[ILLUSTRATIONS]

James Dennistoun of Dennistoun. From a medallion in the possession of his nephew James W. Dennistoun of Dennistoun[Frontispiece]
TO FACE PAGE
View of Urbino. (Photo Alinari)[22]
The Battle of S. Egidio. After the picture by Paolo Uccello in the National Gallery. Portraits of Carlo Malatesta and his nephew Galeotto "il Beato"[44]
Leonello d'Este. After the picture by Pisanello in the Morelli Gallery, Bergamo. (Photo Alinari)[54]
Nicolò Piccinino. From a bronze medal by Pisanello. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.[70]
Vittorino da Feltre. From a medal by Pisanello in the British Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.[70]
San Leo and Maiuolo. From a drawing by Agostino Nini[78]
Federigo of Urbino. From the XV. Century relief in the Bargello, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[86]
Francesco Sforza. From the XV. Century relief in the Bargello, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[98]
Federigo, Duke of Urbino, and Battista, his wife. From the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[120]
Allegory. After the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[122]
Allegory. After the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[124]
Sigismondo Malatesta. Detail from the fresco by Piero della Francesca in the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini. (Photo Alinari)[132]
Urbino. From an original drawing by Agostino Nini of Bologna[148]
The Flagellation. After the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Sacristy of the Duomo, Urbino. Supposed portraits of Duke Federigo and Caterino Zeno. (Photo Alinari)[152]
Fifteenth-century Court of the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari)[162]
Pio II. at Ancona. After the fresco by Pinturicchio in the Cathedral Library, Siena. (Photo Brogi)[178]
Portrait of Leon Battista Alberti. From the relief by Pisanello in the Dreyfus Collection[194]
Pope Sixtus IV. From a miniature prefixed to the dedication copy of Platina's Lives of the Popes in the Vatican Library[202]
Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino, second wife of Duke Federigo. From the bust by Francesco Laurana in the Bargello, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[214]
Federigo of Urbino and his Family. Detail from the picture by Justus of Ghent, in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (From the Ducal Collection.) (Photo Alinari)[216]
Lorenzo de' Medici. From the fresco by Ghirlandaio in S. Trinità, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[238]
Giuliano de' Medici. (Photo Alinari)[240]
The Birth of Venus. Supposed portrait of Simonetta Cattaneo—mistress of Giuliano de' Medici. Detail from the picture by Sandro Botticelli in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari)[242]
Astorgio III. de' Manfredi. From the picture by Scaletti in the Pinacoteca of Faenza[258]
Federigo di Montefeltro. After the picture by Justus of Ghent, once in the Ducal Collection at Urbino, now in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. (Photo Anderson)[266]
The Contessa Palma of Urbino. After the portrait by Piero della Francesca in the National Gallery[280]
Guidobaldo I. From a picture in the Colonna Gallery in Rome[296]
Caterina Sforza. After the picture by Marco Palmezzani in the Pinacoteca of Forlì. (Photo Alinari)[306]
Isabella of Aragon. After the drawing by Beltraffio in the Biblioteca Ambrogiana, Milan. (Photo Anderson)[310]
Pope Alexander VI. Detail from a fresco by Pinturicchio in the Borgia apartments of the Vatican, Rome[320]
"Diva Julia." From a bronze medal ca. 1482 by L'Antico in the British Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.[330]
Cesare Borgia. From a medal ca. 1500 in the British Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.[330]
Julius II as Cardinal. From a medal in the British Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.[330]
St. Catherine of Alexandria. Supposed portrait of Lucrezia Borgia by Pinturicchio. Detail from a fresco in the Borgia apartments of the Vatican, Rome. (Photo Anderson)[344]
Bianca, daughter of Ludovico Sforza. After the picture by Ambrogio de' Predis in the Biblioteca Ambrogiana, Milan. (Photo Anderson)[352]
Cesare Borgia as the Emperor. Detail from the fresco of the Disputa of S. Catherine in the Borgia apartments of the Vatican. (Photo Anderson)[364]

[CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE]

[CHAPTER I]

A.D. PAGE
The duchy of Urbino, how composed[3]
Its characteristic features, and traditional topography[4]
Origin of Italian communities[4]
Rise of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions[5]
Counts of the empire[6]
Republics established in Italy[7]
Opinions regarding their spirit[8]
The seigneurs attain to sovereignty[10]
Practical distinction of Guelph and Ghibelline[11]
Early military system[12]
Origin and influence of free companies[14]
The term Republic misapplied[15]
Their principle of liberty examined[16]
Political divisions of Romagna and La Marca in the fifteenth century[18]
Opposed to modern speculations and the aims of Young Italy[19]
Mariotti's admissions regarding freedom[20]

[CHAPTER II]