The Duke of Urbino, whose profile was famously portrayed by Piero Della Francesca, has come down in history as a patron of the arts and a friend of the Medici. As it turns out, he had a dark side and a hidden agenda...

Marcello Simonetta earned his Ph.D. at Yale University. He has taught for several years in the US and in France. He currently lives in Florence where he is a senior fellow of The Medici Archive Project. He is the author of ten books. His Montefeltro Conspiracy (Doubleday 2008) has been translated into ten languages.