Bianca Cappello
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Bianca Cappello was born in 1548 in the Palazzo Molin Cappello, which lies in the sestiere of San Polo. The daughter of Bartolomeo Cappello and Pellegrina Morosini, Bianca belonged to one of the richest noble families in the city.
At the tender age of fifteen she fell in love with a young Florentine citizen, by the name of Pietro Bonaventuri, who worked in a nearby bank. On the night of November 28th, 1563, the couple eloped and all hell broke out in Venice. Pietro was banished from the city, on pain of death if he ever returned, while Bianca was simply banished. Bonaventuri whisked the teenager off to his native city where they were married. However, true love doesn't seem to have lasted very long and the couple were soon unfaithful to each other, Pietro with a member of the Ricci family, while Bianca became the mistress of Francesco de' Medici, the son of the ruling Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo de' Medici. Pietro's infidelity cost him his life, Bianca's ended in marriage. In 1574 Cosimo died and Francesco became Grand Duke. Four years later, his wife, Joanna of Austria, died and Francesco lost no time in marrying his mistress, thereby making the thirty-year old Venetian the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. At this point the authorities in Venice made a spectacular volte face, proclaiming her as a 'true and special daughter of the Republic'. Hypocrites! On October 19th, 1587, Francesco died. A day later, Bianca followed her husband to the grave. Poison was thought by many to be the cause of their deaths and the prime suspect was Francesco's younger and ambitious brother, Ferdinand, who despised his sister-in-law. In 2006 and 2010 Francesco's body was examined and found to contain evidence of both arsenic and the parasite which causes malaria. As for Bianca? She was denied burial in the mausoleum built for members of the Medici family. Where she lies, no one knows! |
Bianca Cappello by Alessandro Allori
Palazzo Molin Cappello
Palazzo di Bianca Cappello, Florence
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