magnificence that suited his rank. His favorite
place of abode was Malpaga, a castle built by him at the distance of
about an hour's drive from Bergamo. The place is worth a visit, though
its courts and gates and galleries have now been turned into a monster
farm, and the southern rooms, where Colleoni entertained his guests, are
given over to the silkworms. Half a dozen families, employed upon a vast
estate of the Martinengo family, occupy the still substantial house and
stables. The moat is planted with mulberry-trees; the upper rooms are
used as granaries for golden maize; cows, pigs, and horses litter in the
spacious yard. Yet the walls of the inner court and of the ancient
state-rooms are brilliant with frescos, executed by some good Venetian
hand, which represent the chief events of Colleoni's life--his battles,
his reception by the Signory of Venice, his tournaments and
hawking-parties, 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 honor, 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 armor, and gave to each of his servants a
complete livery of red and white, his colors. Among the frescos 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 St. Mark his
heir in chief, after properly providing for his daughters and his
numerous foundations. The Venetians received under this testament a sum
of one hundred thou