Italian painter and mathematician (c. 1416–1492), 1415–1492
The Baptism of Christ is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca. Painted in egg tempera on two panels of poplar wood, the dating is controversial – some give it a very early date, perhaps 1439; others much later, around 1460. It is held by the National Gallery, London.
The Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta is a painting attributed to the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca. It portrays the condottiero and lord of Rimini and Fano Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, and is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris.
The Flagellation of Christ (1459–1460) is a painting by Piero della Francesca in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino, Italy. Called by one writer an "enigmatic little painting," the composition is complex and unusual, and its iconography has been the subject of widely differing theories. Kenneth Clark called The Flagellation "the greatest small painting in the world".
The theme of the picture is the Flagellation of Christ by the Romans during his Passion. The biblical event takes place in an open gallery in the middle distance, while three figures in the foreground on the right-hand side apparently pay no attention to the event unfolding behind them. Description →
The painting's restraint and formal purity strongly appealed when Piero was first "discovered," especially to admirers of cubist and abstract art. Influence →
Much of the scholarly debate surrounding the work concerns the identities or significance of the three men at the front. According to Adriano Marinazzo they might portray the past, the present, and the future, or the three ages of man. Interpretations →
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 Francesca, who was born in the town. The central panel is of the common motif of the Virgin of Mercy or Madonna della Misericordia.
Hercules is a fresco fragment by Piero della Francesca, his only known secular work and probably originally part of a cycle of mythological figures. It dates to sometime after 1465 and is now in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, which acquired it from Joseph Lindon Smith, who in turn bought it from the Florentine art dealer Elia Volpi.
It was rediscovered during the second half of the 18th century in a room of the artist's family home on via delle Aggiunte in Sansepolcro. Removing it from the wall and transporting it caused some further damage. History →
The Diptych of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza are two oil paintings by Italian artist Piero della Francesca, dated to 1473–1475. This famed double portrait is often mistitled The Duke and Duchess of Urbino—as it appears on the website of the Uffizi Gallery, which owns it. Since Battista Sforza died in 1472 and Federico da Montefeltro was not made duke until 1474, Battista never attained the title of duchess.
The Uffizi describes the work as follows: One of the most celebrated portraits of the Italian Renaissance, the diptych features the Duke of Urbino Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482) and his wife Battista Sforza (1446–1472). Genesis of the work →
The allegorical scenes on the back of the portraits are unique, and their meaning is enhanced by Latin inscriptions on the simulated architectural base below them. The allegorical triumphs →
The Brera Madonna is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, executed in 1472–1474. It is housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera of Milan, where it was deposited by Napoleon.
The work represents a sacred conversation, with the Virgin enthroned and the sleeping Child in the middle, surrounded by a host of angels and saints. On the right low corner, kneeling and wearing his armor, the patron of arts, duke and condottiero Federico da Montefeltro. Description →
The painting was executed between 1472 and 1474; the terminus ante quem (latest possible date) is established by the absence from Federico's figure of the insignia of the Order of the Garter, which he received in the later year. Dating →
The Madonna di Senigallia is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, finished around 1474. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, in the Ducal Palace of Urbino.
From its small scale, the painting was intended for private devotion. It was noticed for the first time in 1822 in the church of the Observant Franciscan convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie just outside Senigallia (Marche), whence the current name. History →
The Nativity is an oil painting by Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca, dated to 1470–75. The painting depicts a scene from the birth of Jesus, and is one of the latest surviving paintings made by the artist before his death in 1492. Held by the National Gallery in London, it measures 124.4 cm × 122.6 cm.
The painting remained in Sansepolcro until the end of the 19th century. It was bought by Alexander Barker in 1861 and brought to London. Provenance →
The nativity scene has been translocated from Bethlehem to a clear summer day on a hill overlooking the Tuscan landscape, with a winding river to the left, and the urban landscape of a fortified town to the right, perhaps Piero della Francesca's birthplace of Borgo Sansepolcro. Description →
The painting was in poor condition. Once thought to be unfinished, it is now thought to have been damaged by over-enthusiastic restoration before it was acquired by the National Gallery. Condition →
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