BIANCA SFORZA 



Castello, and Galeazzo di Sanseverino appeared as 

 captain of the ducal armies at the head of the nuptial 

 procession, when the bride, with her fair locks flowing 

 over her shoulders, returned to the palace through the 

 decorated streets. On this auspicious day his young 

 wife, clad in white satin and pearls, rode in the chariot 

 of state, between the two duchesses, Isabella and 

 Beatrice, and took her seat with them on the tribunal 

 in front of the high altar, when the Archbishop placed 

 the crown with the cross and orb of the world on the 

 Empress's head. 



Bianca was present again, in the following spring, 

 when Beatrice received King Charles VIII at Asti, 

 and was among the Milanese ladies, whose beauty 

 and rich attire made so deep an impression on this 

 monarch. A French courtier, writing to the King's 

 sister, Anne de Beaujeu, describes the young duchess's 

 robe of gold and green brocade, her crimson silk hat 

 with its tall white plumes, and long coil of hair glitter- 

 ing with pearls, and dwells with admiration on the 

 gallant way in which she rode, sitting up on her horse 

 as erect as if she had been a man. "With her on 

 horseback came a troop of twenty ladies, and among 

 them the lovely young wife of the Magnifico Galeazzo," 

 whose husband had lately been sent on a mission to 

 the French Court, and was well known to Charles and 

 his suite. The King a little, ugly man, with large 

 179 



