June Osborne (1) (1928–)

Urbino, remotely located east of the Apennines in an area called the Marches, is my favorite city that I have never visited, and its first Duke, Federico da Montefeltro, is my favorite Renaissance man. When I was traveling in Italy many years ago I don't believe I even knew about Urbino. If I were to return to Italy today, it is the first place I would visit.

Urbino: The Story of a Renaissance City is a coffee table book filled with wonderful color photographs. But it is also a scholarly text by an art historian who once served as assistant to Ernst Gombrich and who at the time of publication lectured at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. The whole panorama of Urbino and its storied past is laid out here both literally and figuratively.

The history of the city goes back to Roman times, but it came into its own in the late Middle Ages under the counts of Montefeltro, reacing its pinnacle as the quintessential Renaissance city under Duke Federico (1422-1482). Federico was the illegitimate son of Guidantonio Montefeltro, who died in 1443 and was succeeded at first by his son and heir Oddantonio. The Montefeltros had a reputation of being enlightened despots who ruled well, imposed a low and just tax regime and were beloved by a loyal populus. Oddantonio immediately doubled the tax burden and antagonized the citizenry to the point that he was brutally assassinated the following year.

Meanwhile, Federico had been nurturing his reputation as a skilled condottiere — essentially a mercenary general — and upon his half-brother's death, went to claim his position as Count of Urbino. Before the people would allow him to enter the city, they demanded that he sign a list of concessions that would restore the tax rates and generally good government of his father and grandfather. Upon his agreement, he was welcomed into the city where the wealth he had earned and continued to earn as a warrior for hire allowed him to keep the taxes low and "to create a city in the form of a palace." In his day, according to Castiglione, he was "the light of Italy." When asked what was the most important attribute of a leader, Federico replied, "Essere umano," which can be translated "to be human," "to be humane, or "to be a humanist." Federico was all three.

The Montefeltros were well connected all over Italy, but especially with the Gonzagas of Mantua, the Sforzas of Milan and the King of Naples. Honors that were bestowed upon Federico included the Order of the Ermine (i.e., knighthood) by Ferrante I of Aragon, the Order of the Garter by Edward IV of England and he was made Duke of Urbino by Pope Sixtus IV. He was married to Battista Sforza, daughter of a lesser light among the Sforzas. Their only Son Guidobaldo married Elisabetta Gonzaga and it was during their regime that the Urbino court reached the peak of its ascendency, as memorialized in Baldassare Castiglione's renowned The Book of the Courtier.

Urbino was a fortress in itself, so it did not need a castle. Federico was thus at liberty to create a palace to express his magnificence. The Ducal Palace is at once imposing in its size and yet a model of restraint in its interior proportions and livability. Sir Kenneth Clark famously said in Civilization, "It is the only palace in the world I can go round without feeling oppressed and exhausted." From the interior courtyard with its Latin frieze inscription and delicately carved Corinthian columns to its angel fireplace and secret garden, not to mention the famed Studiolo and the Salle della Veglie where the discussions reported in The Book of the Courtier took place, it is indeed a palace that dreams are made of.

The twin towers which frame a delicate loggia are the palace's most striking exterior feature. A passage which can be discerned from the row of windows in a low wall to the left of the towers connects the Duke's apartments with those of the Duchess. It is behind the middle of the three loggias that the Studiolo is located.

The Studiolo is famous as the finest and most complete example of an early Renaissance private study, and for the trompe l'oeil intarsia lining the lower walls and the paintings of historical figures revered by Federico, which included Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Cicero, Boethius, and a number of Church fathers.

Federico's son Guidobaldo had never been physically strong, and he died at age twenty-six after a lingering and debilitating illness. He and Elisabetta were childless, and they had adopted his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere as his heir. Pope Julius II was a della Rovere, and this connection seemed to stabilize Urbino, which had undergone serious challenges and even caused Guido and Elisabetta to be exiled for a time until they could secure the city. It was the visit in 1507 of Pope Julius II, many of whose entourage consisting of scholars, writers, artists and musicians stayed in Urbino after the pope's departure, that set in motion the writing of The Book of the Courtier, and it was upon their discussions that the book was based.

Castiglione himself embodied all the attributes of an ideal courtier, an ideal Renaissance man. He was a soldier, writer, poet, book collector, Greek, Latin and Italian scholar, art collector, and later an ambassador (from Mantua to Rome) and a papal nuncio to Spain where he died.

After the della Roveres were succeeded by the Medici, the cultural importance of Urbino declined. It is depressing to read of this decline. The Ducal Palace was virtually sacked by the Medici and all its treasures that could be moved were scattered far and wide. The city languished and fell into decay, but in 1700 a pope who had been born in Urbino undertook a restoration of the cathedral and Ducal Palace.

One smaller palace that had belonged to Federico and was sold into private hands bore a lovely frieze inscription in Latin in its courtyard which was reminiscent of that in the Ducal Palace. The sentiment it bears must be applied to Urbino itself:

"Let this house remain until the ant drinks the ocean and the slow tortoise walks round the world."

I give this book five stars both for presentation and content. It is an outstanding read, and I spent way too much time pouring over the pictures!… (más)