The Wedding Hours of Bianca Maria Sforza and Maximilian I
Use of Rome
- Master of Anna Sforza
Manuscript in Latin on vellum
Italy, Milan, 1493.
98 x 70 mm
Price on request.
235 leaves. 15 full-page miniatures, almost 200 text-pages surrounded by full borders. Incomplete. 17th-century binding of brown leather, richly gilded, 2 silver clasps, edges gilt and gauffered.
A sensational new discovery, this extraordinary manuscript demonstrates again the high level of Renaissance illumination made for the Sforza family in Milan. This noble officiolo marks the wedding of Bianca Maria Sforza and Maximilian I, King of the Romans, Holy Roman Emperor elect.
Their marriage by proxy was celebrated with great pomp in Milan on 30 November 1493. That date offers the terminus ante quem for the creation of this fine book of hours attributed to the Master of Anna Sforza. With ten pages celebrating the noble coats of arms of the bride and her family, the illuminated prayers were designed to honour and perpetuate the Sforza family bond.
On many illuminated pages the manuscript exhibits the illustrious family relationships of the bride in heraldry and mottos: including Sforza (dukes of Milan), Savoy and Visconti. Galleazzo Maria Sforza (assassinated 1476), father of the bride, first married a Gonzaga, and, in his second marriage, a lady of the House of Savoy. Bona of Savoy (d. 1503) was the bride’s mother. Galeazzo’s own mother was a Visconti. The bride, Bianca Maria Sforza (1472-1510), the couple’s oldest daughter, first married Philibert I of Savoy (who died when she was 10). In 1493-1494 she married Maximilian, King of the Romans, widower since 1482. The marriage was arranged by Bianca’s uncle, Ludovico ‘Il Moro’, who had been regent of Milan since 1481. When Bianca’s father Galeazzo died, the heir Gian Galeazzo (Bianca’s brother) was only seven years old. A struggle for the regency rose between their mother Bona Sforza-Savoy and their uncle Ludovico, which was won by the latter. When Duke Gian Galeazzo himself died 22 October 1494, Maximilian officially confirmed Ludovico in the ducal title, as Milan and Pavia were imperial loans.
Bianca’s coronation as queen was never realized, her public role was limited and the relationship did not produce any offspring. In 1500, Ludovico had to flee Milan from the French King and his troops, and he later died as their prisoner (1508). Maximilian was never crowned in Rome, but took the title of Holy Roman Emperor Elect in 1508. Bianca died in Innsbruck in 1510.
In all, this is a sensational discovery demonstrating the highest level of Renaissance illumination created to celebrate the glorious marriage of the eldest daughter of the illustrious Sforza with no less a man than the designated emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. With the help of her finely illuminated manuscript, Bianca Maria could pray to the Virgin and for the salvation of the soul of her closest relatives. At the same time, she was reminded of the warmth of the southern colours and the splendour of Renaissance art from her native Milan.
