place, and in
preparation for this solemnity, a portico was erected in front of the
Chiesa Maggiore of the city of Milan, with pillars on either side,
supporting a purple canopy, embroidered with doves. Within the church,
the aisles were hung with brocade as far as the choir, in front of which
a triumphal arch had been erected on massive pillars. This was entirely
painted, and bore in the centre an effigy of Duke Francesco on
horseback, in his ducal robes, with the ducal arms and those of the King
of the Romans above. This triumphal arch was square in shape, and
ornamented with pictures of antique feasts, and the imperial insignia
and the arms of my husband were placed on the side towards the high
altar. Beyond this arch were steps that led up to a great tribunal
erected in front of the high altar. On the left was a small tribunal
from which the Gospel was sung, hung with gold brocade; on the right was
another, adorned with silver brocade; and behind these tribunals were
seats ranged in order and covered with draperies, for the councillors
and other feudatories and gentlemen. In the extreme corners of the choir
were two raised stages, one for the singers, the other for the
trumpeters, and in the space between were seated the doctors of law and
medicine, with their birettas and capes lined with fur, each according
to his rank. The altar itself was sumptuously adorned with all the
silver vases and images of saints which you saw in the Rocchetta when
you were at Milan.

"The street leading to the Duomo was beautifully decorated. There were
columns wreathed with ivy all the way from the bastions of the Castello
to the end of the piazza, and between the columns were festoons of
boughs bearing antique devices, and round shields with the imperial arms
and those of our house, and Sforzesca draperies were hung above the
street all the way from the Castello to the Duomo. Many of the doors had
their pillars wreathed with ivy and green boughs, so that the season
seemed to be May-time rather than November. On both sides of the street,
the walls were hung with satin, excepting those houses which have lately
been adorned with frescoes, and which are no less beautiful than
tapestries.

"On the morning of the day, at about nine o'clock, the reverend and
magnificent ambassadors of the King of the Romans rode to the church,
honourably attended by the Marchese Ermes, the Count of Caiazzo, Count
Francesco Sforza, the Count of Melzo, and M