1500
Archivio di Stato, Mantua, Archivio Gonzaga, b. 1812, c. 390r
Ferrari 2008, doc. 36
Antico’s reply to Isabella d’Este’s letter of 27 March 1500–he cannot oblige her because he is in the middle of casting something.
1500. 29. March Bozzolo
My most illustrious lady, I have seen what your ladyship writes regarding your desire to decorate a door, and Gian Cristoforo has described it all; and I am sorry that at present I cannot satisfy your ladyship because of some molds that I have made again, and if they are not supplied [cast] I will lose much labor. And Gian Cristoforo has seen all this and will bear witness. Again be certain that had I heard earlier, I would have quickly freed myself, so that I may satisfy your request because I regard you and have always regarded you as my mistress to whom I continually commend myself. Bozzolo, March 29, 1500
Antico
Authorization to reproduce number 37-2011.
Isabella d’Este (1474–1539)
became Antico’s principal patron after the death of her husband’s uncle, the bishop Ludovico Gonzaga, in 1511. The daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole d’Este, Isabella married the Marchese of Mantua, Francesco Gonzaga, in 1490. She became famous in her own time for her dynamic personality and cultural sophistication and was one of the few women to create a studiolo. Antico made bronzes that were preserved on cornices in her studiolo. After her husband’s death in 1519 Isabella became regent of Mantua for her son Federico Gonzaga.
Giancristoforo Romano, Isabella d’Este, after 1498, bronze, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection