ns
to Isabella and her sisters, as we learn from a letter which she wrote
to her affianced husband, thanking him in her sister's name and her own
for having sent so excellent a teacher to undertake the task, and
recommending this faithful and devoted servant to His Excellency's
notice. A bill for making dresses and scenery that were employed in a
"_festa_" composed by Messer Lorenzo for the duke's daughters is
preserved in the Gonzaga archives, and at Lucrezia's wedding, in 1487,
this renowned master travelled to Bologna to direct the _fetes_ given in
honour of her marriage.

Some knowledge of French seems to have formed part of an Italian lady's
education at this period, but even Isabella, with all her quickness and
talent, was never able to speak French fluently, and Beatrice had
recourse to interpreters when she received the visit of King Charles
VIII. at Asti, and was required to make civil speeches in reply to his
compliments. But they read Provencal poetry and translations of Spanish
romances from the rare volumes, sumptuously bound in crimson velvet with
enamelled and jewelled clasps and corners, that were among the most
precious treasures of Duchess Leonora's cabinet. Above all, they took
delight in French romances, such as "_I reali di Francia_"--that book
which was so popular with Italian ladies, and became familiar with the
exploits of Roland and the paladins of Charlemagne's court. As they bent
over their embroidery-frames at their lady mother's side, in the painted
camerini of the Castello, or under the acacias and lemon-trees of the
Schifanoia villa, they listened to the wonderful fairy tales which
Matteo Boiardo recited, and heard him tell how Rinaldo of Montalbano was
pelted with roses and lilies and made captive by Cupid's dames. Now and
then, on summer evenings, they were allowed to join in the water-parties
at Belriguardo, and float down the stream in the ducal bucentaur to the
sound of the court violins, or else take part in those hunting
expeditions for which Beatrice developed a passionate taste in
after-years. As the frescoes of Schifanoia show, hunting was always a
favourite pastime at the court of Ferrara. The duke kept many hundred
horses in his stables, and the greatest care was bestowed upon his breed
of dogs and falcons. When Borso went to Rome in 1471, he took in his
retinue eighty pages, each leading four greyhounds in a leash; and when
he entertained the Emperor Frederic III. at Ferrara,