As did many noblemen of his time, Federico had several personal emblems or devices that alluded to significant events, virtues, or aspirations. Along the center of the main wall an ostrich holds a spearhead in its beak, behind the bird is the German saying: "I can swallow a big iron." The oldest of the emblems used by Federico, it had belonged to his grandfather, on whose tomb it appears—it was evidently meant as a symbol of resistance to adversity.

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