Important purchase by the National Gallery of the Marches: the Santini Codex returns to the Ducal Palace

The Santini Codex joins the collection of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. This precious manuscript, dating from between 1480 and 1530, was originally part of the library of the Montefeltro family and later to that of the Della Rovere family, as attested by the last inventory in 1632. Thanks to a major purchase funded by the Ministry of Culture, the Santini Codex has thus returned to its historic home, the Ducal Palace in Urbino.

The work consists of 136 pages full of drawings depicting machines intended for both civil and war use. It is one of the few Urbino manuscripts that was not transferred to the Vatican Library in 1657, but remained in the area where it originated. Perfectly preserved in the rare and elegant coeval binding for more than five centuries, it is a valuable testimony to the revival of the scientific approach in the study of engineering and mechanics.

The attribution of the Santini Codex remains uncertain, but it certainly falls within the circle of personalities close to the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1501), author of the famous Opusculum de Architectura. Scholar Gustina Scaglia believes it to be preparatory for the composition of the famous panels of the Fregio dell’Arte della Guerra (Frieze of the Art of War), made starting around 1475 for Duke Federico da Montefeltro (1422- 1482).

Important purchase by the National Gallery of the Marches: the Santini Codex returns to the Ducal Palace

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