11

her father froze her capital to prevent Bonaventuri appropriating it. Bartolomeo’s
 firm reaction would also have been due to his close relationship with
one of the most powerful families in Venice. He had married a second time to
Lucrezia Grimani, the sister of the patriarch of Aquileia, Giovanni Grimani, in
1559. Such a prestigious tie to this powerful Venetian family, closely linked to
the papacy, elevated Bartolomeo’s social position, and he would have been expected
 to take a clear stand on Bianca’s unseemly behaviour. This is perhaps
why he personally added a sum to the bounty posted by the Avogadori di Comun
 for the two youths in 1563. Bianca refused to return and in the meantime
she had given birth to a daughter, whom she had named after her mother, Pellegrina.


Francesco, under whose protection the two runaways had placed themselves,
negotiated with the Republic to obtain their pardon and thus the cancellation of
the banishment order, but without success.

An amorous relationship had already developed between Bianca and Francesco
 in January 1565, which was fiercely censured by the Florentine people -
his marriage to Joanna archduchess of Austria, youngest daughter of the emperor
 Ferdinand I, was celebrated on 18 December 1565. Bonaventuri had in turn
formed a relationship with Alessandra Bonciani. The young girl’s family, who
could no longer tolerate this adulterous situation, set an ambush for Bonaventuri,
 it is thought with the approval of Francesco. Bonaventuri lost his life in the
fight on 26 August

1572.8

Bianca, now widowed, should have returned to her
family of origin in Venice, as required by custom. Bartolomeo Cappello made
repeated attempts to convince his daughter to return to Venice, which she consistently
 opposed for fear of being forced into an unwanted marriage, but more
than anything of being buried away in a convent. In 1573 she began corresponding
 with her cousins Andrea and Girolamo Cappello, who acted as her
»agents« with the family, in the sense that they played an important role of
diplomatic mediation with Bartolomeo and

Bianca’s

brother Vittore Cappello
to dissuade them from making her return to Venice. Vittore was greeted with
great pomp in Florence, even before the death of Joanna. He was offered a position
 in the Florentine court and promised to provide for the daughter’s dowry.
In the letters exchanged with her cousins, Bianca asserted that her possible return
 to her homeland: »Would not be at all wise on my part, my Lord, having
the means to live as befits a lady, to leave a place where I am loved and honoured
 as if I were a queen […] for a place where I would not have any certainty
about my future standard of life« (»Sarebbe gran cosa, Signor mio molto malconsiderata
 partirmi d’un luogo dove io sono tanto amata e riverita come se
fusse una regina et avendo ogni mia beni et mia facultà de poter stare honoratamente
 da gentildonna […] per aver andare in luogo de non saper quel che abia
a eser la vita mia et con poca sicurezza di

essa«).9
Francesco had had a palazzo built by Bernardo Buontalenti in via Maggio,
near Palazzo Pitti, for his mistress, to whom he had also assigned a regular in-