To keep two sets of accounts seemed unnecessary: the
Minister of Finance was at the same time manager of the ducal
household. The buildings erected by Borso (1430-1471), by Ercole I
(till 1505), and by Alfonso I (till 1534), were very numerous, but of
small size; they are characteristic of a princely house which, with all
its love of splendor Borso never appeared but in embroidery and jewels
indulged in no ill-considered expense. Alfonso may perhaps have
foreseen the fate which was in store for his charming little villas,
the Belvedere with its shady gardens, and Montana with its fountains
and beautiful frescoes.
It is undeniable that the dangers to which these princes were
constantly exposed developed in them capacities of a remarkable kind.
In so artificial a world only a man of consummate address could hope to
succeed; each candidate for distinction was forced to make good his
claims by personal merit and show himself worthy of the crown he
sought. Their characters are not without dark sides; but in all of them
lives something of those qualities which Italy then pursued as its
ideal. What European monarch of the time labored for his own culture
as, for instance, Alfonso I? His travels in France, England, and the
Netherlands we re undertaken for the purpose of study: by means of them
he gained an accurate knowledge of the industry and commerce of these
countries.
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