PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA

born c. 1420, , Sansepolcro?, Republic of Florence died Oct. 12, 1492, Sansepolcro painter whose serene, disciplined exploration of perspective had little influence on his contemporaries but came to be recognized in the 20th century as a major contribution to the Italian Renaissance. The fresco cycle The Legend of the True Cross (145266) and the diptych portrait of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, and his consort (1465) are among his best known works. Additional reading The earliest biography of the artist is Vasari's Life of Piero (1550 and 1568), included in his Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, trans. by A.B. Hind, vol. 2 (1963). Roberto Longhi, Piero della Francesca (1927; 2nd ed., 1946; Eng. trans. 1930), is the definitive critical and scholarly monograph. A useful catalog of paintings is Piero Bianconi, Tutta la pittura di Piero della Francesca, 2nd ed. (1959; All the Paintings of Piero della Francesca, 1962). Kenneth Clark, Piero della Francesca, 2nd ed. rev. (1969), remains the standard account of the artist in English. It is a rare union of eloquence and scholarship. Major Works: The following list includes nearly all of Piero's surviving workspanel paintings except where stated otherwise. The Baptism of Christ (c. 144045; National Gallery, London); Polyptych of the Misericordia (Madonna della Misericordia; 144562; Palazzo Comunale, Sansepolcro, Italy); St. Jerome Penitent (1450; Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin); Sigismondo Malatesta Before St. Sigismund (fresco, 1451; Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini, Italy); The Legend of the True Cross (fresco cycle, 145266; S. Francesco, Arezzo, Italy); panels from the altarpiece of S. Agostino in Sansepolcro (commissioned 1454, finished 1469): St. Augustine (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon); St. Michael (National Gallery, London); St. Simon the Apostle(?) (Frick Collection, New York City); St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan); and Flagellation of Christ (late 1450s; Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino, Italy); Hercules (c. 146066; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston); Resurrection (fresco, c. 1463; Palazzo Comunale, Sansepolcro); Portraits of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and of His Wife, Battista Sforza (1465; Uffizi, Florence); The Madonna with Child, Angels, Saints and Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (1470s; Brera, Milan); Senigallia Madonna (1470s; Galleria Nazionale delle Marche); Madonna with Child and Saints (c. 147274; Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, Italy); The Nativity (c. 1480; National Gallery, London).