The Audience Chamber are hold two absolute masterpieces of Italian art: Piero della Francesca's Flagellation and the Senigallia Madonna.
The Senigallia Madonna is generally thought to have been commissioned for the marriage between Federico's daughter Giovanna and Giovanni Della Rovere.
But another likely hypothesis is that the work is linked to the death of Battista Sforza which took place in 1472; the basket contains a sheet, symbol of death, and the Buddha-like child resembles the heir Guidubaldo at the age of one.

This hieratic though joyful image - the two angels are unforgettable - was stolen in 1975 together with the Flagellation: both paintings were recovered the following year.