Francesco Sforza II - Manuscript; Degree with hand-coloured coat of arms - 1532/1713

Handwritten diploma by Francesco II Sforza, ninth and last Duke of Milan, with which he assigns the noble coat of arms to his half-brother Giovanni Paolo Sforza (1497 - 1535) , ancestor of the Marquess of Caravaggio and all his descendants. The Marquisate of Caravaggio was a small fief located in the western Bergamo plain and ruled, from 1529 to 1796, by a branch of the Sforza, derived from the Duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro (father of Francesco II Sforza) and Lucrezia Crivelli. From her, in 1497, Giampaolo I was born, appointed by his half-brother Francesco II Sforza, first Marquess of Caravaggio. Authentic copy from the Regio Archivio of Milan on July 3, 1713. Coeval folio, original rustic cardboard cover, containing 6 handwritten pages and the last two blank, inside, double sheet with large heraldic coat of arms of the Sforza family, entirely painted with bright colours and arranged horizontally with some handwritten notes on the side. Attached loose document of 4 pages, handwritten on the first sheet with data of the excerpt, dated 1713. An excellent copy.