Lucrezia Crivelli was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, il Moro, Duke of Milan (27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508). Lucrezia was thought to be the model Leonardo da Vinci used for La belle ferronnière,[1] which is now in the Louvre, in Paris. She was the mother of Ludovico's son Giovanni Paolo I Sforza, Marquess of Caravaggio.
Lucrezia was a lady-in-waiting to Ludovico Sforza's wife before she became his mistress sometime before 1496. In 1497, a son was born to her, Giovanni Paolo.[2] Ludovico's affair with Lucrezia caused much distress to Ludovico's wife, the accomplished and cultured Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475- 2 January 1497), who tried without success to have Lucrezia banished from court. Leonardo da Vinci's painting La belle ferronnière, which is displayed in the Louvre, is presumed to be a portrait of Lucrezia. Leonardo had previously immortalised an earlier mistress of Ludovico's, Cecilia Gallerani, in his painting, Lady with an Ermine.
Her son by Ludovico, Giovanni Paolo I Sforza (March 1497- December 1535), became the first Marquess of Caravaggio as well as a celebtated condottiero. He married Violante Bentivoglio (1505–1550), a granddaughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, by his mistress Lucrezia Landriani. The marriage produced a son and a daughter. Ludovico Sforza died in 1508.
Lucrezia lived for many years under the protection of Isabella d'Este, in Rocca di Canneto in Mantua. Isabella was the elder sister of Beatrice, who had died in January 1497.