The Tigress of Forli Read Online Free Page A

she was raised by her grandmother, Bianca Maria Visconti, aunt of the king of France, Louis XI. Bianca, a beloved leader of her city, co-ruled with her son for the first few years of his reign, until Galeazzo Maria felt himself dwarfed by his mother, complaining that she treated him "as if he were a boy of little intelligence." Upon his marriage in 1468 to Bona of Savoy, he sent Bianca Maria to her dowry city of Cremona, where she died shortly after. The people of Milan mourned Bianca, praising her warm, caring treatment of her subjects as well as her courage in fighting by her husband's side in battle. After the death of her grandmother, Caterina was welcomed by Galeazzo Maria's new wife, who treated the five-year-old girl as her own daughter. Sister to the queen of France, Bona was renowned as a beauty. The Milanese ambassador who had negotiated the match with Galeazzo promised that the duke would be "much pleased with so beautiful a lady," 5 and when the court painter Bonifacio Bembo returned from France bearing a portrait of Bona to be shown to her intended, a smitten Galeazzo kept the work, claiming that he could not bear to part with it. Bona was a marvelous horsewoman and enthusiastically accompanied her husband on hunts. But beneath the beautiful and fun-loving demeanor of this fashionable lady there lay political savvy and a will of steel.
    Caterina's first foray outside the confines of her family and court came in 1471, when her father embarked on a series of state visits to the neighboring territories. Galeazzo had been officially elected ruler of Milan in 1469, the same year that Lorenzo de' Medici assumed the rule of Florence. Ostensibly to fulfill a vow that he had made with his wife to visit the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence, Galeazzo began planning the most elaborate cavalcade in living memory for a tour through the cities of Mantua, Ferrara, and Florence, intending to impress his peers, allies, and rivals.
    Eight-year-old Caterina and her siblings were outfitted with new clothes, more elaborate than anything they had ever worn. In March 1471 the family set out in a flamboyant show of wealth that left onlookers marveling. Fourteen carriages decorated in gold and silver and drawn by horses draped in cloth-of-gold accompanied the ladies. The family escort comprised two thousand cavalrymen and five hundred infantrymen wearing silk costumes in the Sforza colors, red and white. To enliven the journey, the duke brought a thousand dogs and innumerable hawks and falcons as well as dwarfs, jesters, and musicians.
    The ducal family spent the first few days in Mantua as guests of the Gonzaga court. Ludovico Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua, had much in common with Galeazzo Maria. His family had also risen from the status of
condottiere
to rule the wealthy and fertile lands of Mantua. The Gonzagas loved hunting, and Mantua bred the best hunting dogs and horses in Europe. The duke also found an outlet for his bawdy humor with the marquis. But for all the roughness, the Gonzaga court also embraced elegant refinement. Its choir was the finest in Italy, surpassing the pope's own singers. Assembled from all over the world, these musicians sang traditional liturgical music but also composed lively songs for the court's illustrious guests. Within the gloomy stone ramparts of the Gonzaga fortress lay chamber after chamber adorned with marvelous paintings, including those recently executed by the ingenious court painter Andrea Mantegna. It was here that Caterina was first exposed to the power of art. Galeazzo Maria spent hours studying the nearly complete Camera Picta, a room whose murals depicted the Gonzaga clan receiving guests and relatives. Grand architectural structures framed many of the scenes, proclaiming Mantua's urban renewal; others were set in lavish landscapes to underscore the fertile lands and generous spirit of the ruling house. The ceiling was a masterful demonstration of Mantegna's skill in trompe l'oeil: