Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

URBINO (anc. Urvinum Mataurense)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 793 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

URBINO (anc. Urvinum Mataurense)  , a See also:city and archiepiscopal see of the See also:Marches, See also:Italy, in the See also:province of See also:Pesaro and See also:Urbino, 19 M. See also:direct S.W. of Pesaro and 50 M. by See also:rail N. by W. of See also:Fabriano, a junction on the See also:line from See also:Ancona to See also:Rome . Pop . (1901) 6809 (See also:town), 18,244 (See also:commune) . It is picturesquely situated on an abrupt See also:hill 148o ft. above See also:sea-level; its streets are narrow and crooked, and the town has a See also:medieval aspect . It is dominated by the ducal See also:palace erected by Luciano da Laurana, a Dalmatian architect, in 1460-82, for Federigo Montefeltro, and regarded by the contemporaries of the founder as the ideal of a princely See also:residence . The sculptured doorways, chimneys and friezes of the interior are especially See also:fine . Some are by Domenico See also:Rosselli of See also:Florence, others by Ambrogio d'See also:Antonio da Milano . The See also:rich and beautifully executed intarsia See also:work may be due to See also:Baccio Pontelli . The massive irregularity of the exterior is due to the unevenness of the site . The decoration of the exterior was never completed; but the arcaded courtyard is the finest of the See also:Renaissance, except perhaps that of the Cancelleria at Rome (See also:Burckhardt) . The palace is now partly used for See also:government purposes, and also contains the municipal archives, a collection of See also:ancient See also:inscriptions, formed by the epigraphist Raffaele See also:Fabretti (many of them from Rome), a See also:gallery of See also:sculpture of various periods and a picture gallery . This last contains a small but interesting collection of pictures, including See also:works by See also:Paolo Uccello, Giovanni Santi, Justus of See also:Ghent, Timoteo della Vite, and other 15th-See also:century artists, also a " Resurrection " by See also:Titian (a See also:late work) .

The picture of the " Last Supper " by Justus is specially valuable from its containing fine portraits of the Montefeltro See also:

family and members of the ducal See also:court . The See also:cathedral, a See also:building of no See also:special See also:interest, stands in the See also:great piazza See also:close to the ducal palace . It was erected in 18o1 after the collapse of the former structure . In the See also:sacristy there is a very beautiful See also:miniature-like See also:painting of the " Scourging of See also:Christ," by See also:Piero della Francesca, and other pictures by later artists . In the See also:crypt there is a fine pieta in See also:marble by Giovanni da See also:Bologna . Opposite the palace is the See also:church of S . Domenico, a See also:Gothic building with a See also:good See also:early Renaissance portal and a See also:relief in the See also:lunette by Luca della Robbia (1449) . The interior was spoilt in the 17th century . S . See also:Francesco has a fine 14th-century loggia and campanile, and a handsome portal of achapel in the interior by Constantino Trappola (15th century) . S . Bernardino, outside the town, is a See also:plain early Renaissance structure .

On the walls of the See also:

chapel of the gild or See also:con-fraternity of See also:San Giovanni Battista are some valuable early frescoes, painted by Lorenzo and Giacomo See also:Salimbene da San Severino in 1416 . In the church of S . Spirito are two paintings by Luca See also:Signorelli, the " Crucifixion " and the " See also:Day of See also:Pentecost," originally intended for a processional banner . The modest See also:house where See also:Raphael was See also:born and spent his boyhood is preserved . It is now the See also:property of a society of artists . Its rooms See also:form a museum of engravings and other records of Raphael's works, together with a picture of the Madonna by his See also:father, Giovanni Santi, formerly thought to be by Raphael himself . A See also:monument was erected to him in the piazza in 1897 . The See also:theatre, decorated by See also:Girolamo See also:Genga, is one of the earliest in Italy; in it was performed the first See also:Italian See also:comedy, the Calandria of See also:Cardinal Bibbiena, the friend of See also:Leo X. and Raphael . The magnificent library formed by the Montefeltro and Della Rovere See also:dukes was removed to Rome, and incorporated in the Vatican library (but with a See also:separate numbering) in 1657 . There is a See also:free university founded in 1564 which has two faculties (with 163,students in 1902-03), and also a technical school . The town has manufactures of See also:silk, See also:majolica and bricks . The ancient town of Urvinum Mataurense (taking its name from the See also:river Mataurus or Metaurus) is mentioned a few times in classical literature, and many inscriptions See also:relating to it exist .

Phoenix-squares

The course of its walls can still be traced . It was an important See also:

place in the Gothic See also:wars, and is frequently mentioned by See also:Procopius . At the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century it came into the See also:possession of the family of Montefeltro . Of this by far the most important member was Federigo da Montefeltro, See also:lord of Urbino from 1444 to 1482, one of the most successful condottieri chiefs of his See also:time, and not only a See also:man of great military and See also:political ability, but also an enthusiastic See also:patron of See also:art and literature, on which he lavished immense sums of See also:money . Federigo much strengthened his position, first by his own See also:marriage with Battista, one of the powerful See also:Sforza family, and secondly by marrying his daughter to Giovanni della Rovere, the favourite See also:nephew of See also:Pope See also:Sixtus IV., who in return conferred upon Federigo the See also:title of See also:duke . Federigo's only son Guidubaldo, who succeeded his father, married in 1489 the gifted See also:Elizabeth See also:Gonzaga, of the ruling family in See also:Mantua . In 1497 he was expelled from Urbino by See also:Caesar See also:Borgia, son of See also:Alexander VI., but regained his dukedom in 1503, after Caesar's See also:death . Guidubaldo was the last duke of the Montefeltro line; at his death in 1508 he bequeathed his coronet to Francesco Maria della Rovere, nephew of See also:Julius II., and for about a century Urbino was ruled by its second See also:dynasty of the Della Rovere family . In 1626 the last descendant of Francesco, called Francesco Maria II., when old and childless abdicated in favour of Pope See also:Urban VIII., after which time Urbino, with its subject towns of Pesaro, See also:Fano, See also:Fossombrone, See also:Gubbio, See also:Castel See also:Durante, See also:Cagli and about 300 small villages, became See also:part of the papal states until the suppression of the temporal See also:power in 1870 . During the reigns of Federigo and Guidubaldo, Urbino was one of the foremost centres of activity in art and literature in Italy . The palace erected by Federigo has already been mentioned . It was at his court that Piero della Francesca wrote his celebrated work on the See also:science of See also:perspective, Francesco di Giorgio See also:Martini his Trattato d' architettura (published by See also:Saluzzo, See also:Turin, 1841), and Giovanni Santi his poetical See also:account of the See also:chief artists of his time .

The refined magnificence of Guidubaldo's court is eloquently described by Baldassare See also:

Castiglione (q.v.) in his Cortegiano . When See also:Henry VII. of See also:England conferred the See also:order of the Garter on Guidubaldo, Castiglione was sent to England with a See also:letter of thanks and with the. small picture, now in the Louvre, of " St See also:George and the See also:Dragon," painted by Raphael in 1504, as a See also:present to the See also:English See also:king . This painting was among See also:Charles I.'s collection which was sold by order of the See also:Commonwealth in 1649 . Throughout the whole of the 16th century the See also:state of Urbino was one of the chief centres for the See also:production of majolica, especially the towns of Gubbio and Castel Durante . Most of the finest pieces of Urbino See also:ware were made specially for the dukes, who covered their sideboards with the rich storied See also:piatti di pompa . Among the distinguished names which have been associated with Urbino are those of the Ferrarese painter and friend of Raphael, Timoteo della Vite, who spent most of his See also:life there, and See also:Bramante, the greatest architect of his See also:age . The Milanese sculptor, Ambrogio, who worked so much for Federigo, married a See also:lady of Urbino, and was the progenitor of the Baroccio family, among whom were many able mathematicians and painters . Federigo Baroccio, Ambrogio's See also:grandson, was a very popular painter, some of whose works still exist in the cathedral and elsewhere in Urbino . This city was also the birthplace of Pope See also:Clement XI., of several cardinals of the See also:Alban family, and of Bernardino See also:Baldi, Fabretti, and other able scholars . An interesting view of Urbino, in the first See also:half of the 16th century, occurs among the See also:pen drawings in the See also:MSS . Arte del vasajo, by the See also:potter Piccolpasso, now in the See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum . See also E .

Calzini, Urbino e i suoi monumenti (1897) ; G . Lipparini, Urbino (See also:

Bergamo, 1903) .

End of Article: URBINO (anc. Urvinum Mataurense)
[back]
URBANA
[next]
URBS SALVIA (mod. Urbisaglia)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.