Urbino's earliest works comprised frescoes -now destroyed- for the Palazzo Zurla at Crema, as well as altarpieces for S. Maria presso S. Celso in Milan (1554-1557). Also in Milan he painted the organ shutters in S. Maria della Passione and decorated the Cappella Taverna in the same church, both of these works evincing contact with the school of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). He was subsequently employed in the workshop of Bernardino Campi (1522-1591), where he made preparatory drawings for paintings to be carried out by other members of the studio. His own technique as a painter was, generally, substandard, and he is remembered primarily as a theorist on proportion and perspective (Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 120).