ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



weeks before, his son Leone had died suddenly, and 

 had been buried in S. Maria delle Grazie, the Church 

 of the Dominican friars, in whose refectory Leonardo 

 was in the act of painting his great Cenacolo. 



Now Lodovico wrote to the Archbishop and 

 Castellan of Milan, desiring that his daughter should 

 be laid to rest in the same place. 



"Since it has pleased God to take our Bianca to 

 Himself, to our inexpressible sorrow, I wish her to be 

 buried in the choir of S. Maria delle Grazie. After 

 sunset this evening, let her be borne through the 

 gardens of the Castello to the Church, and see that the 

 gates of the Castello are closed and guarded, so that 

 no one should know what is going on. In all other 

 particulars, let the same order be observed as in the 

 funeral of our son Leone. Only, as I do not wish 

 Bianca to be buried in a place where I can see her 

 grave, you will take care that she is laid exactly behind 

 the high altar of Le Grazie, in such a manner that her 

 tomb shall not be seen from the rest of the church." l 



These orders were faithfully carried out, the only 

 exception being that the Councillors and Magistrates 

 who had been already invited to attend the funeral 

 carried the bier by turns, from the Chapel of the 

 Castello to the gates of the Dominican Church. Here 

 Bianca Sforza was laid to rest before the high altar of 

 the Capella Grande, under Bramante's fair cupola. 



1 Arch, di Sfato, Potenze Sovrane, 1496. 

 190 



