Diptych of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza
Piero della Francesca, 1470
The diptych shows Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his wife Battista Sforza in profile, a format borrowed from ancient Roman coins and from medal-making, which lends the portraits an idealized and composed quality. The two faces look toward each other against a broad, elevated landscape seen from above, an arrangement drawn from Flemish painting and largely unprecedented in Italy. Light falling from behind Federico brightens Battista's face, while his red cap, matching his garments, gives his profile a strong sense of volume. The reverse shows the couple on triumphal chariots, accompanied by virtues, unicorns and angels, recalling the Roman triumph and the allegorical poems of Petrarch. Sources differ on the exact date and on who commissioned the work; some scholars suggest it was painted after Battista's death, perhaps using a death mask. Blending Italian perspective with Flemish detail, the work stands as an early landmark of Renaissance portraiture.
- Painter
- Piero della Francesca
- Date
- 1470
- Medium
- tempera, oil paint, panel
- Dimensions
- 47 × 33 cm
- Museum
- Uffizi Gallery, Florence
- Movement
- Early Renaissance
- Genre
- double portrait
- Depicts
- landscape, horse-drawn wagon, Federico da Montefeltro, unicorn, Battista Sforza
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