Bianca Maria Sforza was Queen of Germany and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire as the third spouse of Maximilian I. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan by his second wife, Bona of Savoy.
Portrait by Bernhard Strigel, ca. 1505/1510
Fresco of Empress Bianca Maria Palazzo degli Atellani [it] in Milan, early 16th century, by Bernardino Luini.
The Swarowski bust of Bianca Maria Sforza created by Tibor Bogdan
La Bella Principessa (1495)
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself elected emperor in 1508 at Trent, thus breaking the long tradition of requiring a papal coronation for the adoption of the Imperial title. Maximilian was the only surviving son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal. Since his coronation as King of the Romans in 1486, he ran a double government, or Doppelregierung, with his father until Frederick's death in 1493.
Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1519
Frederick III and Eleanor of Portugal.
Eleanor and Maximilian, from Empress Eleanor's Book of Hours. The mother fed him knights' tales, encouraged him to fence, dance and hunt, while the father wanted Maximilian to be good at Latin.
Weisskunig, garden scene with Maximilian and Mary in Hortus conclusius. Maximilian wrote, "Had we but peace, we would sit here as in a rose garden."
![Fresco of Empress Bianca Maria Palazzo degli Atellani [it] in Milan, early 16th century, by Bernardino Luini.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Bernardino_Luini_016.jpg/640px-Bernardino_Luini_016.jpg)
