GEOMETRIC CASTLES

Francesco di Giorgio Martini, painter, sculptor, architect and military engineer, built a series of extraordinary castles for Federico da Montefeltro and for his son-in-law, Giovanni della Rovere, Lord of Senigallia and of Mondavio, the latter seen above, rising up from its vine-planted valley, with Francesco’s Rocca Roveresca on the far right. The Rocca was one of his later works, built around 1490, unfinished at his and della Rovere’s deaths in 1501. As military architecture, it is fascinating, both for its advanced design and for being intact, but I love it for its muscular, angular forms and the sculptural presence of its sheer faces of brick.

In 1481 Francesco built a big fort on the hill above the town of Cagli, for Federico da Montefeltro, which was destroyed by his son Guidubaldo in 1502 during the war against Cesare Borgia, who had taken the town. The fort was connected by a long tunnel to the tower, above, which still stands today, another piece of pure geometry. Above it are some of Francesco’s drawings showing typically bold forms. Below, his castle at Sassocorvaro, this one built for Ottaviano Ubaldini, half-brother and closest friend and adviser of Federico, who gave him the town and territory in 1470, after the death of Malatesta, who had repeatedly fought him for it. The Rocca Ubaldinesca feels like a vast ship improbably moored in the little town, especially with its pointed prow at one end. Within are wonderful little courtyards and a charming, Victorian theatre.