Tiziano - Venere di Urbino - Google Art Project

Guidobaldo II della Rovere (2 April 1514 – 28 September 1574) was an Italian ''

condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

'', who succeeded his father Francesco Maria I della Rovere as

Duke of Urbino The Duchy of Urbino () was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1631. It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the ea ...

from 1538 until his death in 1574. He was a member of the House of La Rovere. Guidobaldo was an important patron of the arts in general, and of

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

in particular, commissioning his own portrait, and buying Titian's '' Venus of Urbino''.

Early life

Guidobaldo was the son of Francesco Maria I della Rovere and Eleonora Gonzaga. In 1535, despite a papal ban, he married Giulia da Varano, daughter of the duke of Camerino and Caterina Cybo. In response to his marriage with Giulia, Pope Paul III excommunicated Guidobaldo, his bride, Giulia, his mother-in-law, Caterina Cybo, in 1535. Upon his installation as duke of Camerino, Paul III placed the duchy under interdict. Upon the assassination of his father, Guidobaldo became duke of

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

in 1538. Guidobaldo and Giulia had a child, Virginia Varana della Rovere, who married Frederico Borromeo.

Career

Angelo Bronzino - Portrait of Guidobaldo della Rovere

In 1546, he received a ''condotta'' as military leader (''Governatore'') by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, for which his father had been a valiant commander during the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

. He employed the artist and armourer Bartolomeo Campi, who made him a suit of armour.Armour of Guiobaldo della Rovere, by Bartolomeo Campi, 1546, Real Armería, Madrid
/ref> After the death of his first wife, Giulia, in 1548 he married Vittoria Farnese, the daughter of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and Gerolama Orsini. Later he was made Papal governor of

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

, receiving also the title of '' capitano generale'' (commander-in-chief) of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, as well as that of Prefect of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1559, he was hired by the

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

, helping

Bernardo Sanseverino Bernardo is a given name, possibly derived from the Germanic Bernhard. It may refer to: People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Francis Xavier * Bernardo Accolti (1465–1536), Italian ...

(who had married Isabella, one of Guidobaldo's daughters) in the war against the Ottoman Turks. On 1 January 1573, a revolt rose against Guidobaldo in Urbino, due to the excessive tax burden that he was exerting over his state. He reacted by bloodily suppressing the riot.

Personal life

Guidobaldo and Vittoria had: * Francesco Maria II, who succeeded him as Duke of Urbino, married Lucrezia d'Este * Isabella, wife of Niccolò Bernardino Sanseverino, 6° Prince of Bisignano. * Lavinia, married

Alfonso Félix de Ávalos Aquino y Gonzaga, Marquis del Vasto Alfonso Félix de Ávalos Aquino y Gonzaga, 8th Marquis of Pescara, 4th Marquis of Vasto ( Ischia 1564 – Rome, 2 December 1593), was an Italian noble in the service of the King of Spain. Alfonso Félix was the eldest son of Francesco Ferdinand ...

. After falling ill during a voyage to

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

and

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

, he died in the latter town in 1574.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * * *601

External links

Armour of Guiobaldo della Rovere, by Bartolomeo Campi, 1546, Real Armería, Madrid

Biography of Bartolommeo Campi (died 1573), in Spanish, Real Academia de la Historia

Pair of Stirrups, attribruted to Bartolomeo Campi

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Della Rovere, Guidobaldo 2 1514 births 1574 deaths Guidobaldo 2 People from Urbino Guidobaldo 2 16th-century condottieri 16th-century Italian nobility Captains General of the Church