Ludovico il Moro Enthroned
Anonyme · Public domain
This illumination depicts Ludovico Sforza, known as il Moro, seated in majesty on his ducal throne. It illustrates the Epithalamium carmen, a poem composed by Paolo Bernardino Lanterio for the occasion of the duke's marriage to Beatrice d'Este in 1491. The work belongs to an illuminated manuscript intended to solemnly celebrate this dynastic union and to glorify Sforza power at its height, a few years before Ludovico officially acceded to the ducal title in 1494. It attests to the splendour of the Milanese court and to the Sforzas' careful cultivation of visual propaganda.