GUBBIO, a town and episcopal see of Umbria, Italy (anc. Iguvium, q.v.; med. Eugubium) province of Perugia, 23 m. N.N.E.' from Perugia by road; by rail 13 m. N.W. of Fossato di Vico (on the line between Foligno and Ancona) and 70 m. E.S.E. of Arezzo. Pop. (1931) 6,769 (town) ; 3o,836 (commune). Gubbio is at the foot and on the steep slopes of Monte Calvo, 1,568 to 1,735 ft. above sea-level, at the entrance to the gorge which ascends to Scheggia, probably on the site of the ancient Umbrian town. The Palazzo dei Consoli, on the north side of the Piazza della Signoria, is a huge two-storied Gothic edifice with a tower (1332-1346). It contains the famous Tabulae Iguvinae, and a collection of paintings of the Umbrian school, of furniture and of majolica. Being on the slope, palace and piazza are raised on arched sub structures. On the south side of the piazza is the Palazzo Podesta, begun in Above the Piazza della Signoria, at the highest point of the town, is the Palazzo Ducale, erected by the dukes of Urbino in 1474-148o ; the Palazzo Beni, lower down. The Palazzo Accoram boni is a Renaissance structure, with a fine entrance arch. Oppo site the Palazzo Ducale is the 12th cent. cathedral of SS. Mariano e Jacopo. The interior contains some good pictures by Umbrian artists, a fine episcopal throne in carved wood, and a fine Flemish cope given by Pope Marcellus II. (15 5 5) in the sacristy. The whole town is full of specimens of mediaeval architecture. On May three colossal wooden pedestals, each over 3o ft. high, and crowned by statues of SS. Ubaldo, Antonio and Giorgio, are car ried through the town, and then, in a wild race, up to the church of S. Ubaldo on the mountain-side (2,690 ft.). (See H. M. Bower, The Elevation and Procession of the Ceri at Gubbio, Lon don, 1897.) After its reconstruction with the help of Narses (see IcuvIUM) the town remained subject to the exarchs of Ravenna, and, after the destruction of the Lombard kingdom in 774, formed part of the donation of Charlemagne to the pope. In the nth century struggles it was generally on the Ghibelline side. In I151 it re pelled an attack of several neighbouring cities, and formed from this time a republic governed by consuls. In 11J5 it was besieged by the emperor Frederick I., but saved by the intervention of its bishop, S. Ubaldo, and was granted privileges by the emperor. In 1203 it had its first podesta. In 1387, after various political changes, it came under the dukes of Urbino until, in 1624, the whole duchy was ceded to the pope.
Gubbio was the birthplace of Oderisio, a famous miniature painter (124o-1299), mentioned by Dante as the honour of his native town. In the 14th and 15th centuries a branch of the Umbrian school of painting flourished here, the most famous masters of which were Guido Palmerucci (128o-1345) and several members of the Nelli family, particularly Ottaviano (d. whose best work is the "Madonna del Belvedere" in S. Maria Nuova at Gubbio 0404). Another work by him is the group of frescoes including a large "Last Judgment," and scenes from the life of St. Augustine, in the church of S. Agostino.
Gubbio occupies a far more important place in the history of majolica. In a decree of 1438 a vasarius vasorum pictorum is mentioned, who probably was not the first of his trade. The art was brought to perfection by Giorgio Andreoli, generally known as Maestro Giorgio (see CERAMICS).
See A. Colasanti, Gubbio (Bergamo, 1905) ; L. McCracken, Gubbio