Federico da Montefeltro and His Library

06/20/07- 09/30/07

One of the most astonishing libraries of the Italian Renaissance was the subject of an exhibition at the Morgan Library: the Library of Federico da Montefeltro. Federico helped to transform Urbino, a small Renaissance state, into a bustling cultural and economic center. His home became the meeting place for many architects, painters and writers

The exhibition was on display in the Morgan's Clare Eddy Thaw Gallery in a space which was a recreation of Montefeltro's  Studiolo. The centerpiece of the exhibition was the famous portrait of the fully armoured Federico reading in his ducal library to his son Guidobaldo, at his side. The show also included the imposing eagle shaped lectern from the Museo Diocesano Albani in Urbino, a group of lavishly illuminated manuscripts and an incunable

On Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 2pm the Morgan Library presented a half-day symposium called The Montefeltro Library and The Urbino Renaissance which provided an overview of the exhibit and lectures by distinguished scholars on Piero della Francesca, Raphael, and Castiglione. This event  was cosponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute.