Diptych with Portraits of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro
By STAN PARCHIN
July 4, 2011
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| Luciano Laurana (Dalmatian, d. 1479). Façade of the Ducal Palace (1472). Urbino. Photograph provided by Flickr. |
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| Piero della Francesca (Italian, ca. 1420/22-1492). Portrait of Battista Sforza (ca. 1470-74). Oil on wood. 47 x 33 cm (18.5 x 13 in.). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. |
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| Piero della Francesca (Italian, ca. 1420/22-1492). Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro (ca. 1470-74). Oil on wood. 47 x 33 cm (18.5 x 13 in.). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. |
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| Piero della Francesca (Italian, ca. 1420/22-1492). Allegorical Triumph of Federico da Montefeltro (ca. 1470-74). Oil on wood. 47 x 33 cm (18.5 x 13 in.). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. |
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| Piero della Francesca (Italian, ca. 1420/22-1492). Allegorical Triumph of Battista Sforza (ca. 1470-74). Oil on wood. 47 x 33 cm (18.5 x 13 in.). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. |
Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482), the illustrious Duke of Urbino (r. 1474-82), was one of Renaissance Italy's greatest patrons of the arts. The illegitimate son of Count Guidantonio (1377-1443) and Caterina Colonna (d. 1438), the niece of Pope Martin V (r. 1417-31), he assumed his father's title after the city's heavily taxed and dissatisfied populace revolted against Oddo Antonio (1427-1444), Federico's younger tyrannical half-brother. Disgruntled citizens disemboweled the despot with a pruning hook. Such was the nature of 15th-century Italian politics.
A respected man of arms and letters, Federico was a feared condottiere or mercenary captain for more than three decades. He remained virtually undefeated in his military campaigns across Italy. A large fortune amassed over time from the enlightened ruler’s various battles on behalf of others enabled him to employ the best artists, manuscript illuminators, engineers and architects at his resplendent royal residences in Urbino and Gubbio.
Federico da Montefeltro: His Early Life and Career
Urbino, a small remote hill-town high in central Italy's Apennine Mountains, was the capital of Montefeltro, a Papal State whose counts recognized the pope as their feudal lord. Its ruler, Guidantonio, sent his 11-year-old son Federico to Venice for 18 months. An outbreak of the plague forced the youth to flee to Mantua, where his tutelage was entrusted to Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (1395-1444), the city's marquis. There he was educated by the revered humanist Vittorino da Feltre (1378-1446) at the Cà Zoiosa (Joyous House), the scholar’s famous school. Federico was impressed by his mentor's deep knowledge of the classics, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, athletics and music. The teacher’s commitment to self-discipline and Christian values was extraordinary. Federico excelled in Latin (having read works by Cicero, Virgil and Livy) and public speaking. Gianfrancesco supervised the adolescent's equestrian and swordsmanship lessons.
Young Federico, destined for a warrior's life, sought further training as a soldier under Niccolò Piccinino (1386-1444), a leading Milanese condottiere. As the distinguished field commander of the Italic League, a defensive alliance of Italy's principalities (except Genoa and Rimini) established by the amended Peace of Lodi in 1454, Federico led his loyal cavalrymen in numerous campaigns to maintain the states' precarious balance of power. He was appointed captain general of the Kingdom of Naples, lieutenant general of the Duchy of Milan and standard bearer of the pope.
During his extremely successful military career, Federico married twice. Gentile Brancaleone (1416-1456), his first wife, was barren. The rich and well-educated Battista Sforza (1446-1472) of Milan, his much younger second bride, was the mother of their seven daughters. On January 24, 1472, she presented the duke with a son, Guidobaldo, in provincial Gubbio. Battista fulfilled her vow of devotion to St. Ubaldo for having granted her husband a male heir. Possibly weakened by multiple childbirths in quick succession, she died from pneumonia on July 6 of that same year while Federico was waging war in Volterra.
Piero della Francesca's Diptych
The portable Portraits of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro (ca. 1470-74) by painter Piero della Francesca (ca. 1420/22-1472) commemorate the loving couple. They were arranged as a diptych (two-panel composition) within an ornate gilded frame sometime after their creation. Both subjects are shown in sharp absolute profile. Each faces the other set against a colorful and misty landscape of low Umbrian mountains that recede into the distance atmospherically. The timeless vistas’ contiguity is unprecedented in 15th-century European art.
Battista, with her neatly manicured eyebrows, meticulous coiffure and porcelain skin, is an icon of Italian Renaissance beauty and court fashion in Piero's possibly posthumous likeness. Her elaborate headdress is comprised largely of a veil and ribbons; a golden brooch sits on top of its band. The duchess’ damask-sleeved gown is accented by stylish enamels and a string of rare pearls. Federico is attired in a red surcoat and distinctive felt hat of state. He stares directly at Battista, his huge nose's bridge having been shattered accidentally during a festive joust at Urbino in 1451 that resulted in the loss of his right eye. The artist's carefully controlled ideal images with their icy gazes, resembling contemporary sculpted busts, record in two dimensions how the patron wished he and his wife to be remembered eternally.
On the pair of painted panels' verso (reverse) sides are Allegorical Triumphs (ca. 1470-74). They depict Federico and Battista seated on wheeled platforms driven by winged cupids. The duke, dressed in full armor, is accompanied by representations of the four cardinal virtues (Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance). His wife is joined by three theological virtues (Faith, Charity and Hope) and perhaps a Clarissan nun. The majestic couple’s carriages are drawn to each other by sturdy steeds and mythical unicorns (the latter symbolizing chastity) that meet across a lofty idyllic plateau. Latin verses inscribed beneath classical moldings describe Federico’s military prowess and Battista’s modesty regarding praise for her husband’s accomplishments.
Sources
Beck, James H. Italian Renaissance Painting. Köln: Könemann, 1999, 159-163.
Bicheno, Hugh. Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the Renaissance. London: Phoenix, 2009, 143-167.
Cole, Alison. Virtue and Magnificence: Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995, 66-91.
Lavin, Marilyn Aronberg. Piero della Francesca. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 112-121.
Mattingly, Garrett, et al. Renaissance Profiles. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1961, 123-138.
Raggio, Olga and Antoine M. Wilmering. The Liberal Arts Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.
Simonetta, Marcello. The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded. New York: Doubleday, 2008.
_____ (ed.), et al. Federico da Montefeltro and His Library (exh. cat.). Milan: Y.Press, 2007.