The Studiolo of Urbino

“The Duke’s Studiolo in the Palace at Urbino is at once one of the most familiar and the most discussed interiors of the Quattrocento, and is, as this careful monograph demonstrates so persuasively, the room in which Federico’s own character is most closely reflected. . . . One of the merits of Cheles’s approach is that he does not pile hypothesis upon hypothesis in stratified layers. . . . His study, which has the merit rare among iconographical skirmishes of being reasonably brief, despite an impressive armoury of footnotes, unquestionably clarifies our understanding of the significance of a remarkable and fascinating room.” —Francis Russel, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts

“Its originality, and its most important contribution, lies in its thorough investigation of the objects illustionistically represented in the intarsia, and it is generally convincing in linking their symbolism both to a humanistic tradition and to Duke Federico’s personal interests.” —Cecil H. Clough, Burlington Magazine