He was the son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became duke on Ercole's death in January 1505. In the first year of his rule he uncovered a plot by his brother Ferrante and half-brother Giulio d'Este, directed against him and his other brother Ippolito.[4] In September 1506 a trial for lèse majesté and high treason was held and, as expected, the death sentence was passed, but just as Ferrante and Giulio were about to mount the gallows they were informed that the duke had commuted their sentence to life imprisonment. They were led away to two cells in the Torre dei Leoni. Ferrante died in his cell after 34 years of imprisonment, while Giulio held on until he was pardoned in 1559, after 53 years of imprisonment. After his release, Giulio was ridiculed in the streets of Ferrara for his outdated clothes and died in 1561.
In the Italian Wars Alfonso preserved his precarious position among the contending powers by flexibility and vigilance and the unrivalled fortifications of Ferrara; he entered the League of Cambrai against Venice and remained an ally of Louis XII of France even after Pope Julius II had made peace with Venice; when the Bolognesi rebelled against Julius and toppled Michelangelo's bronze statue of the Pope from above the gate, Alfonso received the shards and recast them as a cannon named La Giulia, which he set on the ramparts of the castello: in 1510 Julius excommunicated him and declared his fiefs forfeit, thereby adding Ferrara to the Papal States; Alfonso then fought successfully against the Venetian and Papal armies, winning the Battle of Polesella, capturing Bologna, and playing a major part in the French victory at the Battle of Ravenna (1512). These successes were based on Ferrara's artillery, produced in his own foundry, which was the best of its time.[5][6] In both of his portraits by Titian, (Compare illustration above) he poses with his arm across the mouth of one of his cannon.
Confrontation of the Este brothers' medals: Isabella, Alfonso, Ferrante, Ippolito and Sigismondo had inherited the typical Este nose of their father; Beatrice the slightly upturned one of her mother. Furthermore, all were dark-haired, except Ferrante and Sigismondo, who had recovered, as it seems, the traditional blond of the Este.
In 1526–1527 Alfonso participated in the expedition of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain, against Pope Clement VII, and in 1530 the pope again recognized him as possessor of the forfeited duchies of Modena and Reggio.
Politically, the wedding was designed to cement ties between the two families. Anna Sforza's death, on 30 November 1497, marked the end of those ties, as Beatrice d'Este had died in January of that same year.
After Lucrezia's death on 24 June 1519, he married Laura Dianti by whom he had had two illegitimate sons (later legitimized), Alfonso and Alfonsino d'Este.
ArtEdit
Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan shore, painted by Dosso Dossi for Alfonso's camerino d'alabastro (National Gallery of Art, Washington).
Like his brother Ippolito I, Cardinal d'Este, he was one of the great patrons of art of his time: for him the elderly Giovanni Bellini painted The Feast of the Gods in 1514, Bellini's last completed painting. He turned to Bellini's pupil, Titian, for a sequence of paintings. In 1529 Alfonso created the most magnificent gallery of his time, his studiolo or camerino d'alabastro ("small alabaster room"), now usually known as his "Camerino", in order to better display his works of art against white marble-veneered walls under a gilded ceiling.[7] The pallor of the marble led to the name of this room as the chamber of alabaster. There are documents from Mario Equicola on 9 October 1511, noting plans for painting of a room in Ferrara, in which six fables (fabule) or histories (istorie) shall be placed. I have already found them and have presented them in writing." A letter from Alfonso, dated 14 November 1514, authorized payment to Giovanni Bellini, the first painting completed for the chamber.
Titian is known to have painted two portraits of Alfonso: the first was widely acclaimed, singled out by Michelangelo and coerced as a diplomatic gift by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; Alfonso induced Titian to paint a free replica, which the artist of the painting illustrated above has adapted for his model.[8] Over the next two decades, Titian added three more paintings: The Worship of Venus (Museo del Prado, Madrid), The Bacchanal of the Andrians (Prado, Madrid), and Bacchus and Ariadne (National Gallery, London). Dosso Dossi produced another large bacchanal, and he also contributed ceiling decorations and a painted frieze for the cornice, depicting scenes from the Aeneid, which gained immediacy by showing the heroes in contemporary dress (illustration, left). All the bacchanals in the Alabaster Chamber dealt with love, and some refer to marriage. After the Este family lost control of Ferrara in 1598, the Alabaster Chamber's paintings and sculpture were dispersed.
Alfonso inherited from Cardinal d'Este the poet Ariosto. Following in the lead of his father Ercole, who had made Ferrara into one of the musical centers of Europe, Alfonso brought some of the most famous musicians of the time to his court to work as composers, instrumentalists and singers. Musicians from northern Europe who worked at Ferrara during his reign included Antoine Brumel and Adrian Willaert, the latter of whom was to become the founder of the Venetian School, something which could not have happened without Alfonso's patronage.
HistoryEdit
When Alfonso's grandson Alfonso II d'Este—Robert Browning's duke of "My Last Duchess"[9]—produced no male heir, the main d'Este line died out. A grandson of Alfonso I and cousin of Alfonso II, Cesare d'Este had been born out of wedlock. He was recognized by the Emperor but not by the Pope, who took the Duchy of Ferrara by force. Nevertheless, the House of Este continued in Modena and Reggio.
^The marriage between Alfonso I and Laura Dianti probably took place shortly before the Duke's death in 1534.[1] The historian Muratori tried to prove that the marriage had taken place, collecting a considerable amount of documentation,[2] but there does not seem to be any official document of a marriage that actually took place. Even in the absence of absolute documentary proof, "there can be no doubts about the public, official nature of the union".[2]
ReferencesEdit
^Bertoni, Luisa. "ESTE, Alfonso d' | Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 43 (1993)". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ abPellizzer Sonia. "DIANTI, Laura | Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 39 (1991)". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^"House of Este | Italian Renaissance, Politics & Art | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
^Murrin, Michael (1994). History and warfare in Renaissance epic (Pbk. ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 124–125. ISBN978-0226554037.
^Mallett, Michael; Shaw, Christine (2005). The Italian Wars, 1494-1559 : War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe (1st ed.). Harlow: Pearson. p. 107. ISBN978-0582057586.
^"Reconstructing the Duke's private gallery". www.webexhibits.org.
^Bryson Burroughs, "The Portrait of Alfonso d'Este by Titian" The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin22.4 (April 1927), pp. 97–101.
^. Archived from the original on 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2005-07-06.
BibliographyEdit
Taylor, Frederick Lewis (1973). The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN0-8371-5025-6.
Prignano, Gaia (2020). "Music Theories and Identity Issues: Depicting Canons chez Alfonso I d'Este". Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography. 45 (1–2): 53–71. ISSN 1522-7464.
External linksEdit
Media related to Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara at Wikimedia Commons
Dosso Dossi: Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
alfonso, este, duke, ferrara, alfonso, este, redirects, here, later, duke, this, name, alfonso, este, duke, ferrara, alfonso, este, july, 1476, october, 1534, duke, ferrara, during, time, league, cambrai, alfonso, estealfonso, titian, alfonso, leans, cannon, h. Alfonso d Este redirects here For the later duke of this name see Alfonso II d Este Duke of Ferrara Alfonso d Este 21 July 1476 31 October 1534 was Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai Alfonso d EsteAlfonso by Titian Alfonso leans on a cannon holding his swordDuke of Ferrara Duke of Modena and ReggioReign25 January 1505 31 October 1534PredecessorErcole I d EsteSuccessorErcole II d EsteBorn21 July 1476Subiaco Papal StatesDied31 October 1534 1534 10 31 aged 58 Ferrara Duchy of FerraraSpouseAnna Sforza m 1491 died 1497 Lucrezia Borgia m 1501 died 1519 Laura Dianti m 1534 a IssueAlessandro d Este 1505 1505 Ercole II d Este Duke of FerraraIppolito II d Este Alessandro d Este 1514 1516 Leonora d EsteFrancesco d Este Marchese di MassalombardaIsabella Maria d EsteAlfonso d Este Lord of Montecchio illegitimate father of Cesare d Este Alfonsino d Este illegitimate HouseEsteFatherErcole I d EsteMotherEleanor of Naples Contents 1 Biography 2 Marriages 3 Art 4 History 5 Ancestors 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 External linksBiography Edit nbsp Alfonso d Este as Knight of the Order of Saint Michael by Dosso Dossi nbsp Anna Maria Sforza nbsp Lucrezia Borgia 1518 Dosso Dossi 3 He was the son of Ercole I d Este Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became duke on Ercole s death in January 1505 In the first year of his rule he uncovered a plot by his brother Ferrante and half brother Giulio d Este directed against him and his other brother Ippolito 4 In September 1506 a trial for lese majeste and high treason was held and as expected the death sentence was passed but just as Ferrante and Giulio were about to mount the gallows they were informed that the duke had commuted their sentence to life imprisonment They were led away to two cells in the Torre dei Leoni Ferrante died in his cell after 34 years of imprisonment while Giulio held on until he was pardoned in 1559 after 53 years of imprisonment After his release Giulio was ridiculed in the streets of Ferrara for his outdated clothes and died in 1561 In the Italian Wars Alfonso preserved his precarious position among the contending powers by flexibility and vigilance and the unrivalled fortifications of Ferrara he entered the League of Cambrai against Venice and remained an ally of Louis XII of France even after Pope Julius II had made peace with Venice when the Bolognesi rebelled against Julius and toppled Michelangelo s bronze statue of the Pope from above the gate Alfonso received the shards and recast them as a cannon named La Giulia which he set on the ramparts of the castello in 1510 Julius excommunicated him and declared his fiefs forfeit thereby adding Ferrara to the Papal States Alfonso then fought successfully against the Venetian and Papal armies winning the Battle of Polesella capturing Bologna and playing a major part in the French victory at the Battle of Ravenna 1512 These successes were based on Ferrara s artillery produced in his own foundry which was the best of its time 5 6 In both of his portraits by Titian Compare illustration above he poses with his arm across the mouth of one of his cannon nbsp Confrontation of the Este brothers medals Isabella Alfonso Ferrante Ippolito and Sigismondo had inherited the typical Este nose of their father Beatrice the slightly upturned one of her mother Furthermore all were dark haired except Ferrante and Sigismondo who had recovered as it seems the traditional blond of the Este In 1526 1527 Alfonso participated in the expedition of Charles V Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain against Pope Clement VII and in 1530 the pope again recognized him as possessor of the forfeited duchies of Modena and Reggio Marriages EditIn January 1491 Alfonso was married to Anna Maria Sforza the niece of Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan In the same ceremony Ludovico was married to Alfonso s younger sister Beatrice d Este in a double wedding orchestrated by Leonardo da Vinci Politically the wedding was designed to cement ties between the two families Anna Sforza s death on 30 November 1497 marked the end of those ties as Beatrice d Este had died in January of that same year Alfonso later remarried to Lucrezia Borgia in 1502 After Lucrezia s death on 24 June 1519 he married Laura Dianti by whom he had had two illegitimate sons later legitimized Alfonso and Alfonsino d Este Art Edit nbsp Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan shore painted by Dosso Dossi for Alfonso s camerino d alabastro National Gallery of Art Washington Like his brother Ippolito I Cardinal d Este he was one of the great patrons of art of his time for him the elderly Giovanni Bellini painted The Feast of the Gods in 1514 Bellini s last completed painting He turned to Bellini s pupil Titian for a sequence of paintings In 1529 Alfonso created the most magnificent gallery of his time his studiolo or camerino d alabastro small alabaster room now usually known as his Camerino in order to better display his works of art against white marble veneered walls under a gilded ceiling 7 The pallor of the marble led to the name of this room as the chamber of alabaster There are documents from Mario Equicola on 9 October 1511 noting plans for painting of a room in Ferrara in which six fables fabule or histories istorie shall be placed I have already found them and have presented them in writing A letter from Alfonso dated 14 November 1514 authorized payment to Giovanni Bellini the first painting completed for the chamber Titian is known to have painted two portraits of Alfonso the first was widely acclaimed singled out by Michelangelo and coerced as a diplomatic gift by Charles V Holy Roman Emperor Alfonso induced Titian to paint a free replica which the artist of the painting illustrated above has adapted for his model 8 Over the next two decades Titian added three more paintings The Worship of Venus Museo del Prado Madrid The Bacchanal of the Andrians Prado Madrid and Bacchus and Ariadne National Gallery London Dosso Dossi produced another large bacchanal and he also contributed ceiling decorations and a painted frieze for the cornice depicting scenes from the Aeneid which gained immediacy by showing the heroes in contemporary dress illustration left All the bacchanals in the Alabaster Chamber dealt with love and some refer to marriage After the Este family lost control of Ferrara in 1598 the Alabaster Chamber s paintings and sculpture were dispersed Alfonso inherited from Cardinal d Este the poet Ariosto Following in the lead of his father Ercole who had made Ferrara into one of the musical centers of Europe Alfonso brought some of the most famous musicians of the time to his court to work as composers instrumentalists and singers Musicians from northern Europe who worked at Ferrara during his reign included Antoine Brumel and Adrian Willaert the latter of whom was to become the founder of the Venetian School something which could not have happened without Alfonso s patronage History EditWhen Alfonso s grandson Alfonso II d Este Robert Browning s duke of My Last Duchess 9 produced no male heir the main d Este line died out A grandson of Alfonso I and cousin of Alfonso II Cesare d Este had been born out of wedlock He was recognized by the Emperor but not by the Pope who took the Duchy of Ferrara by force Nevertheless the House of Este continued in Modena and Reggio Ancestors Edit16 Obizzo III d Este Marquis of Ferrara8 Alberto d Este Marquis of Ferrara17 Lippa Ariosti4 Niccolo III d Este Marquis of Ferrara18 Alberto Albaresani9 Isotta Albaresani2 Ercole I d Este Duke of Ferrara20 Frederick II Marquis of Saluzzo10 Thomas III Marquis of Saluzzo21 Beatrice of Geneva5 Ricciarda Marquise of Saluzzo22 Hugh II Count of Roncy11 Marguerite de Pierrepont23 Blanche de Coucy Montmirail1 Alfonso I d Este Duke of Ferrara24 Ferdinand I of Aragon12 Alfonso V of Aragon25 Eleanor of Alburquerque6 Ferdinand I of Naples13 Giraldona Carlino3 Eleanor of Naples14 Tristan Count of Copertino7 Isabella of Clermont30 Raimondo Orsini del Balzo Prince of Taranto15 Caterina del Balzo Orsini31 Mary of EnghienSee also EditHouse of Este Italian WarsNotes Edit The marriage between Alfonso I and Laura Dianti probably took place shortly before the Duke s death in 1534 1 The historian Muratori tried to prove that the marriage had taken place collecting a considerable amount of documentation 2 but there does not seem to be any official document of a marriage that actually took place Even in the absence of absolute documentary proof there can be no doubts about the public official nature of the union 2 References Edit Bertoni Luisa ESTE Alfonso d Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 43 1993 www treccani it in Italian Retrieved June 26 2023 a b Pellizzer Sonia DIANTI Laura Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 39 1991 www treccani it in Italian Retrieved June 26 2023 NGV s Renaissance mystery woman revealed Brisbane Times House of Este Italian Renaissance Politics amp Art Britannica www britannica com Retrieved 2023 10 01 Murrin Michael 1994 History and warfare in Renaissance epic Pbk ed Chicago University of Chicago Press pp 124 125 ISBN 978 0226554037 Mallett Michael Shaw Christine 2005 The Italian Wars 1494 1559 War State and Society in Early Modern Europe 1st ed Harlow Pearson p 107 ISBN 978 0582057586 Reconstructing the Duke s private gallery www webexhibits org Bryson Burroughs The Portrait of Alfonso d Este by Titian The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 22 4 April 1927 pp 97 101 Browning s Portrait of a Renaissance Man Alphonso II D este Duke of Ferrara in My Last Duchess 1842 Archived from the original on 2005 09 29 Retrieved 2005 07 06 Bibliography EditTaylor Frederick Lewis 1973 The Art of War in Italy 1494 1529 Westport Greenwood Press ISBN 0 8371 5025 6 Prignano Gaia 2020 Music Theories and Identity Issues Depicting Canons chez Alfonso I d Este Music in Art International Journal for Music Iconography 45 1 2 53 71 ISSN 1522 7464 External links Edit nbsp Media related to Alfonso I d Este Duke of Ferrara at Wikimedia Commons Dosso Dossi Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Alfonso d Este Duke of Ferrara Reconstructing the Duke s private gallery Alfonso I d Este Duke of FerraraHouse of EsteBorn 21 July 1476 Died 31 October 1534Regnal titlesPreceded byErcole I Duke of Ferrara Modena and Reggio1505 1534forfeit 1510 1530 Succeeded byErcole II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alfonso I d 27Este Duke of Ferrara amp oldid 1178012059, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
