d stables of the Sforzesca. Maximilian had
originally intended to visit Milan, and the erection of a triumphal arch
in the Roman style had been ordered by the duke, together with other
decorations on a vast scale; but at the last moment this idea was
abandoned. The Venetian, Marino Sanuto, unkindly suggests that the Moro
would not allow the emperor to come to Milan, lest he should see Duchess
Isabella's son, who was the rightful heir to the crown. In all
probability the true reason lay in Maximilian's dislike of
state-pageants, and his preference for the freedom and country pleasures
of Vigevano. As he told the Venetian ambassador, he preferred to travel
about in different places and enjoy himself in his own way. And His
Majesty added, with a frankness by no means agreeable to Foscari and his
government, that he had no need of his company, and he preferred to be
alone, since Duke Lodovico, with whom he was very intimate, could tell
him all that he wished to know. With which distinctly unpalatable piece
of information the ambassador had to be content. Maximilian, he was
compelled to acknowledge, had come to Italy as the sworn friend and ally
of the Duke of Milan, and the Republic must stoop to take the second
place in the councils of the League.

If Beatrice's charms had captivated the wise emperor at their first
meeting in the mountains of the Valtellina, he found her a thousand
times more fascinating at her beautiful country home, with her children
in her arms. He took great interest in both her little boys, and begged
that the elder of the two, Ercole, should bear the name of Maximilian,
by which he became known in future days. In memory of this visit the
emperor's portrait was introduced in the beautiful miniatures which
illustrate Maximilian Sforza's Book of Prayers, or Libro di Gesu, still
preserved in the Trivulzian Library. Here the young count is represented
on horseback, receiving his illustrious cousin, while the words of the
Latin oration, which he is in the act of reciting, are illuminated on
the front page.

The Venetian Signory had decided to send two special ambassadors to
congratulate the emperor on his arrival in Italy, and on the 14th these
envoys, Antonio Grimani and Marco Morosini, reached Milan, where they
were received by Galeazzo Sforza, Count of Melzi, and lodged in the
Palazzo del Verme, then inhabited by Madonna Cecilia Gallerani and her
husband Count Lodovico Bergamini, and lately decorated w