Ercole I d'Este

The present portrait was one of a pair of portrait busts carved in 1475 by Sperandio to decorate the Porta del Barco, the entrance to a large hunting preserve north of Ferrara. It shows Duke Ercole I wearing a conical beret and jousting armour. Despite the damage to the nose and chin, the portrait is the finest surviving sculpture Sperandio.

Ercole I d’Este (1431-1505) was the half brother of Leonello and Borso d’Este. He became the ruler of the duchy of Ferrara in 1471. He reigned for thirty-four years, surviving both an attempted coup by Leonello’s son Niccolò, whom Ercole had ordered beheaded, and a disastrous war with Venice (1482-84) that reduced the territory of his state. In 1473 he married with great pomp the daughter of Ferrante of Aragon. Ercole and his duchess, Eleonora, were known as much for their acts of public piety as for the lavish lifestyle they maintained. Ercole left an enduring mark on Ferrara. He undertook and ambitious urban project, in which he doubled the size of Ferrara and endowed it with broad streets and a series of palaces and churches as well as country residences. Under his rule Ferrara became a leading centre of music, attracting the great Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Desprez.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 7 minutes):

Josquin Desprez: In principio erat verbum, motet