THE DUCHESS OF URBINO

TEXTURE: PRINT

HISTORY: The profiles of Battista and Federico stand out among a sweeping landscape. This background helped Piero celebrate the duke and duchesses as the proud landowners and rulers of Urbino. The continuous landscape also suggests the expansive extent of their rule. Piero uses atmospheric perspective, which softens all things the contours of the landscape as they recede into the distance.

The back of these portraits are painted with scenes of allegories of triumphs. Horses pull Federico’s triumphal car and Battista’s is pulled by unicorns, which symbolize chastity and fidelity, respectively. Whereas Temperance, Fortitude, Justice and Prudence sit on Federico’s car, Battista is accompanied by Chastity and Modesty, and Charity and Faith sit at the front of her car.

Beneath these scenes of triumph, Latin inscriptions celebrate the virtues of Federico and Battista. Federico’s inscription extols the “fame of his virtues” and Battista’s says she is “honored by the achievements of her husbands.”

Notably, Piero uses soft colors and radiant atmosphere that are evocative of the work of Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck, artists who were well known in Italy at the time. Piero likely created this sense of luminosity using oil glazes indicative of the Flemish style.

Humanist influence is evident in the double portrait of Battista and Federico, including the triumphal processions evocative of the ancient Roman triumph on the obverse and the sharp, numismatic profiles indicative of the antique style.