Ducal Palace, Urbino

The construction of the Ducal Palace was begun for Duke Federico III da Montefeltro around the mid-fifteenth century by the Florentine Maso di Bartolomeo. The new construction included the pre-existing Palace of the Jole. The solid rock hillside salient was impregnable to siege but was problematic for carving out the foundation of a palace. Thus, a prominent fortress-builder, Luciano Laurana, from Dalmatia, was hired to build the substructure; but Laurana departed Urbino before the living quarters of the palace were begun. After Laurana, the designer or designers of the Ducal Palace are not known with certainty. Leading High Renaissance architect Donato Bramante was a native of Urbino and may have worked on the completion of the palace. The Ducal Palace is famous as the setting of the conversations which Baldassare Castiglione represents as having taken place in the Hall of Vigils in 1507 in his Book of the Courtier. The palace continued in use as a government building into the 20th century, housing municipal archives and offices, and public collections of antique inscriptions and sculpture (the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, see below). Restorations completed in 1985 have reopened the extensive subterranean network to visitors. ==Studiolo and twin chapels==

The Ducal Palace featured several rooms that reflect Federico's devotion to Classical and humanistic studies and served his daily routine, which included visiting the palace's lararium and reading Greek literature. These learned and explicitly pagan touches were atypical of a medieval palazzo. Studiolo A central element in this plan is the studiolo (a small study or cabinet for contemplation), a room measuring just 3.60 x 3.35m and facing away from the city of Urbino and towards the Duke's rural lands. Its beautifully executed intarsia wood inlaying, surrounding the room's occupant with illusionary ''trompe-l'œil shelves, benches, and half-open latticework doors displaying symbolic objects representing the Liberal Arts bursting from the walls is the single most famous example of this Italian craft of inlay. The benches hold replica musical instruments, the shelves contain reproductions of books and musical scores, simulated scientific instruments (including an astrolabe and an armillary sphere), study furnishings (including a two-dimensional writing desk and an hourglass), weapons and armor, and various other objects (e.g. parrots in cages and a mazzocchio''). File:Urbino studiolo 1.jpg|Intarsia paneling of the studiolo File:Urbino studiolo 2.jpg|Astronomical instruments and mazzocchio File:Urbino studiolo 3.jpg|A mechanical clock The studiolo also features iconic representations of several persons, both contemporary and historical. On the intarsia panels are depicted statues of Federico in scholarly attire and of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Above the intarsia panels are portraits of great authors by Joos van Wassenhove (with reworking by Pedro Berruguete): The upper register (shown in the diagram's outside rows and columns) presents Classical and humanistic writers, as opposed to the religious figures (broadly speaking) of the lower register (inside). Chapel of Absolution and Temple of the Muses Downstairs from the studiolo are a twinned pair of chapels, one Christian and one pagan. The vestibule leading to them emphasizes their complementarity with this inscribed elegiac couplet: The Temple of the Muses, which may have been used as the personal studiolo of Federico's son Guidobaldo, originally featured paintings of the Muses as "sober musicians" that are perhaps the work of Giovanni Santi. ==Galleria Nazionale delle Marche==

The Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (National Gallery of the Marche), housed in the palace, is one of the most important collections of Renaissance art in the world. It includes important works by artists such as Raphael, Van Wassenhove (a Last Supper with portraits of the Montefeltro family and the court), Melozzo da Forlì, Piero della Francesca (with the famous Flagellation), Paolo Uccello, Timoteo Viti, and other 15th-century artists, as well as a late Resurrection by Titian. Selected highlights Image:Formerly Piero della Francesca - Ideal City - WGA17633 - Galleria Nazionale delle Marche Urbino.jpg|Attributed to Piero della FrancescaIdeal City, 60 x 200 cm Image:Raffael 043.jpg|RaphaelLa Muta, 64 x 48 cm Image:Piero_della_Francesca_042_Flagellation.jpg|Piero della FrancescaFlagellation, 59 x 82 cm. Image:Madonna di Senigallia.jpg|Piero della Francesca Madonna di Senigallia, 61 x 53 cm. Image:Titian - The Resurrection.jpg|TitianResurrection, 163 x 104 cm Image:Giusto di gand, comunione degli apostoli, 1473-1474.jpg|Joos van WassenhoveInstitution of Eucharist, 331 x 335 cm. Image:Titian LastSupper c1544 Urbino.jpg|TitianLast Supper, 163 x 104 cm. Image:Orazio gentileschi, Vision of St Francesca Romana.jpg|Orazio GentileschiVision of St. Francesca Romana Image:Paolo Uccello - Miracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 2) - WGA23223.jpg|Paolo UccelloMiracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 2), 43 x 58 cm Image:Luca signorelli, crocifissione, urbino, gnm.jpg|Luca SignorelliCrucifixion, 144 x 89 cm. Image:Paolo Uccello - Miracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 4) - WGA23225.jpg|Paolo UccelloMiracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 4), 43 x 58 cm Image:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6359445.jpg|Federico BarocciVirgin and Child with Saints, 283 x 190 cm. Image:Paolo Uccello - Miracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 6) - WGA23227.jpg|Paolo UccelloMiracle of the Desecrated Host (Scene 6), 43 x 58 cm ==See also==