arties, and the great series of
entertainments with which he welcomed Christiern of Denmark. This king
had made his pilgrimage to Rome and was returning westward, when the
fame of Colleoni and his princely state at Malpaga induced him to turn
aside and spend some days as the general's guest. In order to do
him honour, Colleoni left his castle at the king's disposal and
established himself with all his staff and servants in a camp at some
distance from Malpaga. The camp was duly furnished with tents and
trenches, stockades, artillery, and all the other furniture of war. On
the king's approach, Colleoni issued with trumpets blowing and banners
flying to greet his guest, gratifying him thus with a spectacle of the
pomp and circumstance of war as carried on in Italy. The visit
was further enlivened by sham fights, feats of arms, and trials of
strength. When it ended, Colleoni presented the king with one of
his own suits of armour, and gave to each of his servants a complete
livery of red and white, his colours. Among the frescoes at Malpaga
none are more interesting, and none, thanks to the silkworms rather
than to any other cause, are fortunately in a better state of
preservation, than those which represent this episode in the history
of the Castle.

Colleoni died in the year 1475, at the age of seventy-five. Since he
left no male representative, he constituted the Republic of S. Mark
his heir-in-chief, after properly providing for his daughters and his
numerous foundations. The Venetians received under this testament a
sum of 100,000 ducats, together with all arrears of pay due to him,
and 10,000 ducats owed him by the Duke of Ferrara. It set forth the
testator's intention that this money should be employed in defence of
the Christian faith against the Turk. One condition was attached to
the bequest. The legatees were to erect a statue to Colleoni on the
Piazza of S. Mark. This, however, involved some difficulty; for the
proud Republic had never accorded a similar honour, nor did they
choose to encumber their splendid square with a monument. They evaded
the condition by assigning the Campo in front of the Scuola di S.
Marco, where also stands the Church of S. Zanipolo, to the purpose.
Here accordingly the finest bronze equestrian statue in Italy, if we
except the Marcus Aurelius of the Capitol, was reared upon its marble
pedestal by Andrea Verocchio and Alessandro Leopardi.

Colleoni's liberal expenditure of wealth foun