Piero della Francesca
Paintings
Portrait of the Duke of Urbino Federico da Montefeltro
Portrait of the Duchess of Urbino Battista Sforza
The Baptism of Christ
Saint Michael
The Nativity
Triumph of the Duke and Duchess
Arezzo: Virgin of the Annunciation
Arezzo: Death and Burial of Adam
Arezzo: Queen of Sheba in Solomon
Arezzo: The Dream of Constantine
Arezzo: The transport of the bridge
Arezzo: Discovery of the Holy Cross
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: Defeat of the Persian king , detail
Arezzo: praise of the Holy Cross
Arezzo: triumph of Constantine
Madonna Enthroned with Saints and Donors
Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro
Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
Adoration of the Holy Wood and the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Battle between Constantine and Maxentius
Battle between Heraclius and Khosrau
Discovery and Proof of the True Cross
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Piero della Francesca ( ; c. 1415[1] – 12 October 1492) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes "The Legend of the True Cross" in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo.
Biography
Early years
Piero was born in the town of Borgo Santo Sepolcro,[1] modern-day Tuscany (where he also died), to Benedetto de' Franceschi, a tradesman, and Romana di Perino da Monterchi, part of the Florentine and Tuscan Franceschi noble family.
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.[2][3] Besides, he certainly took notice of the work of some of the Sienese artists active in San Sepolcro during his youth; e.g. Sassetta. In 1439 Piero received, together with Domenico Veneziano, payments for his work on frescoes for the church of Sant'Egidio in Florence, now lost. In Florence he must have met leading masters like Fra Angelico, Luca della Robbia, Donatello and Brunelleschi. The classicism of Masaccio'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
In 1442 he was listed as eligible for the City Council of San Sepolcro. Three years later, he received the commission for the altarpiece of the church of the Misericordia in San Sepolcro (including the Madonna della Misericordia), which he was to complete only in the early 1460s. In 1449 he executed several frescoes in the Castello Estense and the church of Sant'Andrea of Ferrara, also lost. His influence was particularly strong in the later Ferrarese allegorical works of Cosimo Tura.
Two years later he was in Rimini, working for the condottiero Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. In this sojourn he executed in 1451 the famous fresco of St. Sigismund and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in the Tempio Malatestiano, as well as Sigismondo's portrait. In Rimini Piero may have met the famous Renaissance mathematician and architect Leon Battista Alberti, who had redesigned the Tempio Malatestiano; 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, Pesaro and Bologna.
In 1454 he signed a contract for the Polyptych of Saint Augustine|polyptych in the church of Sant'Agostino in San Sepolcro. The central panel of this polyptic is lost and the four panels of the wings, with representations of Saints, are scattered around the world. A few years later, summoned by Pope Nicholas V, he moved to Rome: here he executed frescoes in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, of which only fragments remain. Two years later he was again in the Papal capital, for frescoes in Vatican Palace which have also been destroyed.
The Baptism of Christ, in The National Gallery in London, was executed around 1460 for the high altar of the church of the Priory of S. Giovanni Battista at Sansepolcro. Other notable works of Piero della Francesca's maturity are the frescoes of the Resurrection in Sansepolcro and the Madonna del parto in Monterchi near Sansepolcro.
Frescoes in San Francesco at Arezzo
In 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to Arezzo to replace Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of San Francesco. The work was finished before 1466, probably between 1452 and 1456. The cycle of frescoes, depicting the Legend of the True Cross, is generally considered among his masterworks and those of Renaissance painting in general. The story in these frescoes derives from legendary medieval sources as to how timber relics of the True Cross came to be found. These stories were collected in the "Golden Legend" of Jacopo da Varazze (Jacopo da Varagine) of the mid-13th century. [4]
Piero's activity in Urbino
Between 1469 and 1486 Piero della Francesca worked repeatedly in the service of Count Federico III da Montefeltro (Duke in 1474). According to Giorgio Vasari, Piero would have worked for Federico's father Guidantonio, who died in February 1443. However, this is unlikely because this statement is not confirmed by documents or paintings. Vasari may have confused Guidantonio with Federico. The Flagellation is generally considered Piero's oldest work in Urbino (dating 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.
The Flagellation of Christ. Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
Another famous work painted in Urbino is the Double Portrait of Federico and his wife Battista Sforza, in the Uffizi. 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 in the Brera Gallery in Milan and probably also the Madonna of Senigallia.
In Urbino Piero met the painters Melozzo da Forlì, Fra Carnevale and the Flemish Justus van Gent (or Joos van Wassenhove or Giusto di Gant), the mathematician Fra Luca Pacioli, the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini and probably also Leon Battista Alberti.
His later years
In his later years, painters such as Perugino and Luca Signorelli frequently visited his workshop. It is documented that Piero rented a house in Rimini in 1482. Although he may have given up painting in his later years, Vasari's remarks that he went blind at old age and at the age of sixty, have to be doubted, since in 1485 he completed his treatise on regular solids, dedicated to Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, son and heir of Duke Federico, in his own fine handwriting. 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
Recently, the Frick collection 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 writing in New York magazine singled out Piero's Virgin and Child Enthroned With Four Angels for its exemplary qualities in the 11 March 2013 issue of the magazine. Saltz stated of the painting that, "The grouping (of figures) is situated in a shallow, classical setting... 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.[5]
Work in mathematics and geometry
His deep interest in the theoretical study of perspective and his contemplative approach to his paintings are apparent in all his work. Three treatises written by Piero are known to modern mathematicians: Abacus Treatise (Trattato d'Abaco), Short Book on the Five Regular Solids (Libellus de Quinque Corporibus Regularibus) and On Perspective for Painting (De Prospectiva Pingendi). The subjects covered in these writings include arithmetic, algebra, geometry and innovative work in both solid geometry and perspective. Much of Piero’s work was later absorbed into the writing of others, notably Luca Pacioli. Piero’s work on solid geometry appears in Pacioli’s "De divina proportione", a work illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci. Biographers of his patron, Federico da Montefeltro of Urbino, 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:[6] On the Sphere and the Cylinder; On the Measurement of the Circle; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; On the Equilibrium of Planes; On the Quadrature of the Parabola; The Sand Reckoner. The manuscript consists of 82 folio leaves. It's held in the collection of the Biblioteca Riccardiana[7] and it is a copy of the translation of the Archimedean corpus made by the Italian humanist Iacopo da San Cassiano (also known as Iacobus Cremonensis).[8]
Inspirations
Bohuslav Martinů wrote a three movement work for orchestra entitled Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca. Dedicated to Rafael Kubelik, it was premiered by Kubelik and the Vienna Philharmonic 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, Massimo Campigli, Felice Casorati and Balthus.
Selected works
The Montefeltro Altarpiece. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Polyptych of the Misericordia (1445–1462) – Oil and tempera on panel, base 330 cm, height 273 cm, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro
The Baptism of Christ (c. 1448–1450) – Tempera on panel, 168 × 116 cm, National Gallery, London
St. Jerome in Penitence (Piero della Francesca)|St. Jerome in Penitence (c. 1449–1451) – Oil on panel, 51 × 38 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
St. Jerome and a Donor(1451) – Panel, 40 × 42 cm, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund (1451) – Fresco, Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini
Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (c. 1451) – Tempera and oil on panel, 44.5 × 34.5 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
The History of the True Cross (c. 1455–1466) – Frescoes, San Francesco, Arezzo
The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1460) – Tempera on panel, 59 × 81.5 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
Polyptych of Saint Augustine (1460–1470) – Oil and tempera on panel
Resurrection (c. 1463) – Fresco, 225 × 200 cm, Museo Civico, Sansepolcro
Madonna del parto (1459–1467) – Detached fresco, 260 × 203 cm, Chapel of the cemetery, Monterchi
Nativity (c. 1470) – 124.5 × 123 cm, National Gallery, London
Polyptych of Perugia (c. 1470) – Oil on panel, 338 × 230 cm, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia
Madonna and Child with Saints (Montefeltro Altarpiece, 1472–1474) – Oil on panel, 248 × 170 cm, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Paired portraits (c. 1472) of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, respectively the Duke and Duchess of Urbino – Oil on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Madonna di Senigallia (c. 1474) – Oil on panel, 67 × 53.5 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
References
Bertelli, Carlo, Piero Della Francesca, Yale, 1992.
Chieli, Francesca, "La grecità antica e bizantina nell'opera di Piero della Francesca", Firenze, 1993.
Varisco, Alessio, Borgo Sansepolcro. Città di Cavalieri e Pellegrini, Pessano con Bornago, Mimep-Docete, 2012.
Damisch, Hubert, A Childhood Memory by Piero della Francesca, Stanford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8047-3442-9.
Gantz, Jeffrey, Strong, silent type: Piero della Francesca, international artist of mystery, The Boston Phoenix, Arts section, September 1, 2006.
Ginzburg, Carlo, The Enigma of Piero: Piero Della Francesca, Verso, 2002. ISBN 1-85984-378-6
Pope-Henessy, John, "The Piero della Francesca Trail" including Aldous Huxley Piero essay "The Best Picture" ISBN 1-892145-13-8.
Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus, corredato della versione volgare di Luca Pacioli [fac-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.). ISBN 88-09-01020-5
Pierpaolo Tofanelli, La Madonna del Parto, Pagine Nuove di Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura N. 3, Firenze, 2009. ISBN 978-88-95450-21-6.
Pierpaolo Tofanelli, La Natività, Pagine Nuove di Storia dell'Arte e dell'Architettura N. 4, Firenze, 2010. ISBN 978-88-95450-22-3
Piero's Archimedes, [fac-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, Francais, Espanol, Deutsch, Italiano et Arabic) ISBN 978-88-95450-25-4.
Longhi, Roberto "Piero della Francesca" ISBN 1-878818-77-5.
Roberto Manescalchi, L'Ercole di Piero, tra mito e realtà,( ParteI), Grafica European Center of Fine Art (Terre di Piero), Firenze, 2011. ISBN 978-88-95450-05-6
R. Manescalchi, Piero alla corte dei Pichi, in Studi e Documenti Pierfrancescani II, Sansepolcro 2014. ISBN 8-8954-5010-0
Vasari, Giorgio, Lives of the Artists, (George Bull translation), London, 1965.
Footnotes
Turner, A. Richard (1976). "Piero della Francesca". In William D. Halsey. Collier's Encyclopedia 19. New York: Macmillan Educational Corporation. pp. 40–42.
Banker, James R., The culture of Sansepolcro during the youth of Piero della Francesca, The University of Michican Press, 2003, p.159.
Banker, James R., "Piero della Francesca as Assistant to Antonio d'Anghiari in the 1430s: Some Unpublished Documents",The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 135, No. 1078 (January 1993). pp. 16–21. JSTOR /885421.
"The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints" Volume Three, retrieved on 2007-05-22.
Saltz, Jerry (2013). "Take the Day Off. Go to the Frick." New York magazine, 11 March 2013, pp121-123.
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 the Cylinder; On the Measurement of the Circle; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; On the Equilibrium of Planes; On the Quadrature of the Parabola; The Sand Reckoner". World Digital Library. 1450–1460. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
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.
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