The duke's symbolic presence in the studiolo is evoked throughout in the decoration of the paneling. In the panel to the left of the window, a half-opened cabinet discloses a large octagonal cage with a parakeet and seed box inside. The parakeet, carefully rendered with its green feathers and its red beak, may strike us at first as a quaint detail. But when we recall that in the fifteenth century such exotic birds were extremely rare and prized possessions, owned by only popes, kings, princes, and the wealthiest of merchants, the parakeet assumes the character of a status symbol.

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