Lucrezia Crivelli
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Lucrezia Crivelli (1464-1534), was an Italian noblewoman and lady-in-waiting. She was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza "il Moro", Duke of Milan. She was the mother of Sforza's son, Giovanni Paolo I Sforza, Marquess of Caravaggio. Crivelli has been thought to be the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting, La belle ferronnière.
Crivelli was a lady-in-waiting to Ludovico Sforza's wife, Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 2 January 1497). During this time, she also became the mistress of Sforza. In 1497, she gave birth to his son, Giovanni Paolo.[1] Sforza's affair with Crivelli caused much distress to his wife, who was considered accomplished and cultured. Upon learning of the affair, d'Este tried without success to have Crivelli banished from court. However, after Beatrice's death in 1497, Lucrezia returned to court and bore Sforza a second child in 1500.[1]
She also had a legitimate daughter by her husband Giovanni da Monastirolo: Bona da Monastirolo, who married Giovanni Pietro Bergamini (son of Cecilia Gallerani, also a former mistress of Sforza, and her husband Ludovico Carminati of Brembilla) and died after 1520.[1]
Crivelli's son by Sforza, Giovanni Paolo I Sforza (March 1497 – December 1535), became the first Marquess of Caravaggio, as well as a celebrated condottiero. He married Violante Bentivoglio (1505–1550), a granddaughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, by his mistress Lucrezia Landriani. The marriage produced a son and a daughter. The fate of their second child is not known. Ludovico Sforza died in 1508.
Crivelli lived for many years, until April 12, 1534, in Rocca di Canneto in Mantua, under the protection of Isabella d'Este, the elder sister of Beatrice.
