photos of the recipes with links to my blogs, and a little more from time to time
Leonardo da Vinci drawing of Isabella d’Este (18 May 1474 – 13 February 1539)
Isabella d’Este was the first daughter of Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Leonora of Naples, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples, the Aragonese King of Naples, and Isabella of Taranto.
Portrait of Ercole d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (1471-1505), possibly by Dosso Dossi (c.1490 -1542)
The court of Ercole d’Este was one of the most glittering in Renaissance Italy. The duke was a prolific builder, and the leader in the revival of classical theater, an enthusiastic patron of musicians, and a creator of magnificent court spectacles. Very little survives to testify to Ercole’s achievements, largely because of a devastating earthquake in 1570, but extensive archival evidence has been used to reestablish the duke’s achievements and the extent to which he was personally involved in his patronage.