Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca
(ca. 1420-1492)
   Italian painter, a na-tive of Borgo San Sepolcro in Umbria and active there and in Arezzo and Urbino. His works, which show him to be one of the greatest painters of the mid-15th century, are distinguished by a sense of solemnity and austerity, with solid figures and glowing colors. He was probably trained by a local painter and then worked in Florence un-der Domenico Veneziano. His paintings show full mastery of the so-phisticated perspective and harmonious composition typical of the generation that succeeded Masaccio. Piero's remarkable skill in using color, on the other hand, is not typical of Florentine tradition but may be due to his early work with the Venetian-born Veneziano. He also re-ceived more academic education than most painters of his time, for surviving documents as well as manuscripts of his treatise on per-spective (De prospectiva pingendi) show that he wrote humanistic script and probably knew some Latin. The treatise on perspective in-fluenced nearly all 16th-century books on the subject. He also wrote vernacular treatises on commercial mathematics (abaco) and on alge-bra and geometry, and these seem to have been used (in some cases, verbatim) as sources by the mathematical author Luca Pacioli, who knew him well and seems to have acquired his manuscripts.
   Piero came from a prosperous merchant family and seems to have had an income from the family business, probably the reason why he never organized the usual artist's workshop and also a reason why he did not produce a great number of paintings. His major works include a fresco cycle, The Legend of the True Cross (1455-1466) at Arezzo; an altarpiece, Madonna with the Duke of Urbino as Donor, painted for Duke Federigo of Urbino; The Baptism of Christ; The Nativity of Christ, often regarded as his last work; and several portraits includ-ing the duke and duchess of Urbino (both ca. 1470). His most famous single painting, however, was done for the city hall in his home town at San Sepolcro, The Resurrection of Christ (ca. 1460), notable for its severely geometrical design, the classical modeling and solidity of its figures, and the effective contrasts of light and shade and also of col-ors. One of the sleeping soldiers in the painting is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist. He also painted a series of frescoes at Rome for Pope Nicholas V, but these were replaced in the following century by works of Raphael. He was probably the teacher of the Tuscan painter Luca Signorelli.

Historical Dictionary of Renaissance. . 2004.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Piero Della Francesca — Autoportrait de Piero dans un des personnages de sa Résurrection …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Piero della francesca — Autoportrait de Piero dans un des personnages de sa Résurrection …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Piero della Francesca — A self portrait, detail from Resurrection Birth name Piero della Francesca Born 1415 (1415) …   Wikipedia

  • Piero della Francesca — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Detalle de obra con su autorretrato Piero De Benedetto Dei Franceschi , más conocido por su sobrenombre de Piero della Francesca (Sansepolcro, 1416 1492) fue un pintor cuatrocentista italiano …   Wikipedia Español

  • PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA — Les artistes de la Renaissance aspiraient à donner une image rigoureusement parfaite de la réalité naturelle, qui soit capable de transmettre quelque chose de son origine divine. Piero della Francesca fut l’un des principaux partisans de cette… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Piero della Francesca — (1416 1492) fue un pintor italiano que aplico nuevos metodos al arte pictórico de su época. Al igual que hizo Mantegna en el norte de Italia, della Francesca lo hizo en el sur. Notable es El Sueño de Constantino, un magnifico fresco pintado en… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Piero della Francesca —   [ fran tʃeska], eigentlich Pietro di Benedetto dei Franceschi [ fran tʃeski], italienischer Maler, * Borgo San Sepolcro (heute Sansepolcro, Provinz Arezzo) zwischen 1415 und 1420, begraben ebenda 12. 10. 1492; vermutlich Schüler von Domenico… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Piero della Francesca — Autoportrait de Piero dans un des personnages de sa Résurrection La Résurrection (Piero della Francesca) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Piero della Francesca — /pee air oh del euh fran ches keuh, frahn /; It. /pye rddaw del lah frddahn che skah/, (Piero de Franceschi). See Francesca, Piero della. Also called Piero. * * * born с 1420, Sansepolcro?, Republic of Florence died Oct. 12, 1492, Sansepolcro… …   Universalium

  • Piero della Francesca — Mutmaßliches Selbstporträt Piero della Francescas (Mitte unten) in einem Fresko, das die Auferstehung Jesu Christi darstellt (Museum Civico, Sansepolcro) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Piero della Francesca — /pee air oh del euh fran ches keuh, frahn /; It. /pye rddaw del lah frddahn che skah/, (Piero de Franceschi). See Francesca, Piero della. Also called Piero …   Useful english dictionary

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