M. Giannatiempo López - Abstract

A dense mystery still wraps the most amazing masterpieces of Italian Renaissance - The Ideal City. After a reviewing different interpretations historically brought about over the years this article tries to propose a new one. The starting point is offered by the analysis of different cues of the painting. In this Ideal City the human beings don’t exist, the only living things which do exist are a few plants and a couple of white doves. The symbol of the door symbolically represents a passage between outside and inside, or lightness and darkness, and/or life and death. The shape of central circular building was used in the Ancient Roman period as the preferred shape for mausoleums, e.g. Adriano’s Mausoleum. The two wells symbolically represent water, which is source of life. In the early Christian period the Baptistery was shaped in an octagonal form. The four Cardinal virtues are symbolized by the four steps surrounding the two wells. Two doves are the unique living creatures present in the scene. Doves are universally recognized as symbol of peace, but a two doves symbolizes a couple - representing eternal love. The eyes of the doves points towards the wells where one eye is shorter than the other, while one dove is in the shadow, and the other in the light. All these cues suggest a consistent dual representation in the painting as a reflection of Federico di Montefeltro and his wife, Battista Sforza. The death of Montefeltro’s wife at a young age, Battista Sforza’s premature departure was after the birth of their nineth child Giudubaldo. Although unknown, was the possible the cause of her death. She was buried close to the Saint Clara Monastery where this painting was guarded for many years even after the death of Federico Montefeltro. This painting hence can be interpreted as an ideal remainder of death of Battista Sforza developed in a utopian and Ideal City. On the basis of accurate geometrical reconstruction of the point of view of the painting, this paper reinforces these ideas and more.