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SERAFINO'S POEMS

Many other poets and artists there were who, like Cristoforo Romano and Niccolo da Correggio, found their way to Mantua or Ferrara, when Beatrice's tragic death had, in Calmeta's words, turned that brilliant court "from a joyous paradise into the blackest hell.” Calmeta himself, "l'elegantissimo Calmeta," as he was called by his contemporaries, who had been her sister's secretary, spent some time that summer at Mantua and dedicated his commentary on Petrarch's canzone, Mai non vo cantar, to the Marchesa, and Serafino, the famous singer and actor, who was so great a favourite with all the Este and Gonzaga princes, also accepted Isabella's invitation. During the year which he spent at Mantua, after Beatrice's death, the Duke and Duchess of Urbino begged him in vain to come and amuse them for a little while, and both Cardinal d'Este and his brother Ferrante asked Isabella for copies of his strambotti and capitoli. The Marchesa, however, was very jealous of these poems which Serafino composed for her benefit, and when Bishop Louis Gonzaga of Gazzuolo asked her for a certain capitolo "On Sleep," which the poet had lately written, begged him to keep it under lock and key and not allow any one to see it, as she particularly wished these charming verses not to become public property. "This, however," she adds, "you will, I fear, find to be a very difficult thing."1

66

But the greatest of all the Milanese artists who came to Mantua after Lodovico Sforza's exile was the Florentine master, Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella had often met the distinguished artist who stood so high in the Moro's favour, and had seen and admired his masterpieces in painting and sculpture. 1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 93.

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