Jane Stevenson

Researcher Professor Jane Stevenson tells the story of Federico da Montefeltro, the man who created the Renaissance city and palace of Urbino.

Urbino is a hilltop town on the eastern side of Italy’s Apennines. Stevenson explains how it grew into the shining capital of a 15th-century duchy. The one-eyed mercenary soldier Federico da Montefeltro was lord of Urbino between 1444 and 1482. Stevenson explains how he assembled a court regarded by many as representing a high point of Renaissance culture and how he built a fine palace overlooking the city. She looks at patronage, politics and humanism in 15th-century Italy, the demanding lifestyle of a mercenary captain, and the prominent political and cultural roles played by their wives.

Stevenson is a senior research fellow at Campion Hall, Oxford, and author of Baroque Between the Wars, a study of alternative currents in the interwar arts, and Edward Burra: Twentieth Century Eye.
This event is part of the festival’s programme of Italian literature and culture.