Beatrice d'Este

Beatrice d'Este (June 29 1475 – January 2 1497), duchess of Milan, one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the Italian Renaissance, was the daughter of Ercole I. d'Este and younger sister of Isabella d'Este and Alfonso d'Este.

She was bethrothed at the age of fifteen to Lodovico Sforza (known as il "Moro"), duke of Bari, regent and afterwards duke of Milan, and was married to him in January 1491.

Beatrice married Ludovico in a double Sforza-Este wedding. Ludovico married Beatrice, while Beatrice's brother, Alfonso d'Este, married Anna Sforza the sister of Gian Galeazzo Sforza. Leonardo daVinci orchestrated the wedding celebration.

Beatrice and Alfonso’s sister, Isabella d'Este (1474–1539) was married Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua.

She had been carefully educated, and availed herself of her position as mistress of one of the most splendid courts of Italy to surround herself with learned men, poets and artists, such as Niccolo da Gorreggio, Bernardo Castiglione, Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci and many others. Leonardo da Vinci presented her with a portrait of herself for her wedding gift, a beautiful piece of Renaissance art. In 1492 she visited Venice as ambassador for her husband in his political schemes, which consisted chiefly in a desire to be recognized as duke of Milan.
On the death of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Lodovico's usurpation was legalized, and after the Battle of Fornovo (1495) both he and his wife took part in the peace congress of Vercelli between Charles VIII of France and the Italian princes, at which Beatrice showed great political ability. But her brilliant career was cut short by death through childbirth, on the 3rd of January 1497 at the age of 22. The child was a stillborn son.

Beatrice belongs to the best class of Renaissance women, and was one of the culture influences of the age; to her patronage and good taste are due to a great extent the splendour of the Castello of Milan, of the Certosa of Pavia and of many other famous buildings in Lombardy. A fresco with her portrait faces Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. She is a central character in E. L. Konigsburg's novel, The Second Mrs.Gioconda, in which Konigsburg credits her for being the inspiration for Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa".

She is mother of:
* Massimiliano Sforza (1493-1530), duke of Milan 1512-1515
* Francesco II Sforza (1495-1535), duke of Milan 1521-1535