ico had found time
to carry on his brother's schemes for the decoration of the Castello of
Milan, and to help forward the works of the Duomo and the Certosa of
Pavia. He had begun to rebuild the palace of Vigevano on a splendid
scale, and had set on foot a vast system of irrigation for the
improvement of the ducal estates. Besides encouraging the rising school
of native artists, he had invited the best foreign architects and
painters, sculptors and poets, to his court. Already Bramante of Urbino
was the chief architect at the ducal court, and now Lorenzo de' Medici
sent a young Florentine master to Milan who played the lute divinely,
and whose varied talents might prove serviceable to his friend Lodovico.
So Leonardo da Vinci came to the court of the Moro, and found in him so
genial and understanding a patron, so generous and kindly a friend, that
he settled at Milan, and remained in the duke's service for the next
sixteen years. Thus Lodovico Sforza had shown himself a wise and
excellent regent, and had earned the gratitude of both prince and
people, while the young duke in whose name he governed was growing up to
man's estate. From his birth Gian Galeazzo had been a frail and sickly
child, subject to constant feverish attacks, and in the year 1483 was so
dangerously ill that at one moment his doctors despaired of his
recovery. As he grew older, it became plain that his mind was as feeble
as his body. He was utterly incapable of applying himself to serious
business, far less of administering state affairs. His whole days were
spent in idleness and pleasure, in hunting and drinking. Horses and dogs
were the only objects in which he took any interest. Under these
circumstances, it became plain that Lodovico would remain the actual
ruler of Milan even though his nephew bore the title of duke. All
outward respect was paid to Gian Galeazzo; he lived in great state, with
a household and officers of his own, and was surrounded by regal pomp on
public occasions. Clad in ducal robes, he appeared seated on a throne
erected in front of the Duomo when the Genoese patricians arrived at
Milan, and received their homage as duke of the principality of Genoa.
His brother Ermes, his sisters Bianca and Anna, shared his state, and
when Bianca's betrothed husband the young prince of Savoy died, she was
formally affianced in the Duomo to the eldest son of Matthias Corvinus,
King of Hungary. But the real sovereign of Milan was Lodovico Duke of