Piero della Francesca (,
also , ;
– 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an
Italian painter of the
Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and
geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is characterized by its serene
humanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
, its use of geometric forms and
perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes ''
The History of the True Cross
''The History of the True Cross'' or ''The Legend of the True Cross'' is a sequence of frescoes painted by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, a ...
'' in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
.
Biography
Early years
Piero was born Piero di Benedetto in the town of
Borgo Santo Sepolcro,
modern-day
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
, to Benedetto de' Franceschi, a tradesman, and Romana di Perino da
Monterchi Monterchi is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Arezzo. It sits in the northern part of Valtiberina (The Tiber Valley), the valley wh ...
, members of the Florentine and Tuscan Franceschi noble family. His father died before his birth, and he was called Piero della Francesca after his mother, who was referred to as "la Francesca" due to her marriage into the Franceschi family (similar to how
Lisa Gherardini became known as "la Gioconda" through her marriage into the Giocondo family). Romana supported his education in mathematics and art.
He was most probably apprenticed to the local painter Antonio di Giovanni d'Anghiari, because in documents about payments it is noted that he was working with Antonio in 1432 and May 1438. He certainly took notice of the work of some of the
Sienese
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...
artists active in San Sepolcro during his youth; e.g.
Sassetta
''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany''
Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (ca.1392–1450 or 1451) was an Tuscan painter of the Renaissance, and a significant figure of the Sienese School.Judy Metro, ''Italian ...
. In 1439 Piero received, together with
Domenico Veneziano
Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany.
Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved ...
, payments for his work on
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es for the church of Sant'Egidio in Florence, now lost. In Florence he must have met leading masters like
Fra Angelico,
Luca della Robbia
Luca della Robbia (, also , ; 1399/1400–1482) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. Della Robbia is noted for his colorful, Tin-glazed pottery, tin-glazed terracotta statuary, a technique which he invented and passed on to his ne ...
,
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...
, and
Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
. The classicism of
Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...
's frescoes and his majestic figures in the
Santa Maria del Carmine were for him an important source of inspiration. Dating of Piero's undocumented work is difficult because his style does not seem to have developed over the years.
Mature work
Piero returned to his hometown in 1442 and was elected to the City Council of Sansepolcro. Three years later, he received his first commission, to paint the
''Madonna della Misericordia'' altarpiece for the church of the Misericordia in Sansepolcro, which was completed in the early 1460s. In 1449 he executed several frescoes in the
Castello Estense and the church of Sant'Andrea of
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
, now also lost. His influence was particularly strong in the later Ferrarese
allegorical works of
Cosimo Tura.
The ''Baptism of Christ'', now in the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
in London, was completed in about 1450 for the high altar of the church of the Priory of S. Giovanni Battista at Sansepolcro. Other notable works are the frescoes of ''
The Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the coming back to life of the dead.
Resurrection or The Resurrection may also refer to:
Supernatural
* Resurrection of Jesus
* Universal resurrection, often referred to by the term of art "resurrection of the dead", the ...
'' in Sansepolcro, and the ''
Madonna del parto
A Madonna del Parto ("Madonna of Parturition") is an iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary shown as pregnant, which was developed in Italy, mainly in Tuscany in the 14th century. Examples include works by Taddeo Gaddi, Bernardo Daddi and Nardo di C ...
'' in
Monterchi Monterchi is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Arezzo. It sits in the northern part of Valtiberina (The Tiber Valley), the valley wh ...
, near Sansepolcro.
![Piero della Francesca Malatesta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Piero_della_Francesca_Malatesta.jpg)
Two years later he was in
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
, working for the
condottiero
''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (19 June 1417 – 7 October 1468) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman, a member of the House of Malatesta and lord of Rimini and Fano from 1432. He was widely considered by his contemporaries as one of the mo ...
. In 1451, during that sojourn, he executed the famous fresco of ''St. Sigismund and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta'' in the
Tempio Malatestiano
The Tempio Malatestiano ( it, House of Malatesta, Malatesta Temple) is the Unfinished building, unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for Francis of Assisi, St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo ...
, as well as a
portrait of Sigismondo. In Rimini, Piero may have met the famous
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
mathematician and architect
Leon Battista Alberti, who had redesigned the
Tempio Malatestiano
The Tempio Malatestiano ( it, House of Malatesta, Malatesta Temple) is the Unfinished building, unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for Francis of Assisi, St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo ...
, although it is known that Alberti directed the execution of his designs for the church by correspondence with his building supervisor. Thereafter Piero was active in
Ancona
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...
,
Pesaro
Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...
and
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
.
In 1454, he signed a contract for the ''Polyptych of Saint Augustine'' in the church of Sant'Agostino in Sansepolcro. The central panel of this
polyptych is lost, and the four panels of the wings, with representations of
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s, are now scattered around the world. A few years later, summoned by
Pope Nicholas V, he moved to Rome, where he executed frescoes in the
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
, of which only fragments remain. Two years later he was again in the Papal capital, painting frescoes in the
Vatican Palace
The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the V ...
, which have since been destroyed.
Frescoes in San Francesco at Arezzo
In 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
to replace
Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of
San Francesco. The work was finished in 1464.
''
The History of the True Cross
''The History of the True Cross'' or ''The Legend of the True Cross'' is a sequence of frescoes painted by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, a ...
'' cycle of frescoes is generally considered among his masterworks and those of
Renaissance painting
Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...
in general. The story in these frescoes derives from legendary medieval sources as to how timber relics of the
True Cross
The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
came to be found. These stories were collected in the ''
Golden Legend'' of
Jacopo da Varazze
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medi ...
(Jacopo da Varagine) of the mid-13th century.
["The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints" Volume Three](_blank)
retrieved on 22 May 2007.
Piero's activity in Urbino
At some point,
Giovanni Santi
Giovanni Santi (c. 1435 – 1 August 1494) was an Italian people, Italian Painting, painter, Italian Renaissance interior design, decorator, and the father of Raphael. He was born in 1435 at Colbordolo in the Duchy of Urbino. He studied under Pie ...
invited Piero to
Urbino
Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...
. Between 1469 and 1486 Piero worked repeatedly in the service of Count
Federico III da Montefeltro
Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro KG (7 June 1422 – 10 September 1482), was one of the most successful mercenary captains (''condottieri'') of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke fr ...
(Duke in 1474). ''
The Flagellation'' is generally considered Piero's oldest work in Urbino (c. 1455–1470). It is one of the most famous and controversial pictures of the early Renaissance. As discussed in its own entry, it is marked by an air of geometric sobriety, in addition to presenting a perplexing enigma as to the nature of the three men standing at the foreground.
![Piero della Francesca 046](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Piero_della_Francesca_046.jpg)
Another famous work painted in Urbino is the ''Double Portrait'' of Federico and his wife Battista Sforza, in the
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
. The portraits in profile take their inspiration from large bronze medals and stucco roundels with the official portraits of Fedederico and his wife. Other paintings made in Urbino are the monumental
Montefeltro Altarpiece (1474) in the Brera Gallery in Milan and the ''
Madonna of Senigallia''.
In Urbino Piero met the painters
Melozzo da Forlì
Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school.
Biography
M ...
,
Fra Carnevale
Fra Carnevale OP ( 1420–25 – 1484) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in Urbino. Widely regarded as one of the most enigmatic artists, there are only nine works that can be definitively attributed to Carnevale know ...
, and the Flemish
Justus van Gent
Justus van Gent or Joos van Wassenhove (also: Justus or Jodocus of Ghent, or Giusto da Guanto) (c. 1410 – c. 1480) was an Early Netherlandish painter who after training and working in Flanders later moved to Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ...
, the mathematician Fra
Luca Pacioli
Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes ''Paccioli'' or ''Paciolo''; 1447 – 19 June 1517) was an Italian mathematician, Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and an early contributor to the field now known as accounting ...
, the architect
Francesco di Giorgio Martini
Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms: ...
, and probably also
Leon Battista Alberti.
Later years
In his later years, painters such as
Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ear ...
and
Luca Signorelli frequently visited his workshop. He completed the treatise ''
On Perspective in Painting'' in the mid-1470s to 1480s. By 1480, his vision began to deteriorate, but he continued writing treatises such as ''Short Book on the Five Regular Solids'' in 1485. It is documented that Piero rented a house in Rimini in 1482. Piero made his will in 1487 and he died five years later, on 12 October 1492, in his own house in San Sepolcro.
He left his possessions to his family and the church.
Criticism and interpretation
![Piero, madonna col bambino e 4 angeli, clark art institute](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Piero%2C_madonna_col_bambino_e_4_angeli%2C_clark_art_institute.jpg)
Recently, the
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...
in New York until 19 May 2013, collected seven of the eight extant paintings of Piero known to exist in the United States for exhibition. Of the seven pieces in the exhibit, critic
Jerry Saltz
Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for '' New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for ''The Village Voice'', he received the Pu ...
writing in ''New York'' magazine singled out Piero's ''Virgin and Child Enthroned With Four Angels'' for its exemplary qualities.
Saltz states that, "The Virgin and child are elevated two steps. They are in a world itself apart from this world apart. Mary isn't looking at her child and looks instead at the rose he reaches for. You begin to glean the revelation she is having. The flower represents love, devotion, and beauty. It also symbolizes blood and the crown of thorns Christ will wear. This child who will suffer a horrendous death reaches for his acceptance of fate. Mary does not pull the flower back. You sense an inner agony, noticing her deep-blue robe open to reveal scarlet beneath, symbol of outward passion and pain to come. In the dead-center vertical line of the painting is Christ's right palm that will be nailed to the cross."
Saltz accepted this oil painting as the most exceptional work of Piero on display in the exhibit.
Work in mathematics and geometry
Piero's deep interest in the theoretical study of perspective and his contemplative approach to his paintings are apparent in all his work.
In his youth, Piero was trained in mathematics, which most likely was for mercantilism. Three treatises written by Piero have survived to the present day: ', ''
De quinque corporibus regularibus
''De quinque corporibus regularibus'' (sometimes called ''Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus'') is a book on the geometry of polyhedra written in the 1480s or early 1490s by Italian painter and mathematician Piero della Francesca. It is ...
'' (''On the Five Regular Solids'') and ''
De Prospectiva pingendi'' (''On Perspective in painting'').
The subjects covered in these writings include
arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
,
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
,
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
and innovative work in both
solid geometry
In mathematics, solid geometry or stereometry is the traditional name for the geometry of Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, Euclidean spaces (i.e., 3D geometry).
Stereometry deals with the measurements of volumes of various solid fig ...
and
perspective. Much of Piero's work was later absorbed into the writing of others, notably
Luca Pacioli
Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes ''Paccioli'' or ''Paciolo''; 1447 – 19 June 1517) was an Italian mathematician, Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and an early contributor to the field now known as accounting ...
. Piero's work on solid geometry was translated in Pacioli's ''
Divina proportione'', a work illustrated by
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
. Biographers of his patron
Federico da Montefeltro of
Urbino
Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...
record that he was encouraged to pursue the interest in perspective which was shared by the Duke.
In the late 1450s, Piero copied and illustrated the following works of
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists ...
:
[James Banker, ''A Manuscript of the Works of Archimedes in the Hand of Piero della Francesca'', «Burlington Magazine», CXLVII, March 2005, pp. 165–69.] ''
On the Sphere and Cylinder
''On the Sphere and Cylinder'' ( el, Περὶ σφαίρας καὶ κυλίνδρου) is a work that was published by Archimedes in two volumes c. 225 BCE. It most notably details how to find the surface area of a sphere and the volume of the ...
'', ''
Measurement of a Circle'', ''On Conoids and Spheroids'', ''
On Spirals
''On Spirals'' ( el, Περὶ ἑλίκων) is a treatise by Archimedes, written around 225 BC. Notably, Archimedes employed the Archimedean spiral in this book to square the circle and trisect an angle.
Contents
Preface
Archimedes begins ''O ...
'', ''
On the Equilibrium of Planes
''On the Equilibrium of Planes'' ( grc, Περὶ ἐπιπέδων ἱσορροπιῶν, translit=perí epipédōn isorropiôn) is a treatise by Archimedes in two volumes. The first book contains a proof of the Mechanical advantage#The law of ...
'', ''
The Quadrature of the Parabola
''Quadrature of the Parabola'' ( el, Τετραγωνισμὸς παραβολῆς) is a treatise on geometry, written by Archimedes in the 3rd century BC and addressed to his Alexandrian acquaintance Dositheus. It contains 24 propositions regar ...
'', and ''
The Sand Reckoner
''The Sand Reckoner'' ( el, Ψαμμίτης, ''Psammites'') is a work by Archimedes, an Ancient Greek mathematician of the 3rd century BC, in which he set out to determine an upper bound for the number of grains of sand that fit into the unive ...
''. The
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
consists of 82 folio leaves, is held in the collection of the
Biblioteca Riccardiana and is a copy of the translation of the Archimedean corpus made by Italian humanist
Iacopo da San Cassiano
Iacopo da San Cassiano (between 1395 and 1410 – c. 1454), also known as Iacobus Cremonensis, was an Italian humanist and mathematician. He translated from Greek to Latin the writings of Archimedes and parts of Diodorus' ''Bibliotheca historica' ...
.
[Paolo d'Alessandro e Pier Daniele Napolitani, ''Archimede latino.Iacopo da San Cassiano e il corpus archimedeo alla metà del Quattrocento'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2012.]
Inspirations
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...
wrote a three movement work for orchestra entitled ''
Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca
''The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca'' (''Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca''), H. 352, is an orchestral work by Bohuslav Martinů.
It pays homage to the cycle of frescoes ''The History of the True Cross'' by Piero della Francesca, whi ...
''. Dedicated to
Rafael Kubelik
Rafael may refer to:
* Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin
* Rafael, California
* Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology
* Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane
Fiction
* Rafa ...
, it was premiered by Kubelik and the
Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
at the 1956 Salzburg Festival.
Piero's geometrical perfection and the almost magic atmosphere of the light in his painting inspired modern painters like
Giorgio de Chirico
Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian
artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...
,
Massimo Campigli
Massimo Campigli (; born Max Ihlenfeld, 4 July 189531 May 1971) was an Italian painter and journalist.
Biography
He was born in Berlin, but spent most of his childhood in Florence. His family moved to Milan in 1909, and here he worked on the '' ...
,
Felice Casorati
Felice Casorati (December 4, 1883 – March 1, 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusua ...
, and
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...
.
Selected works
![Piero della Francesca - Baptism of Christ - WGA17595](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Piero_della_Francesca_-_Baptism_of_Christ_-_WGA17595.jpg)
*''
Polyptych of the Misericordia
The ''Polyptych of the Misericordia'' is a painting conserved in the Museo Civico di Sansepolcro in the town of Sansepolcro, region of Tuscany, Italy. The painting is one of the earliest works of the Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Franc ...
'' (1445–62) –
Tempera and oil on panel, 273 x 330 cm, Museo Civico Sansepolcro
*''
The Baptism of Christ'' (c. 1448–50) –
Tempera on panel, 168 × 116 cm, National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
, London
*''St. Jerome in Penitence'' (c. 1449–51) –
Tempera on panel, 51 × 38 cm, Staatliche Museen
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...
, Berlin
*''St. Jerome and a Donor (Girolamo Amadi)'' (1451) –
Tempera and oil on panel, 49 × 42 cm, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
*''Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund'' (1451) –
Fresco (transferred to canvas), 257 x 345 cm, Tempio Malatestiano
The Tempio Malatestiano ( it, House of Malatesta, Malatesta Temple) is the Unfinished building, unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for Francis of Assisi, St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo ...
, Rimini
*''
Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
The ''Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta'' is a painting attributed to the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca (c. 1451). It portrays the condottiero and lord of Rimini and Fano Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, and is housed i ...
'' (c. 1451) –
Tempera and oil on panel, 44.5 × 34.5 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
*''
The History of the True Cross
''The History of the True Cross'' or ''The Legend of the True Cross'' is a sequence of frescoes painted by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, a ...
'' (c. 1455–66) –
Fresco cycle, Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo
The Basilica of San Francesco is a late Medieval church in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, dedicated to St Francis of Assisi. It is especially renowned for housing in the chancel the fresco cycle ''Legends of the True Cross'' by Piero della Francesca.
...
*''
The Flagellation of Christ'' (c. 1460) –
Tempera on panel, 58.4 x 81.5 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...
*''
Polyptych of Saint Augustine'' (1460–70) –
Tempera and oil on panels, dispersed in several museums
*''
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
'' (c. 1463) –
Fresco, 225 × 200 cm, Museo Civico Sansepolcro
*''
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
'' (c. 1465) –
Fresco (detached), 151 × 126 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
*''St. Mary Magdalene'' (c. 1466, 1458–70s) –
Fresco, 190 × 180 cm, Cathedral, Arezzo
*''
Madonna del Parto
A Madonna del Parto ("Madonna of Parturition") is an iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary shown as pregnant, which was developed in Italy, mainly in Tuscany in the 14th century. Examples include works by Taddeo Gaddi, Bernardo Daddi and Nardo di C ...
'' (1459–67) –
Detached fresco, 260 × 203 cm, Chapel of the cemetery, Monterchi Monterchi is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Arezzo. It sits in the northern part of Valtiberina (The Tiber Valley), the valley wh ...
*''
The Nativity
The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...
'' (c. 1470) –
Oil on panel, 124.5 × 123 cm, National Gallery, London
*''
Polyptych of Saint Anthony'' (c. 1470) –
Oil on panel, 338 × 230 cm, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia
*''
Brera Madonna
The ''Brera Madonna'' (also known as the ''Pala di Brera'', the Montefeltro Altarpiece or Brera Altarpiece) is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, executed in 1472–1474. It is housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera of ...
'', i.e. ''Montefeltro Altarpiece'', (1472–74) –
Oil on panel, 248 × 170 cm, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
*''
Diptych of the Count and Countess of Urbino'',
Federico da Montefeltro and
Battista Sforza –
Oil on panel, each 47,4 × 33,6 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
, Florence.
*''
Madonna di Senigallia'' (c. 1474) –
Oil on panel, 67 × 53.5 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
References
Footnotes
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
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Berenson, Bernard, ''Piero della Francesca or The Ineloquent in Art'', The Macmillan Company, 1954.
*Chieli, Francesca, "''La grecità antica e bizantina nell'opera di Piero della Francesca''", Firenze, 1993.
*
Cole, Bruce, ''Piero della Francesca: Tradition and Innovation in Renaissance Art'', HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. .
*
Damisch, Hubert, ''Un souvenir d'enfance par Piero della Francesca'', Edition du Seuil, Paris, 1997; Engl. ed.: ''A Childhood Memory by Piero della Francesca'', Stanford University Press, 2007. .
*Gantz, Jeffrey, "Strong, silent type: Piero della Francesca, international artist of mystery",
The Boston Phoenix
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...
, Arts section, 1 September 2006.
*
Ginzburg, Carlo, ''Indagini su Piero'', Eunaudi, Torino, 1982; Engl. ed.: ''The Enigma of Piero: Piero della Francesca'', Verso, 1985, new edition 2002. .
*Keim, Frank, ''Piero della Francesca: Der Maler als Astronom und Physiker'' (Schriften zur Kunstgeschichte), Hamburg 2016. .
*Israëls, Machtelt, ''Piero della Francesca and the Invention of the Artist'', Reaktion Books, 2020. .
*
Longhi, Roberto, ''Piero de' Franceschi'', Rom, 1927; Engl. ed. translated by Leonard Penlock: ''Piero della Francesca'', F. Warne & Co., London and New York, 1930; new ed. with expansions until 1962, 1963 translation by David Tabbat: Sheep Meadow, 2002. .
*Maetzke, Anna Maria; Bertelli, Carlo, eds., ''Piero della Francesca: The Legend of the True Cross in the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo'', Skira, 2001. .
*Manescalchi, Roberto, ''L'Ercole di Piero, tra mito e realtà,(ParteI)'', Grafica European Center of Fine Art (Terre di Piero), Firenze, 2011.
*Manescalchi, Roberto, "Piero alla corte dei Pichi", in ''Studi e Documenti Pierfrancescani II'', Sansepolcro 2014.
*
Pacioli, Luca, ''Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus'', corredato della versione volgare
ac-sim du Codice Vat. Urb. Lat. 632 eds. Cecil Grayson,... Marisa Dalai Emiliani, Carlo Maccagni. Firenze, Giunti, 1995. 3 vol. (68 ff., XLIV-213, XXII-223 pp.).
*''Piero's Archimedes'',
ac-sim du Codice Riccardiano 106 par Piero della Francesca eds. Roberto Manescalchi, Matteo Martelli, James Banker, Giovanna Lazzi, Pierdaniele Napolitani, Riccardo Bellè. Sansepolcro, Grafica European Center of Fine Arts e Vimer Industrie Grafiche Italiane, 2007. 2 vol. (82 ff., XIV-332 pp. English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Arabic). .
*
Pope-Hennessy, John
Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy (13 December 1913 – 31 October 1994), was a British art historian. Pope-Hennessy was Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1967 and 1973, and Director of the British Museum between 1974 and 1976. ...
, ''The Piero della Francesca Trail'', Walter Neurath Memorial Lectures, Thames and Hudson, London, 1991; new ed. expanded with
Aldous Huxley, "The Best Picture", The Little Bookroom, 2002. .
*
*Tofanelli, Pierpaolo, "La Madonna del Parto", Pagine Nuove di Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura N. 3, Firenze, 2009. .
*Tofanelli, Pierpaolo, "La Natività", Pagine Nuove di Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura N. 4, Firenze, 2010.
*Varisco, Alessio, ''Borgo Sansepolcro. Città di Cavalieri e Pellegrini'', Pessano con Bornago, Mimep-Docete, 2012.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesca, Piero della
Italian Renaissance painters
Quattrocento painters
Painters from Tuscany
1415 births
1492 deaths
Artist authors
Geometers
Italian male painters
Mathematical artists
People from Sansepolcro
15th-century people of the Republic of Florence
15th-century Italian mathematicians
15th-century Italian painters
Catholic painters
Renaissance painters