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View of an Ideal City
attr. Luciano Laurana
(60 cm x 197 cm)
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino

Despite a variety of attributions, the true author of "La Città Ideale" remains uncertain. The English art historian, Sir Kenneth Clark, argued that it was painted by Piero della Francesca, while the majority opinion continues to favour Duke Federico da Montefeltro's court architect Luciano Laurana (d. 1479) as the artist.

There are also two sister panels on the same theme at the Walter Gallery in Baltimore, USA, and in Berlin.

The art historian Walter Hanak has added support to the " Laurana theory" by drawing attention to the inscriptions in the upper left and right of the panel, which appear to be written in the Slavic language in Cyrillic character. Luciano Laurana, who was born in Dalmatia, is the only candidate likely to have known Cyrillic.

Laurana was occupied during the period when this was painted on the construction of the Ducal Palace in Urbino, and various similarities have been identified between the proportions and space of the noble palaces around the piazza and some of the buildings to be found in Urbino. The round central building was probably designed as a place of worship.

Frederick Hartt, another art historian, has pointed out that some of the architectural ideas set out in the painting are unprecedented, including the rows of pediments which crown several of the palaces.