Word: duke
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Bologna may be a broad type, but one of his cultural ancestors, Duke Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482), was also quick to anger, though once you got to know him, he would build you a palace. Like all great Renaissance men, Federico was a liberal humanist with diverse interests. He also happened to be the most accomplished military strategist in 15th century Europe, and he used his immense profits as a freelance killing machine to turn Urbino, his hometown in the Marche region on Italy's eastern coast, into the Greenwich Village of the Quattrocento, a place where architects, soldiers...
...behemoths that dot Italy like diners on Route 66. Standing in the Cortile d'Onore, with its perimeter framing a perfect square of sky, you feel the exuberance of Renaissance design, the mix of simple geometric forms with impossible parabolic flourishes, like the vaulted ceiling. You also feel the duke. A lengthy inscription runs across the double cornice that trumpets Federico's unrivaled beneficence and undefeated record in battle. To paraphrase, it says, "I'm a special...
...made our way up the grand staircase under gold-filigreed FE-DVX engraved lintels (the duke, it seems, had a little P. Diddy in him) and began exploring from the top down. The palace doubles as the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, and the paintings within are a reminder that Renaissance art was heavily religious. But the paintings on the first floor lean toward the secular. One in particular, Ideal City, belongs near the top of any list of great Renaissance works. The painting, by an unknown artist, is a dream of a city so pure and precise that the creator...
...wonders of the palace are fairly ceaseless. There's a massive subterranean layer where wines were stored and baths taken. Just off the duke's study are two alcoves: the Temple of the Muses and the Chapel of Forgiveness. (Between his battlefield deeds and the generally agreed-upon fact that Federico was complicit in his half-brother's rubout, there was much to absolve.) I sat on the floor in both rooms and absorbed the feel of history, whistling to hear the little echoes and gently rubbing my hands over the stone floors. Maybe I was being a tad presumptuous...
After an uncharacteristic 6-0 loss to No. 4 Duke on Sunday, the Harvard field hockey team could have used a win over No. 11 Northeastern before heading into the meat of its Ivy schedule...