Diptych of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza

Piero della Francesca made these two profiles for the court of Urbino in central Italy, a small state that under Federico da Montefeltro became one of the most cultured places in Europe. Federico is the man with the broken nose and the red cap. He lost his right eye and part of that nose in a tournament, so he had himself painted only from the left, and Piero turned that hard rule into the crisp coin-like profile you see. Facing him is his wife Battista Sforza, her skin painted very pale. She died young, around the age of 26, after giving birth, and many read that pallor as a sign the portrait honours her after her death. Behind both heads the same low river valley of the Marches, the land they ruled, runs unbroken from one panel to the other.