Federico da Montefeltro, San Marino and a correspondence to be discovered
Is titled To keep your freedom the exhibition which, dedicated to the 600th anniversary of the birth of Federico da Montefeltro, was inaugurated yesterday in San Marino, in the evocative setting of the Palazzo Pubblico. Even the Titan, as a member of the National Committee led by the Tuscan historian Franco Cardini and established for the celebrations of the sixth centenary of the birth of Federico da Montefeltro, celebrates the Duke of Urbino, one of the most iconic protagonists of the Italian Renaissance.
To do this, the Ancient land of freedom has set up an exhibition that will exhibit part of the correspondence between Federico and the institutional representatives of the Republic, primarily the regent Captains.
Twenty-five documents that will end up in the spotlight out of a total of 222 preserved in the State Archives of San Marino, dated between 1441 and 1482. All the lines, the organizers explain, of incredible value and historical relevance in a correspondence that is not meant to be just celebratory, testifying to the excellent friendship between prestigious interlocutors who has maintained an almost daily constancy, reflecting the fragile equilibrium of the international chessboard of era, but also the alliances that demonstrate the Republic’s innate ability in knowing how to juggle opposing forces, in very close scenarios.
The encrypted letter
As for the language used, that is the vernacular of San Marino, not Latin, it was particularly difficult, marking the boundaries of its marked and precocious historical identity. The title of the exhibition, “To maintain this freedom”, is therefore a point extrapolated from a letter, as your explicit acknowledgment of the cardinal principle that animates the story of the Titan.
A fascinating journey, as defined by the representatives of the exhibition, which traces the vicissitudes of an era of great conquests and struggles, when the San Marino community moves in the grip of the expansionist threats of the neighboring lands.
The catalog also reserves a sensational discovery: an encrypted letter written by the great prince of the Renaissance, which after almost 600 years was decoded by three Italian researchers and made available to scholars and enthusiasts, bringing to light a new piece of the history of San Marino, to whom Federico always granted protection and respect.
A key figure
Illegitimate son of Guidantonio count of Montefeltro and Urbino, Federico was born in 1422 in Gubbio and died in Ferrara in 1482. He distinguished himself as a patron, humanist and man of arms, first in the service of Ferdinand 1st king of Naples (1460) and then for Pope Pius 2 ° against Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatestalord of Rimini, thus expanding the boundaries of his domain (1463).
At the helm of the Italic League he won at Molinella (1467) against Venice and finally opposed the expansionist aims of the popes. As a patron, he gathered in the Ducal Palace of Urbino – commissioned to the architect Laurana – the best talents of his time and collected a collection of manuscripts now preserved in the Vatican Apostolic Library.
The exhibition will remain open until January 8, 2023, every day from 9 to 17.
Free admission