Raffaello, Michelangelo e le maestranze artistiche urbinati a Roma nel Cinquecento. Rapporti, influenze, dipendenze

The renown of Raphael and Bramante and the key role exercised by Rome intrade and cultural exchanges, as well as in the political interests of the Della Rovere dukes, led to the presence of a growing number of Urbinate artists and craftsmen in the capital from the pontificate of Julius II on. In the early six-teenth century painters and majolica artists from Urbino had played a crucial part in the spread and popularisation of Raphael’s inventions, while from the1540s to the 1550s, it was Michelangelo who became the principal attraction. His presence encouraged the formation of a group of followers from Castel-durante, one of the most artistically active towns in the Duchy of Urbino. In thisway whole family groups, mainly involved in the world of ceramics and bent on more ambitious careers, settled in Rome. An emblematic case is that of the Picchi family. Before moving their workshop to a very central location at the foot of Trinità di Monti, they had already established relations withAntonio del Franzese, a member of Michelangelo’s household and recipient of some of themost striking marble works left incomplete by the master in this house at Macel de’Corvi.