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In one of the most famous paintings in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, Federico da Montefeltro gazes at his wife, Battista Sforza, as they stand in front of the landscape over which they ruled. Undulating hills rise to volcano-like peaks on which towns perch. The ragged Apennine mountains stalk the horizon, and what’s thought to be the Metauro river swirls below. Painted by Piero della Francesca in 1472, it’s one of the iconic artworks of the Renaissance. And yet few international visitors to the Uffizi know the area which gave Piero della Francesca, the artist, his inspiration. Today, Urbino...

Raphael died in Rome 500 years ago today. Rome was to have been the focal point in the global celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the death of the High Renaissance artist and architect Raphael, hosting an "unprecedented" exhibition, the greatest Raphael show the world had ever seen. The Raphael exhibition saw a boom in the purchase of pre-sale tickets, with thousands of people around the world planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy to see the groundbreaking show, featuring no less than 100 paintings by the Renaissance master, with 40 masterpieces on loan from the Uffizi in Florence. Raphael's much-anticipated...

1478 Assassination Solved. The Humanist Did It. By FELICIA R. LEE On April 26, 1478, Lorenzo de' Medici (who escaped) and his brother Giuliano (who died) were repeatedly attacked with knives by a gang of men who invaded the Duomo cathedral in Florence during a high Mass. It was part of a plot against the powerful Medici family, de facto rulers in the Florentine republic for hundreds of years. Now a Wesleyan University scholar says he has cracked the 500-year-old case with the help of a recently discovered coded letter. For hundreds of years historians have known the plot was...

Italy's Medici Murder Plot Solved By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News Lorenzo dei Medici Feb. 24, 2004 — One of the most notorious crimes of the Renaissance, the attempted assassination of Florence's grandest son, Lorenzo dei Medici, has been solved more than 500 years later. Known as the Pazzi conspiracy, the plot was led by Francesco dei Pazzi, whose banking family had resented for years the Medici climb to power. The Pazzi plotted to kill Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano during a High Mass in the city's cathedral in April 1478. Wounded, Lorenzo managed to escape and barricade himself behind the...