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Urbino Studiolo Gubbio Studiolo
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Anamorphosis, Urbino Studiolo Spiral stairs, Urbino: the duke's descent and ascent
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Urbino Dawn Urbino Bells
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Chapter 1

Fig. 1.1. Worm's eye view of the Urbino studiolo walls and ceiling. Fig. 1.2. Worm's eye view of the Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 1.3. Map of Italy circa 1480. Fig. 1.4. Astrolabe and armillary sphere, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 1.5. The theological virtue of Faith, Urbino studiolo.
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Chapter 2

Fig. 2.1. Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro.
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Fig. 2.2. The city of Urbino and the ducal palace.
Fig. 2.3. Axonometric detail of the Urbino ducal palace. Fig. 2.4. View from loggia outside studiolo.
Fig. 2.5. View of ceiling and gallery of 28 illustrious men, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.6. Illustrious men at north wall of Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.7. Illustrious men at east wall of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.8. Illustrious men at south wall of Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.9. Illustrious men at west wall of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.10. Directly beneath "FEDERICVS" we find Plato and Aristotle placed side-by-side.
Fig. 2.11. Cabinet, north wall. Fig. 2.12. Cabinet, north wall.
Fig. 2.13. Candied fruit on bench, north wall. Fig. 2.14. Lit candle, north wall.
Fig. 2.15. Twenty-four objects are displayed on the benches at Urbino. Fig. 2.16. Astrolabe and armillary sphere, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.17. Hope, north wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.18. Faith, south wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.19. Charity, west wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.20. Worm's eye view of the Urbino studiolo walls and ceiling, drawn by author and Amelia Amelia.
Fig. 2.21. Northeast corner of Urbino intarsia, with Federico in humanist's robes and his armor at right. Fig. 2.22. Detail of chain mail, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.23. Southeast corner of Urbino intarsia, with miniature studiolo at left and an organ at right. Fig. 2.24. Civic space at the center of the east wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.25. There was likely some debate over a seven- or eight-sided figure for the cabinet door. Fig. 2.26. Heptagonal figure, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.27. Unicursal octagonal figure drawn by Amelia Amelia after Fra Carnivale. Fig. 2.28. Heptagonal floral pattern on upturned "bench."
Fig. 2.29. Operable intarsia panels folded open, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.30. Devices in the dado at Urbino and Gubbio include an ostrich, an ermine, olive and oak trees, and a crane.
Fig. 2.31. Exploding grenade, north wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.32. Bridle, north wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.33. Bench wheels, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.34. View from loggia outside studiolo.
Fig. 2.35. Detail of distant city, east wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.36. View of Gubbio ducal palace.
Fig. 2.37. Plan of Gubbio ducal palace, with studiolo noted as Room 1. Fig. 2.38. Worm's eye view of the Gubbio studiolo, drawn by author and Amelia Amelia.
Fig. 2.39. View of Gubbio studiolo from entrance. Fig. 2.40. Northwest wall, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.41. Northeast wall, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.42. Southeast wall, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.43. Southwest wall, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.44. Goddess Astronomy with Ptolemy/Ferrante I.
Fig. 2.45. Goddess Music with Costanzo Sforza. Fig. 2.46. Goddess Dialectic with Federico da Montefeltro.
Fig. 2.47. Goddess Rhetoric with Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. Fig. 2.48. Lectern and opened manuscript of Virgil's Aeneid, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.49. Mirror with Guidobaldo's initials. Fig. 2.50. North corner of Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.51. Bench legs, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.52. Ceiling and funnel windows, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.53. Exterior façade of Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.54. Pipe and tabor, candied fruits, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.55. Detail of ceiling, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.56. Basket with fruit, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.57. Lute with broken strings, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.58. Ceiling, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.59. Montage of vertical axis in northwest wall, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 2.60. Threaded disc surrounds, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 2.61. Lute anamorphosis, part 1, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.62. Lute anamorphosis, part 2, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.63. Lute anamorphosis, part 3, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.64. Author's montage of cabinet doors from three positions to demonstrate their "swing."
Fig. 2.65. Chess pieces, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.66. Small scale portrait of Duke Federico.
Fig. 2.67. East wall of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 2.68. Civic space, east wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 2.69. Dinocrates presenting the model of a city to Alexander the Great. Fig. 2.70. An equivalent of the Urbino studiolo's east wall at Gubbio?
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Chapter 3

Fig. 3.1. The "most perfect" O. Fig. 3.2. Mensurations of the human head.
Fig. 3.3. A perspectival velo of intersections. Fig. 3.4. A musical memory palace.
Fig. 3.5. Detail of the virtues from the Allegory of Good Government.
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Fig. 3.6. Collared squirrel, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 3.7. Crane, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 3.8. Astrolabe and armillary sphere, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 3.9. Exploded axonometric of assembly of an intarsia panel in the Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 3.10. Mirror, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 3.11. Convex mirror and surround fabricated by the Maiano brothers, 1480.
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Chapter 4

Fig. 4.1. Double Portrait of Federico and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro.
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Fig. 4.2. The ducal library's ceiling at Urbino.
Fig. 4.3. Ottaviano degli Ubaldini and Federico da Montefeltro. Fig. 4.4. Guidobaldo da Montefeltro.
Fig. 4.5. Vittorino da Feltre, Federico's teacher, among the illustrious men in the Urbino studiolo. Fig. 4.6. Section of human head after Leonardo.
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Fig. 4.7. Diagram of human mind after Galen.
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Fig. 4.8. Diagram of human mind after Lokhorst and Kaitaro's model of Costa ben Luca.
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Fig. 4.9. Diagram of human mind after Avicenna.
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Fig. 4.10. Diagram of the human mind.
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Fig. 4.11. Instrumental demonstration of rectitude.
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Fig. 4.12. Perspectival "butterfly," after missing figure at Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 4.13. Papagalli and mechanical clock, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 4.14. Detail of north wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 4.15. Gramatica XXI after traditional Tarocchi di Mantegna.
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Fig. 4.16. Late quattrocento emblems worn with armor.
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Fig. 4.17. Ingenioq cabinet, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 4.18. Alphabetic mnemonics.
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Fig. 4.19. Cabinet with hunting horn, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 4.20. Tau-shaped tuning key, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 4.21. Cipher of Gramatica.
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Fig. 4.22. Superimposition of human and building profiles.
Fig. 4.23. The Tempio Malatestiana, Rimini. Fig. 4.24. Sarcophagus of Sigismondo Malatesta, Tempio Malatestiana.
Fig. 4.25. Superimposition of fortress and human body.
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Fig. 4.26. Drawing of medal.
Fig. 4.27. Papagalli and cage, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 4.28. Papagallo and birdcage, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 4.29. Image of a spinning birdcage.
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Fig. 4.30. The reticulated grid became a "dominant" feature of medieval mnemonics.
Fig. 4.31. Federico and Guidobaldo listening attentively to an oration. Fig. 4.32. Ornament in the cubiculum from the villa of P. Fannius Synistor, ca. 50-40 BCE.
Fig. 4.33. Sevenfold flowers, thistle-like artichokes and pomegranates in an intarsiated cushion at Urbino. Fig. 4.34. Detail from Piero della Francesca's Brera Altarpiece.
Fig. 4.35. St. Augustine among the illustrious men in the Urbino studiolo. Fig. 4.36. Image of hooked fish, after marginalia in The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.
Fig. 4.37. Enlinked pretzels, after marginalia in The Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Fig. 4.38. "Chain" border detail from cabinets at Gubbio.
Fig. 4.39. Drawing of a fortified city on a hill. Fig. 4.40. A concentric combinatorial memory wheel.
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Fig. 4.41. Astrolabe and armillary sphere, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 4.42. Triple hoist mechanism carved by Ambrogio Barrocci after drawing by Francesco di Giorgio.
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Fig. 4.43. Column hoist carved by Ambrogio Barrocci after drawing by Francesco di Giorgio. Fig. 4.44. "Unfinished" façade of Urbino's ducal palace.
Fig. 4.45. Superimposition of human and building profiles.
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Fig. 4.46. Detail of The Effects of Good Government.
Fig. 4.47. East wall of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 4.48. Piazza del Foro, Rimini.
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Chapter 5

Fig. 5.1. Northwest wall, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 5.2. Ceiling of Urbino studiolo in late afternoon light.
Fig. 5.3. Detail of ceiling, Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 5.4. The Madonna of Senigallia, after Piero della Francesca.
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Fig. 5.5. Detail from Piero della Francesca's Brera Altarpiece.
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Fig. 5.6. Glass mirror and vessels, Urbino studiolo.
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Chapter 6

Fig. 6.1. Federico da Montefeltro in the robes of a humanist scholar. Fig. 6.2. The city of Urbino and the ducal palace.
Fig. 6.3. The turrets of the ducal palace. Fig. 6.4. Axonometric detail of the Urbino ducal palace.
Fig. 6.5. View from loggia, outside Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.6. The subterranean stables at Urbino's ducal palace.
Fig. 6.7. Access from the stables to the duke's thermal bath (left) and private stairtower (right). Fig. 6.8. The waters of the thermal bath were heated by a kitchen fireplace on the other side of the wall.
Fig. 6.9. Scopetta, north wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.10. The duke's private spiral staircase.
Fig. 6.11. Entrance to the Tempietti. Fig. 6.12. Entrance to Capella del Perdono.
Fig. 6.13. Capella del Perdono, from entrance. Fig. 6.14. Detail of The Effects of Good Government.
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Fig. 6.15. Cabinet with hunting horn, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 6.16. Tau-shaped tuning key, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 6.17. The portraits of the muses conceived for the Tempietto. Fig. 6.18. Window seat in the duke's dressing room.
Fig. 6.19. Urbino studiolo from Federico's entrance. Fig. 6.20. Petrarch, among the illustrious men in the west wall of the Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.21. St. Jerome, among the illustrious men in the north wall of the Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.22. A passageway connecting the duke's and duchess's quarters.
Fig. 6.23. Triple hoist mechanism carving.
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Fig. 6.24. "Unfinished" façade of Urbino's ducal palace.
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Fig. 6.25. The second "wing" of the entry façade.
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Fig. 6.26. Sala del Conversazione.
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Fig. 6.27. Column hoist carving. Fig. 6.28. Clavichord, inlaid with metal strings, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.29. View to southeast corner of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.30. Detail of the virtues from the Allegory of Good Government.
Fig. 6.31. Double Portrait of Federico and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. Fig. 6.32. Close proximity of olive branch and greave (peace and war).
Fig. 6.33. Intarsiated figures of Apollo and Minerva. Fig. 6.34. Illustrious men, north wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.35. Illustrious men, east wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.36. Illustrious men, south wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.37. Illustrious men, west wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.38. Note in northwest wall of Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 6.39. Axonometric detail of the Urbino ducal palace. Fig. 6.40. The salon d'udienza (audience chamber).
Fig. 6.41. The cubiculum from the villa of P. Fannius Synistor, 50-40 BCE. Fig. 6.42. Mnemonic ornament from the cubiculum from the villa of P. Fannius Synistor, 50-40 BCE.
Fig. 6.43. Drawing of St. Jerome in His Study. Fig. 6.44. Operable intarsia panels folded open, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.45. Reconstruction of lectern arrangement. Fig. 6.46. Worm's eye view of two station points for appreciating Federico's faithfulness.
Fig. 6.47. Images of Faith, personified and symbolized in south wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.48. Inkwell with letters FEDE and rosary above, in south wall, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.49. Box-drawers in northwest corner of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.50. Box-drawers in northwest corner of Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.51. Image of ermine and phrase "non mai," Gubbio studiolo. Fig. 6.52. Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Cecilia Gallerani.
Fig. 6.53. Detail of "virtutibus itur ad astra," north wall, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.54. Cardinal Bessarion, among the illustrious men in the south wall of the Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 6.55. Pletho's sarcophagus, ensconced in the southwest wall of the Tempio Malatestiano. Fig. 6.56. Papagalli and mechanical clock, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.57. Hourglass, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.58. Ingenioq cabinet, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 6.59. Bench along palace façade.
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Fig. 6.60. Palace bench, continued.
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Fig. 6.61. Portrait of Fra Luca Pacioli.
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Fig. 6.62. The 72-sided Hebdomicontadissaedron.
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Fig. 6.63. Formella carving. Fig. 6.64. Hunting horn suspended in the Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 6.65. Monochord. Fig. 6.66. Albrecht Dürer's demonstration of perspectival composition.
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Fig. 6.67. Clavichord, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.68. Southeast corner of Urbino intarsia, with miniature studiolo at left and an organ at right.
Fig. 6.69. Juhani Castelano, Florentine organ-maker. Fig. 6.70. The jingle ring evokes Erato, muse of lyric and love poetry.
Fig. 6.71. Rebec and its bow, partially obscured behind a cabinet door. Fig. 6.72. The military instruments of the pipe and tabor, Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 6.73. Intarsiated and burnished score of Bella gerit, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.74. Intarsiated and burnished score of J'ay pris amour, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.75. Carpaccio's sketch of a monk listening to musicians tuning up in a studiolo. Fig. 6.76. Chess pieces, Urbino studiolo.
Fig. 6.77. Order of the Garter, Gubbio studiolo.
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Fig. 6.78. Ceiling of quarters reserved for the King of England, in the Urbino ducal palace.
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Fig. 6.79. Detail from ceiling of the King of England's quarters.
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Fig. 6.80. Francesco di Giorgio asserted that music is necessary for the conference and proportion of any building.
Fig. 6.81. Leonardo's architectonic interpretation of the heart as a furnace. Fig. 6.82. Heptagonal diagram after figure at Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 6.83. Bench wheels, Urbino studiolo.
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Fig. 6.84. Federico on biga with cardinal virtues.
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Fig. 6.85. Civic space, east wall of Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.86. Ideal city, painted at Urbino, late quattrocento.
Fig. 6.87. Lute with broken strings, Urbino studiolo. Fig. 6.88. North corner of Gubbio studiolo.
Fig. 6.89. Federico's helmet and scepter, Gubbio studiolo.
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Chapter 7

Fig. 7.1. Heptagonal fortress. Fig. 7.2. Heptagonal figure from area of Urbino studiolo.