, James the Elder spreads his hands -in horror; Thomas lifts his forefinger; Philip, risen, -leans forward in earnest protest. Matthew, Thaddeus -and Simon, beyond, comment eagerly on His words. -But their agitation cannot touch that central stillness; -it serves only to deepen the spiritual silence in which -He sits solitary. He has eaten and drunk with them, -but they have not understood. Love itself is asleep, -leaning away to a sinner’s breast. Only Hate understands -and watches, proud and defiant, with tense -grasp upon its desire. But even the splendid Judas, -supremely evil, draws back afraid. The Passion has -begun. Out there in the dawn lies Gethsemane. -Calvary is beyond. <i>Could ye not watch with Me one -hour?</i> will be but a question already answered; only the -<i>Eli Eli lama Sabacthani</i> has yet to come.</p> - -<div id='t314' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_335.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_314'>314</a></i>]<br /><br /> LAST SUPPER, BY LEONARDO. DETAIL, FIGURE OF CHRIST<br /><br /> [<i>A. Ferrario, Milan</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>It is commonly said that Leonardo never quite -finished the face of the Christ. In any case we do -not see it now as he left it. The half-length pencil -drawing in the Brera Gallery has been regarded as -Leonardo’s own study for this figure, but if it is -genuine—which many authorities deny—it has been so -much worked over by other hands that it has no value -as an indication of the artist’s conception, which remains -for us unparticularised. Studies of the heads of -Matthew, Simon and Judas fortunately exist in the -Windsor Castle Collection and show the heroic lines -on which they were designed by Leonardo. The drawings -of the Apostles in the Weimar Collection, photographs -of which are to be seen in the room, are judged -to be copies of studies made by one of Leonardo’s -followers from the picture, and are valuable as giving a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>contemporary version of the originals. There are -also a few genuine sketches at Windsor and at Paris -of some of the groups, and in Venice a drawing of the -whole scene exists, probably a copy of one by the -master. The subject had long occupied Leonardo’s -thoughts before he received the commission, and these -sketches show the progress of his conception of it. -Among his writings, too, there are ideas noted down of -various attitudes and actions for the Apostles.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Some of the many copies made by Leonardo’s -pupils hang on the walls here; the most important is -the one on the right hand nearest the original, by Marco -d’Oggiono. Here the artist has followed his -master’s work as faithfully as he could, and it is -extremely interesting to notice the differences into -which his own temperament has insensibly led him. -These are most apparent in the central figure, which -he has inclined sideways and impressed with a sentimentality -and effeminacy absolutely foreign to the -attitude of the original. This shows the direction in -which Leonardo’s Lombard followers were disposed -instinctively to carry his style, evolving a morbid type -which has become too much associated with his name. -The copyist appears to have altered the Apostles, also -giving the weakness of exaggeration to their virile and -spontaneous expression of emotion. It is from this -copy, or rather from a copy of it and not from the -ruined original, that the engraving was done by which -the picture has become known all over the world, -another instance of the strange fate of ruin or of -travestied existence which has befallen so much of -Leonardo’s work. The other copies in the room lose -value by their departure in part from the arrangement -of the original.</p> - -<div id='t316' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_339.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>LAST SUPPER, BY LEONARDO. DETAIL, ST. JOHN, ST. PETER AND JUDAS<br /><br /><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_316'>316</a></i>]      [<i>A. Ferrario, Milan</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The great work in the Dominican convent attracted -immense attention and interest even during its progress. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>It is often mentioned by writers of this time and a -little later. Bandello, in one of his novels, gives an oft-quoted -description of the painter at work. <i>He used -often to go early in the morning and mount upon the platform -and, from sunrise until the dusk of evening, never -putting down his brush and forgetting to eat and drink, -paint without ceasing. Then two, three or four days -would pass when he would not touch it, but remained for -one or two hours together contemplating, considering and -examining within himself, judging his figures. I have -seen him too, according as his caprice or humour moved -him, go off at noon-day, when the sun was in Leo, from -the Corte Vecchia, where he was composing his stupendous -horse of clay, and come straight to the Grazie, and -mounting the platform, take a brush and give one or two -strokes to one of the figures, and straightway depart and -go elsewhere.</i> Doubtless Bandello was often in that -room, where the friars watched the progress of the -painting with great impatience, annoyed at the painter’s -unaccountable lengthiness. Duke Lodovico himself, -finest and most appreciative of critics, would sometimes -come, and many noble gentlemen were wont to visit -the painter here and converse with him as they contemplated -his work. The fame of the great picture -spread quickly throughout Europe. When Louis XII. -entered Milan in 1499, he came to see it, and expressed -a desire, fortunately impracticable, to carry it away to -his own country. With him were Duke Ercole of -Ferrara, the Marquis Gian Francesco of Mantua, and -many other brilliant and historic characters; among -them was Cæsar Borgia, and possibly it was on this -occasion, before his newly finished picture, that Leonardo -first met this extraordinary man, into whose service -he shortly after entered.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The other end of the refectory is filled with a -vast fresco of the Crucifixion, by Montorfano, signed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>with his name and the date 1495. The perfect state -of preservation of this poor, laboured and crowded -composition, an inferior example even of the Milanese -school, seems a bitter irony here. The Lombard -painter, sticking to the old groove, has achieved the -permanence which Leonardo recklessly risked for the -sake of an experiment. At the lower corner of the -painting, on either side, are portraits of the ducal family -kneeling in devotion, Lodovico and the little Maximilian -on the left, Beatrice and the younger child -Francesco on the right, and these, unlike the rest of -the picture, are in very bad condition—almost obliterated. -Vasari affirms them to have been painted by -Leonardo himself at the special command of the Duke, -and in oil, like the Last Supper; but the portraits themselves, -as far as can be judged from what remains of -them, are quite mediocre and do not bear out his -statement.</p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='c000'>In San Satiro, entered from Via Torino, we come at -last to a building really by Bramante. The church -is properly called Sta. Maria, the ancient S. Satiro -being represented by a chapel incorporated with it. -It was founded in 1476, on the site of a shrine containing -a miraculous picture of the Virgin. It is a -purely Renaissance building, but has certain peculiarities -due to cramped conditions, the builder having been -restricted in space and bound by the necessity of -embodying the remains of the old Basilica of S. Satiro -on one side and of an existing Chapel of S. Teodoro -on the other. The difficulties have been ingeniously -surmounted, and the effect is very fine, but it seems a -pity that the genius of Bramante should not have had -room for free play. The general impression on entering -into the rich and gilded obscurity of the interior -is of great breadth and spaciousness. The three aisles, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>in which the dividing pilasters and arches are unusually -low in proportion to the height of the roof—a feature -explained by the necessity of according them with the -old S. Satiro, now the Chapel of the Pietà—open out -into a great space roofed by a lofty cupola and with -wide transepts. The church ends in a grandiose -semicircular choir. Here the architect met with his -chief difficulty, being prevented by the street outside -from carrying the building as far eastward as was -necessary for his design after allowing full scope for -the rise of the cupola. He has overcome it by a -deceptive use of perspective, the depth of the choir -being simulated, not real. The device can only be -admired for its ingenuity and the cleverness with which -it is executed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The gilded friezes and capitals of the nave are of the -best Renaissance style, rich but of clear and not over-elaborate -design. In the spandrils beneath the cupola -are medallions circled with gilded ornamentation and -containing paintings of the four Evangelists, by Bramantino, -dignified forms, dim and rich in colour as seen -from below. There is an old picture of the Virgin -over the High Altar, with a portrait in it of the young -Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza, but it is held in such -extreme veneration that the veil covering it may not be -withdrawn except on one special day of the year.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Chapel of the Pietà is at the end of the left -transept. This ninth century structure, founded according -to tradition by Archbishop Ansperto, was -restored at the time when the large church was built -beside it. The coloured terra-cotta group of the -Deposition which gives its present name to the chapel, -a crudely realistic work, ably modelled and utterly inartistic, -has been ascribed, quite unjustifiably, to the -famous Milanese goldsmith, Caradosso, a delicate -worker in fine materials. It is probably by one of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>the many Lombard sculptors of the style of the -Mantegazza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Adjoining the church on the right is the Baptistery -or sacristy, a beautiful little example of Bramante’s work. -It is a small octagonal building with a lofty dome and -very richly decorated. The remarkable terra-cotta -frieze, composed of heads projecting from wreaths, -between groups of sportive <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i>, and painted to look -like bronze, has been also always ascribed to Caradosso; -but it is now pronounced to be certainly not his work, -the style of the heads, vigorous, realistic, and somewhat -coarse, showing all the characteristics of the late fifteenth -century Lombard school of sculpture, rather than the -fine hand of the metal-worker, trained in Rome, whom -documents, moreover, prove to have been absent from -Milan when this work was executed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The exterior of the church is much hidden by the -houses around, but a bit of it can be seen closely in -Via Falcone and shows Bramante’s hand in the bold -classic style, and the strong, simple, and graceful design -of the terra-cotta ornamentation. From the Via Carlo -Alberto one gets an impressive view of part of the low -and elaborate Renaissance pile, proud and learned, and -beautiful with brick and stucco decoration, swelling -beside the simple old Campanile which belongs to the -original ninth century church, and is the most ancient -example of a Romanesque tower now existing in Milan.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span> -<img src='images/i_345.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>SAN SATIRO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The Monastero Maggiore, also called S. Maurizio, in -the Corso Magenta, is an early sixteenth century building -of typical Renaissance form, by Dolcebuono, and is -extremely interesting on account of the complete and -beautiful decoration of the interior by Luini and his -school. It is one of the principal shrines for the -worshippers of that master, who is seen at his best -there. Luini was commissioned, about 1522, to paint -this church by Alessandro Bentivoglio and his wife, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>Ippolita Sforza, their daughter Alessandra being a nun -in the ancient and wealthy Benedictine convent to -which it belonged. The interior, which is of great -length, without aisles, has a very graceful gallery or -loggia all round, and chapels in the corresponding -space below. A partition wall in the middle, not -reaching to the roof, divides it into halves, the lower -half being the public church, with the High Altar at -its upper end, and the part shut off behind the choir -that reserved by the nuns for their private use. -The whole interior has the effect of a splendid hall, -rather than a church. The walls are entirely covered -with paintings, of the strong gay colour characteristic -of Luini’s work, dimmed by time to a delightful harmony -where the temptation to “freshen it up” has -been resisted. Beautiful ladies, in richest robes, look -out from beside the High Altar with that sweet familiar -smile, of which the charm grows somewhat stale -by too much repetition. The emblems they carry -show them to be saints—Cecilia and Ursula holding -a tabernacle between them, Apollonia and Lucia standing -on either side of a small figure of the Redeemer. -Above them appears a real lady of the time, Ippolita -Sforza herself, a beautiful and stately creature, in a -spreading white brocade dress, kneeling under the -protecting presence of three saints, of whom Sta. -Scholastica, who has her hand on Ippolita’s shoulder, -is said to be a portrait of her daughter, the young -Suora Alessandra. Alessandro Bentivoglio, a mild -personage, who is lauded by his daughter in a memorial -inscription for having done no one any harm—<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">nemini -nocuit</span></i>—is depicted in a corresponding composition on -the other side of the altar, with S. Benedict, St. John -Baptist, and St. Lawrence. Above on the left is the -Martyrdom of St. Maurice, and on the right St. Sigismund, -the supposed original founder of the church, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>offering a model of the building to St. Maurice, who -stands upon a pedestal, and in the background of the -same composition is seen the Martyrdom of Sigismund. -Between is represented the Assumption of the -Virgin, in which the principal figure has been unfortunately -much restored. The altarpiece is by Campi, -1578.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The frescoes of the chapel on the right of the -sanctuary are also by Luini. In the midst is the -Scourging of Christ; on the left the fine portrait of an -old man, Francesco Besozzi, at whose charge the -chapel was painted, and St. Catherine protecting him; -on the right St. Lawrence. Above and at the sides -are depicted scenes from the legend of St. Catherine. -The figure of the saint being beheaded—on the right-hand -side—is very beautiful. The meek bent head, -with rich gold hair simply coiled, the adorable neck -bared for the sword, the golden dress, composing an exquisite -harmony of colour, make one forgive Luini for -sometimes boring one a little. Bandello, in his story -of the Contessa di Cellant, tells us that this is a portrait -of that naughty and ill-fated lady, who was beheaded -on the piazza of the Castello in 1524 for having -induced one of her lovers to murder another. But -there seems to be no real foundation for this identification, -and it is difficult to associate this wholly lovely -creature with the too passionate Contessa.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The frescoes in the other chapels are by the school -of Luini.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Passing into the choir, or Nuns’ Church, we see -on the other side of the dividing wall more frescoes by -Luini himself, corresponding to the decoration on -the public side. Here is another row of sister saints, -whose beauty is the more enchanting for the veil spread -over them by the centuries, and happily undisturbed. -These gracious ladies stand for Apollonia, Lucia, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>Catherine, and Agatha. The story of the Passion is -frescoed round the altar. Near by may be seen the -arms of the Bentivogli and Sforza quartered together, -and the initials of Alessandro and Hippolita, the benefactors -of the church. The lower part of the wall is -decorated in chiaroscuro, with angels and saints in -simulated terra-cotta medallions. The ceiling painting -over the altar—God the Father surrounded by saints—is -by Borgognone, by whom are also the figures of -bishops and saints between the arches on each side of -the church. The rest of the frescoes with which the -walls are everywhere covered are poor works, by the -sons and followers of Luini. The carving of the -double row of stalls, simple but of very good style, is -of the same period as the church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>By a staircase, which emerges on a terrace, where -you find yourself close to the ancient brick campanile of -the convent—a relic, some say, of the Roman walls, or, -according to other authorities, one of the towers built by -Ansperto when he restored the walls in the ninth century—you -are conducted into the upper gallery of the -church. Over the doorways leading through this loggia -there are half-length paintings of women saints by -Boltraffio, exceedingly charming where they have not -been spoilt by repainting. They have the familiar contours -of that artist’s Madonnas, but the colour, unlike -the hot and opaque tones of his oil-painting, is very -fresh and delicate, and decorative. They are all -there, the Martyrs, Catherine, Agnes, Agatha, and the -rest, each sweet-visaged creature bearing a green branch -flowering into red or some lovely blossom. Here is -one of a type especially characteristic of Boltraffio, -with long golden hair curling in rings over her -shoulders; she is dressed in green and purple, and -holds a lily. On the wall dividing the two parts of -the church there are some very poor frescoes by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>sons of Luini—the Supper in the House of the -Pharisee, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Baptism -of Christ.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The effect of the long gallery and of the richly-decorated -church as seen through its graceful pillared -openings is very charming. A fit temple for Suora -Alessandra and her fellows, those vestal virgins of the -Renaissance, cherishing the flame of its many-sided -religion in their art-irradiated cloisters, innocent sacrifices -for the sins of the too vigorous races, Bentivogli, -Sforza, and many another almost as wicked, from -which they sprang. Beneath the archways, where -their beautiful martyr sisters of long before look sweetly -down upon them, the meek veiled figures seem to flit -silently before us. But they, too, are but beings of -the imagination now. The little door in the wall -between Luini’s saints is never opened now for the -passing of the Eucharist to the cloistered worshippers -on the inner side. No sweet voices rise any more to -the accompaniment of that ornate organ; the long row -of stalls has been untenanted this hundred years and -more. In this place, where those virgin princesses and -ladies knelt and adored, surrounded by these exquisite -creations of the Renaissance spirit, and by its lovely -order and refinement, the loathsome dust to-day lies -thickly everywhere, and no foot falls but that of a -chance visitor. And the vast gardens and vineyards -of the convent, where behind high secluding walls -Alessandra and her companions took the air and played -and laughed, let us hope, and where, doubtless, the -stately Ippolita came to visit her daughter, bringing a -breath of the joyous world outside, have given place to -modern streets and houses, and the great Monastero -Maggiore has utterly disappeared, except for this one -rich relic, the church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sta. Maria della Passione, with a great cupola built -<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>by Cristoforo Solari early in the sixteenth century, and -an ornate late Renaissance façade, contains one of the -most important works of Luini’s earlier career, a large -picture of the Deposition, in the choir. There are -some fine Cinquecento choir stalls. In the right -transept are Christ and the Apostles by Borgognone, -and in the left a Last Supper by Gaudenzio Ferrari. -The sacristy has frescoes by Borgognone.</p> - -<p class='c000'><i>Sta. Maria presso S. Celso</i> adjoining the little -Romanesque basilica of S. Celso, was built by Dolcebuono -at the end of the fifteenth century, but altered -and finished later. The ornate façade is of the later -part of the sixteenth century. The cloister in front -was probably designed by Cristoforo Solari. There -are some pictures by important masters in the spacious -and imposing interior. The lowest on the left-hand -side is a characteristic work by Borgognone—Madonna, -with St. Roch and St. John Baptist. Behind the -choir there is a Madonna with St. Jerome, by Paris -Bordone; the Baptism of Christ, by Gaudenzio -Ferrari; and St. Paul, by Moretto. In the sacristy -is preserved a very precious example of ninth century -goldsmith’s work, a cross given by Louis the Pious to -Milan, of exquisite workmanship and thickly set with -gems. It has figures of the Emperor and Empress -and the Carlovingian princes carved upon it. The -treasure also includes a carved Cinquecento jug, once -attributed to Cellini, and one or two other pieces of -goldsmiths’ work. There are, besides, some beautiful -embroidered vestments.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Giorgio al Palazzo, in Via Torino, an old church -completely transformed in recent centuries, contains in -the third chapel on the right some fine frescoes by -Luini, of the scenes of the Passion. The Crucifixion -in the dome of the chapel is an impressive composition, -quiet and harmonious in colour.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>S. Fedele, designed by Pellegrini in the latter -part of the sixteenth century, and containing fine Cinquecento -choir stalls—once in the destroyed church of -S. Maria della Scala—St. Alessandro, of the seventeenth -century, S. Carlo, built about a hundred years -ago, all sumptuously decorated in the taste of their -times, and other less important churches of the same -style, have little artistic interest, and are, in any case, -far outside the scope of our mediæval story. We must -turn back to the best period of the Renaissance, and -look at some palaces which still remain from that time.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Palazzo Carmagnola, also called the Palazzo -di Broletto, at the corner of Via Rovello and Via -Dante, is the oldest of these palaces, and is also of -historic interest. Duke Filippo Maria gave a house -here, in 1418, to his great general, Carmagnola, who -rebuilt it a few years later. The house passed through -one of his daughters to the Dal Verme family, and was -confiscated in 1485 by Lodovico Sforza, who installed -his mistress, Cecilia Gallerani in it later. The -historian Giorgio Merula, one of the ornaments of the -Moro’s court, also inhabited it for some years. When -Louis XII. made himself master of Milan, he gave -the palace to his general, Charles d’Amboise, and -later on it came into the possession of the city, and was -used for public offices, whence it acquired the name of -Palazzo di Broletto. It is now the Intendenza di -Finanza. The building has little of its old aspect left, -but there is a picturesque cortile of the late fifteenth -century, with graceful and characteristic sculptured -capitals, part of a probable restoration of the palace -by the Moro, to make it a habitation worthy of his -beautiful favourite.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A beautiful late Quattrocento palace is the Casa -Fontana, or Silvestri, in the Corso Venezia, which -has a noble portal of classic form, supported on columns -<span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>in the form of candelabra, and windows enframed in -terra-cotta ornamentation. The façade is, moreover, -painted in chiaroscuro, with designs of the typical -style of Lombard Renaissance decoration—colossal -heads and sporting <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i>, etc. It has been attributed to -Bramante, but is more probably the work of local -architects. The cortile is very picturesque.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Casa Ponti, in Via Bigli, has a Cinquecento cortile -of very graceful proportions, and glowing with the -deep rich colour of painted decoration. On the -walls above the porticoes there are full-length figures, -representing gods, muses, the arts, etc. They are of -noble grace and stateliness, with the familiar contours -and the everlasting smile of Luini and his school. -The archivolts, spandrils, the little arcade beneath the -rich projecting cornice, are all covered with arabesques -and devices of graceful and playful fancy. We see -here the very setting of that joyous decorative Cinquecento -life which has hardly its parallel for beauty in -history. But the old glory of it is dimmed by the -passing of centuries and the influences of a damp -climate. Many of the figures are in very bad condition, -and on one side of the court modern copies have -been substituted and the originals removed and placed -on the staircase of the palace, where, if one has the -good fortune to be allowed to enter, one may study -closely the gracious figures of Painting and Sculpture, -and some delightful baby forms, riding on sea-horses, -playing with grapes, etc., from the frieze upon the -parapet in the cortile. The portal of the palace is a -fine example of early sixteenth century building, and -has two little statuettes of Madonna and the Angel of -the Annunciation, in the spandrils.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Casa Castani—opposite S. Sepolcro—of the late -fifteenth century, has also a fine doorway, of simple -but noble form. It is decorated with classic heads in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>the spandrils, and has a Greek motto on the cornice, -signifying Good Luck. A medallion of Francesco -Sforza appears above, a sign of homage to the reigning -house, often seen on palaces of this period in Milan. -The cortile is built with double loggias.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Casa Dal Verme in Foro Bonaparte, opposite the -theatre of that name, is another house of the same -style, with an exceedingly picturesque cortile, to which -the warm colour of the terra-cotta decoration gives a -great charm. Between each arch there is the familiar -decoration of medallions with shields or classic heads. -These palaces have all much affinity, and they are -generally attributed to the influence of Bramante. -They have, indeed, been labelled sometimes as the -work of the Master himself. The style is, however, -common throughout North Italy at this time, though -probably derived in the first instance from Florentine -sources. There are others of similar style in different -parts of the city.</p> - -<p class='c000'>No. 10-12 Via Torino, entered through a squalid -passage, has a very picturesque small court, with -porticoes surmounted by two open storeys, and delightful -terra-cotta ornamentation. This beautiful old -fragment of the Milan of the Sforza period has fallen -into plebeian use, and is, moreover, doomed to speedy -destruction in the course of projected improvements to -this crowded quarter.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span> -<img src='images/i_355.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>PALAZZO VISCONTI DI MODRONE—GARDEN ON THE NAVIGLIO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>There are many fine palaces of the late sixteenth -and of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in -Milan, of heavy and ornate Renaissance style, degenerating -into florid excesses in the later period. These -do not come within our subject, but one or two must -be mentioned. The enormous Palazzo Marino, the -seat of the Municipality, was built in the middle of -the sixteenth century by Galeazzo Alessi for a -Genoese named Tommaso Marino, who had made -<span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>an immense fortune as a merchant in Milan. Before -the great edifice was finished however, the fortune had -been swallowed up by various misfortunes, and the -family discredited through one of Tommaso’s sons, -who murdered his wife. The palace was sequestered -in 1577 by the city, to which it still belongs. It is of -the grandiose style of the later Renaissance, and the -cortile is extremely ornate, though the decoration is -not allowed to conceal the stately architectural lines. -The great hall is also very richly decorated in the -same style with stucco reliefs and paintings. The -façade into Piazza della Scala is modern.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Palazzo de’ Giurisconsulti, in Via Mercanti, -opposite the Palazzo della Ragione, was built in its -present handsome but heavy form by Vincenzo Seregni -in the sixteenth century, at the charge of Pope Pius IV., -of the Milanese house of Medici, whose arms appear -on the edifice. Till recent times this palace formed -part of the old enclosure of the Broletto Nuovo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Palazzo Arcivescovile, of which the large -cortile was built by Pellegrini, has been already -mentioned in Chapter X.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The house—in Via Omenoni—built by the sculptor -Leone Leoni for himself in the second half of the -sixteenth century, is remarkable for the colossal -statues supporting the cornice, whence it has acquired -the name of Palazzo <i>Omenoni</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Palazzo Chierici—an eighteenth century building, -now a law-court—close to Sta. Maria del Carmine, -should be visited for the sake of a great ceiling painting -by G. B. Tiepolo, the Venetian painter. The room -is open to the public.</p> - -<p class='c000'>You may get a charming glimpse of old Milan—long -past the mediæval period indeed, which we set -out to describe—but in a luxurious, leisured Settecento -aspect almost as completely gone in these her industrial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>days, by walking down the Via Damiano—passing, -by the way, as you turn out of Via Monforte, one of -those locks in the canal which are attributed to the invention -of Leonardo da Vinci—along the Naviglio, till -you come to a beautiful pierced balustrade facing you -across the narrow streak of water beneath a thicket of -wistaria, chestnut and flowering trees. Behind appears -the graceful arched portico of the palace to which the -garden belongs—the Palazzo Visconti di Modrone. -The wistaria has climbed all over the trees, and in spring -it is a cloud of softest purple. You see the fine feathery -twigs and sparse young leaves of the trees caught high -up against the blue in delicate wreaths and garlands of -the tender-coloured bloom, and hung with a film of its -fine tendrils. A curtain of it drapes the lively green -of the horse-chestnut and smothers the spikes of white -blossom. The dry stem from which all this loveliness -gushes forth, to fall in these cascades and streams of -delicious colour, winds in great serpentine coils in the -shadow over the parapet, and you may trace its stealthy -and sinuous climb amid the branches of the trees—the -strangling clasp of its huge vine. The central part of -the parapet is guarded by two delightful stone <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">putti</span></i>, -holding cornucopiæ—the genii of this joyous blossoming -place. Mocked by the still flow and reflection -of the water beneath, you might fancy yourself for a -moment in Venice.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The flowering May-time of the year is a pleasant -moment in which to see this Milan, when her squares -and gardens break forth into the luxurious blossom of -magnolia, chestnut and wistaria, which endear all her -modern ways by their colour and sweetness, and soothe -with the sight of their ever recurring, imperishable -beauty, our regret for all that has perished.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIV<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Brera Picture Gallery</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Chi sprezza la Pittura non ama la Filosofia ne la Natura.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Leonardo da Vinci.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>The Palazzo di Brera contains one of the finest -collections of pictures in Italy. The palace itself, -once the house of the great order of the Umiliati, and -after them of the Jesuits, who in their turn were dispossessed -by the State in 1772, is in its present form a -grandiose seventeenth century building, with a double -galleried cortile of fine proportions. In the midst of the -cortile stands a statue of Napoleon Buonaparte, by -Canova. The Biblioteca Nazionale occupies part of the -building. There is a large fresco of the Marriage at -Cana in Galilee on the staircase leading to the Library, -by Callisto Piazza, one of the late Milanese school—a -good example of the artist.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Pinacoteca is entered from the upper loggia. -The pictures have recently been admirably arranged. -They are labelled with the names and dates of the -artists, and the attributions are in accordance with the -latest criticism. We shall only dwell on the most -interesting of the numerous works, noticing particularly -the local school.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We pass through Sala I. with cartoons by Andrea -Appiani, a late eighteenth century Milanese artist.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala II. contains some of the best work of the early -Lombard school, frescoes of the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries, which have been removed from churches -<span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>and convents. We pass some unimportant primitive -frescoes that would be beautiful in their original -position, but lose artistic value in the narrow space -where they are now seen, and come to three frescoes -by Bramantino, which show him at his best. The -Madonna and Child (15) is very characteristic of his -manner, in the broad treatment of the flesh and -drapery, in the blond types, and the way in which -the figures are lighted from below. A <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Putto</span></i> (16) has -an irresistible charm. This child among the vine -leaves is so true to nature, so full of joy and life. -The St. Martin (17) is a noble conception of chivalrous -youth. In beauty and refinement it excels any other -work by Bramantino.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We now come to Vincenzo Foppa, who takes the -most important place in the early Lombard school. -Madonna and Child with SS. John Baptist and John -Evangelist kneeling on each side (19). The composition -is formal, but there is a strong feeling for -nature in the figures. Martyrdom of St. Sebastian -(20) is a composition full of vigour and life; the saint’s -figure is well drawn and modelled with a sculpturesque -solidity. There is a naïve simplicity in the expression -of the archers’ faces and in their close vicinity to their -mark, hardly in keeping with the academic feeling -shown in the architectural surroundings. Foppa’s -colour in these two frescoes is much fresher and -pleasanter than in his altarpieces.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Next we have Borgognone (Ambrogio da Fossano), -whom Morelli calls the Perugino of the Lombard -school. These frescoes from the church of San -Satiro belong to his best period. St. Martha, St. -Catherine, St. Mary Magdalen (22); St. Barbara, St. -Roch and St. Clara (23); St. Martina, St. Apollonia -and St. Agnes (24). They are very beautiful figures, -of most refined and delicate execution. St. Roch is -especially fine, his poetic face shows a power of characterisation -that is seldom seen in Borgognone’s work, -and the St. Barbara is exquisitely graceful. It is very -unfortunate that these valuable frescoes have been so -much damaged. The large Madonna with angels and -God the Father (25) is a fine picture, but loses its -due effect in the narrow gallery.</p> - -<div id='t336' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_361.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>PUTTO, FRESCO BY BRAMANTINO (BRERA)<br /><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></i>]      [<i>Anderson, Rome</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>We come next to a number of frescoes by Bernardino -Luini, where his fundamental faults, viz., heavy forms -and want of drawing, are glossed over by his gift -of charm. Madonna and Child, with a lamb and -little St. John, in a landscape (63), is one of the best. -The Madonna is tender and dignified, and there is an -idyllic feeling about the whole that is very attractive. -Madonna and Child with St. Anne (64) is also charming. -St. Anne is a graceful figure in yellow and purple, -a combination of colours which the peasant women of -Lombardy wear to this day. There are some profane -subjects, 70 to 76 inclusive, from the Villa Pelucca, -near Monza. A young horseman in a decoratively-treated -landscape (72); Sacrifice to Pan (73); Daphne -(74); Birth of Adonis (76). A very charming bust -of a young woman (75), whose golden hair and dress -of palest puce and white against a background of pale -green makes a pleasant colour harmony.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On the opposite wall are frescoes by Gaudenzio -Ferrari, scenes from the life of the Virgin. There is -life and movement in these paintings and a freshness -both of treatment and feeling, but the execution is -careless. The side panels of the Adoration of the -Magi (33), with the servants and horses, are very -spirited. The Meeting of the Virgin and Elizabeth -(37) is rather theatrical, but the lines of the composition -are good.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There are other frescoes by Marco d’Oggiono and -Bernardino Lanino.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>Sala III.—Here we have pictures of the Venetian -schools of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth -centuries. There are examples by Moretto, and fine -portraits by G. B. Moroni. By Paris Bordone there -are three sacred subjects (106, 107, 108), and a -picture called Gli Amanti Veneziani (105) which shows -him in a more congenial mood. It has all the charm of -rich colour and sensuous beauty, and one can admire -the fine qualities of the technique here, whereas in the -religious subjects it gives no pleasure. Near by hangs the -masterpiece of the Brescian artist, Girolamo Savoldo, -Madonna and Child, with SS. Peter, Domenico, Paul -and Jerome (114). The background is especially -beautiful, with its water and hills and luminous sky -paling to an exquisite light on the horizon. The Cenacolo -(117), doubtfully ascribed to Titian, cannot be -considered his work. The rather uninteresting Adoration -of the Magi (119) was begun by Palma Vecchio -and finished by Cariani. The large Marriage of Cana -(120) is a work of the school of Paolo Veronese. -There are also pictures by the sons of il Bassano.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala IV. contains Venetian works of the sixteenth -century. The first thing one sees is Tintoretto’s -famous picture of St. Mark Appearing to the Venetians, -who are searching for his body in the crypt of St. -Eufemia of Alexandria (143). Mr. Berenson says of -this picture—‘... the figures, although colossal, are so -energetic and easy in movement, and the effects of perspective -and of light and atmosphere are so on a level -with the gigantic figures, that the eye at once adapts itself -to the scale, and you feel as if you too partook of -the strength and health of heroes.’<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c014'><sup>[18]</sup></a> In Tintoretto’s -Deposition of Christ (149), the grand lines of the -shadowed figure fill us with a deep sense of tragedy. -Of a very different character to these two pictures is</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. </span><cite>The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance</cite>, p. 56.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>the festive scene, by Bonifazio Veronese (114), Moses -Saved from the Water. The subject here is an excuse -for one of those <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fêtes champêtres</span></i> which the Venetian -artists loved to paint. The picture shows us delightful -groups of richly-dressed men and beautiful women -in a romantic landscape, painted with all Bonifazio’s -characteristic glory of colour.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Baptism and Temptation of Jesus (151) cannot be -regarded as a genuine work of Paolo Veronese.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala V.—Venetian pictures of the fourteenth-sixteenth -centuries.—Gentile Bellini’s great canvas of -the Preaching of St. Mark in the Piazza of Alexandria -(164) is a stately representation of a contemporary -scene; some of the groups are very quaint. It was -finished by Gian Bellini. Bartolommeo Montagna -has a very fine altarpiece, Madonna and Child, with -SS. Andrew, Monica, Ursula and Sigismondo (165), -signed 1498. There are three charming little pictures -by Carpaccio—Marriage of the Virgin (169), Dispute -of St. Stephen (170), and Presentation of Mary in -the Temple (171). Three works by Cima show us -this gentle artist at his best. St. Peter enthroned -between SS. John Baptist and Paul (174) is a restful -picture with devout saints; the mild and youthful St. -John is a notable contrast to the wild and ascetic figure -of this saint as usually depicted by the Florentines. -The other two pictures are Madonna and SS. John -Baptist, Sebastian, Roch, Magdalen and donors (175), -and St. Peter Martyr between SS. Nicolo of Bari and -Augustine (176). St. Sebastian (177), by Liberale da -Verona, is a most delightful and satisfying picture, -suffused with a golden glow, and the idealised figure of -the saint forms an exquisite harmony with the colour -of the houses and blue sky and water of the background.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VI. contains three fine works by Titian. Portrait -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>of Count Antonio Porcia (180) is a magnificent -painting; the pale face, black dress and background, -and blue landscape, make a striking arrangement of -colour. The St. Jerome (182) is a late work, the -rugged figure in the savage landscape is tremendously -vigorous. Ruskin writes of this picture that it is ‘a -superb example of the modes in which the objects of -landscape may be either suggested or elaborated according -to their place and claim. The larger features of the -ground, foliage and drapery, as well as lion in the lower -angle, are executed with a slightness that admits not of -close examination.... But on the rock above ... -there is a wreath of ivy, of which every leaf is drawn -with the greatest accuracy and care, and beside it a lizard, -studied with equal earnestness, yet always with that right -grandeur of manner to which I have alluded....’<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c014'><sup>[19]</sup></a> -Beside the Titians, the picture by Palma Vecchio—S. -Sebastian, Constantine, St. Helena, and St. Roch (179)—seems -wanting in strength and distinction. St. Roch -has a poetical head, and S. Sebastian is a well-painted -nude, but the type is effeminate.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. </span>Ruskin, <cite>Modern Painters</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VII.—Some of the finest portraits by the -Venetian painter Lorenzo Lotto are here. Of the -portrait of a Gentleman (183), Mr. Berenson says—‘This -is the most subtle of all Lotto’s portraits in -characterisation, and considered merely as technique, -it is his most masterly achievement.’<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c014'><sup>[20]</sup></a> Nos. 184 and -185 are almost certainly the portraits of Messer Febo da -Brescia and Madonna Laura da Pola, his wife, which -are known to have been painted in 1543-44. The -woman, beautiful and distinguished, has an intent, sad -gaze, with that reserve in her expression that one is -familiar with in Lotto’s portraits. The man’s character -is less complex than hers. Both portraits are of very</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. </span>B. Berenson, <cite>Lorenzo Lotto</cite>.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>fine execution, though hers is the more delicate. The -little panel, Assumption of the Virgin (186), is an -early work with a pleasant landscape. The Pietà (188) -is an important but unattractive composition.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VIII. contains unimportant works of various -Venetian schools.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala IX. is one of the most interesting of all, for -here are the works of Gian Bellini, Mantegna, and -some of the best examples of that individual and fascinating -painter, Carlo Crivelli. On entering, one is at once -arrested by the noble Pietà of Gian Bellini (214). -In this most touching picture the artist has expressed -himself with a deep human feeling which he rarely -shows afterwards. We feel almost awed in the presence -of the Mother’s infinite love and sorrow, and the -perfect peace and calm of the dead Christ amid the -agony of hopeless grief. St. John cries aloud in his -despair, and a pitiless dawn is breaking behind them. -It is an early work and the treatment of the flesh and -heavy draperies is broad and severe. In the picture -hanging next, Madonna and Child in a beautiful landscape -(215), dated 1510, we see the change wrought by -nearly fifty years. The intensity of feeling of the young -Bellini has died away in technical perfection. The -Madonna and Child (216) is an early work of the same -period as the Pietà. In this beautiful sad Mother and -Child is visible the earnest sentiment and the same broad -manner of painting.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Mantegna’s three pictures hang opposite, and it is -interesting to compare them with Bellini’s, as the two -painters had much in common to start with, and -departed widely each on his own lines afterwards. -The Polyptych, St. Luke and other saints, with Pietà -in upper part (200), is one of his earliest works, -finished in 1454. The figures are very refined and -carefully drawn, but they are rather stiff, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>execution almost timid. Beside this picture hangs one -of his latest works, the Dead Christ and the Maries -(199), and we can note the difference between the -early and late style of the master; the careful academic -manner of the first has yielded to the broad freedom -of the second. This uncompromisingly foreshortened -figure must have been an experiment, and is chiefly -interesting technically. The Madonna and Child surrounded -with cherubim (198) is a beautiful picture, -painted in the broad manner of Mantegna’s maturity.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Carlo Crivelli fills the rest of the room with a wealth -of colour and beauty. Madonna and Child with -SS. Peter and Dominic (201) is so exquisite a -picture, so lovely in colour and design, that one feels -the last word has been said in an art that combines the -highest decoration with a true and childlike religious -feeling. Who has ever imagined a more pure and -innocent creature than this lovely Madonna who sits -with such unconscious grace in her rich garments on -the stately throne? The Child, too, is so sweet as he -earnestly squeezes a dove in both hands. The young S. -Geminianus has the ardour of a martyr. The whole -picture is a very exquisite harmony of colour and line. -Coronation of Christ and the Virgin by the Eternal -Father (202), signed and dated 1493, is a superbly -decorative work glowing with rich colour. The flying -angels seem really beings of the air, and the devout saints -really dwellers in Paradise. S. Catherine and S. -Sebastian are especially beautiful. The Pietà above -(203) is very fine in composition, and the Christ is godlike -with His long golden hair. The Crucifixion (206) -is a restless composition. Crivelli has striven so hard -to express his emotion, but the result is an exaggeration -of forms and movement. There is no repose anywhere, -draperies flying, fingers contorted; even the sky is in -troubled wavelets. Madonna of the Candle (207). -<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>In this beautiful panel the Madonna sits like a goddess -on her high throne, yet has all the sweetness of -humanity. The perfect oval of her face and symmetry -of her form are drawn by a master’s hand. The rich -garland of fruits and the roses and lilies are painted -with a loving care. There are also two panels of -saints by Crivelli (204 and 205).</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala X. contains Venetian pictures of the fourteenth -and fifteenth centuries. There are four small pictures -by Cima (217, 218, 219 and 220), charming little -pictures in which there is more life and movement -than in his larger works. Adoration of the Magi -(223) by Stefano da Zevio, dated 1435, is a pleasing -picture, showing the early Veronese character. The -decorative Polyptych (228) is by Antonio Vivarini -and Giovanni da Murano.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In Sala XI. we have Venetian schools of the sixteenth-eighteenth -centuries. Two landscapes by Canaletto -(235 and 236) are full of light and air. Guardi -has two views of the Grand Canal at Venice (242 -and 243).</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XII., Lombard School.—Here are portraits of -the Visconti family, of little artistic value. A Madonna -Adoring the Child, with SS. Catherine and Joseph -(248) by Vincenzo Civerchio. The Milanese painter -Bernardino Buttinone has two pictures, Madonna and -Child between SS. Bernardino and Stephen (249), -signed and dated 145-. This picture has all the -decided characteristics of the artist—the laboured -execution, low flesh tones, high and prominent foreheads, -enormous ears, claw-like fingers and vividly-coloured -draperies. The small Madonna (250) is a -highly-finished picture and equally lacking in beauty. -The SS. Catherine and Sebastian by Defendente -Ferrari are charming figures in gorgeous costumes.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XIII. possesses four pictures by Borgognone. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>The most interesting is the small picture of the -Madonna and Child with S. Clare and a Certosino -(259). It is an early work, very devout and sweet in -feeling, and shows the artist’s connection with Foppa, -particularly in the type of the Child and the grey flesh -tones. The latter, however, are very much modified, -and form a very harmonious scheme with the white -draperies and silvery colour of sky and water behind. -Madonna and Saints (257), by Bevilacqua, is a decorative -altarpiece with colour brilliant almost to crudeness.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XIV. contains works of the sixteenth century -by Leonardo’s followers. Two Magdalens, by Gianpietrino -(262 and 263), are good examples of his work, -and have some poetical charm. An unfinished Madonna -(261) of Leonardesque composition shows a great -similarity in the landscape background to that of the -well-known Bacchus of the Louvre, a doubtful Leonardo. -Madonna and Child with little S. John (271), -by Bernardino dei Conti, is reminiscent of Leonardo’s -Virgin of the Rocks. The colour is hot and the -modelling lumpy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XV., Lombard school of sixteenth century.—The -first picture in this room is a lovely Madonna and -Child (276) by Cesare da Sesto. It is sympathetic in -feeling and refined in execution. The arrangement -of dark foliage behind the Madonna, showing on one -side the distant landscape and pale sky, is very happy. -It is the best picture we know of this artist. Madonna -and Child (277) by Gaudenzio Ferrari is very typical -of his style, rather affected in attitude and hot in -colour. Close by hangs a Holy Family (279) by -Bramantino. The drawing of the Saviour (280) is -not admitted by the best authorities to be a genuine -work of Leonardo’s. Two kneeling figures (281) by -Boltraffio are distinguished by dignity and feeling. -They show how well Boltraffio could paint portraits. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>Andrea Solario has three paintings and a drawing. -The best is a portrait of a young man (282), whose -characteristic head, with clear, almost hard outline, is -well-drawn and carefully finished. Madonna and -Child (286) by Sodoma is one of his most Leonardesque -works.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XVI. is entirely devoted to works by Luini. -A fresco of angels bearing the corpse of St. Catherine -to deposit in the Sepulchre (288) is a graceful composition. -The well-known Madonna del Roseto -(289) with its charming background of a rose-trellis is -one of the most popular of this artist’s pictures. To us -a more sympathetic work is the charcoal drawing (290) -of the Madonna watching the Child, who sleeps on a -cushion. Here is also a series of frescoes giving the -story of S. Joseph, taken from the suppressed Church -of Sta. Maria della Pace.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XVII. contains works of the Lombard school -of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There is a -large Polyptych (307) by Vincenzo Foppa. The -central panel, Madonna and Child with Angels, is a -very characteristic painting of the artist. The -Madonna, stately and almost severely simple, is yet -perfectly natural, and so is the Child as He touches the -strings of the instrument held by an angel, leaning His -head as if listening to the sound. The large heads -and crumpled draperies of the angels are peculiarities -which Foppa shares with the Lombard sculptors. -St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, in the panel -above, is rather a feeble figure. The bright red and -lavish use of gold in the side panels of saints have -a rich effect. The Assumption of the Virgin (308), -by Borgognone, dated 1522, is a poor work; in it all -his faults are exaggerated; there is no movement in the -figures, the background does not recede: the whole -thing is absolutely lifeless. Bramantino’s large Crucifixion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>(309) is very inferior to his other works in the -gallery.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The picture of the Madonna and Child, with the -Doctors of the Church, and Lodovico il Moro, his -wife Beatrice, and their children kneeling (310), has -been variously attributed to Zenale, Bernardino dei -Conti and Ambrogio de Predis. It has little artistic -merit, much the best part being the portraits. The -Virgin and Saints are heavy in type and coarse in -execution, showing the Leonardesque influence imposed -on the native school. Ambrogio de Predis -seems to us the most probable author of this much disputed -work. Marco d’Oggiono has three pictures—St. -Paul (311), Assumption of the Virgin (312), the -Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel overcoming -the Devil (313). There is no genuine inspiration in -these works, nor any charm of colour or technique. -We turn with relief to Boltraffio’s interesting and well-painted -portrait of the poet Girolamo Casio (319). -Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria (321), by -Gaudenzio Farrari, a crowded and confused composition, -shows the decadence of this able and facile painter.</p> - -<p class='c000'>We come to several large canvases by the family of -Campi of Cremona. The best of these is Madonna -Adoring the Child (329), by Giulio Campi; the -technique is able, in the later Venetian style. Two -pictures by Vincenzo Campi—a Fruitseller and Fishseller—are -Flemish in manner. Next come the painters -of Lodi, but we have not time to dwell on these productions -of the later Milanese school. In the cases -are drawings of various Italian schools.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XVIII. contains productions of the late Lombard -schools (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) that -repel by their brutal realism.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In Sala XIX. we have unimportant works of the -schools of Parma, Reggio and Modena.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>Sala XX. Ferrarese and Bolognese Schools.—The -Ferrarese school is represented in this gallery by some -splendid pictures of the best period. In his St. Sebastian -(433) that richly imaginative artist Dosso Dossi, with -his Cinquecento enjoyment of beauty and his mastery -of dramatic effects of light and shade, has given us a -picture of enthralling interest, painted with marvellous -breadth and power. This strong young body, bound -by uplifted arms to the tree, expresses the very -passion of martyrdom. This is no mere physical -agony; though the arrows visibly torture the flesh, -they pierce the soul more sharply. The dark grove, -where great fruits and leaves shine out, touched by a -strange evil light, surrounds the figure with mystery -and magic, which is heightened by the glimpse of a -tranquil distant landscape. Not St. Sebastian, but a -character from some Ariostean fable this seems—a -young hero in search of truth ensnared by cruel -necromancy, stripped and bound by the powers of -evil. His knight’s helmet lies at his feet. The -sensuous beauty of the picture increases its dramatic -interest; the curve of the nude body, the flesh colour, -incomparable in its coolness and its pearly shadow, -crossed by that swathe of green drapery—a green all -Dosso—the rich glossy leaves, the distant blue, all -serve to deepen the tragedy.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Francesco d’Este, whose portrait (431), in the -character of St. George, by Dosso, hangs beside St. -Sebastian, was one of the sons of Duke Alfonso of -Ferrara and Lucrezia Borgia. The St. John Baptist -(432) is lighted as if by a fire from below, in a manner -very characteristic of Dosso.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Adoration of the Magi (429) by Lorenzo -Costa, the predella of an altarpiece by Francia, is a -good example of the master.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The great altarpiece (428) is a majestic composition, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>and especially interesting as the work of that -rarest painter, the Ferrarese Ercole de’ Roberti, who in -the grand architectural and decorative environment of -this Madonna Enthroned shows himself faithful to the -precepts of Cosimo Tura. But the arrangement of the -triple figures on the throne—St. Anne and St. -Elizabeth seated on stools on either side of the Virgin, -with a sort of pyramidal effect—and the types of the -heads, especially of the fair and regal Virgin, are very -individual. The figures of St. Augustine and of Peter -the Sinner, below, complete the stately arrangement. -The beautiful harmony of red and purple and puce -and gorgeous reddish gold shows with rare splendour -the Ferrarese feeling for colour.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Correggio (427) is not one of the painter’s best -works, but the graceful Madonna has his peculiar -charm; the baby is strangely small. Two figures of -saints (449) are characteristic, but rather conventional -productions by Cossa, noticeable for their decoration -and the ‘lacquer enamel’ quality of the colour. They -are parts of a triptych, of which the centre, S. -Vincenzo, is in the National Gallery.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The great Annunciation (448), by Francia, is a -beautiful and spacious composition, with an exquisitely -clear atmospheric effect and picturesque background; -but in the over-elaborated Angel the painter comes -perilously near the banal.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A little figure of the Crucified (447) by Cosimo Tura—a -fragment probably of a picture of St. Francis Receiving -the Stigmata, is instinct with the great Ferrarese -master’s intensity of feeling and devotion. Other and -inferior painters of the school fill the rest of the room.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XXI., Schools of the Romagna.—The three -painters, Rondinelli, Marco Palmezzano—who was -pupil of Melozzo da Forlì—and Cotignola, are well represented. -Rondinelli has three pictures. One illustrates -<span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>a legend in the life of Galla Placidia (452), in -which St. John the Evangelist appears to her and -leaves his shoe behind him as a relic. Cotignola’s (Francesco -Zaganelli) pictures are decorative and pleasant in -colour, but weak in drawing. He was assisted in Nos. -457 and 458 by his brother Bernardino. Marco Palmezzano -is the best painter of the three. The Nativity -(469) is a pleasing picture, and in the Coronation -(470) the music-making angels are charming. The -Madonna and SS. John Baptist, Peter, Domenico and -Mary Magdalen (471) is a good picture, but rather -mannered in the treatment of draperies and clouds.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XXII. possesses the most famous picture of the -collection—the Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael -(472). It is signed and dated 1504. This was -painted when the artist was only twenty-one. It is -an extraordinarily complete work for so young a -painter. He did not set himself new and difficult -problems to solve; he was content to take the composition -of his master Perugino (fresco in the Sistine -Chapel), and with perfect artistic instinct improve it -into the exquisite picture we have before us. We -cannot do better than quote Mr. Berenson. ‘Subtler -feeling for space, greater refinement, even a certain -daintiness, give this “<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Sposalizio</span>” a fragrance, a freshness -that are not in Perugino’s fresco. In presence of -young Sanzio’s picture you feel a poignant thrill of -transfiguring sensation, as if, on a morning early, the -air cool and dustless, you suddenly found yourself in -presence of a fairer world, where lovely people were -taking part in a gracious ceremony, while beyond them -stretched harmonious distances, line on line to the -horizon’s edge.’<a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c014'><sup>[21]</sup></a> The picture is seen to full -advantage, admirably placed as it is in a room by</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. </span>B. Berenson, <cite>The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance</cite>, -p. 124.</p> -</div> -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>itself, where it can be well seen and thoroughly studied -and enjoyed.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XXIII., Central Italian Painters.—Signorelli -has two pictures here—Flagellation of Christ (476), -and Madonna and Child between Cherubims (477). -There is a predella picture (483) by Eusebio di -San Giorgio, a Madonna (473) by Pacchiarotti, -and other works of the Siennese school.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XXIV. contains frescoes by Bramante of -Urbino, representing Heraclites and Democritus, six -men-at-arms and a singer, originally decorating the -Baron’s Hall in Casa Panigarola at Milan. These -paintings show a distinct connection with the art of -Melozzo da Forlì. They are grand monumental -figures, that one feels belong to a great architectural -scheme, and cannot be properly appreciated in this small -room.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala XXV., Painters of Umbria and the Marches.—Here -we have several interesting works, especially the -very fine picture by Piero dei Franceschi, Madonna -and Saints, with Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of -Urbino (510). This is a stately composition, where -the saints are grouped round the Madonna, and the -great Duke of Urbino kneels at her feet, while she sits -with the Child sleeping easily on her knee, grand and -aloof, a being far above the passions and weakness of -humanity. She is quite unlike any other Madonna, -and though not exactly beautiful, holds one’s attention -far more than many that are so. After Piero’s work -most pictures look trivial; but one can turn with -pleasure to Gentile da Fabriano’s exquisite Polyptych -(497), whose flower-like beauty of colour and line -transports us into another world. There is an Annunciation -(503) by Giovanni Santi, the father of -Raphael, which foreshadows the charm so highly -developed later in his son. A Madonna and Angels, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>and various Saints (504) by Nicolò da Foligno. A -Madonna with SS. Simon, Guida, Bonaventura and -Francis (505), by Signorelli, signed and dated 1508. -In one of Timoteo Viti’s pictures, Madonna with SS. -Crescenzio and Vitale (508), the saint holding the -banner is of that distinct Umbrian type one sees in the -work of the young Raphael, whose first master -Timoteo probably was.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Salas XXVI. and XXVII. contain works of the -Bolognese school of the Caracci; Sala XXVIII., works -of the Roman school of the seventeenth century; Sala -XXIX., works of the Genovese school, including -pictures by Salvator Rosa. Sala XXX. and XXXI., -foreign schools, mostly Flemish and Dutch, of the seventeenth -century. The remaining rooms have modern -Italian pictures.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XV<br /> <span class='large'><i>Other Galleries and Museums</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>(The Poldi-Pezzoli Museum—The Ambrosiana Library and Museums—The Borromeo and Trivulzio Collections, etc.)</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>The Poldi-Pezzoli Art Museum contains an admirable -collection of pictures of the greatest period -of Italian art, and artistic treasures of various kinds, and -one has the added pleasure of seeing these things in the -harmonious surroundings of a luxurious house. The -very sound of the water pleasantly dripping from the -fountain in the hall as we enter is a promise of refreshment -and delight. The palace and the collections were -the generous legacy of the Cavaliere Poldi-Pezzoli to -the city, and it remains much the same as when it was -a private dwelling. The somewhat florid decorations -of the rooms are very obviously of recent date.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the downstairs rooms there are some fine sixteenth -century tapestries, antique Eastern carpets, and -cases containing antique stuffs; a few pieces of antique -sculpture, and pictures, chiefly portraits, of the late -Renaissance and modern periods.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala Verde, at the top of the staircase, contains -pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; -two bas-reliefs (100-101) of the Adoration of the -Magi, and St. Giuliano Killing his Parents, German -work of the sixteenth century; landscapes by Guardi, -Canaletto and Zucarelli; Joshua stopping the Sun in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>its Course (111), and other paintings by Tiepolo; and -a beautiful Flemish tapestry (1201) of the early fifteenth -century—the Queen of Sheba before Solomon. There -are also some fine marriage chests; two exquisite -chess-boards (122, 123) of the sixteenth century, one -of them with the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">stemma</span></i> of the Visconti, and other -interesting objects.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ante-sala.—Pictures of the late sixteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala Gialla.—A very ornate Seicento clock; some -Oriental porcelain; two Sèvres vases (149), etc.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Salone Dorato contains many treasures. The -Madonna and Child, by Botticelli (156), though much -restored, is a lovely picture, with that incomparable -distinction of line and colour that characterise his work. -The Portrait of a Young Woman (157) is ascribed to -Piero dei Franceschi, but Verrocchio and Antonio -Pollajuolo have also been suggested as the author. -The outline has the play and movement, and the -character a vivacity that one associates with Florentine -painting, and the peculiarly large and impersonal -qualities that Piero gets even into his portraits are -absent. But whoever the artist may be, it is a very -attractive work. The Madonna and Child (158) is by -Rafaello Caponi, a Florentine Cinquecento painter. -The Madonna Enthroned with Angels (154) is of the -fifteenth century school of Murano.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Apart from the pictures, the most precious object in -the room is a marvellous Persian Carpet (159) of the -fifteenth or sixteenth century, of large size and in -perfect preservation. The beauty of the design and -the exquisite colour make this carpet a miracle of -decorative art. It was made for the feet of princes, -as the legend, worked in silver round the border, -records:—<i>Blessed is the carpet which in a pleasant -company has become shadowed beneath the footsteps of the -Shah</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span><i>It has sacrificed itself upon his path, as the sun does, -and has offered itself beneath his feet like a white -fleece.</i></p> - -<p class='c000'><i>This is not a carpet, it is a white rose; it is a fabric which -resembles the eyes of the very Houris....</i><a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c014'><sup>[22]</sup></a> And so on.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. </span>An Italian translation of these verses is given in the <cite>Rassegna -d’Arte</cite> (Anno iv., No. 10), and appears in the official -catalogue of the Museum.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Another beautiful piece of work (155) is the middle -portion of a vestment of the later fifteenth century, embroidered -with the Coronation of the Virgin and two -devotees kneeling at the sides.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The case in the middle of the room contains a collection -of beautiful objects of the goldsmiths’ and -kindred arts, chiefly of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and -sixteenth centuries—tabernacles, paxes, reliquaries of -precious materials chiselled and adorned with enamel; -cups and vases and basins of crystal and agate; exquisitely -worked spoons and forks, etc., etc. One very -lovely pax (unnumbered) of silver, decorated with -enamel, has a Resurrection on the front—the figures -in grisaille upon a blue background—and heads of -saints in medallions, and on the back the Pietà figured -in mother-of-pearl. Another pax (161 <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">bis</span></i>), of characteristic -Lombard workmanship, is in the form of a little -tabernacle, and has sacred subjects and figures of saints -exquisitely worked in enamel. A fourteenth century -crystal cup (163) is of most graceful form and beautiful -workmanship; upon the foot episodes from the -story of Tristan and Isolda are figured in enamel. It -is suggested that this may have been a tourney prize. -A cup with a cover of agate (169) and decorated with -silver gilt, chiselled and enamelled and with precious -stones, is specially noticeable for beauty of material -and shape. The enamel (180) with a representation -of the Resurrection, is a very precious fifteenth century -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>work, probably Milanese. A tiny diptych (214) of -gilded bronze is particularly interesting for the two -little figures in <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">niello</span></i> on the outside, representing -Lodovico il Moro and Beatrice d’Este. Within there -are subjects depicted in enamel—St. George and the -Dragon, and the Deposition—in the style of the painter -Foppa.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In the large case nearer the window there is a wonderful -display of jewellery, from the fifteenth to the -eighteenth century. No. 286 is a miniature of the -Duke of Monmouth. In the other large case, near -the fireplace, there are numerous treasures of Roman, -Etruscan, and Greek art. A smaller case holds gold -ornaments, chiefly of the Roman epoch. There are -also in this room suits of armour, some fine pieces of -seventeenth century furniture, tapestries, bronzes, etc.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Gabinetto del Salone Dorato.—Here are pictures -of the late Flemish and Italian schools, and an Annunciation -(436) of Tuscan style, attributed to Pesellino.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala Nera.—Among the pictures in this room are -St. Mary Magdalen (473), attributed to Luca Signorelli, -but with doubtful justice, and a very charming -little triptych (477) by Mariotto Albertinelli, Madonna -and Child, with SS. Catherine and Barbara, which -shows how good his work can be on a small scale, -like that of his fellow-worker Fra Bartolommeo, -whose style he much resembles. Here are also -some fine pieces of furniture, notably a cabinet (481) -of sixteenth century Italian workmanship, and another -(482) of Florentine production in the seventeenth -century.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala dei Vetri Antichi.—The chief interest of this -room is the splendid collection of antique Muranese -glass. Many of the pieces are of very beautiful form, -some decorated with patterns in colour and gold, and -some with handles and bases of bronze or silver.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>Gabinetto Dante contains a numerous collection of -small artistic objects.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala degli Specchi.—Here hang pictures of various -Italian schools, among others a Deposition (552) of -the school of Botticelli, and a Brescian fifteenth -century work (555)—a large canvas of the Madonna -Enthroned, to whom St. Benedict presents a devotee.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala del Perugino.—A pleasing little picture by -Perugino (603), Madonna and Child with angels, gives -its name to this room. Here are also pictures of the -Florentine school and of the school of Murano. Of -the latter the large Madonna Enthroned (589), by -Antonio Vivarini, is a fine decorative altarpiece; by -Nicolò da Foligno, there is a Crucifixion (582), with -a realistic Umbrian landscape; by Stefano da Zevio, -a Hermit in the Wilderness (591). A stout monk -in a black habit (598), ascribed to Piero dei Franceschi, -looks like a good portrait of a man of strong -character. In the Annunciation (599), by Marco -Palmezzano, the figures are stiff, but there is light -and air in the landscape. A little picture of a bishop -(600) has the peculiar manner of Cosimo Tura.</p> - -<div id='t356' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i_383.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>MADONNA, by MANTEGNA (POLDI-PEZZOLI)<br /><br /><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></i>]      [<i>Anderson, Rome</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Gabinetto dei Veneti.—The small picture by -Mantegna is the greatest treasure of the collection. -It is the most appealing of all his Madonna pictures. -Never has the subject of mother and child been so -sympathetically expressed, even among Italian masters, -unless we except Luca della Robbia. The sleeping -baby is touchingly true to nature, its round little form -under the tightly wound drapery is perfectly given, and -there is a depth of feeling in the mother’s thoughtful, -almost sad expression as she clasps Him to her, as if -the very intensity of her love gave her a sense of -foreboding. It is a late work of the master, painted -with perfect mastery of form and a breadth of technique -in which there is none of the dryness of his early -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>years. Christ with the Symbols of the Passion and -St. Francis kneeling to receive the blood in a chalice, -(620) by Carlo Crivelli, has a mystical feeling and -the beauty of a miniature painting. St. Sebastian -tied to a tree (621) is also a characteristic picture of -Crivelli’s. Pietà (623), a miniature in an ornamental -Gothic frame is of the school of Murano, probably of -the Vivarini. Pietà (624) is by an imitator of -Giovanni Bellini. By Bonsignore is a good profile -of an old man (627). Cariani has a small Holy -Family (613), gracious in colour and composition. -Lorenzo Lotto, a Madonna with St. John Baptist -and a prophet (614). A rather stiff altarpiece, -Madonna with angels making music (610), is by -Marcello Fogolino, a painter of Vicenza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Passage.—A portrait (634), of herself, by the -Bolognese woman painter, Sofonisba Anguissola, of -the later sixteenth century, hangs here.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala dei Lombardi.—This room contains a good -collection of the Lombard painters, especially of the -followers of Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">alla -cuscino verde</span></i> (602), by Andrea Solario, is a thoroughly -representative picture, not only of Solario but of the -Leonardesque school. The subject is one we see -repeated continually, and the juxtaposition of vivid -colours, the very soft flesh painting and rather grey -tones melting into each other, are local characteristics. -Solario, however, is a more accomplished painter and -better draughtsman than most of the school. This -picture shows a kindly feeling in the portrayal of the -simple, happy-looking mother and child, but it lacks -refinement and distinction. The bit of landscape seen -through the window is lovely. The Ecce Homo -(637) is an elaborately-finished work, but leaves the -spectator cold. Two panels of saints, S. Giovanni -Battista (653), dated 1499, and St. Catherine of Alexandria -<span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>(657), have the Lombard heaviness of form. -The <cite>Riposo</cite>, dated 1515 (655), is a mature work of -Solario’s. The landscape is beautiful and the colour -with the dark trees and rich purple and gold of St. -Joseph’s garments is admirable, but rather disturbed -by the over bright blue and red of the Madonna’s -drapery. Madonna and Angels (640) by Borgognone -is a very sweet and refined little picture, harmonious -in colour, the child’s gold-coloured tunic being the -brightest note in the picture. Madonna (643) by -Foppa has the charm of sincere and tender sentiment. -Madonna and Child, picking a flower (642), -is one of Boltraffio’s most stately Madonnas, with -perfect oval face and regular features, and dressed -in richly patterned garments. The painting is highly -finished and so smooth that the flesh looks rather -like porcelain. The child is Leonardesque in type -with that exaggeration of form and modelling that -is common to the master’s followers. Portrait of -Francesco Brivio (641), by Ambrogio de Predis, is a -fine portrait, one of those profiles in which he excelled. -Gianpietrino has a charming little Madonna (648), -with long hair falling each side of her face. Also by -Gianpietrino, according to Morelli, is the delightful -little picture of Madonna and Child with a lamb (667), -of Leonardesque composition, attributed to Cesare da -Sesto. The Marriage of St. Catherine (663) by -Bernardino Luini is a much-admired picture. There -is also a St. Jerome (652) by him. The picture of -the Sorrowing Madonna and Christ carrying the Cross -(659), attributed to Luini, is considered by Signor -Venturi<a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c014'><sup>[23]</sup></a> to be the work of Solario. Besides other -pictures we have not space to dwell on, there are some -beautiful wedding chests in this room.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. </span><cite>La Galleria Crespi.</cite></p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>Sala d’Armi contains a very fine collection of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>armour and weapons, chiefly of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries with a few older specimens.</p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='c000'>Biblioteca Ambrosiana.—This famous library was -founded by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, a cousin of -San Carlo, and Archbishop of Milan in his turn from -1594 to 1631. He is the Cardinal Borromeo of -Manzoni’s well-known romance, the <cite>Promessi Sposi</cite>. -A man of great virtue, he was also a splendid patron -of literature, science and art. The foundation of a -library for the free use of his fellow-citizens and of -all comers was a long-pondered scheme of the Cardinal, -and for years he employed competent scholars to -collect books and manuscripts in all countries, till he -had amassed no less than fifteen thousand codices, -many of exceeding rarity, and thirty thousand printed -volumes. In 1603 the building was begun and in -1609 it was solemnly opened. Since then the treasures -of the library have increased continually by gifts and -legacies, and collections of pictures and prints, etc., -have been added to it.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The entrance to the Ambrosiana is in the Piazza -della Rosa. In the vestibule an inscription records the -Founder, and another threatens with excommunication -anyone who should carry away a book.</p> - -<p class='c000'><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Biblioteca.</span></i>—In the Sala Antica some of the chief -treasures of the Library are exposed to view. Here -is shown a page of the precious <cite>Codex Atlanticus</cite>, a -volume of miscellaneous writings and drawings, chiefly -of engineering subjects, by Leonardo da Vinci, collected -and bound together by Pompeo Leoni in the latter -part of the sixteenth century. Here, too, are twelve -letters written by Lucrezia Borgia to Pietro Bembo, -and with them a lock of golden hair, her gift to him, -according to a long established belief, which there is no -ground for discrediting. The same case contains a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>MS. of the <cite>Divina Commedia</cite>—late fourteenth century—with -damaged miniatures; a Cicero, with very -lovely and delicate miniatures of the early Cinquecento; -a MS. with a miniatured page—St. Barnabas baptizing -the first Christians in Milan—in the realistic Lombard -manner of the sixteenth century, several books of -Hours, and some very beautiful fifteenth century bindings, -Italian and French. The famous Borromeo -Book of Hours, one of the gems of the Library, is not -shown here now, and can only be seen by permission -of the Librarian. It is a little fifteenth century volume, -adorned with numerous miniatures of exquisite workmanship -by Cristoforo de Predis, a native of Modena, -and apparently by another hand, perhaps more than one. -On one of the pages the Annunciation is depicted, and -below are two kneeling figures, a knight and lady, -conjectured to be portraits of Conte Giovanni and -Contessa Cleofe Borromeo. Besides scenes from the -New Testament there is a calendar in the book with -miniatures descriptive of the occupations of each -month. The work is very delicate and fine, distinctively -North Italian, but not heavy like the Milanese. -Another case contains ancient manuscripts—Hebrew, -Greek, Arabic, Ethiopian; a page of a Gothic version -of the Bible belonging to a very precious palimpsest; -two Irish manuscripts from the monastery of Bobbio, -founded by St. Columban in the seventh century; a -Syrian MS. of the eighth century in a later Greco-Egyptian -binding, covered with stamped leather; some -palimpsests and an Egyptian papyrus of B.C. 169. -Deeply interesting is the copy of Virgil, which once -belonged to Petrarca, and has minute marginal notes in -his handwriting. It has a miniatured page attributed -to Simone Martini, representing in allegorical form the -different works of Virgil. On the back there is a note -written by Petrarca concerning Laura. A French -<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>MS. of the fourteenth century has exquisitely fine -miniatures representing the Vices and Virtues, and the -Judgment. Among the remaining books in this case -there is one, the treatise <cite>Regimine Principum</cite>, by -Lucano da Parma, dedicated to Galeazzo Maria -Sforza, with a miniature of that prince, a proud figure -in black and gold, with St. Catherine.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In another case are a number of very interesting -autographs, including a letter from Galileo to Cardinal -Federigo Borromeo, lauding the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Library also possesses some priceless fragments -of the <cite>Iliad</cite>, with paintings of the third century, the -most ancient illustrated text known, but these are not exhibited. -There are reproductions of two of the illustrations -in the Guide Book of the Ambrosiana.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A small case at the end of the room holds a unique -printed copy of a letter written by Christopher -Columbus on his return from the discovery of the New -World. In another are some pages of Tasso, with -his autograph corrections; an Ethiopian psaltery; an -illustrated Persian MS., etc.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Sala Incoronazione is part of an older building -incorporated a century ago with the Library. At one -end the wall is covered with a great fresco by Luini, -Christ being crowned with thorns; the kneeling -figures on either side, portraits of the Brothers of the -Congregation of Santa Corona, to which the hall belonged, -are very finely depicted, those on the left hand -especially. Luini painted this fresco in 1521, with -the help of an assistant, and was paid 115 lire, 9 -soldi.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Museo Settala, also on the ground floor, is -open on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. It contains -Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, and objects -of mediæval art; a mineralogical collection; medals, -weapons, and curiosities of various kinds.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span><i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Pinacoteca.</span></i>—The picture galleries are on the upper -floor.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala A.—Cabinet of the gilded bronzes contains -German and Dutch pictures. Sala B has little of -importance, but one may notice two panels by -Bernardino Buttinone, St. Bonaventura (1) and St. -Louis (5). By Bartolommeo Veneto, a Madonna and -Child with St. John Baptist (3), and a Madonna picture -by Bernardino Luini. Sala D contains the gem of the -collection, Botticelli’s picture of the Madonna adoring -the Child, and three angels (15). It is one of the most -lovely of his Madonna pictures, luminous in colour, full -of movement, and delicate in execution. Well placed -on an easel in the middle of the room it can be seen by -itself and thoroughly enjoyed. The small picture of the -Eternal Father (6), now attributed to Timoteo Viti, is -very refined; it was formerly given to Francesco -Francia, and certainly reminds one of the Ferrarese-Bolognese -school. Two pictures by Bramantino, the -Virgin, with St. Ambrogio, angels and donors (18) is -in his usual manner, but the Nativity (19) is a strange -picture, and somewhat suggestive of the Northern -schools, especially the Madonna with her abnormal -forehead and quaint head-dress. The group of -musicians behind are graceful figures standing up against -the light sky. The large altarpiece by Borgognone, -Madonna and Saints (23), an early work, possesses the -dignity, simplicity, and devotion which are his unfailing -qualities. The characteristics of his early period are -to be seen in the straight and rather rigid figures, the -badly foreshortened angels with large heads, and in the -elaborate architectural throne and lavish use of gold. -There are also by him, two Saints (17), St. Francis, -rather sentimental, and St. Elizabeth, an elderly woman -with a sympathetic face; the colour of the picture is -pleasant.</p> - -<div id='t363' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i_392.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS(?)<br /><br /><i>To face p. <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></i>]      (AMBROSIANA)      [<i>Anderson, Rome</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>Sala E.—The most important work here is the -cartoon by Raphael, for the School of Athens, his -great fresco in the Vatican. This extremely interesting -study was acquired for the Ambrosiana by Cardinal -Federigo Borromeo. The figures are drawn with all -the vigour and grace of the master, and are worth careful -study. One noticeable difference between the -finished fresco and the cartoon is the absence in the -latter of the figure of Heraclites. The stooping figure -on the right, Archimedes, is a portrait of Bramante, -and there is a study from life of his head beside the -cartoon.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Portrait of a young woman (8), formerly ascribed -to Leonardo, but given by Morelli to Ambrogio de -Predis, an attribution which is now generally accepted. -It is a charming and vivacious portrait, and certainly -superior to most of de Predis’ work, but we must -remember that he excelled in portraiture. By Leonardo -it assuredly is not. The identity of the portrait -has also been much discussed. It was at one -time called Beatrice d’Este. The latest conjecture -is that it is the portrait of Bianca, natural daughter -of Lodovico Sforza and wife of Galeazzo di San -Severino. The portrait of a man holding a scroll -of music (19), is attributed in the catalogue to Leonardo; -we think, however, it is more likely to be -also by Ambrogio de Predis, whose work was much -influenced by Leonardo, and it has all the characteristics -of his painting, the heavy modelling, and -hot dark colour. It is an interesting and thoughtful -face, presumably a musician, and perhaps the portrait -of the celebrated Franchino Gaffurio, master of the -choir of the Duomo of Milan. Holy Family -and St. Elizabeth (3), from Leonardo’s design (the -cartoon in Burlington House), is a well-known picture -by Luini, but like all imitations of the master, it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>quite superficial, and loses entirely the deep and mysterious -significance of the original, so that one can -hardly help wishing his designs had not been so much -copied. The youthful Saviour (9) has a certain beauty -and refinement, but shows Luini’s weakness in drawing, -especially in the large and clumsy hand. St. John -with a Lamb (10) is a very charming picture of a little -boy hugging a lamb. The Way to Calvary (18), by -Giovanni Cariani, is an interesting example of this -Bergamesque artist. Other noticeable pictures in this -room are, the Presentation in the Temple (33), by -Tiepolo; Adoration of the Magi (42), ascribed to -Titian; Holy Family (43), by Bonifazio Veronese, -and a full-length portrait by Gio. Battista Moroni.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala F contains inferior pictures of the late Lombard -school; there is, besides, a pleasing altarpiece, attributed -to Pinturicchio (58), though surely by a North -Italian hand.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala G.—This room is filled with drawings; there -are various studies, doubtfully attributed to Leonardo and -drawings by his followers; among the latter an excellent -pencil-drawing of a child’s profile by Ambrogio de -Predis or Bernardino dei Conti; it is the portrait of -Massimiliano Sforza, eldest son of Lodovico il Moro, -and probably the study for his portrait in the large -altarpiece in the Brera; some well-drawn heads by -Boltraffio; a drawing by Luini of Tobias and the -Angel, and the Marriage of the Virgin by Gaudenzio -Ferrari. There are two small profiles of Prospero -Colonna and the Marchese di Pescara, and some caricatures. -In a case there is a reproduction of the <cite>Codex -Atlanticus</cite> of Leonardo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala H.—Here are more drawings and a collection -of prints. In the central case is a drawing by Raphael -for the figure of the Virgin in the Dispute of the Sacrament; -on the back of the sheet is a pen-sketch of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>group. There are other drawings attributed to various -North Italian artists, and to Albert Dürer. The prints -include specimens of Italian, French, English, Flemish -and German schools.</p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='c000'>Milan is rich in private art collections, some the -fruit of a liberal patronage of the fine arts by her wealthy -and noble families in the past, others brought together -by distinguished connoisseurs in the present day. The -famous Borromeo Collection is housed in the old family -palace, and is open to the public on Tuesday and -Friday afternoons. Among a number of works of the -best Lombard period there is the Abbondanza of Gian -Pietrino, an allegorical figure much resembling his well-known -Magdalenes, with beautiful hands displayed in -somewhat affected pose. The flesh colour is luminous -and golden, not heavy and dark as so often with this -painter. A painting by Boltraffio, after Leonardo’s -Madonna of the Rocks, has been spoiled by cleaning. -There is a very charming small picture by the same -artist, of a woman’s head, with golden hair and a crown -of leaves. A little Madonna, attributed in the gallery -to Leonardo, is by one of his followers, perhaps Ambrogio -de Predis. A small picture by Borgognone, -grey in hue, shows his early manner, derived from -Foppa. There are several others by this artist. By -Filippo Mazzola is the line realistic head of a Young -Man in a dark crimson cap and black dress, seen against -a green background. Another very interesting portrait, -of Camillo Trivulzio, is by the rare painter, Bernardino -de’ Conti. It shows a man in a red cap and red dress, -with black curling hair—a very serious profile, full of -character and thought, and finely realised by the artist. -The Madonna and Child, with two Hermit Saints, by -Gaudenzio Ferrari, is a large and simple composition, -full of the painter’s geniality, but without the exaggeration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>and vulgarity he often falls into. The Madonna -is a beautiful image of maternity, stately and sweet, -with golden hair simply arranged; such a face, typically -North Italian, you may sometimes see to-day -among the peasant women in and around Milan. By -the same artist is St. Roch as a pilgrim in full travelling -costume of the sixteenth century. Luini is represented -by Susannah and an Elder, of soft morbid tones, -and by Madonna and Child and little St. John, in a -landscape of hills and trees and water—a thoroughly -characteristic work.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Of other Schools there is Christ on the Cross, by -Lorenzo Lotto; St. Catherine, by Bartolommeo Veneto; -Christ bearing the Cross, by Pinturicchio; and a -Madonna, by Piero di Cosimo. There are many -interesting things in the Museum besides pictures, -including relics of San Carlo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The important Trivulzio Collection, in the family -palace, opposite to St. Alessandro, can only be visited -by permission of the owner, Prince Trivulzio. It -contains a fine Mantegna—the Assumption of the -Virgin—painted in 1497; Portrait of a Man, by -Antonello da Messina; Birth of the Virgin, by the -Siennese Sano di Pietro; Madonna and Angels, by -Pier’ di Cosimo, etc., and a very interesting portrait of -Lodovico il Moro, by Boltraffio. Here is also preserved -the Gothic tomb of Azzo Visconte, originally -in S. Gottardo, and some splendid tapestries—the -Twelve Months of the Year—of the Renaissance -period, and of Lombard production. The fine -library is rich in the possession of a manuscript by -Leonardo, known as the <cite>Codex Trivulziana</cite>, and of a -fragment of the precious <cite>Libro di Gesù</cite>, in which are -portraits of Lodovico il Moro and his son Massimiliano, -aged five, miniatured by Ambrogio de Predis.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The other private collections not being open to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>public hardly come within our province; we may perhaps -be permitted to mention Signor Crespi’s (Via -Borgo Nuovo), a particularly fine collection, which -has been fully illustrated in a monograph by Sig. -Adolfo Venturi, with reproductions of the pictures.<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c014'><sup>[24]</sup></a> -It contains the very fine portrait of a woman, variously -ascribed to Titian and Giorgione, but given by Venturi -to Pordenone; a very interesting early Correggio—the -Presepio—and a small Madonna, by the same master; -a Madonna of Gio. Bellini, also an early work of great -beauty; a Holy Family, by Lorenzo Lotto, in which -the Virgin is one of his most subtle presentments of feminine -character; the Flight into Egypt, also by Lotto; -Victory of the Gonzaga over the Buonacorsi, with -a very interesting view of Mantua, by Domenico -Morone; a fine portrait of a man attributed to Andrea -Solari, but, according to Venturi, by Bartolommeo -Veneto. The Milanese school is also well represented, -and there are many other works of value.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. </span><cite>La Galleria Crespi.</cite></p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The well-known connoisseur, Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, -also has a small, but very choice collection of pictures, -chiefly of the North Italian and Venetian schools.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XVI<br /> <span class='large'><i>The Castello</i></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">La miglior fortezza che sia è non essere odiato dal popolo.</span>”—<span class='sc'>Macchiavelli.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c000'>In the west of the city a vast red brick building, -towering against the sky, closes the wide vista of -the modern Via Dante. It stands for that storied -stronghold and palace of the Visconti and Sforza, the -Castello di Porta Giovia, whose rapidly vanishing -remains, mutilated, ruined and buried beneath the -additions and incrustations of five centuries of changing -circumstance, have been very recently dug out and -restored and rebuilt into the present interesting -semblance of the fifteenth century original.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Castello was first built by Galeazzo II. Visconte, -in the latter half of the fourteenth century. Galeazzo’s -stronghold incorporated one of the thirteenth century -gates, the Porta Giovia—or, in Milanese, <i>Zobia</i>—which -had kept the name of the corresponding gate in the -Roman walls, named Giovia in honour of the Emperor -Diocletian Jovius. It served at first solely for defence, -and as a prison. Only a few years after its erection -Galeazzo’s subtle son secured within its walls his first -great prey—Bernabò Visconte, his uncle and fellow-sovereign. -The fortress did not then extend beyond -the city walls; these with the moat formed its defence -towards the country. But Gian Galeazzo constructed -a second citadel beyond the walls and moat, enlarging -the enclosure to the dimensions which they occupy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>to-day—and enclosing Porta Giovia and a portion of -the city walls in the new precincts.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Castello, so increased and strengthened, became -the chief support of the tyrants of Milan. Its possession -ensured dominion of the city. When Duke -Giovanni Maria was murdered, the fortress was faithfully -held against all attacks by Vincenzo Marliano -for his lawful successor, Filippo Maria, who was able -to enter through it into the seditious city at the head of -an army and force the factions to accept his rule. This -last of the Visconte sovereigns made his dwelling in -the innermost keep of the Castle in gloomy seclusion, -imprisoned by his own fears. His tyranny and dark -habit of life invested the Castle with horror for his -subjects, and immediately after his death they deliberately -tore the great building down, stone by stone, at great -cost. Only the foundations were left standing.</p> - -<p class='c000'>But for a very brief time did the Milanese see -the free sky unobstructed by menacing towers. On -the overthrow of the Ambrosian republic and the -accession of Francesco Sforza, the Castle began to be -rebuilt, and before long the great fortress, enclosed -within much stronger defences than before, was again -in existence. It is this Sforza building, with the -additions made by Francesco’s sons, which we see in -the restored Castello of to-day, though the brave new -battlements and towers give a poor idea of the substance -of those walls which amazed King René of -Anjou when he visited the works with the Duchess -Bianca Maria in 1453, and of a building celebrated -by many writers as the strongest and proudest in the -world.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The first architects—or <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ingegneri</span></i>—were Filippo da -Ancona and Giovanni da Milano. The latter was -succeeded by Jacopo da Cortona in 1451. A year -later the building was far enough advanced for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>Castellan, Foschino degli Attendoli, to take possession. -The day of his installation was of mystical import for -the Duke, who chose a day approved by his astrologers, -when the moon was waxing. Francesco, who -desired to make his building beautiful as well as strong, -engaged the Florentine architect Filarete to design -and adorn a lofty entrance tower in the walls facing -citywards. This tower, destroyed long ago by accident -and time, is now represented by the modern Torre -d’Umberto, in which it must be supposed that the -architect has somewhat freely interpreted the scanty -evidence in contemporary documents and drawings of -the appearance of the original.<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c014'><sup>[25]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. </span>A fifteenth century graphite drawing of Milan on a wall of -the old monastery of Chiaravalle, a short distance from the city, -shows the form of the castle at that time.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>The usual quarrels arose between Filarete and his -Lombard fellow-architects, whom the Tuscan scorned -as mere masons. Their jealousy and impatience defeated -his ideas, and he was finally compelled to abandon -the work entirely to them. The Duke’s decorative -projects indeed came to little. His order to -Jacopo da Cortona to make windows, <i>of such beauty of -style and form as a work like this demands</i>, in the outer -façade was never fulfilled, perhaps because of the inconvenience -of such openings in a defensive curtain, -and it was left to the restorer in these peaceful days to -insert the Gothic windows—elaborately ornamented in -imitation of some of the old ones still remaining in -other parts of the building—which now adorn the front.</p> - -<p class='c000'>After the first the work proceeded slowly, hindered -by the quarrels of the architects, the irregularity of -payments, and the dishonesty of those in charge. In -1454 the Duke’s military engineer, Bartolommeo Gadio -of Cremona, was appointed to the chief post, which he -held to the satisfaction of three successive despots till -<span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>his death in 1484. Duke Francesco was destined -never to inhabit himself this building which he had -watched with such ceaseless interest, but when he died -in 1466 it was complete in all its main features. -Within the great walls which flanked Filarete’s tower -and were guarded at the angles by two massive -round towers lay the vast outer court, with fortified -side gates, as well as the main entrance in the central -tower. At the other end of this piazza rose a second -mighty curtain of masonry, behind which lay the -citadel, containing the Corte Ducale on the north side, -and on the south a strongly defended inner enclosure, -the Rochetta or innermost keep, the place of retreat -in extremity. In this form we see the Castle to-day, -though with all the defensive apparel which frowned -from gates and tower and walls gone.</p> - -<p class='c000'>On the accession of Galeazzo to the dukedom, the -Corte Ducale was completed with the utmost haste -for his reception, and having settled himself there, the -young tyrant gave rein to his extravagant passion for -gorgeous decoration. While keeping architects and -builders still continually at work on his new palace, he -called painters from all parts of his state to fresco its -walls, himself supplying the subjects. There is little -doubt that everything possible to mortals was done to -please a prince whose imperious will was supported by -the torture chamber and the executioner, and that the -palace was soon gay with the colour which he loved. -Within its sumptuous halls Galeazzo entertained his -guests with lavish splendour. Here Cardinal Pietro -Riario was accorded pontifical state on his visit in -1473, and lay in a chamber so superbly adorned that -no one had ever seen another so magnificent and princely, -and here he and his host built up fantastic political -schemes, which were to make the one monarch of -Peter’s throne and the other king of all Italy—schemes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>drowned but a few days later in a poisoned cup offered -to the mad young priest at a Venetian banquet.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Duke continued the construction of the Rocchetta -also, which his father had left unfinished, and -gave orders for the decoration of the great Sala della -Palla on its north-east side. But it is with the Corte -Ducale that the fateful memories of this prince are -especially associated. Thither he returned on the Feast -of St. Thomas, 1476, with the glory of a victorious -campaign freshly investing him, yet abstracted and -pensive, possessed with a sense of the nearness of -death, so that he bid the singers of his chapel to -repeat every day in the midst of the joyful celebrations -of the season, the mournful cry from the Office of the -Dead, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Maria Mater Gratiæ, Mater Misericordiæ</span></i>.... -In the painted halls behind the chapel the usual Christmas -ceremonies were carried out, and in the Sala <i>dei -Fazoli</i> the Yule log was solemnly lighted upon the -hearth in the presence of the tyrant and his family, -and of all the great feudatories of state. In the Sala -delle Columbine—painted with doves—the Duke, clad -in a long crimson robe, entertained his courtiers on -Christmas Day, and discoursed on the greatness of -Casa Sforza, pointing out with unconscious irony how -firmly its fortunes were assured in the many descendants -of his father Francesco then existing in health and -prosperity. We may picture his tall figure on the -following day, clad in the doublet of crimson satin -lined with sable, for which, with characteristic vanity, -he had cast aside his cuirass, fearing to appear too stout -if he wore the armour beneath; and in the long hose, -one crimson, one white, worn by the princes of Milan, -passing through the loggia, which still exists, though -much restored, and down the great staircase into the -courtyard, on his way to attend Mass in S. Stefano. -He had kissed his little sons, and parted from them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>with a strange hesitation—this man who, as his daughter -Caterina proudly declared, <i>never knew fear</i>. Mounting -his horse in the outer court, he rode out beneath the -Tower of Filarete, followed by a gorgeous throng of -courtiers, and his brilliant figure disappears from the -Castello for ever. Later on the same day a messenger -passed out of the gate charged by Bona with three -rings, a turquoise, a ruby, and a precious seal, and with -a vest of white cloth of gold, for the adornment of his -body, which lay laced with twenty-three dagger -wounds, in the Canonica of S. Stefano.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the death of Galeazzo, the historic interest of -the Castello shifts to the Rocchetta. This inner keep -has remained more in its old state than the Corte -Ducale, and is the most picturesque part of the castle -to-day. The cortile is one of those characteristic -colonnaded buildings which are generally described as -Bramantesque in Milan. Two of the sides of the -quadrangle, however—to the left of and facing the -entrance from the outer court—are of older date, having -been built by Francesco and Galeazzo Maria respectively. -The columns and capitals show the character -of the early Renaissance in Milan; upon the capitals -are carved the shields and various devices of the dukes. -The other part was not finished till later. The lofty -tower at the north-east angle, called the Torre di -Bona, was built during the brief regency of Galeazzo’s -widow, when Cecco Simonetta hastened to complete -the defences of the Rocchetta in order to ensure her -authority. This measure, however, only served for -her undoing at the hands of Lodovico il Moro, who, -having taken advantage of her weakness and folly to -possess himself of the Rocchetta, the person of the -little Duke, and, in consequence, of the supreme -government of the state, made his abode in this, the -heart and key of the whole stronghold.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>During the first years of his rule Lodovico did -little to the Castle beyond completing its defences. -But as time went on he allowed himself to assume the -splendour of a reigning prince, and to satisfy an artistic -appetite as eager as Galeazzo’s and ordered by a finer -discrimination. The great artists whom he called to -his court were set to work to make the palace such a -home of art and beauty as the world has rarely seen. -Their services were required not only for lasting work, -but to design the ephemeral decorations of the gorgeous -state ceremonies in which the regent delighted to -display the wealth at his command. The magnificent -decorations for the coming of the young Duke’s bride, -Isabella of Aragon, in 1489, were designed, it is said, -by Leonardo da Vinci. The regent’s own approaching -marriage with Beatrice d’Este caused a great -ferment of artistic activity during the next year in -the Rocchetta in preparation for her habitation there. -With despotic impatience Lodovico summoned all -the best “painters of histories”—<i><span lang="ro" xml:lang="ro">depinctori de istoriade</span></i>—to -come to Milan within two days of his order on -pain of heavy fines, and show designs for the decoration -of the Sala della Palla. He himself describes the -room in a letter to his brother Cardinal Ascanio. -The ceiling was blue, with golden stars, in similitude -of the heavens, and the walls were covered with -pictures on canvas representing the exploits of Francesco -Sforza, whose image on horseback beneath a triumphal -arch was depicted at the upper end.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the advent of Beatrice d’Este the Rocchetta -became the scene of an incomparable gaiety. The -young princess filled it with new life. Her extraordinary -capacity for enjoyment never knew satiety, -not even in the lengthiest of state functions, which she -enlivened by teasing the hoary ambassadors who -occupied the place of honour beside her. In the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>beautiful rooms prepared for her in the south-west -side of the court she lived her brief enchanted existence -in the midst of the most exquisite environment -which her husband’s wealth and devotion and the fine -art of the Renaissance could create for her.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_405.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>THE ROCCHETTA, CASTELLO</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>How difficult it is to-day, in this exhumed corpse -of her old home, these dry bones of the past, denuded -of all their old richness of detail and decoration, to -realise that vivid young presence. Yet the sun shines -gloriously in the wide cortile this afternoon, making a -stately pattern of light and shade in the arcades, and -we recognise at least in the fair and spacious proportions -of the building and the grace of sculptured column -and curving arch, that Renaissance beauty of architecture -which made it once a worthy setting for such a prince -and princess as Lodovico il Moro and Beatrice d’Este.</p> - -<p class='c000'>During his regency the Moro spent enormous sums -on the various works which he undertook in the Castle. -He formed a vast piazza around it, in the midst of -which he apparently intended to place Leonardo’s -great equestrian statue of Duke Francesco. The clay -model of this statue was in fact set up there on the -occasion of Bianca Maria Sforza’s marriage with the -Emperor Maximilian, and remained there till, with the -passing of the Moro’s ephemeral glory, it too perished -for the wanton amusement of a foreign invader. In -1494, when the death of Gian Galeazzo removed the -last shadowy limitation of Lodovico’s sovereignty, the -tyrant pressed on with new eagerness the incessant -labours of his architects and engineers on the great -building. The Rocchetta was finally completed by a -portico on the north-east side; and among many other -alterations and additions a set of exquisite camerini -opening into a loggia were built across a bridge over -the moat on the north-east side of the Corte Ducale. -The picturesque exterior of this structure, which has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>been attributed to Bramante—groundlessly, it appears—may -be seen in restored form to-day. The great gardens -which extended on the north and west of the Castle were -a special object of the Moro’s care. He enlarged them -continually, absorbing without mercy all the Naboths’ -vineyards adjacent. Both Leonardo and Bramante -were employed by him at this time for various works -in the Castello—chiefly of defence and utility—though -Leonardo was also charged with the decoration of -rooms in his character of painter. There are jottings -in his notebooks referring to work of this sort, estimates -in fact of the cost of the materials and labour required. -Other existing documents show him frescoing the Sala -delle Asse and a certain Saletta Negra in the Corte -Ducale. But in spite of the most painstaking research -and every effort of restoration, there is nothing now -remaining in these rooms which can be considered -Leonardo’s handiwork. Neither of Bramante is there -any undoubted trace left, except a precious fragment -of a painting in one of the rooms of the Rocchetta.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The sudden death of Beatrice in the early days of -1497 extinguished all the sunshine in the Castello. -The labours of builders and artists still continued upon -it. But it was to works of defence that the thoughts -of the Duke were compelled now to turn almost exclusively. -The peril of the French threatened the -throne of the Sforza. Leonardo and the others were -occupied in 1498 and 1499 in strengthening the fortifications -and inventing new engines of defence, and -the Rocchetta especially was rendered so strong that -it was practically impregnable. Yet all this labour -and care served only for the ruin of the Moro, and the -advantage of his enemies. Afraid to trust himself -within it, as we have seen, he abandoned it at the -critical moment, leaving it in the hands of his faithless -Castellan Bernardino da Corte, and deluding himself -<span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>with the belief that he was turning his back upon it for -an hour only, to return in triumph to its relief, he -passed out of the gates for ever.</p> - -<p class='c000'>With the departure of Lodovico Sforza ended the -good days of the Castello. Surrendered by Bernardino -da Corte to the French, it was sacked of all its -wonderful contents. Bernardino claimed as his share -of the spoil all that Lodovico had not removed of the -famous Sforza treasure, including priceless works of -the goldsmiths’ art. Gian Giacomo Trivulzio seized -the splendid tapestries. All the exquisite accessories -of Beatrice’s short life, her costly robes, her instruments -of music, her jewels, her beautiful books, were -rudely shared between the various spoilers. What -became of the pictures is unknown. The French -captains occupied her private apartments, her delicate -camerini, and the beautiful halls and courts where life -had been practised as a fine art, were given up to coarse -and drunken jollity, and defiled by the foul habits of -the invaders. How deplorable the change in the eyes -of the Italian princes and ambassadors who waited with -servile deference upon Louis XII. during his stay in -Milan is shown by many records. <i>In the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">castello</span> -there is nothing but dirt and foulness</i>, says a Venetian -who was present then, <i>such as Signor Lodovico would -not have allowed for the whole world</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Castle had now to serve the grim purposes of -war, not of art and pleasure. For these it was well -fitted, in the hands of determined defenders. The -French chronicler, Jean d’Auton, who was in the -train of Louis XII., describes with admiration its -immense strength, its broad moats, its towers, ramparts, -walls and outworks, its fortified gates, its sally ports -and posterns, with the impregnable Rocchetta in its -midst. <i>If their effeminate stomachs had been swelled by -manly hearts</i>, says he, speaking of Lodovico’s garrison, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span><i>well might they have held it long against every human -power, for they had in their hands one of the most advantageous -places in the world.... In such keeping is -it now</i>, he adds, <i>that, in spite of all the winds, in every -corner of its garden, the noble fleur-de-lys shall flower for -ever</i>. The fleur-de-lys was not, however, so fadeless -as he boasted. But it bloomed undisturbed for twelve -years, during which period the palace once or twice knew -splendour and gaiety once more, as in 1507, when -Louis XII. held his court there for a short time, and was -waited on by cardinals, princes, and distinguished men -from all parts of Italy. Then it was that Isabella -d’Este danced with the king in the great ball-room in -the Rocchetta, where her dead sister had presided. -There, too, was Galeazzo di San Severino, once the -most intimate friend of the now captive Moro and his -wife, and now Grand Ecuyer to the usurper. The -court poets, the musicians sang their venal praises as -gaily for the new as for the old master, Leonardo, too, -was there, in the service of the French king. For -him one tyrant passed and another came; art alone -endured.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The ravages in the palace were concealed by the -gorgeous decorations. Two years later the king -came again, and the company on this occasion was so -superb that the meanest dresses were of brocade. -These were but temporary liftings of the gloom. In -1512 the castle was besieged by the Holy League, -and the French turned out. Again in 1515 it was -retaken by the French, and the weak young Duke -Massimiliano Sforza was replaced by the splendid -Francis I., who rode in, fresh from his victory in the -Battle of the Giants, beneath the usual arches of -triumph. In 1521 a terrific explosion of gunpowder, -lit it is said by a thunderbolt from a serene sky, destroyed -the great Torre di Filarete, and killed the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>Castellan and a number of the garrison. A few months -later the Castle was besieged by Charles V.’s army, -and after fourteen months of heroic endurance, the -French were again expelled. The reign of Francesco -II. Sforza followed with all its terrible vicissitudes of -war and siege and Spanish occupation. Bombardments, -the necessity for new defences and alterations, -the polluting presence of the Spaniards and lanzknechts -wrecked ever more and more the proud habitation -of the Sforza. A mocking reflection of its old -glory brightened it for a few years after Duke Francesco’s -reconciliation with the Emperor in 1530, and -one or two splendid pageants were added to the long -succession of gorgeous spectacles of which it had been -the scene under the Sforza. These ended in 1535 in -the melancholy ceremony of the last Duke’s funeral, -when his dead body, or rather an image of it, arrayed -in crimson velvet and scarlet hose, and a mantle of -richest golden brocade, and crowned with the ducal -beretta, was borne forth beneath a canopy of cloth of -gold, by the doctors of the University, preceded by an -endless train of friars and monks and clergy and black-hooded -mourners carrying torches, and followed by -kinsmen, ambassadors and nobles in sable robes reaching -to the ground. The real body was carried out quietly -to the Duomo the same evening. Thus in symbolic -show and unreal grandeur the short-lived dynasty of -the Sforza vanished out of this great fabric of its -creation.</p> - -<p class='c000'>From this time the Castello ceased to be the chief -palace of a sovereign prince. Under the Spaniards -its precincts were enlarged and strengthened in the -second half of the sixteenth century by an immense -outer quadrangle of fortifications which completely -altered its aspect. The changing conditions of warfare, -and the advance of the science of fortification, brought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>continual additions and changes, and many of the -beautiful constructions of the Sforza period were ruthlessly -sacrificed. Yet the Castello remained for long -one of the famous sights of Europe, and is described -with admiration by many travellers.</p> - -<p class='c000'>In 1800 the fortifications built by the Spaniards -were destroyed, and only the old Sforza nucleus remained, -abandoned to natural decay, and converted -later into barracks. It is from this fate that its ruins -have been rescued and built up into the imposing edifice -of to-day.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The stately halls of the Corte Ducale are now the -home of the archæological and artistic collections of the -municipality. We have only space to mention shortly -some of the most interesting objects as we pass through -the rooms.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala I., once the office of the ducal chancellors, -contains prehistoric, Etruscan, Greek and Roman -antiquities, mostly dug up in Milan and its province. -The beautiful torso of a Venus, with fragments of a -Cupid and marine accessories forming a group with -her, is the most precious relic yet drawn from the grave -of imperial Milan. Another treasure is the base -decorated with graceful fresco paintings, in excellent -preservation, of Ceres, Fortune, Hercules and Victory.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala II., containing Lombard sculptures from the -sixth to the thirteenth centuries shows the complete -decay of the old Roman tradition and the rude early -stages of the new era of art. The most interesting -objects historically, and also as evidence of the extraordinarily -barbarous state of Lombard sculpture in the -twelfth century, are the bas-reliefs from the old Porta -Romana, one of the gates built by the Milanese in -1171. They represent the return of the citizens after -their expulsion by Barbarossa, and in the rows of -rudely carved figures on the first pilaster we see on one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>side the Milanese knights and men-at-arms entering a -gate, with the name Mediolanum above, marshalled by -a priest bearing a banner; on another side the soldiers of -the allied cities, issuing from gates, with Brisia (Brescia) -and Cremona marked above; on another, women and -horsemen and priests carrying the cross. A boastful -inscription records the authors of the sculptures, -Anselmo and Gherardo, and proclaims one a new -Dædalus, the other as being <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">pollice docto</span></i>, of cunning -hand! On the other pilaster St. Ambrose is represented -with scourge in hand driving out the Arians, -and on another side are the citizens in procession, men -with tools and chattels, women with babies.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A large figure astride a devil, supposed to be a -satirical portrait of Barbarossa, was once on the same -gate, together with an insulting figure of the Empress -which is also in this room. Here is, besides that -precious memorial of Milan’s freedom, the Stone of the -Milanese Consuls, once fixed also on Porta Romana, -a tablet recording the return of the people to their city -in 1167, and the erection of the towers and gates, -together with the names of the consuls.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The ceiling of this hall—one of the state rooms of -the Sforza—shows traces of Renaissance painting—Cupids -holding shields.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala III.—Fourteenth century sculpture by the -Campionese masters. Here is the great sepulchral -monument of Bernabò Visconte, with an equestrian -statue of him on the top, executed in his lifetime, -probably by Bonino da Campione, the sculptor of the -tomb of Cansignorio at Verona, which it resembles in -style. In the reliefs the Pisan traditions of Giovanni -da Balduccio are followed, but with the inferior ability -and the heaviness and rigidity of the local school, and -modified also by a tendency towards realistic expression -and elaboration of the draperies, which develops later -<span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>into the mannerism of the fifteenth century Lombards. -The smaller monument of Bernabò’s wife, Regina -della Scala, is by the same school. The Dead Christ -upon the front is, however, a more artistic piece of -work than the same subject on Bernabò’s tomb. The -droop of the head and fall of the arms is expressed -with truth and feeling, and the figures of Luke and -John are excellent in their dignity and simplicity. -The vaulted roof of this room is decorated with a -fifteenth century fresco of the Resurrection by an -inferior Lombard painter, and with the arms and -initials of Galeazzo Maria Sforza.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala IV.—Works of the Campionese masters, -among them the groups of Madonna and Saints, once -upon the old Porta Orientale and Porta Romana. In -the cortile is set up the magnificent marble portal of the -palace built by Pigello Portinari in the reign of Francesco -Sforza, to accommodate the Medicean Bank, -and not long since pulled down. This beautifully -proportioned doorway is attributed to Michelozzo. -In the spandrils are profile busts of Duke Francesco -and Bianca Maria. The heavy figures on the outer -sides of the door are additions by some Lombard -sculptor.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala V. consists of the upper half of the old ducal -chapel. It still preserves, in much damaged condition, -the ceiling fresco of God the Father in a blue sky with -golden stars, which Galeazzo Maria commanded to be -painted, and for which there was great competition -between the court artists. It was finally done, in part -at least, by Bonifazio Bembo, Stefano de’ Fedeli and -Gio. Montorfano. A Resurrection is also dimly -visible, and beneath the vaulting the Virgin and Angel -of the Annunciation, with Saints half obliterated on -the walls below. The room contains sculpture of the -early fifteenth century, and an exquisite Renaissance -<span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>doorway at the head of the room, and another from -the palace of Ippolita Sforza in Piazza S. Giovanni in -Conca, at the entrance into Sala X.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VI.—The old Sala delle Asse—at present -empty—has a grand ceiling decoration, purporting to -be a restoration of the decoration done by Leonardo -in this room for Lodovico il Moro, of which some -supposed traces were discovered here.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VII.—This, called the Sala dei Ducali, from -the ducal shields with which the ceiling is painted, -contains sculpture of the late fifteenth century. Here -are some of the characteristic productions of the -Milanese Renaissance sculptors, among them a tondo of -the Nativity, an early and attractive work by Amadeo, -in which the mannerisms, such as the paper-like folds -of his draperies, are not yet unpleasantly evident; four -pilasters, with reliefs attributed to Tommaso Cazzaniga; -a little tabernacle in the window representing -St. Sebastian, now attributed to Amadeo, to whom is -also ascribed a little bas-relief of St. Cristopher, -carrying a vivacious infant with a large head. There -is also here a beautiful tabernacle, attributed to the -Maestro di San Tommaso (so called from a work by -him in S. Tommaso at Venice), and a bas-relief by -the Florentine Agostino di Duccio.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VIII.—The Sala delle Columbine of Galeazzo -Maria’s time is decorated with the favourite ducal device -of the dove in the midst of rays, and the motto -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">A Bon Droit</span>. It is devoted to the works of Amadeo -and the sculptors of his time. Here are some characteristic -pieces by the Mantegazza brothers, two kneeling -saints, angular and unbeautiful, and four bas-reliefs -from the old façade of S. Satiro, representing Sibyls, and -the creation of Adam and Eve. In these a predilection -for long and angular contours and exaggeratedly -complicated folds are united to an energetic, almost -<span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>violent expression. Two kneeling angels, once attributed -to the Mantegazza, are probably by Amadeo, by whom -also are the tondi with the Virgin and the Angel of the -Annunciation, and probably the head of a boy, placed -in the middle of the room, broad and realistic in style, -and of vivacious expression, but without beauty. Of -rich and exuberant fancy are the exquisite arabesques -on some marble fragments supposed to belong to the -Targhetta monument in the Duomo, sculptured by -Amadeo. A tondo of the Nativity shows the fully -developed manner of this master. There is also a -bas-relief of Cain and Abel by Amadeo, as well as -other things by him and his fellow sculptors.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala IX.—The Sala degli <i>Scarlioni</i>—of the Zigzags—painted -with red and white stripes, contains sculpture -of the rather later period of il Bambaia and Fusina. -Here is Bambaia’s famous work, the recumbent statue -of Gaston de Foix, from the hero’s monument in -Sta. Marta, which was broken up and sold at the -demolition of that church. The head is of classic -beauty, and the whole figure shows a depth and sincerity -of feeling to which we are hardly accustomed in this -able but usually cold and uninspired artist. There are -smaller fragments of the decoration of the same tomb -on a stand close by. The casts in the cases are from -reliefs also intended for this monument and now -dispersed in various collections; they show in the -detached style of the ornamentation and the confused -design, a desire for novelty, unrestrained by artistic -feeling. There are other works by this master, some -of a classic grace, besides a number of other interesting -things.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala X.—The lower half of the Capella Ducale exhibits -a fine collection of the characteristic terra-cotta -ornamentation of North Italy. In this delightfully -plastic material, so rich and picturesque in colour, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span>Lombard decorative artists found a most happy medium -for their art, which for the play of its exuberant gaiety -and fancy needed a less severe material than marble. -This wealth of exquisite fragments of decoration from -old houses and convents gives some idea of the beauty -which clothed the buildings of this city and its -neighbours in the Gothic and Renaissance periods. -Here are set up windows with rich mouldings such as -may still be seen here and there about the city, but -more and more rarely as time goes on and the beautiful -old buildings fall one by one in that dreadful sounding -process, the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">sventramento</span></i> of the old crowded quarters. -Here are some remains of the lately destroyed house -of the Missaglia, a famous family of armourers in the -fifteenth century, whose monogram appears upon a -capital, and fragments from the beautiful Banco de’ -Medici, of which some drawings are also shown. The -charming fresco of little Gian Galeazzo Sforza, reading -Cicero, by Bramantino, now in the Wallace Collection, -came from this palace.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Mounting by the grand staircase and passing through -the Loggia di Galeazzo Maria, we enter the great Sala -Verde of the ducal days, which now contains a fine -collection of majolica; ivories of the Roman and -Mediæval eras; Limoges enamels; some beautiful -sixteenth and seventeenth century glass, besides other -things.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala II.—Here are some very beautiful crucifixes -and sacred vessels, examples of goldsmiths’ work of -the Gothic and Renaissance periods; bronzes of later -date; seventeenth century tapestries, etc.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala III. and Sala IV. contain carved and inlaid -furniture—cornices, panels of altarpieces, etc. A -carved altar frame of richest Renaissance style, with -little paintings of saints at the corners, is a Lombard -production of the fifteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>Sala Milano.—This room is chiefly occupied with -drawings and paintings of the buildings of old Milan, -and mementoes of her history. Beneath the ceiling -are ranged charming fresco portraits of the Sforza, by -Luini, taken from a house in Corso Magenta. They -are of course chiefly fancy presentments of those -historic personages. The great silken standard of St. -Ambrogio, partly needlework, partly painted in tempera, -of the sixteenth century, hangs on the wall. A very -interesting little painting on wood, much damaged, depicts -Galeazzo Maria Sforza, his son Gian Galeazzo, -and lastly Lodovico il Moro, following one another in -order of rank on horseback, fully armed and accompanied -by their pages. Their arms and special devices are -painted on the trappings of their horses. It is a work -evidently of Galeazzo Maria’s time.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala VII.—Here we enter the Pinacoteca, which -contains a small but very valuable collection of the -Lombard and other North Italian Schools.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Martyrdom of S. Sebastian by Vincenzo Foppa is an -impressive work. The artist’s tendency to dark and -grey tones is carried to an extreme, and the effect is -gloomy, almost tragic. St. Ursula and her Virgins by -Moretto. The saint in her flowing draperies, holding -the banners, is a noble figure, and the colour is good, -with that opaque quality peculiar to this Brescian artist.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Sala II.—Large altarpiece by Borgognone, -Madonna with SS. Sebastian and Jerome, is in his -usual gentle and devout manner. Buttinone, a series -of small scenes from the New Testament, showing all -his peculiar mannerisms; the action of the rather -grotesque figures is decidedly vigorous. Vincenzo -Foppa, a small Madonna picture, has all the painter’s -strong characteristics. The string of corals reminds -one of his Paduan training. Gianpietrino, a picture -of the Magdalen, his favourite subject, is better drawn -<span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>and modelled than his figures sometimes are, and -less morbid in the flesh tones. Sodoma, a very -theatrical S. Michael. Boltraffio, Madonna and -Child of his usual type, and rather hot colour, and -two panels of Saints, with well-painted profile portraits -of donors. Correggio, Madonna and Child, with little -S. John is a particularly gracious composition. She -looks down with a sad half smile at the children, who -have the childish charm which Correggio depicts with -such subtle mastery. It is a picture to sit down in front -of and enjoy. By Carlo Crivelli there are two Saints, -S. John with finger on lip, holding a book, and S. -Bartholomew holding a knife and book. Antonello -da Messina, a fine portrait of a dark man crowned -with a green wreath. On the other side of the room -there is a splendid portrait by Tintoretto of Doge -Jacopo Soranzo, an old man in deep wine-coloured -dress. Moroni, a portrait of a man in black with -white ruff. Il Bassano, a man in elaborately ornamental -armour. Antonio Pordenone, a fine portrait -of a man with a small dog, a Titianesque landscape -showing through the window. By Bernardino Licinio -is a beautiful portrait of a fair, golden-haired woman, -in rich black velvet dress embroidered in gold. -She holds a picture of a man, and a lovely landscape -of water and hills and sky shows through the -window. This work has all the warmth and glow -of the best period of Venetian painting. Cariani, a -realistic portrait of a stout woman painted in a masterly -manner. In interesting contrast to these splendid, -generous, if decidedly sensuous paintings, is the small -portrait by Lorenzo Lotto of a young man. It is -not only the great subtlety and delicacy of treatment, -the arrangement of cool flesh tones, grey dress and -blue background, but the individuality of facial expression -that most distinguishes it from contemporary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>painting. The artist has analysed the character of -this youth and given us a psychological study. Mr. -Berenson calls this picture ‘artistic’ in the French -sense of the word and unexpected as a work of the -Renaissance.<a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c014'><sup>[26]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. </span>B. Berenson, <cite>Lorenzo Lotto</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c000'>On the walls are placed frescoes by Foppa and -the early Milanese school, removed from demolished -churches. Some beautiful miniatured books, Corali, -Missals, Lives of the Saints, Bibles, etc., are ranged -down the middle of the room on screens.</p> - -<p class='c000'>A small door at the end of this room opens into a -way which leads by narrow staircases and passages -and by a sort of drawbridge through the Torre di -Bona into the Rocchetta. It was across here, by -ways very strongly defended and almost impossible -to force, that the little Duke Gian Galeazzo was -hurried into the keep when he was stolen from his -mother by the emissaries of Lodovico il Moro. The -great rooms of the Rocchetta, once sacred to the -fortunate existence of Lodovico and Beatrice, and now -completely restored, contain the collections of Modern -Art and the Museum of the Risorgimento, which is -filled with deeply interesting memorials of that great -recent moment of Milan’s history, when she showed herself -splendidly true to her grand traditions as the leader -of the Lombard League seven hundred years earlier. -There is something curiously suggestive in the presence -of these memorials here in the old home of Lodovico -il Moro, who represents the height of the tyranny to -which the city succumbed in the intervening centuries. -As we glance round these renovated rooms we realise -how victoriously she has at last swept that tyranny -and all its sins and evil memories away, sacrificing -with it inevitably the artistic and decorative beauty -which partly redeemed it.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id020'> -<a href='images/i_421.jpg'><img src='images/i_421_thumb.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></a> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>MILAN</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>In the Sala del Tesoro, on the ground floor, where -modern sculpture is now exhibited, will be found the -remains of a fresco by Bramante, representing Argus, a -magnificent warrior figure, fit guardian of this chamber, -which once held the famous treasure of the Sforza.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_392'>392</span> - <h2 class='c006'>TABLE OF THE VISCONTI</h2> -</div> - -<div id='t392' class='figcenter id021'> -<img src='images/i_424.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_393'>393</span> - <h2 class='c006'>TABLE OF THE SFORZA</h2> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id021'> -<img src='images/i_425.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_395'>395</span> - <h2 class='c006'>APPENDIX<br /> <br /> <span class='large'>TRAM ROUTES, ETC.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c012'>The following is a list of the trams and ways to -the various places of interest. The trams start from -the Duomo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>St. Ambrogio (p. <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>), <i>San Vittore</i> tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Palazzo di Brera (p. <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>) and S. Marco (p. <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>) -(street on right), <i>Porta Volta</i> tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Lorenzo (p. <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>), Colonne di S. Lorenzo -(p. <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>) and St. Eustorgio (p. <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>), <i>Porta Ticinese</i> -tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Monastero Maggiore (p. <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>) and S. Maria delle -Grazie (p. <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>), <i>Porta Magenta</i> (<i>Maddalena</i>) tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Simpliciano (p. <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>) and S. Maria Incoronata -(p. <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>), <i>Corso Garibaldi</i> tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Pietro in Gessate (p. <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>), <i>Porta Vittoria</i> -tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Maria della Passione (p. <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>). <i>Piazza Monforte</i> -tram is the nearest. Alighting at <i>Via S. Damiano</i>, -you pass by the garden of Pal. Visconti di Modrone -(p. <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>) on the way to the church.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Ospedale Maggiore (p. <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>), <i>Porta Romana</i> tram. -Alight at <i>S. Nazaro</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Celso (p. <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>) and S. Maria presso S. Celso -(p. <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>), <i>Porta Lodovica</i> tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Babila (p. <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>) and Pal. Silvestri (p. <a href='#Page_328'>328</a>), -<i>Porta Venezia</i> tram.</p> - -<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_396'>396</span>Museo Poldi-Pezzoli in Via Morone (p. <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>) is -quickly reached on foot from the Duomo by <i>Corso -Vittoria Emanuele</i> and <i>Via S. Paolo</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>S. Satiro (p. <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>), in <i>Via Torino</i>, is two or three -minutes on foot from the Duomo.</p> - -<p class='c000'>Biblioteca Ambrosiana (p. <a href='#Page_359'>359</a>) and S. Sepolcro -(p. <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>) are also quickly reached by <i>Via Torino</i> and -<i>Via Spadari</i> (on right).</p> - -<p class='c000'>Pal. Borromeo (pp. <a href='#Page_302'>302</a> and 365) is reached from -<i>Piazza Cordusio</i> by <i>Via del Bocchetto</i>.</p> - -<p class='c000'>The Castello (p. <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>) is a few minutes’ walk by -Via Mercanti (Pal. della Ragione (p. <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>) and -Piazza dei Mercanti on the left) and Via Dante. -Many trams go in that direction from the Duomo or -Piazza Cordusio.</p> - -<p class='c000'>There are frequent trains from the Stazione Centrale -for the Certosa of Pavia (30 to 40 min.), Chiaravalle -(11 min.) and Monza (15 min.). Monza may -also be tediously reached by steam-tram from the -Duomo.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_397'>397</span> - <h2 class='c006'>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c003'> - <li class='c017 center'>A</li> - <li class='c017'>Adelmano, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Adeodatus, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Agostino di Duccio, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Albero</i>, the, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Albertinelli, Mariotto, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Alessi, Gal., <a href='#Page_330'>330</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Alexander II., Pope, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— VI., Pope, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Alypius, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Amadeo, Gio. Ant., <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a>, <a href='#Page_386'>386</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Guglia di</i>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ambrogio da Fossano (<i>see</i> Borgognone)</li> - <li class='c017'>Ambrose, St., <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>; - <ul> - <li>elected Bishop of Milan, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>;</li> - <li>contention with Empress, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>-12;</li> - <li>triumph over Theodosius, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> - <li>power in the Empire, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>;</li> - <li>death, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Angilberto, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Anguissola, Sophonisba, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Annovello da Imbonate, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Anselmo da Baggio, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>-32 (<i>see</i> also Alexander II.)</li> - <li class='c017'>Ansperto, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Antelami, Benedetto, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Antonello da Messina, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Appiani, Andrea, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Aragon, Alfonso of, King of Naples, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>; - <ul> - <li>Alfonso of, Duke of Calabria, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> - <li>Ferdinand, or Ferrante, King of Naples, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>;</li> - <li>Isabella of, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Arialdo, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ariberto, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>-25</li> - <li class='c017'>Averulino, Ant. (<i>see</i> Filarete)</li> - <li class='c017'>Augustine, St., <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ausonius, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Auxentius, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>B</li> - <li class='c017'>Bambaia, il, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_386'>386</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bandello, Fra Matteo, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Barbavara, Francesco, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Barnabas, St., <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bartolommeo Veneto, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bassano, il, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bassi, Martino, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Beatrice, Empress, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bellincione, Bernardo, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bellini, Gentile, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gian, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bembo, Bonifazio, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Pietro, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bentivoglio, Alessandra, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Alessandro, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bernard, St., <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bernardino da Corte, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_379'>379</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bertolino da Novara, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Biblioteca Ambrosiana, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a>-65</li> - <li class='c017'>—— Pinacoteca, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a>-365 - <ul> - <li>Museo Settala, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Bicocca, La, battle of, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Boltraffio, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bonaparte, Napoleon, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>; - <ul> - <li>statue of, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Bonifazio Veronese, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bonsignore, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bordone, Paris, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Borgia, Lucrezia, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Borgognone, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_398'>398</span>Borromeo, Carlo, Cardinal and Saint, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a>-207, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>; - <ul> - <li>tomb of, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Federigo, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Botticelli, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bourbon, Constable de, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bramante, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>-320, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>, <a href='#Page_378'>378</a>, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bramantino, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>, <a href='#Page_387'>387</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Brera, Biblioteca, di</i>, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Pinacoteca, di</i>, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>-51</li> - <li class='c017'>Briosco, Benedetto, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Brunelleschi, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Burigozzo, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Busca, Gabrio, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Bussolari, Fra Giacomo de, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Busti, Agostino (<i>see</i> Bambaia, il)</li> - <li class='c017'>Buttinone, Bernardo, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>C</li> - <li class='c017'>Caiazzo, Conte di, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cambrai, Peace of, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Camelli, Ant. (il Pistoia), <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Campi, the, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>; - <ul> - <li>Giulio, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>;</li> - <li>Vincenzo, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Campione, Masters of, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_383'>383</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bonino da, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#Page_383'>383</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Giacomo da, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Maffiolo da, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Marco da, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Zeno da, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Campo Fregoso, Ant. di, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Canaletto, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cane, Facino, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Canova, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Caponi, Rafaello, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Caradosso, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cariani, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Carmagnola, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Carpaccio, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Castle of Milan</i>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>-382; - <ul> - <li>Art Collections in, <a href='#Page_382'>382</a>-391</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Castruccio, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Catharists, the, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cazzaniga, the, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cazzaniga, Tommaso da, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cellant, Contessa di, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cesare da Sesto, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Charlemagne, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Charles the Bald, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— of Bohemia, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— VIII. of France, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— V., Emperor, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Chrysoloras, Emanuel, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cima, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Civerchio, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Clement VI., Pope, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— VII., Pope, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Conrad the Salic, Emperor, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Constance, Peace of, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Constance of Sicily, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Constantine, Emperor, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Conti, Bernardino dei, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Correggio (Antonio Allegri), <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cortenuova, Battle of, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cossa, Francesco, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Costa, Lorenzo, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Crespi, Daniele, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Cristina of Sweden, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Crivelli, Carlo, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Lucrezia, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>D</li> - <li class='c017'>Dal Verme, Jacopo, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c017'>D’Amboise, Charles, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Decembrio, Pier Candido, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li> - <li class='c017'>De Foix, Gaston, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>; - <ul> - <li>statue of, <a href='#Page_386'>386</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>De Lautrec, Sieur, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c017'>De Leyva, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c017'>De Predis, Ambrogio, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Desio, battle of, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Diocletian, Emperor, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Dolcebuono, Gio., <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Dosso Dossi, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Duomo</i>, the, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>-253</li> - <li class='c003 center'>E</li> - <li class='c017'>Enzo, King of Sardinia, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Erlembaldo da Cotta, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_399'>399</span>Este, da, Beatrice (Visconte), <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Beatrice (wife of Tristan Sforza), <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Beatrice (wife of Lodovico il Moro), <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_374'>374</a>, <a href='#Page_377'>377</a>, <a href='#Page_378'>378</a>; - <ul> - <li>Niccolò III., <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Eugenius IV., Pope, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Eusebio di San Giorgio, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Eustachio, Filippo, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Eustorgio, St., <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ezzelino da Romano, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>F</li> - <li class='c017'>Fancelli, Luca, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Fernach, Hans von, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ferrari, Gaudenzio, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Defendente, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Fiesca, Elisabetta della, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Filarete, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_370'>370</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Filelfo, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Fogolino Marco, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Foppa, Ambrogio (<i>see</i> Caradosso)</li> - <li class='c017'>——, Vincenzo, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a>, <a href='#Page_390'>390</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Francesco di Giorgio, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Francia, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Francis I. of France, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Frederick I., Barbarossa, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>; - <ul> - <li>orders destruction of Milan, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Legnano, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Frederick II., Emperor, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Fusina, Andrea, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#Page_386'>386</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>G</li> - <li class='c017'>Gadio, Bart., <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_370'>370</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gallerani, Cecilia, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gentile da Fabriano, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gervasio, S., <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gianpietrino, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Giovanni di Balduccio, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— da Milano, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— da Murano, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gmünd, Heinrich von, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Grassi, dei, the, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>; Porrino, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gregorio da Montelungo, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Gregory VII., Pope, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Guardi, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Guido, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Guitelmo, Mastro, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>H</li> - <li class='c017'>Hawkwood, Sir John, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Henry III., Emperor, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— VI., King of the Romans, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— VII., Emperor, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Hildebrand, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a> (<i>see</i> also Gregory VII.)</li> - <li class='c003 center'>I</li> - <li class='c017'>Isacco da Imbonate, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>J</li> - <li class='c017'>Jacopino da Tradate, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Julius, II., Pope, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Justina, Empress, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>L</li> - <li class='c017'>Lampugnano, Gio. Ant., <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Lando, Count, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Landolfo da Cotta, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Lanino, Bernardino, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Lanzone, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Legnano, Battle of, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Leo X. Pope, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Leonardo da Vinci, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_374'>374</a>, <a href='#Page_378'>378</a>, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Leone da Perego, Fra, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Leoni, Leone, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Liberale da Verona, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Licinio, Bernardino, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Liprando di San Paolo, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Loggia degli Osii</i>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_400'>400</span>Lombard League, the, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Lotto, Lorenzo, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a>, <a href='#Page_390'>390</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Louis of Bavaria, Emperor, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— XII. of France, claim on Milan, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>; - <ul> - <li>invades the Duchy, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> - <li>enters Milan, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a>, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Luini, Bernardino, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a>, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>M</li> - <li class='c017'>Maestro di San Tommaso, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Maino, Agnese del, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Mantegazza, Cristoforo and Antonio, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Mantegna, Andrea, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Marco d’ Oggiono, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Margaret of Brabant, Empress, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Marliano, Vincenzo, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Matteo da Civate, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Maximian, Emperor, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Maximilian, Emperor, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Mazzola, Filippo, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Medici, Cosimo dei, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>; - <ul> - <li>Lorenzo dei, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>;</li> - <li>Piero dei, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Melegnano (Marignano), Battle of, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Melzi, Francesco, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Merula, Giorgio, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Michelino da Besozzo, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Michelozzo, Michele, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Mignot, Jean, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Monica, St., <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Montagna, Bart., <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Montana, Cola, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Montorfano, Gio., <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Moretto, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Morone, Domenico, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Girolamo, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Moroni, G. B., <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>N</li> - <li class='c017'>Naples, King of (<i>see</i> Aragon)</li> - <li class='c017'><i>Naviglio</i>, the, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Niccolò da Correggio, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— Foligno, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Novara, Battle of, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>; - <ul> - <li>defeat of the French at, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c003 center'>O</li> - <li class='c017'>Oberto da Pellavicino, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Oldrado da Tresseno, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Olgiati, Girolamo, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Orleans, Duke of, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Orombello, Michele, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Orsenigo, Simone, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Ospedale Maggiore</i>, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ossona, Gio., <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Otho the Great, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ottobello da Mandello, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>P</li> - <li class='c017'>Pacchiarotti, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pallavicino, Gio. Francesco, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Antonio Maria, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Palazzo Arcivescovile</i>, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Borromeo</i>, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a>, <a href='#Page_303'>303</a>, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Carmagnola</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Castani</i>, <a href='#Page_329'>329</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Chierici</i>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Dal Verme</i>, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>dei Giurisconsulti</i>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>della Ragione</i>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Fontana, or Silvestri</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Marino</i>, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Omenoni</i>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Ponti</i>, <a href='#Page_329'>329</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Vimercati, doorway of</i>, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Visconti di Modrone</i>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Palissy, Sieur de, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Palma Vecchio, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Palmezzano, Marco 349, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Patarini, the, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>.</li> - <li class='c017'>Pellegrini, Pellegrino, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Perugino, Pietro, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pescara, Marquis of, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pesellino, Francesco, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Peter Damian, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_401'>401</span>Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr), <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>; - <ul> - <li>monument of, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Petrarca, Francesco, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Piazza of Lodi, the, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>; - <ul> - <li>Callisto, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>dei Mercanti</i>, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Cordusio</i>, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Verzieri</i>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Piccinino, Niccolò, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Jacopo, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Piero di Cosimo, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— dei Franceschi, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pinturicchio, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pius IV., Pope, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Poldi-Pezzoli, Museo</i>, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>-359</li> - <li class='c017'>Pordenone, Ant., <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Porta, della, Gian Giacomo, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Porta Nuova</i>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— <i>Ticinese</i>, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Proccacini, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Protasio, St., <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Pusterla, della, Francesco, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>; - <ul> - <li>Margherita, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> - <li>Pietro, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c003 center'>R</li> - <li class='c017'>Raphael, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ravenna, Battle of, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Riario, Card. Pietro, <a href='#Page_371'>371</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Ricchini, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Rizzo, Antonio, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Roberti, Ercole dei, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Romano, Gian Cristoforo, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Rondinelli, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Rosa, Salvator, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>S</li> - <li class='c017'>Salai, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> - <li class='c017'>San Secondo, Jacopo di, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> - <li class='c017'>San Severino, Roberto di, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Galeazzo di, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gaspare di (Fracasso), <a href='#Page_180'>180</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sano di Pietro, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>St. Alessandro</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>St. Ambrogio, Basilica of</i>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>-277</li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Golden Altar in</i>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>-271</li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Canonica of</i>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>St. Antonio, Campanile of</i>, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Babila</i>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Calimero</i>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Carlo</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Celso</i>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>; - <ul> - <li><i>Sta. Maria di S. Celso</i>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'><i>St. Eustorgio</i>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>-293; - <ul> - <li><i>Capella Portinari</i>, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>-293</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Fedele</i>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Giovanni alla Conca</i>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Gottardo</i>, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Lorenzo</i>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>-280; - <ul> - <li><i>Columns of</i>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Marco</i>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Sta. Maria a Beltrade</i>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Sta. Maria del Carmine</i>, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Sta. Maria delle Grazie</i>, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>-313</li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Refectory of</i>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>-318</li> - <li class='c017'>——, <i>Last Supper, by Leonardo</i>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>-317</li> - <li class='c017'><i>Sta. Maria della Passione</i>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Sta. Maria Incoronata</i>, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Maurizio, or Monastero Maggiore</i>, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>-326</li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Nazaro</i>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Pietro in Gessate</i>, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Satiro</i>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>-320</li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Sepolcro</i>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Simpliciano</i>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Stefano</i>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>S. Vincenzo in Prato</i>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Santi, Gio., <a href='#Page_351'>351</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Savoldo Girolamo, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Savoy, Bianca of, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bona of, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>; - <ul> - <li>Maria of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Scala, della, Can Grande, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a> - <ul> - <li>Regina, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Scarampi, Camilla, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Seregni, Vincenzo, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sforza, Anna, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Ascanio, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bianca, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bianca Maria, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Caterina, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_402'>402</span>——, Constanzo, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco I., <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>; - <ul> - <li>is engaged as Condottiere by Duke Filippo, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>;</li> - <li>betrothed to Bianca Maria 124;</li> - <li>abandons Milan for Venice, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> - <li>wins Bianca Maria, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> - <li>is again fighting against Milan, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> - <li>defeats Piccinini and besieges Milan, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>;</li> - <li>is received into city and proclaimed Duke, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>;</li> - <li>his character, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>;</li> - <li>his encouragement of learning and art, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> - <li>wars and foreign policy, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>;</li> - <li>dies, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>;</li> - <li>his building of the Castle, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>, <a href='#Page_370'>370</a>, <a href='#Page_371'>371</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco II., <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Galeazzo Maria, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>; - <ul> - <li>character, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>;</li> - <li>vices and virtues, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>;</li> - <li>ability, policy, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;</li> - <li>assassination, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_371'>371</a>, <a href='#Page_372'>372</a>, <a href='#Page_373'>373</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gian Galeazzo, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gian Paolo, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Ippolita (Bentivoglio), <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Lodovico il Moro, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>; - <ul> - <li>banished, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>;</li> - <li>his intrigues and return, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> - <li>overthrows Simonetta, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>;</li> - <li>makes himself regent, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li> - <li>his personality, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>;</li> - <li>foreign policy, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>;</li> - <li>improvement of the State, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>;</li> - <li>patronage of art and letters, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> - <li>mildness, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>;</li> - <li>his brilliant Court, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>;</li> - <li>relations with Leonardo, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>;</li> - <li>instability of his position, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>;</li> - <li>schemes to become Duke, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>;</li> - <li>invites Charles VIII., <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>;</li> - <li>is suspected of poisoning his nephew, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>;</li> - <li>leagues against France, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>;</li> - <li>his triumph and arrogance, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>;</li> - <li>is crushed by death of his wife, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>;</li> - <li>his anxieties and difficulties, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>;</li> - <li>is invaded by French, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>;</li> - <li>abandons Milan, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>;</li> - <li>returns, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> - <li>his indecision and difficulties, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>;</li> - <li>is captured by the French at Novara, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_373'>373</a>, <a href='#Page_374'>374</a>, <a href='#Page_377'>377</a>, <a href='#Page_378'>378</a>, <a href='#Page_379'>379</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Massimiliano, is made Duke, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>; - <ul> - <li>renounces Duchy to Francis I., <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Ottaviano, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Duke of Bari, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sicherius, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Siciliano, Angelo, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Signorelli, Luca, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Simonetta, Cecco, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sion, Cardinal de, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sixtus IV., Pope, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Sodoma, Gio. Ant. Bazzi, il, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Solari, or Solario, Andrea, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>; - <ul> - <li>Cristoforo (il Gobbo), <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>;</li> - <li>Guiniforte, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>;</li> - <li>Pietro, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>Spanzotto, Fra Vincenzo, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Stefano dei Fedeli, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— da Pandino, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - <li class='c017'>—— da Zevio, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>T</li> - <li class='c017'>Tanzi, Francesco, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Tassino, Antonio, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Tenda, Beatrice, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Theodosius, Emperor, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Tiepolo, Pietro, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, G. B., <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Tintoretto, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Titian, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Torre, della, or Torriani, the, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Cassone, Archbishop of Milan, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Enrico, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Filippo, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco, son of Guido, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco, son of Napo, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_403'>403</span>——, Guido, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Martino, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Mosca, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Napo, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>; - <ul> - <li>made Imperial Vicar of Milan, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li> - <li>defeated and captured by Visconti at Desio, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Pagano, <i>the Good</i>, leader of the people’s faction, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Raimondo, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Simone, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Trivulzio, Ambrogio, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gian Giacomo, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>; - <ul> - <li>Governor of Milan, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> - <li>driven out, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>, <a href='#Page_379'>379</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Art Collection and Library, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Tura, Cosimo, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>U</li> - <li class='c017'>Uberti, Fazio degli, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Umiliati, Order of the, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Urban IV., Pope, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>V</li> - <li class='c017'>Valentinian II., Emperor, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Valois, Isabella de, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Vaprio, Battle of, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Via Ticinese</i>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c017'><i>Via Torino</i>, No. 10-12, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Vimercati, Gaspare, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Visconti, the, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>; - <ul> - <li>cognisance of, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li> - <li>character of, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Azzo, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>; - <ul> - <li>created Imperial Vicar, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li> - <li>tomb of, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bernabò, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>; - <ul> - <li>succeeds to Lordship of Milan, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>;</li> - <li>his capture and death, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>,</li> - <li>tomb of, <a href='#Page_383'>383</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Bianca Maria (Sforza), <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Carlo, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Caterina, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Estorre, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Filippo Maria, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>; - <ul> - <li>succeeds to dukedom, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> - <li>enters Milan, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li> - <li>diplomacy and conquests, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li> - <li>character and habits, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>-121;</li> - <li>patronage of learning, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> - <li>wars and intrigues, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> - <li>embarrassments, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li> - <li>death, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Francesco Bernardino, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Galeazzo I., <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>; - <ul> - <li>succeeds his father as chief, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>;</li> - <li>rules Milan, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>;</li> - <li>is arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Louis, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>;</li> - <li>his release and death, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Galeazzo II., <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>; - <ul> - <li>shares Lordship of Milan with Bernabò, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gaspare (poet), <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Gian Galeazzo, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>; - <ul> - <li>overthrows Bernabò and makes himself sole Lord, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> - <li>his military enterprises, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> - <li>is created Duke of Milan, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li> - <li>his government, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> - <li>character, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>;</li> - <li>patronage of letters, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>;</li> - <li>conquests, death, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li> - <li>his building of the Duomo, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Giovanni, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>; - <ul> - <li>conquests, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li> - <li>Government, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>;</li> - <li>death, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Giovanni Maria, succeeds to Dukedom 116, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Lodrisio, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Luchino, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Luchino, Novello, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Marco, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_404'>404</span>——, Matteo, <i>il Grande</i>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>; - <ul> - <li>assumes leadership of Ghibelline party, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>;</li> - <li>abandons Milan, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li> - <li>returns, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>;</li> - <li>outwits Torriani, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>;</li> - <li>is created Imperial Vicar, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>;</li> - <li>death, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Matteo (son of Stefano), <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Otto, Archbishop, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>; - <ul> - <li>leader of Ghibelline party, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li> - <li>defeats Torriani and rules Milan, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Stefano, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>; - <ul> - <li>tomb of, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c017'>——, Valentina, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Violante, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Viti, Timoteo, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Vivarini, Ant., <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c003 center'>Z</li> - <li class='c017'>Zaganelli (Cotignola), <a href='#Page_349'>349</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Zavatarii, the, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> - <li class='c017'>——, Franceschino, dei, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c017'>Zenale, Bernardino, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a></li> -</ul> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>COLSTON AND CO. 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By <span class='sc'>Thomas Okey</span>.</dt> - <dd>[<i>3rd Edition.</i> - </dd> - </dl> - -<p class='c018'><i>The prices of these (*<a id='asterisk'></a>) are 3s. 6d. net in -cloth, 4s. 6d. net in leather; marked -(†<a id='dagger'></a>) 4s. 6d. net in cloth, 5s. 6d. net in -leather.</i></p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</h2> -</div> - <ol class='ol_1 c003'> - <li>Moved advertising from second page to <a href='#end'>end</a>. - - </li> - <li>Changed ‘1446’ to ‘1466’on p. <a href='#t135'>135</a>. - - </li> - <li>Changed ‘then’ to ‘than’ on p. <a href='#t155'>155</a>. - - </li> - <li>Changed ‘1595’ to ‘1515’ on p. <a href='#t192'>192</a>. - - </li> - <li>Changed ‘or’ to ‘on’ on p. <a href='#t202'>202</a>. - - </li> - <li>The ‘55’ in ‘1355’ for the death date of Matteo was hand written on p. <a href='#t392'>392</a>. - - </li> - <li>Changed ‘„’ ditto markup to ‘——’ prefix markup in the index. - - </li> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors. - - </li> - <li>Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Milan, by Ella Noyes - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MILAN *** - -***** This file should be named 53961-h.htm or 53961-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/9/6/53961/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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