Architecture and Memory

The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro

Robert Kirkbride

 

By equal parts design and chance, Federico's education was itinerant, cultivating in him diplomatic and military skills while introducing him to the ruling elite in several of Italy's power centers. During his stay in Venice, he joined the chivalric order of the Compagnia della Calza, whose patrician members were known as the Accesi, the inflamed ones (Raggio, Gubbio Studiolo, 19). To the end of his life, Federico displayed the decorative flames of their livery as ornament throughout the Montefeltro palaces, including the ducal library's ceiling at Urbino.

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

By equal parts design and chance, Federico's education was itinerant, cultivating in him diplomatic and military skills while introducing him to the ruling elite in several of Italy's power centers. During his stay in Venice, he joined the chivalric order of the Compagnia della Calza, whose patrician members were known as the Accesi, the inflamed ones (Raggio, Gubbio Studiolo, 19). To the end of his life, Federico displayed the decorative flames of their livery as ornament throughout the Montefeltro palaces, including the ducal library's ceiling at Urbino.