Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an

Italian painter Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art. A *Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/12–1571) * Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868) *Angiolo Achini (1850–1930) *Pietro Adami (c. 1730) *Livio Agresti (1508 ...

of the

Early Renaissance 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 ...

. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and

geometer A geometer is a mathematician whose area of study is geometry. Some notable geometers and their main fields of work, chronologically listed, are: 1000 BCE to 1 BCE * Baudhayana (fl. c. 800 BC) – Euclidean geometry, geometric algebra * ...

. 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 "human ...

, 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, ...

'' 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 lev ...

Biography

Early years

Piero was born Piero di Benedetto in the town of Borgo Santo Sepolcro, modern-day

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, to Benedetto de' Franceschi, a tradesman, and Romana di Perino da

Monterchi Monterchi is a '' Comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the 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 where ...

, 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 Lisa del Giocondo (; ; June 15, 1479 – July 15, 1542) was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany. Her name was given to the ''Mona Lisa'', her portrait commissioned by her husband and painted by Le ...

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 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, ''Italia ...

. 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 plast ...

es for the church of Sant'Egidio in Florence, now lost. In Florence he must have met leading masters like

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

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 terracotta statuary, a technique which he invented and passed on to his nephew Andrea dell ...

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...

, 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, ...

. 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 Vasar ...

'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 The ' (‘ Este castle’) or ' (‘St. Michael's castle’) is a moated medieval castle in the center of Ferrara, northern Italy. It consists of a large block with four corner towers. History On 3 May 1385, the Ferrarese people, driven to des ...

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 As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

works of

Cosimo Tura Cosimo is the Italian form of the Greek name ''Kosmas'' (latinised as '' Cosmas''). Cosimo may refer to: Characters * Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, hero of Italo Calvino's 1957 novel ''The Baron in the Trees'' Given name Medici family * Cosimo ...

. 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 ...

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'' 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 Ci ...

'' in

, near Sansepolcro. Piero della Francesca Malatesta

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 Euro ...

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, Malatesta Temple) is the unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who commissioned its reconstruction by the fa ...

, 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 ide ...

mathematician and architect

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

, who had redesigned the

, 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 ...

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 na ...

. 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 A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

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 holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

s, are now scattered around the world. A few years later, summoned by

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...

, 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 large ...

, 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. Piero della Francesca- Legend of the True Cross - the Queen of Sheba Meeting with Solomon; detail

Frescoes in San Francesco at Arezzo

In 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to

to replace

Bicci di Lorenzo Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452) was an Italian painter and sculptor, active in Florence. He was born in Florence in 1373, the son of the painter, Lorenzo di Bicci, whose workshop he joined. He married in 1418, and in 1424 was registered in the G ...

in painting the frescoes of the basilica of

San Francesco San Francesco may refer to: * San Francesco d'Assisi ( 1182–1226), Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic, and preacher * San Francesco al Campo, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, Italy Churches in Italy ...

. The work was finished in 1464. ''

'' 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 o ...

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 The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'' 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 medie ...

(Jacopo da Varagine) of the mid-13th century."The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints" Volume Three
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 painter, decorator, and the father of Raphael. He was born in 1435 at Colbordolo in the Duchy of Urbino. He studied under Piero della Francesca and was influenced by Fiorenzo di Lorenz ...

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 F ...

. 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

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,

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, 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

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. ...

and

Luca Signorelli Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499–15 ...

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

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 Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and European fine and decorative arts, including works by ...

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 P ...

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'' (''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 ...

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, Euclidean spaces (i.e., 3D geometry). Stereometry deals with the measurements of volumes of various solid figures (or 3D figures), inc ...

and perspective. Much of Piero's work was later absorbed into the writing of others, notably

. Piero's work on solid geometry was translated in Pacioli's ''

Divina proportione ''Divina proportione'' (15th century Italian for ''Divine proportion''), later also called ''De divina proportione'' (converting the Italian title into a Latin one) is a book on mathematics written by Luca Pacioli and illustrated by Leonardo da V ...

'', 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, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

. Biographers of his patron

Federico 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 fro ...

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 scientis ...

: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 t ...

'', ''

Measurement of a Circle ''Measurement of a Circle'' or ''Dimension of the Circle'' (Greek: , ''Kuklou metrēsis'') is a treatise that consists of three propositions by Archimedes, ca. 250 BCE. The treatise is only a fraction of what was a longer work. Propositions Prop ...

'', ''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 ''On ...

'', ''

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 law of the lever and culminates ...

'', ''

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 rega ...

'', 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 printed or reproduced i ...

consists of 82 folio leaves, is held in the collection of the

Biblioteca Riccardiana The Biblioteca Riccardiana (''Riccardian Library'') is a library in Florence, Italy. The library is located adjacent to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. The main facade of Michelozzo's Medici Riccardi palace is on Via Camillo Cavour (corner of Via de ...

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 be ...

wrote a three movement work for orchestra entitled '' Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca''. 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 * ' ...

, 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 infl ...

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

*'' Polyptych of the Misericordia'' (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,

, London *''St. Jerome in Penitence'' (c. 1449–51) – Tempera on panel, 51 × 38 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin *''St. Jerome and a Donor (Girolamo Amadi)'' (1451) – Tempera and oil on panel, 49 × 42 cm,

Gallerie dell'Accademia The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...

, Venice *''Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund'' (1451) – Fresco (transferred to canvas), 257 x 345 cm,

, Rimini *'' Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta'' (c. 1451) – Tempera and oil on panel, 44.5 × 34.5 cm,

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris *''

'' (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. A ...

*'' The Flagellation of Christ'' (c. 1460) – Tempera on panel, 58.4 x 81.5 cm,

Galleria Nazionale delle Marche The Ducal Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale) is a Renaissance building in the Italian city of Urbino in the Marche. One of the most important monuments in Italy, it is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. History The construction of the ...

*'' 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, whic ...

'' (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 ...

'' (c. 1465) –Fresco (detached), 151 × 126 cm,

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

, 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 Ci ...

'' (1459–67) – Detached fresco, 260 × 203 cm, Chapel of the cemetery,

*'' The Nativity'' (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 The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria (English: National Gallery of Umbria) the Italian national paintings collection of Umbria, housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia, in central Italy. Located on the upper floors of the Palazzo dei Priori, the ex ...

, 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 The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

, Milan *'' Diptych of the Count and Countess of Urbino'',

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,

, Urbino

References

Footnotes Citations

Sources

External links

* {{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

Biography

Early years

Mature work

Frescoes in San Francesco at Arezzo

Piero's activity in Urbino

Later years

Criticism and interpretation

Work in mathematics and geometry

Inspirations

Selected works

References

Sources

Further reading

External links