The portrait of Hippocrates in the studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino
My thesis examines the Hippocrates portrait of the Uomini Illustri frieze in Federico da Montefeltroâs Urbino studiolo, considering the work as a reflection of contemporary intellectual interpretations of the ancient physician. One of a series of portraits of historical exemplars in which secular figures are paired according to shared intellectual disciplines, Hippocrates appears alongside the physician and astrologer Pietro d'Abano, ostensibly representing medicine. There is a clear correspondence between the figures in the frieze and the number of Latin texts by these authors in Federicoâs library, although not for Hippocrates or Pietro. For the latter only one minor work was present and for Hippocrates only the pseudo-Hippocratic Letters and Astrologia Ypocratis. These wzorks are at the heart of our understanding of the portraits, with the paucity of texts by these figures suggesting they were represented visually for reasons beyond their role as celebrated figures in their particular discipline. Both pseudo-Hippocratic works fit closely into court interests. Letter 17 bears striking parallels both to the studiolo imagery and important aspects of the cultural and intellectual life of the court. Moreover,
Lapraik, Sonja
The portrait of Hippocrates in the studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino. My thesis examines the Hippocrates portrait of the Uomini Illustri frieze in Federico da Montefeltroâs Urbino studiolo, considering the work as a reflection of contemporary intellectual interpretations of the ancient physician. One of a series of portraits of historical exemplars in which secular figures are paired according to shared intellectual disciplines, Hippocrates appears alongside the physician and astrologer Pietro d'Abano, ostensibly representing medicine. There is a clear correspondence between the figures in the frieze and the number of Latin texts by these authors in Federicoâs library, although not for Hippocrates or Pietro. For the latter only one minor work was present and for Hippocrates only the pseudo-Hippocratic Letters and Astrologia Ypocratis. These wzorks are at the heart of our understanding of the portraits, with the paucity of texts by these figures suggesting they were represented visually for reasons beyond their role as celebrated figures in their particular discipline. Both pseudo-Hippocratic works fit closely into court interests. Letter 17 bears striking parallels both to the studiolo imagery and important aspects of the cultural and intellectual life of the court. Moreover,
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