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know both by reputation and by personal experience to be a most excellent painter, we have asked him, in the enclosed letter, to paint us a youthful Christ of about twelve years old. Do not scruple to present this letter to him, adding whatever words may seem to you most suitable, so as to persuade him to serve us; and let him know that he shall be well rewarded. If he excuses himself and says that he has not time, owing to the work which he has begun for that most excellent Signory, you can tell him that this will be a means of recreation and pleasure when he is tired of historical painting, and that for the rest he can take his own time, and work at leisure."

The letter which Isabella sent to Leonardo was as follows:

"To Master Leonardo Vinci, the painter. M. Leonardo,-Hearing that you are settled at Florence, we have begun to hope that our cherished desire to obtain a work by your hand may be at length realised. When you were in this city, and drew our portrait in carbon, you promised us that you would some day paint it in colours. But because this would be almost impossible, since you are unable to come here, we beg you to keep your promise by converting our portrait into another figure, which would be still more acceptable to us; that is to say, a youthful Christ of about twelve years, which would be the age He had attained when He disputed with the doctors in the temple, executed with all that sweetness and charm of atmosphere which is the peculiar excellence of your art. If you will consent to gratify this our great desire, remember that apart from the payment, which you shall fix yourself, we shall remain so deeply obliged to you that our sole desire will be to

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do what you wish, and from this time forth we are ready to do your service and pleasure, hoping to receive an answer in the affirmative." Mantua, May 14, 1504.

On the 27th of May, Angelo del Tovaglia replied:

"I received the letter of Your Highness, together with the one for Leonardo da Vinci, to whom I presented it, and at the same time tried to persuade and induce him, with powerful reasons, to oblige Your Excellency by painting the little figure of Christ, according to your request. He has promised me without fail to paint it in such times and hours as he can snatch from the work on which he is engaged for this Signory. I will not fail to entreat Leonardo, and also Perugino, as to the other subject. Both make liberal promises, and seem to have the greatest wish to serve Your Highness. Nevertheless, I think it will be a race between them which is the slower! I hardly know which of the two is likely to win, but expect Leonardo will be the conqueror. All the same, I will do my utmost."

Angelo's prophecy was destined to be fulfilled to the letter. More than a year passed away before Perugino's picture found its way to Mantua, while neither the honest merchant's entreaties nor the charming Marchesa's honeyed words were able to move Leonardo to action. Once more, on the 30th of October, Isabella wrote to Angelo, with a second letter to Leonardo, gently reminding him of his promise.

"You sent me word by Messer Angelo some time ago that you would gladly satisfy my great desire. But the large number of orders which you

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FROM LEONARDO

receive make me fear lest you have forgotten mine. I have, therefore, thought it well to write these few words, begging you to paint this little figure by way of recreation when you are tired of Florentine history."

Still the master, intent as he was on painting his great picture on the wall of the Council Hall, gave no sign of life. But in January his favourite pupil, Salaï, offered his services to the Marchesa, and professed his readiness to paint some cosa galante for Her Excellency. His offer was not accepted, but a few months later Isabella desired Angelo del Tovaglia to send Salaï to judge of the merits of the picture which Perugino had at length finished for her studio, and, if necessary, suggest alterations.

In March 1506, Isabella herself came to Florence, as we have seen, and spent the Feast of the Annunciation in the city of flowers. She did not see her friend Leonardo, who was studying the cause of rivers and the flight of birds in his country retreat at Fiesole. But she met his uncle, Alessandro Amadori, the Canon of Fiesole, with whom so much of his time was spent, and for whom he cherished a deep and lasting affection. To this courteous ecclesiastic the Marchesa confided her great wish to obtain a little picture from the hand of the famous master, and he promised to use all his influence to induce his nephew to satisfy her ardent desire. On the 3rd of May, a week or two after she had returned to Mantua, Alessandro wrote to her as follows:Here, in Florence, I act at all hours as the representative of Your Excellency, with Leonardo da Vinci, my nephew, and I do not cease to urge him by every argument in my power to satisfy the

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desire of Your Excellency, and paint the figure for which you asked him, and which he promised you several months ago, in the letter that I showed Your Excellency. This time he has really promised me that he will soon begin the work and satisfy your wish, and desires me to commend him to your favour. And if, before I leave Florence, you will tell me whether you prefer any especial figure, I will take care that Leonardo satisfies Your Highness, whom it is my greatest wish to oblige. I visited Madonna Argentina Soderini this afternoon, and she was glad to hear from me that Your Highness had reached Mantua safely. I gave her Your Highness's messages, and she sends the enclosed note in return. May God prosper Your Excellency."

1

The Marchesa wrote back gratefully on the 12th of May from Sacchetta, where she had been driven by the sudden outbreak of the plague in Mantua :—

"We were very grateful for your letter of the 3rd, telling us that you had conveyed our inquiries to the Signora Gonfalionera, as we learn by a letter from Her Highness; neither are we less pleased with the dexterity which you have shown in dealing with Leonardo Vinci, in order to induce him to satisfy us and paint that figure for which we asked. We thank you for all your trouble, and beg you to persevere in your kind efforts on our behalf.""

But before the end of May, Leonardo left Florence to enter the service of Charles d'Amboise, the French Governor of Milan, and spent over a year in that city, at the express request of King Louis,

1 Luzio in Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, i. 181-184.

2 Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1888; Muntz, "Leonardo da Vinci," ii. 113; Solmi, "Leonardo," p. 159.

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HER CORRESPONDENCE

who himself came to Milan for six weeks in 1508, and begged that notre chier et bien amé Léonard de Vinces should be allowed to remain at his court. There Isabella probably met him when she spent that joyous fortnight at Milan, and renewed her acquaintance with so many of her old friends. But he never painted her picture, and the only work by Leonardo's hand in the Gonzaga collection was a small painting afterwards given to her son Federico by Count Niccolo Maffei, after his return from France. This work is described in the inventory of 1627 as “a woman's head, with dishevelled hair," valued at 180 ducats, and hung in a passage leading to the Studio of the Grotta.1

Isabella was more fortunate in her dealings with other painters, and ultimately succeeded in obtaining a picture for her studio from Perugino, although this artist's delays and prevarications provoked her sorely. The Umbrian master enjoyed a great reputation in North Italy at the close of the fifteenth century. He had painted noble altarpieces at Cremona and the Certosa of Pavia, and Duke Lodovico Sforza had repeatedly invited him to enter his service, and decorate his rooms in the Castello of Milan. Perugino was well known at the court of Mantua, since his young wife, Chiara, was a daughter of Luca Fancelli, the well-known architect, who had spent forty years in the service of the Gonzagas. When the painter was at Venice in 1496, Isabella asked him, through his friend, Lorenzo da Pavia, to paint a picture for her studio. But her request came too late, for by this time Perugino had left Venice, and was busily

1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 161.