Urbino and Pesaro

Excellent workshop run by the London Art History Society at Conway Hall looking at the Renaissance courts of Urbino and Pesaro.

The day was led by Paula Nuttall and in the morning we concentrated on Urbino and in particular the court of Frederico de Montefeltro, him of the wonderful Piero Della Francesca portrait in the Uffizi. We spent a lot of time looking at the Palace he built with wonderful photographs. I especially liked his studiolo with illusionary wood effects and I now so want to go and see it. We also looked at how he used art and architecture to establish his power and position in Renaissance Italy.

In the afternoon we looked at his son Guidobaldo and how Castiglione wrote his book of the Courtier based on his life as an ambassador from Mantua to Urbino. Guidobaldo didn’t live long enough to commission much art but he did commissioned an early Raphael of St George for Henry VII which is still in the Royal Collection and acquired the sleeping Cupid by Michelangelo which was sold as an antique piece to a Roman patron. 

We also looked at his heir Francesco Maria Della Rovere who married Eleanora Gonzaga, daughter of Isabella d'Este and commissioned La Bella now in Vienna. Then at his son, another Guidobaldo, who in turn commissioned the Venus of Urbino of the same model.

All in all a fascinating day!

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