Ludovico Ariosto and Leonardo da Vinci had…

Ludovico Ariosto and Leonardo da Vinci had shared a patron in Cardinal Ippolito d'Este’s older sister the Marchioness Isabella d’Este, who appears in Ludovico’s masterpiece, Orlando Furioso.

She also appears in Leonardo’s “Sketch for a Portrait of Isabella d’Este,” at the Louvre.

The cardinal had gone to Hungary in 1518, and wished Ariosto to accompany him.

The poet had excused himself, pleading ill health, his love of study, and the need to care for his elderly mother.

His excuses were not well-received, and he was denied even an interview.

The cardinal's brother, Alfonso, duke of Ferrara, now took Ariosto under his patronage.

By then, Ariosto had already distinguished himself as a diplomat, chiefly on the occasion of two visits to Rome as ambassador to Pope Julius II.

In 1520, Ariosto writes an Italian comedy, Il negromante, in the style of the comedies of Plautus and Terence.