the day. On the wall below the painting, the
following motto was inscribed:--

"_Per Italia nettar d'ogni bruttura_."

"Take care, my lord duke," the Florentine ambassador is reported to have
said, when Lodovico graciously explained the meaning of the
allegory--"take care the negro who is so busy brushing Italy's skirts
does not cover himself with dust in his turn!" The courteous duke only
smiled at the jest, and shrugged his shoulders; but others overheard the
remark and repeated it, much to the satisfaction of his foes in Florence
and Venice.

The fame of the great and powerful Duke of Milan had reached the distant
cliffs of Albion and the palace of Westminster, and that November
Lodovico received a letter from Henry VII. of England, rejoicing with
his new ally on the conclusion of the League against France, and the
visit of the emperor to Italy. The king further informed him that "the
treaty had been solemnly proclaimed by the Cardinal-Archbishop of
Conturberi, on the Feast of All Saints, in the cathedral church of the
Blessed Apostle St. Paul, in our city of London." And our friend, Marino
Sanuto, proceeds to improve the occasion by informing us that "this King
Enrico has for wife Madonna Ysabeta, daughter of the late King Edward,
because he defended the cause of Richard, brother of the said Edward.
And he has two sons, Artur, prince of Squales, which is a neighbouring
island, and the Duke of Yorche."

CHAPTER XXVI

Isabella d'Este joins her husband in Naples--Works of Bramante and
Leonardo in the Castello of Milan--The Cenacolo--Lodovico sends for
Perugino--His passion for Lucrezia Crivelli--Grief of Beatrice--Death of
Bianca Sforza--The Emperor Maximilian at Pavia--The Duke and Duchess
return to Milan--Last days and sudden death of Beatrice d'Este.

1496

The records we have of Beatrice's private life during this busy year are
very meagre and disappointing. Scarcely one of her letters, belonging to
this period, has been preserved, while those which her sister Isabella
addressed to Milan are almost as rare. The _marchesa's_ time and
thoughts had been much engaged in public affairs during the absence of
her husband with the Venetian forces at Naples, and she had little
leisure for correspondence. On the 13th of July she gave birth to a
second child, which, to her great disappointment, proved to be another
girl, who received the name of Margherita, but only lived a few weeks.
Of this event the duches