Manuscript cutting

This initial, perhaps cut from a choir book, shows Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (1444-76), a famously martial figure, kneeling in prayer to God (the half-length figure, upper right), presumably asking for victory in the battle taking place in the middle distance. The arms of the Dukes of Milan are also enclosed in a wreath in the border. The battle depicted probably took place during the campaigns of 1476, during which Galeazzo fought against the armies sent into northern Italy by Charles the Bold of Burgundy. Below the initial is the artist’s signature, partly rubbed: Opus Xpstofori de Predis VII die Aprilis 147[-]. Cristoforo, brother of the better known Ambrogio, signed various manuscripts in the 1470s.