Master Monday: Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca, original named Piero di Benedetto dei Franceschi was an Italian painter, mathematician and geometer of the Early Renaissance.

The Resurrection

His painting is characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective.

Polyptych of the Misericordia.

In 1439 Piero worked as an associate of Domenico Veneziano, who was then painting frescoes for the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence.

Piero della Francesca’s mature style is revealed in frescoes painted in the choir of the church of S. Francesco at Arezzo.

The Baptism of Christ.

The Baptism of Christ (now in the National Gallery in London) was completed in about 1450 for the high altar of the church of the Priory of S. Giovanni Battista at Sansepolcro.

Portrait of Sigismondo.

In 1451 he executed the famous fresco of St. Sigismund and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in the Tempio Malatestiano, as well as a portrait of Sigismondo.

The narrative cycle The Legend of the True Cross was completed by 1466.

St. John the Evangelist and St. Nicholas of Tolentino.

Simplicity and clarity of structure, controlled use of perspective, and aura of serenity are all typical of Piero’s art at its best.

Among the few extant paintings from this period are the harmonious Nativity

The Madonna from the church at Sta. Maria delle Grazie near Senigallia.

and an altarpiece in Perugia, Madonna with Child and Saints.

The last two decades of Piero’s life were spent in Sansepolcro, where paintings, now lost, were commissioned by local churches in 1474 and 1478.

Thank you for Reading!