ted
_Capo maestro_ of the Certosa works. To his delicate fancy and exquisite
refinement we owe much of the lovely detail in the church and cloisters,
the singing angels of the portals, the reliefs on Gian Galeazzo's
monument, and in the monks' lavatory, and the medallions of the Sforzas
over the doorways of the choir. There we may see the strongly marked
features and refined expression of the great Moro, between his brother
and his nephew, while above the opposite portal are the four Duchesses
of Milan, Bianca Maria Visconti, Bona of Savoy, Isabella of Aragon, and
Beatrice d'Este with the same soft, beautiful face, the same long coil
of hair and jewelled net that we see in her portrait in the Brera or in
Cristoforo Romano's bust in the Louvre.

But the wonderful marble facade, with its great central portal and
round-headed windows, its historical reliefs and marvellous wealth of
decorative sculpture, is Amadeo's grandest creation. We know not how far
it was completed before 1499, when his labours as chief architect of the
cathedrals of Milan and Pavia compelled him to give up his post at the
Certosa; but in much of the ornamental detail--in the angels that adorn
its branches of the candelabra between the windows, in the profusion of
carved trophies, armorial bearings, burning censers, cherub-heads,
leaf-mouldings, flowers and fruit that has been lavished on every
portion of the west front we recognize his handiwork. And this facade of
the Certosa, more than any other architectural work of the age, bears
the stamp of Lodovico Sforza's peculiar genius. Alike in the abundance
of classical motives and in the amazing wealth of invention and infinite
grace that inspired the whole conception, we recognize Lodovico's
passionate love of the antique and minute attention to detail. We know
that he was constantly on the spot, as the letter to his sister-in-law
proves, and that when absent from Pavia the works of the Certosa were
constantly in his mind. He was always writing orders to Amadeo to buy
marbles and hurry on the work, always urging the prior to hasten the
completion of the church, or inquiring in Florence and Rome for new
masters to paint altar-pieces for the Certosa. And to-day, when so many
of his noblest creations have perished, when the glorious pile of the
Castello of Milan, with its stately towers and frescoed halls, rich
decorations and vast gardens, has been defaced and battered by the hands
of barbarian invaders,