Architecture and Memory

The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro

Robert Kirkbride

 

There was likely some debate over a seven- or eight-sided figure for the cabinet door. In the mid 1470's, Urbino court member Bartolomeo di Giovanni Corradini, otherwise known as Fra Carnivale, painted an octagonal figure in sepia tones, evoking intarsiated wood. Both figures are comprised of a single recursive line, suggesting that the selection of the heptagonal figure was deliberate.

Source: Photo by author with permission of La Soprintendenza per i beni storici e artistici delle Marche

There was likely some debate over a seven- or eight-sided figure for the cabinet door. In the mid 1470's, Urbino court member Bartolomeo di Giovanni Corradini, otherwise known as Fra Carnivale, painted an octagonal figure in sepia tones, evoking intarsiated wood. Both figures are comprised of a single recursive line, suggesting that the selection of the heptagonal figure was deliberate.