Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was
Duke of Ferrara
This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the House of Este, Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came ...
from 1504 to 1534, during the time of the
War of the League of Cambrai
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...
.
Biography
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. 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 After his release, Giulio was ridiculed in the streets of Ferrara for his outdated clothes and died in 1561.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
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...
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
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and remained an ally of
Louis XII of France
Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...
even after
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...
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
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...
him and declared his fiefs forfeit, thereby adding Ferrara to the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
; Alfonso then fought successfully against the Venetian and Papal armies, winning the
Battle of Polesella, capturing
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, and playing a major part in the French victory at the
Battle of Ravenna (1512)
The Battle of Ravenna, fought on 11 April 1512, was a major battle of the War of the League of Cambrai. It pitted forces of the Holy League against France and their Ferrarese allies. Although the French and Ferrarese eliminated the Papal–Sp ...
. These successes were based on Ferrara's artillery, produced in his own foundry, which was the best of its time. In both of his portraits by
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
, (''Compare illustration above'') he poses with his arm across the mouth of one of his cannon.
In 1526–1527 Alfonso participated in the expedition of
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...
and king of Spain, against
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
, and in 1530 the pope again recognized him as possessor of the forfeited duchies of
Modena
Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025.
A town, and seat of an archbis ...
and
Reggio.
Marriages and issue
In January 1491, Alfonso married
Anna Maria Sforza, the niece of
Ludovico Sforza
Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; 'the Moor'), and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini, ,
Duke of Milan. In the same ceremony, Ludovico married Alfonso's younger sister,
Beatrice d'Este, the double wedding orchestrated by
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
. Alfonso and Anna had a daughter died at the birth.
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.
In 1501, Alfonso married
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto.
Her family arranged ...
. Their children were:
# A stillborn daughter (1502);
# Alessandro d'Este (1505–1505);
#
Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559);
#
Ippolito II d'Este (25 August 1509 – 1 December 1572).
Archbishop of Milan and later Cardinal;
# Alessandro d'Este (1514–1516);
#
Leonora d'Este (3 July 1515 – 15 July 1575), a nun and composer;
#
Francesco d'Este, Marquess of Massalombarda (1 November 1516 – 2 February 1578);
# Isabella Maria d'Este (born and died on 14 June 1519).
After Lucrezia's death on 24 June 1519, he married
Laura Dianti by whom he had had two illegitimate sons (later legitimized),
Alfonso
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...
and Alfonsino d'Este.
Art
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
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
painted ''
The Feast of the Gods'' in 1514, Bellini's last completed painting. He turned to Bellini's pupil,
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
, 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. The pallor of the marble led to the name of this room as the ''chamber of
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...
''. There are documents from
Mario Equicola on 9 October 1511, noting plans for painting of a room in
Ferrara
Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
, 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
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
and coerced as a
diplomatic gift by
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...
; Alfonso induced Titian to paint a free replica, which the artist of the painting illustrated above has adapted for his model. Over the next two decades,
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
added three more paintings:
The Worship of Venus' (
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...
, Madrid),
The Bacchanal of the Andrians' (Prado, Madrid), and ''
Bacchus and Ariadne'' (
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
).
Dosso Dossi
Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542) was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early Tit ...
produced another large bacchanal, and he also contributed ceiling decorations and a painted frieze for the cornice, depicting scenes from the ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'', 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 sculptures were dispersed.
File:Giovanni Bellini and Titian - The Feast of the Gods - Google Art Project.jpg, The Feast of the Gods by Giovanni Bellini and Titian
File:Ofrenda a Venus.jpg, The Worship of Venus by Titan
File:Bacchanal of the Andrians by Titian in the Prado Museum.jpg, Bacchanal of the Andrians by Titian
File:Titian Bacchus and Ariadne.jpg, Bacchus and Ariadne by Titan
Image:Dosso Dossi 001.jpg, ''Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan shore'', painted by Dosso Dossi
Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542) was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early Tit ...
for Alfonso's ''camerino d'alabastro'' (National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington).
File:Dosso dossi, trionfo di bacco, 00,1.jpg, Trimph of Baccus by Dosso Dossi
Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542) was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early Tit ...
for Alfonso's ''camerino d'alabastro'
Alfonso inherited from Cardinal d'Este the poet
Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...
. Following in the lead of his father Ercole, who had made Ferrara into one of the musical centres 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
When Alfonso's grandson
Alfonso II d'Este—
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...
's duke of "
My Last Duchess"
—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
See also
*
House of Este
The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries.
The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...
*
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Taylor, Frederick Lewis (1973). ''The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529''. Westport: Greenwood Press. .
*
External links
''Dosso Dossi: Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara'' a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Alfonso 1
1476 births
1534 deaths
Alfonso 1
Alfonso 1
Alfonso 1
Alfonso 1
Foundrymen
Military leaders of the Italian Wars
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
15th-century Italian nobility
16th-century Italian nobility
Burials at the Corpus Domini Monastery, Ferrara
Husbands of Lucrezia Borgia
People of the Italian Wars