Welcome to the Room

♦ A blog for me to talk about tidbits of history (mostly the Italian renaissance) ♦ ♣ I also post my art & ideas for historical fiction based on the lives of Italian renaissance figures ♣ ♥ Proud Raphael Sanzio fan and Medici-Sforza OT4 enjoyer ♥

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Sketch of a frame for a possible little animation with Raphael. Will be a simple head turn but I just want to draft the shading first.

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Leonardo da Vinci accompanied by his students Francesco Melzi & Salaï by Gustave Moreau (date N/A)

Another one of my favourite Renaissance fanarts by a Romantic artist. It's a cute sketch of Leonardo with Salai and Melzi by his side. Probably stopping for a break while journeying to a client's place. There's also a city in the background tho I can't tell which one it is.

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Memories of Rome II (Raphael & Michelangelo at the Sight of St. Peter) by Carl Gustav Carus (1839)

I really love this painting. Obviously this never happened, but it's a nice scenario to think about. What if Raphael had lived longer and become good friends with Michelangelo down the line? Would they have left Rome together during the sack in search of new patrons? Would they have parted ways and gone back home? I get melancholic thinking about it. Idk what you call this genre of classical art (fanart of the Renaissance period by Romantic artists), but it's my favourite genre of classical art.

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Giuliano dancing! I remember reading that he liked to dance as a hobby so I did a little drawing.

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A letter from Galeazzo Maria Sforza to his friend and ally Lorenzo de Medici, requesting the sale of a rare book that once belonged to King Alfonso I of Naples. At this time, Galeazzo was looking for gifts to bequeath to his mistress Lucia Marliani, whom he seemed to be lovestruck by. He had already given her various articles of clothing, precious jewels, and ownership of property. This time, he wanted to gift a 10,000 ducat book that Lorenzo had in his collection. Galeazzo was probably racking his brain thinking of something that Lucia didn't already have and then remembered the Medici library and art collection. The letter reads:

To Lorenzo de Medici, by the prince's own hand.

Lorenzo, you will have heard about my lover for whom I have the greatest love, and I try as much as it is possible for me to give to her all the pleasures in this world. I know that you have the so-called "balassio", that book said to have belonged to Alfonso. Now, I beg of you, as much as I know and can, do not tell of this to anyone and pass it on to the present envoy, Hieronymo da Sena, my sottocameriero*. And name any price you wish, for I will send you the money immediately. Hieronymo will write a receipt of the goods. I hope to receive this from you with singular pleasure, and as much as can be received in the world at this time.

Letter 13 May 1475

Galeazzo Maria,

In my own hand

*A Sottocameriero was a junior cameriero, AKA chamberlain. Galeazzo had sottocamerieri run certain errands and usually got them to help with matters pertaining to Lucia.

[Image source: Lettere di Galeazzo Maria Sforza duca di Milano in Archivio Storico Lombardo: Giornale della società storica lombarda by Giulio Porro Lambertenghi]

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I miss being a university student and having access to a digital library. Now I can't read detailed journal articles from various databases unless I get special approval. *Sigh*

If I ever decide to pursue a master's degree, I'm definitely going to abuse the library privileges to no end.

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Thinking about the good ol' butterfly effect. King Ferrante of Naples and Francesco Sforza agreed to a marriage between their kids (Eleanora and Sforza Maria respectively), which was later called off by Galeazzo when he became duke (Ferrante too was responsible, but he seemed incensed to break it off on his end because of Galeazzo). Eleanora went on to instead marry Ercole d'Este and they had 4 kids, the 2 eldest daughters being Isabella d'Este and Beatrice d'Este.

So essentially, if Galeazzo hadn't pushed for the cancellation of the marriage agreement, our 2 favourite bickering sisters would never have been born. Thank you Galeazzo 🙏

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Some instances where Ippolita addresses herself as "Your littlest sister," when signing off letters to her brother Galeazzo. I find that really cute; she still has fond memories of the time they spent together during their childhood. Ippolita and Galeazzo were so close in age (only 1 year apart) that they practically grew up as a unit. They shared daily activities, tutors, and royal duties, like entertaining dignitaries or dancing/playing music for guests. Basically, the two eldest Sforza-Visconti children were raised with the same education, separate from the younger ones.

If we really want to get technical, Ippolita wasn't Galeazzo's youngest sister; that would be Elisabetta. But it's cute that Ippolita could joke around and show affection to her older brother like this.

Btw, the Latin autograph she uses at the end of her letters ("Eiusdem vestre illustrissime dominationis") translates to "Of your same illustrious dominion". Ippolita almost always used this phrase when writing to Sforza relatives to underline both her family's power, as well as her blood tie to its members.

[Image source: Ippolita Maria Sforza: Duchess and Hostage in Renaissance Naples: Letters and Orations by Lynn Lara Westwater & Diana Maury Robin]

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I'm dying at this line from the book:

"— and Francesco Maletta, whose dispatches on Alfonso's bisexual adventures and other current gossip made him a favourite of Galeazzo's."

Imagine Ippolita pouring her heart out to her brother about frustrations with her husband's infidelity and Galeazzo is like; "Omg that's awful. F*ck that guy amirite? And his dad too,"

At the same time, Galeazzo is asking his ambassador to amuse him with his brother-in-law's sexual escapades and thinking; "I hate you.... but I understand 😤"

[Image source:

1. Ippolita Maria Sforza: Duchess and Hostage in Renaissance Naples: Letters and Orations by Lynn Lara Westwater & Diana Maury Robin

2. A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza by Gregory Lubkin]

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Finally got this book. It was out of stock for the longest time but it's here with me now haha. I'm mainly using this for the translations of Ippolita's letters and not so much for the additional commentary since there's some incorrect information present (I've skimmed a little bit of it and found a couple inconsistencies, e.g. Gian Galeazzo Sforza is stated to be younger than his wife Isabella d'Aragona when he was actually older by a year).

Still helpful in knowing more about Ippolita and building up her character for my fictional version of her. I'm grateful that some of her official letters are still available today. Compared to Galeazzo where there's barely anything directly from him, more people are able to write about Ippolita because of these letters.

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Quick coloring practice with Raphael. He's annoyed that I haven't drawn him much but I can't help being occupied ahhh

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More screaming Raphael. I have some other Raphael stuff that isn't just non-fiction books or souvenirs that use the same few stock images. It's mainly children's books about him with beautifully drawn pictures. Maybe I'll show them here later.

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Been gone for a while, but life has slowed down a little bit. I got these cute Raphael figures that I now need to find space in my room to display ^_^

First one is obviously based on his self-portrait, while the second is him doing the Scream pose :0

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I just watched Wicked for the 2nd time. Now I'm thinking of Isabella d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia singing "What is this Feeling?" after they become sisters-in-law. Also, Lucrezia being the Glinda to Isabella's Elphaba with "Popular".

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When reading modern books/biographies about Lorenzo (note: books, not peer reviewed journals or studies, so less research is usually done), the authors tend to blame Galeazzo for causing Lorenzo more trouble than what's worth. I don't think it's really fair to do so since being allies doesn't mean always accommodating for the other party. Man's got a duchy to run, obviously he'd put his own people first.

Anyway, Lorenzo did not hate Galeazzo or vice versa. The latter making the former godfather of his children (not just because of the gift) shows as much. Them being childhood friends also helped relations between Florence and Milan.

[Image source: A Family Of Decent Folk 1200-1741. A Study In The Centuries Growth Of The Lanfredini Merchant-Bankers, Art-Patrons And House-Builders Of Florence by Mildred Mary Blanche Mansfield]

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I agree with the author here. A lot of what has been said about Galeazzo is most likely hearsay, or even outright smears. I've talked about it before, but a lot of differing accounts regarding his conduct don't really add up. If Galeazzo remained in power, barring Ludovico from taking the throne, the French probably would not have been so bold as to speedrun taking over Italy.

There would've been no need to in the first place since the conflict between Ludovico and Naples would not have arisen. In the end, Galeazzo, the one who got the short end of the stick in history, wasn't the one to bring ruin to his house (and Milan). It was Ludovico, who somehow gets praise and credit for being "cultured" despite essentially having been the root cause of the Italian Wars, as well as bringing about end of the Sforzas.

[Image source: A Family Of Decent Folk 1200-1741. A Study In The Centuries Growth Of The Lanfredini Merchant-Bankers, Art-Patrons And House-Builders Of Florence by Mildred Mary Blanche Mansfield]

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hello! I don't have any questions for you yet, I want to express some gratitude. I'm just starting to get interested in the Renaissance, and I really like reading your posts with thoughts and ideas, as well as your posts with art. (and I'm so glad you're a Raphael fan too <3) I hope you keep updating this account :))

Hi! Wow, thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy my content and I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I do in researching these historical figures. Meeting a fellow Raphael fan in the wild is great too! Feels like we're a minority 🥲

I do want to post regularly here now that I have a blog solely for this topic, so, I'll try my best to be consistent with updates!