Borso d'Este

He was an illegitimate son of Niccolò III d'Este, Marquess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, and his mistress Stella de' Tolomei.

[2] Borso's court was the center of the so-called Ferrarese school of painting, whose members include Francesco del Cossa, Ercole dei Roberti and Cosimo Tura.

A man of little education (unlike his brother Leonello), he had a pragmatic view of the arts as a powerful propaganda tool to promote his political ambitions by projecting an image of personal magnificence.

[3] His traditional image as a magnanimous patron of arts, as later proclaimed in Ludovico Ariosto's poem Orlando Furioso, is also an idealized representation.

[2] While spending extravagantly on culture and spectacle to promote his political image, he was far from generous with the artists he patronized, whom he did not consider worthy of any special consideration.