About the church of San Bernardino in Urbino
The convent church of San Bernardino near Urbino is a significant work attributed to Francesco di Giorgio
and presents solutions comparable to those of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie del Calcinaio in Cortona, by the same architect. According to Vespasiano da Bisticci, the church was started after 1482,
the year of the death of Federico da Montefeltro, who wanted to be buried there. This would exclude an
intervention by Bramante, proposed several times in the literature, but a previous design can not to be
excluded. This essay focuses on the results of a recent survey and an in-depth analysis of the structures and
materials, which made it possible to verify that the church was substantially built in a single phase, and to
analyse the stone parts with particular attention to the portal and to the large columns under the dome
and to distinguish the subsequent restoration works.
