BIANCA SFORZA 
splashing about in the water, and holding out his 
little hands to his sister as she bent down to caress 
him. “It really,” adds the writer, “was the prettiest 
picture imaginable.” 1 
A month later, on the 26th of May 1495, Lodovico 
was solemnly proclaimed Duke of Milan. Bianca was 
present at this ceremony, which took place on the 
piazza in front of the Duomo, and which Beatrice 
describes in her letters as “ the grandest pageant and 
noblest solemnity in the world.” The conclusion of 
peace with France, in the following autumn, left the 
Duke of Milan without a rival in Italy. His triumph 
seemed complete, and the Christmas festival was kept 
with great rejoicing at Milan. Galeazzo di San 
Severino laid down his command, and claimed the 
fulfilment of Lodovico’s promise to let him have 
Bianca to wife. The Duke still hesitated, partly on 
account of her delicate health, and partly out of reluct¬ 
ance to part from the daughter whom he held as the 
apple of his eye, saying that he could not love her 
more dearly if she had been Beatrice’s child. By the 
end of June, however, his consent was finally given, and 
Messer Galeaz led his bride home in triumph to his house 
in the Via de’ Bossi. But the fatigue and excitement 
of the wedding festivities were too great a strain for 
Bianca’s frail health. She fell seriously ill a few days after 
1 Archivio di Stato, Milano, Potenze Sovrane, Sforza, 1495. 
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