The collections of the National Gallery of the Marches are displayed in a setting that is truly unique the world over: the Ducal Palace in Urbino, built by Federico da Montefeltro. The Duke began his reign over the Montefeltro state in 1444 and in just a few decades, under his rule, Urbino became one of the beacons of the Italian Renaissance. Federico III da Montefeltro left his hallmark on the city. Thanks to his refined choice of decorators, and of vanguard artists and architects such as Piero della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti, Federico was able to permanently transform the cultural and urban settings of the town.  The collections in the Ducal Palace are for the most part based on works collected from churches and convents in the Marches, during the 19th century. The most famous part of the gallery contains works from Renaissance Urbino, with two works by Piero della Francesca and others by Federico’s court artists, as well as an important group of works from the early 16th century, including paintings by Raphael, and from the 17th century, with paintings by Federico Barocci.

With its “Cultura senza ostacoli” (Culture without barriers) project, the National Gallery of the Marches has shown that it is very aware of visitors with sensory disabilities. The Gallery offers deaf visitors a video guide with Italian Sign Language addition To make the museum experience available “for all” the 15 sign language guides also have subtitles and audio in Italian and English. The Italian Sign Language audio video guides can also be viewed on the National Gallery of the Marches’ YouTube channel.