Cart

No products in the cart.

We were in Urbino and visited the Ducal Palace of Federico da Montefeltro: an example of Classical Museology that has evolved into Contemporary.


NowArc's journeys continue to discover hidden masterpieces and places already explored, but which deserve further sharing on our Webzine.

This is the time Urbino and its Ducal Palace, built at the behest of the Duke Frederick of Montefeltro which gave birth to a real one City of the Prince.

The construction of Palazzo Ducale began in 1444 by Maso Di Bartolomeo: this was the beginning of approximately thirty years of projects and expansions of the Palace. It will be finished in 1472 under the direction of the works by Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

As if the architectural beauty in which the visitor is immersed was not enough, this centenary place is also the home of the National Gallery of the Marche. It is precisely thanks to this presence that NowArc has decided to delve into the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.


The facade of the Doge's Palace.

Entering these walls in fact takes us back in time, if only for the presence of works found in art history manuals and which have made our history famous throughout the world. And again, it is impossible not to point out the testimony, which has remained almost intact, of the Studiolo of Federico: a place made of wooden inlays which on a manufacturing and conceptual level has become the symbol of the birth of the study of Italian Museology.

In fact, in this Palace there are two fundamental historical elements: on the one hand the presence of Renaissance masterpieces which mark the birth of this golden period in our history on a chronological level. On the other, as already mentioned, the birth of what a few centuries later would be called the Museum.


Preparatory drawing by Annibale Carracci – The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne

But let's go for order.

Like any self-respecting palace, there are numerous rooms intended for public and private use of its inhabitants. This is how we are faced with a path taken by Jole apartments, that of the Apple oranges,Guest Apartment until arriving, in the rooms numbered from 16 to 20, to the Duke's Apartments o Very real. Precisely in these rooms the public stops to admire what has become the symbol of the beginning of the Renaissance era: the Flagellationneed Piero della Francesca. It is not difficult to remember this image in school books: very often the explanation of the system of perspective studies useful for the most faithful representation to reality arose from this painting.

Advancing in Representative Rooms continue our journey backwards: this is the room of Ideal City, attributed over the years to various artists and, currently, to Luciano Laurana. The ideal city it inspired architects of the last century, treatises on painting, drawing, philosophers and historians. The Ideal City it has never been a simple painting, but a Manifesto of an era that indicates perfection transformed into ambitions, in an artistic but also political and social sense.

We continue our walk, in which theDuchess' apartment It presents itself to us in all its splendor: this is the room of Raphael's masterpiece (Rafael from Urbino…), The Mute.

Those in the sector know that the study of Raphael, from the beginning of his career to the end, allows for an in-depth study of the history of art: an eclectic painter who, influenced by the Masters he met on his path, managed to make all his influences. This is how in front of the Muta there is something that reminds us Leonardo Da Vinci, in the position of the subject and in the chiaroscuro of some features, but with pictorial elements that the Artist made his own and made him the legend he is today.

Last but not least it Studiolo: the portraits of illustrious men above the visitor's heads, the wooden inlays, an element of Italian manufacturing excellence and still the place toto are the basis of what we could define today as a proto museum. In fact, it is enough to think that this place was intended for meditation, for the cultivation of the Duke's thoughts which would later inspire, in the following decades, the creation of the Wunderkammern.


The wooden inlays of Federico's Studiolo.


Detail of Federico da Montefeltro's Studiolo.

Let's hope this little excursus was an inspiration to all the people who, for one way or another, they have never managed to visit one of the most important places in the Bel Paese: civic commitment and knowledge of their history also starts from these small trips out of town.


Eleonora Rebiscini, art historian and aspiring blogger, begins to appear in the contemporary art market.
Favorite pastime: taking photos at the museum and posting them on instagram with @el Ancora.