virtutibus

Note 43: The phrase virtutibus itur ad astra (with virtue one scales the stars) is prominently displayed in the studiolo intarsia at Urbino.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Ave, praeclara omnibus [Hail, glorious one] angelicis virtutibus, [in all angelic virtues] cuius assumptio [whose Assumption] nostra glorificatio. [was our glorification]

Josquin's Ave Maria 2009

A bit of paper, nailed to the facing of a shelf like a reminder, bears the phrase "virtutibus itur ad astra."

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Cheles has discerned a valuable link between the phrase "virtutibus itur ad astra," represented at Urbino, and the opened manuscript of Virgil's Aeneid, displayed on the lectern in the Gubbio studiolo. 156 The page shown at Gubbio contains the following passage: "Each has his day appointed; short and irretrievable is the span of life to all: but to lengthen fame by deeds — that is valour's task."

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Detail of "virtutibus itur ad astra," north wall, Urbino studiolo.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Detail of "virtutibus itur ad astra," north wall, Urbino studiolo.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

The Virgilian paraphrase "virtutibus itur ad astra" suggests that one might enter the pantheon of communal memory by virtuous deeds, joining the elect members of uomini illustri depicted above the intarsia. 312 It is likely that the astral significance of this paraphrase was also taken more literally.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

A similar message is conveyed at Urbino by the maxim "virtutibus itur ad astra" (with virtue, man scales the stars), whose elaboration on Virgil furnished the young prince with an example of rhetorical gnome. 47 Inches away we find "Hony soit qui mal y pense" (evil be to him who evil thinks), a phrase that encircles the Order of the Garter in both studioli.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Detail of "virtutibus itur ad astra," north wall, Urbino studiolo.

Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

Lambertinus hic est, Romæ decus, et pater orbis Qui mundum scriptis docuit, virtutibus ornat.

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