Gherardo Cibo e la "pittura di paesi" alla corte dei della Rovere nel Cinquecento

This contribution analyzes the visual sources of the remarkable naturalism of Gherardo Cibo (Rome or Genua, 1512 – Arcevia, 1600). A member of the Vigerio Della Rovere family, Cibo was considered during the 1560’s the best painter and draftsman of plants and landscapes by the renowned botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli. Although he considered himself a dilettante (amateur), Cibo was extremely receptive of both the local legacy of Raphael and the Northern influences in the depiction of nature and landscape and covered a prominent role as a court artist in Urbino and Pesaro. This contribution aims to draw an outline of the origins of landscape drawing and painting in the Della Rovere Court culture during the Cinquecento: within this context, Cibo established an original artistic language which will be extremely instrumental for the development of this genre in the region of the Marche up to Taddeo and Federico Zuccari (a new unpublished landscape drawing of the latter is presented here), and Federico Barocci.