La vicenda dei dipinti per Isabella Della Rovere, principessa di Bisignano

Isabella Della Rovere, younger sister of the last Duke of Urbino, reveals to be an interesting character both for her personal life and the important role of artistic mediation, at the turn of XVI and XVII century, between the Duchy and the Viceroy of Naples. A conspicuous ammount of letters exchanged with his brother, Francesco Maria II testify the insistent demands of paintings, not only for private devotion, but also to please the most important figures of the Neapolitan Court. So peculiar is the affair of a second version of the Nativity, commissioned by the Duke to his famous court painter Federico Barocci, sent as a gift to the Viceroy Don Juan Alfonso Pimentel, Duke of Benavente, in 1610. This painting has been often confused by critical studies with the best known version, now in the Prado Collection, but it is well identified by multiple sources documenting a completely parallel, independent history. The Nativity will reach Benavente to decorate the private fortress of the Count Duke, then will be finally moved to the collection of his historic palace in Valladolid.