PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, Featured Paintings in Detail (2)

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
Featured Paintings in Detail
(2)
(Featured religious paintings)

Madonna and Child with Saints
(Montefeltro Altarpiece)
1472-74
Oil and tempera on panel, 248 x
170 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

Montefeltro Altarpiece (detail)
1472-74
Oil on panel
The blue mantle of the Virgin is
decorated with pearls that are
painted with almost Flemish detail.

1472-74
Oil on panel
The Child wears a necklace of
deep red coral beads, a color
which alludes to blood, a symbol
of life and death, but also to the
redemption brought by Christ.
Coral was also used for teething,
and often worn by babies. The
saints at the left of the Madonna
are generally identified as John
the Baptist, Bernardino of Siena
and Jerome; on the right would
be Francis, Peter Martyr and
Andrew.

1472-74
Oil on panel
In the mid 15th century, Piero della Francesca was one of
the most innovative painters, and he even wrote a treatise
on perspective. His influence extended mainly to Umbria,
the Marche and Tuscany. Based in Borgo San Sepolcro,
where he also held public office, he executed numerous
commissions in the service of princes and monasteries.
One of these clients was Federico da Montefeltro, who
was one of those successful upstarts, as unscrupulous as
they were cunning, who as mercenary leaders exploited
every opportunity to obtain power and ruthlessly hold on
to it.
Piero excelled in terms of the traditional altarpiece.
Originally made for a church in Urbino, this picture was
commissioned by Duke Federico, who appears as a donor
kneeling in the lower right. He wears military garb and
holds his helmet, properly removed as a sign of respect.

1472-74
Oil on panel

1472-74
Oil on panel
The apse ends with a shell semi-dome from which an ostrich egg is hanging. The shell was a symbol of the new Venus, Mary (in fact it is perpendicular to her head) and of eternal beauty. According to another
hypothesis[who?], the egg would be a pearl, and the shell would refer to the miracle of the virginal conception (the shell generates the pearl without any male intervention). The egg is generally considered a symbol
of the Creation and, in particular, to Guidobaldo's birth; the ostrich was also one of the heraldic symbols of the Montefeltro family.

Nativity
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel, 124 x 123 cm
National Gallery, London

Nativity (detail)
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel

Nativity (detail)
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel
The five wingless angels in
Renaissance imitations of ancient
dress, playing stringed
instruments and singing in
harmony, are reminiscent of
the marble musicians carved by
Luca della Robbia for a famous
singing gallery (cantoria) in
Florence Cathedral and installed
in 1438, a year before Piero is
known to have been working in
the city.

Nativity (detail)
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel
The Child lies on the ground, on a
corner of Mary's cloak, following
traditional Northern iconography
which is reflected also in the
features of the Child.

Nativity (detail)
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel
Other elements of Northern
culture can be found in a few
naturalistic details, interpreted in
a highly original fashion by Piero,
such as the strange figure of St
Joseph, nonchalantly sitting on a
saddle, or the two animals in the
background, depicted with great
realism.

Nativity (detail)
1470-75
Oil on poplar panel
No landscape view of Piero's is
as miniaturistic as the city
depicted in the background at the
right: even the streets and the
windows of the buildings are
visible, just like in a landscape by
Petrus Christus.

Baptism of Christ
1448-50
Egg tempera on poplar panel, 167
x 116 cm

Baptism of Christ (detail)
1448-50
Egg tempera on poplar panel

1448-50
The three angels on the left, with their pale but round
faces, are reminiscent of the groups of children
sculpted by Luca della Robbia for the Cantoria in
Florence Cathedral: and even their blonde hair,
decorated with garlands, is clearly inspired by Luca's
models. The face of the angel in the centre, with his
fixed gaze, brings to mind Domenico Veneziano
paintings in the mid-1430s.

1448-50
At the centre, the figure of Christ is portrayed
as a simple man, but his stance is so solemn as
to make him look as majestic as a Greek god.
His torso and his legs are circular and solid,
like the tree on the left; the holy dove, like a
little cloud, fits into a patch of sky amidst the
foliage of the tree, rendered with almost
Impressionistic strokes.

The Flagellation
c. 1455
Oil and tempera on panel, 59 x 82
cm
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche,
Urbino

The Flagellation (detail)
c. 1455
Oil and tempera on panel
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche,
Urbino

c. 1455
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
The setting is the portico of Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem, and scholarship suggests that Piero based details of the setting on descriptions of the palace and surrounding structures in Jerusalem. What has perplexed many
observers is the placing of small figures of Christ and his tormentors at a distance at the left of the picture, while in the right foreground stand three large figures who seem to have no involvement with what is going on in the other
half of the picture. Pilate, who observes the torture from a throne, is thought to be a portrait of Mahomet II, who conquered Constantinople.
The painting is signed on the lowest step of Pilate's throne.

c. 1455
The figures at the right are probably portraits and
there are many attempts by scholars to identify
them. The youthful, barefoot figure in the group,
clothed only in a plain red garment is traditionally
identified as Duke Oddantonio, Federico de
Montefeltro's half-brother who was murdered in his
nightshirt. More recently, the figure has been
identified as a wingless angel, like those in Piero's
later Nativity.

c. 1455
Even though he is working in a unitary space,
Piero does not give up his interest in detail,
such as the ceiling of the temple or the
bronze sculpture on the column with its
splendid reflection of the light. The
magnificent damask garment worn by the
character on the far right, with its contrast
between blue and gold, reveals Piero's love
for luxurious clothing and for the most
fashionable styles, which many Florentine
painters had eliminated entirely from their
work.

c. 1455
This figure in the foreground is probably a
portrait. Bearded in the Byzantine fashion, he
also wears a Byzantine hat. He gazes
earnestly outward, and his mouth is open in
speech as he gestures to his two
companions.

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, Featured Paintings in
Detail (2)
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The Flagellation
This panel painting - one of his most famous - was executed by Piero during his first visit to Urbino. It contains subtle references to the situation of the time, which are very difficult to
understand today. The theory that seems to be proposed most frequently is that the painting was commissioned as an attempt to favour the reconciliation between the two Christian
churches, of the East and of the West, in view of the imminent Turkish attack on Constantinople. Both the presence of the character in the centre, dressed after Greek fashion, and an
inscription on the frame ("convenerunt in unum") would seem to support this interpretation.
From the point of view of composition and perspective the painting is very rigorously planned. The composition appears to be divided into two scenes, separated by the column
supporting the temple in which the Flagellation of Christ is taking place. On the right are three figures, arranged in a semi-circle; their identity is not certain. They are probably well-known
characters of the time and, as such, they would be portrayed with their real features. The importance of the architecture in this painting, with the elegant classical temple, would suggest
that Piero was in touch with contemporary theoretical writings. The onlooker must stand directly in the centre of the painting, for the composition is strictly unitarian, and this unity is
achieved by the rigorous use of a single vanishing point. The painting is an ultimate example of Quattrocento linear perspective.

Madonna and Child Attended by Angels
Piero executed this painting for the Gherardi family. Members of this family were rich merchants in Sansepolcro in the fifteenth century.
The Virgin's throne is placed under the open sky in a courtyard. This spatial arrangement was also used by Fra Angelico and his followers. The represented building with its
decorative ornament has unusual iconographical and formal aspects if we compare it with buildings existing in the period.

Madonna and Child with Saints (Montefeltro Altarpiece)
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 Milan, where it was deposited by Napoleon.
The work, of a type known as a sacra conversazione, was commissioned by Federico III da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, to celebrate the birth of Federico's son, Guidobaldo.
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. The background consists of the apse of a church in Renaissance classical style, which is
rendered in such meticulous perspective that the feigned depth of the coffer-vaulted apse at the rear can be calculated. At the center, hanging by a thread from the apse shell is an egg,
emblem alike of Mary's fecundity and the promise of regeneration and immortality.

Nativity
Among Piero's surviving paintings, the last one in chronological order is the Nativity in the National Gallery in London. The missing patches of colour, which might almost indicate that
the painting is unfinished, are in fact probably the result of overcleaning.
The composition of the painting is quite innovative compared to Piero's previous production. The wide expanse of ground, dotted with patches of grass, and the roofing of the hut, with
its shadow projecting onto the ruined brick wall, seem to indicate an attempt by the artist to fragment the space of the picture, breaking the rule that he had always rigorously abided by.

Baptism of Christ
In 1442 Piero was recorded as town councillor in Borgo San Sepolcro. This painting is his first important commission in this period, originally it was painted for the Chapel of San
Giovanni in the Pieve.
The most striking feature of this painting is the extraordinary lighting from above, creating delicate pastel colours, with pale shadows that surround the figures and enhance their three
dimensionality.

Piero della Francesca, an Italian artist, one of the greatest artists of the Early
Renaissance. His painting art is characterized by its serene humanism and its use of
geometric forms, particularly in relation to perspective. He wrote books on solid
geometry and on perspective, and his works reflect these interests. Francesca's solid,
rounded figures are derived from Masaccio, while from Domenico he absorbed a
predilection for delicate colors and scenes bathed in cool, clear daylight. To these
influences he added an innate sense of order and clarity. He conceived of the human
figure as a volume in space, and the outlines of his subjects have the grace,
abstraction, and precision of geometric drawings.
Almost all of Piero's works are religious in nature - primarily altarpieces and church
frescoes in which he presents scenes of astonishing beauty, with silent, stately
figures fixed in clear, crystalline space. There are always large areas of white or near-
white in his works, the skies are big, light and sunny.
The monumental quality of his figures, the perspectival construction of the pictorial
space and the spiritual calm of his compositions led, throughout Italy, to the final
surmounting of the Gothic style and prepared the way for the artistic achievements of
High Renaissance in Italy.

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, Featured Paintings in Detail (2)

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