Urbino, a city in the Le Marche region, was a thriving city through the middle ages. However, it rose to glory in the 15th century when Federico de Montefeltro became Duke. He was a general, turned politician, turned art lover. A real Renaissance man in the sense of an individual who understood the new Humanism of the time and sought to educate himself in the humanities. Visual arts, architecture, geometry, math, science, literature, philosophy.... that is your world if you want to become fully actualized as a human being and attain virtu, excellence in mind, spirit and morality. I'm in!
Urbino became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1998. It's crowning glory is the ducal palace, which this photo cannot possibly relay:
I climbed to the top of the tower, following a tight spiral staircase that was so very lovely:
Today was Sunday, June 2 (Happy Festa della Republica, Italy!) and had great luck because the first Sunday of every month, most museums are free! In I went, into the splendor and richness.... everything is marble, gilt, intarsia, frescoed. So exquisite. It is Le Marche's National Gallery so it is loaded with art. Here are just some highlights:
The Duke of Montefeltro was also noted for his studiolo. Any Renaissance man worth his salt (or pistachio gelato) would have a home study, filled with books and gadgets and literature and all sorts of things to ponder. But the Duke took this further and had his studiolo made entirely of intarsia, inlaid woods using the new ideas of linear perspective to create realistic images. This is all inlaid wood. He also had one made for his palace in Gubbio, but the Met in New York bought it back in the '70s so you can see it the next time you are in New York. But here are some shots of the one here in Urbino:
No comments:
Post a Comment