Course Readings: Web Gallery

Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, Diptych, Ducal Palace, Urbino, Italy (ca. 1472) by Piero della Francesca

After a disputed succession, Frederico da Montefeltro (1422-1482) became the Duke of Urbino. A true Renaissance figure, he was a very successful professional soldier and statesman who made his court at Urbino the Italian center for learning and the arts. All his portraits show his left profile because he lost his right eye and sustained major injuries to the right side of his face during a joust.

In 1457, after the death of his first wife, Frederico married the thirteen-year-old Battista Sforza, thus forging an important connection with the powerful Sforza family. Battista bore seven daughters and one son before dying in childbirth in 1472. Art historians surmise that she passed away shortly before Francesca painted this portrait of her.

Piero della Francesca intended that these two should face one another in this folding diptych. The background shows the city of Urbino and surrounding countryside. The reverse side of the diptych reveals both Frederico and Battista riding in a sort of Roman triumph.