First Caravaggio stay in Naples and The Seven Acts of Mercy (1607)

Caravaggio arrived in Naples in September 1606 after hiding out in the Alban Hills to escape facing justice for the murder of Rannuccio Tommasoni. 

Naples was, at this time -- according to our guide -- the Vice-Capital to the King of Spain and everyone in the Court wanted to have a small house there. Also, in this timeframe, first-born sons would be given castles while second-born sons had churches built for them in the city. Naples thus became the "City of a Thousand Churches" and the most inhabited city outside of Paris. It was a relatively small city and many of its inhabitants were very poor. This concentration forced many of the poor to live in the streets and near the multitude of arches in the city. So Naples was, on the one hand, a place where you came to show off your wealth and, on the other, a reality of how destitute an individual could be. Crime was rampant, prostitution a constant, and a lack of clothing endemic.

In 1602, 12 members of the privileged class got together and founded the Misericordia to relieve some of the misery of the City's poor. They gained permission from the Church to build out the structure and manage incoming funds. The deal between the Fathers and the Founders remained secret for 200 years.

Pio Monte della Misericordia Founders

Bernardo de' Dominici, often referred to as the Neapolitan Vasari (because of his similar treatment of the lives of Neapolitan painters) stated that "... Caravaggio came to Naples where he was received with great acclaim by both artists and lovers of art painting, and he painted many works there."

The first of these was The Seven Acts of Mercy, painted between September 23, 1606 and January 7, 1607, for the then enormous sum of 400 ducats. The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy are (https://media.benedictine.edu/):

1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty
3. Clothe the naked
4. Shelter the homeless
5. Visit the sick
6. Visit the imprisoned
7. Bury the dead.

According to caravaggio.org, the terms of the agreement stipulated that both the Madonna of the Misericordia and the Acts of Mercy had to occupy a single canvas. Historically each Act had been represented separately. 

Twenty years after the painting was installed, Board Members of the Misericordia signed a document prohibiting the sale or movement of the artwork from its emplacement. If I wanted to see this painting, then, I would have to travel to Naples. That I did with my friends Brandon and Lidia.

We had spent the prior day pursuing Caravaggio through the halls of the Capitoline Museums and the Doria Pamphilj Gallery. Now, on the morning after, we took a train from Rome to Naples. This was a significant trip because I had written about Caravaggios work up to his stay in the Alban Hills but could not proceed beyond that until I had seen the next phase of his work -- Naples. Because I wanted to get the flavor of Naples, we enlisted in a 3-hour guided tour which would include art emplacements as well as locations which Caravaggio would have frequented while he was in the city.

Our tour as scheduled to begin at 10:00 am . We got into town early enough for a leisurely walk to the Misericordia, the starting point of the tour.

Brandon at Pio Monte della Misericordia

We went into the cafeteria situated below the offices of the Misericordia in order to have a pre-tour breakfast. While having our breakfast, the tour guide contacted me by phone to ask where we were. She asked us to remain there as that was actually the real starting point and she would bring the other members of the tour over there.

Brandon and the Author breakfasting at the cafe at 
Pio Monte della Misericordia

Lidia, Brandon, and the Author at Pio 
Monte della Misericordia

The Tour Guide showed up with two other team members and we were eventually joined by another couple. Before we began the walking part of the tour, we were subjected to a fairly lengthy discourse on the life of Caravaggio up to this Naples stint and given her perspective on the intent and meaning of his art. The image of Caravaggio coming out of that dialogue was of a barely understood man whose paintings told the "real truths" and whose character had been assassinated by biographers with axes to grind.

We then walked into the church to view the painting. It was breathtaking in its magnificence.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,
The Seven Acts of Mercy, 1607
(Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples;
viewed in situ, 4/19/2026)

And then the tour guide began to explain the iconography as she saw it. Her explanations are graphically illustrated in the chart below.

Visual-arts-cork.com sees Caravaggio's church paintings of what they call "the first Neapolitan period," as being still linked stylistically with the paintings from the Roman years. As it relates to The Seven Acts of Mercy, the publication sees this piece as recalling "the S. Luigi dei Francesi scenes of St Matthew."

The other major church paintings from this period are housed elsewhere and I will endeavor to visit them before moving forward.

In search of Caravaggio: Milan

I left the house while everyone was still sleeping on the morning of our travel day away from Burgundy and the fun of celebrating Brian’s 50th. I journeyed out onto the Italian Peninsula in my continuing quest to learn more about Caravaggio and his works. I was also aware of a number of exhibitions running in selected Italian cities and, if the occasion presented itself, I would visit a few of those.

I started out by taking a 6:10 am train from Beaune (Burgundy) to Milan by way of Lyon Part-Dieu. The total trip duration was 5 hours, 18 minutes, including a 40-minute change-of-train in Lyon.

In Milan I first went to Pinacoteca Ambrosiana where i was able to see Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit.

Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio) Basket of Fruit,
c. 1599

While at the museum I was able to see a number of other works to include Raphael’s Cartoon for the School of Athens fresco and a number of works by Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), including Mary Magdalene, and Sandro Botticelli’s The Madonna of the Pavilion.

Raphael, Cartoon for School of Athens fresco, 
1508 - 1509

Sandro Botticelli, The Madonna of the
Pavilion, 1510

Tiziano Vecellio, Mary Magdalene, 1575

Tiziano Vecellio, The Adoration of the Magi, 
1559 - 1560

Tiziano Vecellio, Man in Armour, c. 1530

I walked from Pinacoteca Ambrosiana to Palazzo Reale where an Anselm Kiefwr exhibition titled The Alchemists was running.

The exhibition features large-scale works honoring the memory of “…women whose memory were erased from history. Living primarily between the Midde Ages and the late seventeenth century, these alchemists were guardians of ancient forms of knowledge connected to nature, fire, earth, and the cycles of life.” A few of these works are shown below.

It had been a long day. I pulled up to Signor vino wine bar behind the Duomo and called it a day.

I would resume the quest on the following day.

The Barrington-Edwards-Retemeyer Lenten Journey

My nephews (Al and Devawn) and I spend a fair amount of time investigating the contents of wine bottles. Our favorite locale for this pastime is Vineyard Wine Company in Heathrow's Colonial Town Plaza. A little over a month ago, we were fully engaged when Dev dropped a bombshell. The Lenten season was fast approaching and he wanted to do a meaningful abstention over the period to honor the Lord's sacrifice. I thought that was honorable; and said so. I was very encouraging. That is, until he mentioned what was on his mind. He proposed giving up wine for the 40 days that comprised Lent. I thought, he surely had to be kidding. Such an action would have impacts far beyond him. Why should Al and I have to give up our sloshy lunches for 40 days just because he wanted to be Holy. We were not signing up for this yet we were being punished. This could not be the path forward. Drastic measures were called for.

After some reflection I offered him another path which, I thought, would allow him to sacrifice something (else) while retaining our family bonding activities. I told him that I would enlist family members to join him in a daily early morning (5:00 am) prayer session on Zoom for the duration of the Lenten season. He would be sacrificing sleep at the sweetest part of the cycle but, in addition, he would be accompanied on this journey by an-as-yet-to-be-determined number of family members. He thought about it and then nodded affirmatively. Waves of relief flooded over Al and I. We had dodged a bullet.

I went home and crafted an announcement on our family chat line. My Mom and youngest sister are both ordained Ministers so I knew that the Lord would not allow them to pass on this opportunity. Devawn had to show because this was an attempt to "rescue" him. Al of course had to show because ... My cousin Jenny in Virginia would also show because she does not miss an opportunity to compensate for living so far away from us. 

I got a few acknowledgments but people were not breaking down the doors trying to get in. A day or two before we were set to launch  Dev called me up and said that folks would be a lot more enthusiastic if I started at 6:00 am rather than 5. I thought that would be reducing the sacrificial quotient but I went along. I communicated that revised start time on the family chat line. Somewhere along the way he also communicated that he was going to be sacrificing the wine anyway. I was too far in. I had to move forward.

On the first morning we were eight strong. This included the folks I have mentioned plus my other two sisters and my brother-in-law Pat. I welcomed everyone, thanked them for coming, and then laid out the meeting order. We were operating in a Basic Zoom Meeting Room so we had 40 minutes (I told them 30) for each session. I told them that my younger sister (Kim) would lead the sessions and that everyone would be expected to read a self-selected Bible passage and then follow with a prayer. With everyone on board, I turned the proceedings over to Kim. 

We actually completed the first meeting in 30 minutes which left us a little time to chit chat about personal/family matters. I was very surprised as my Mom and Sis are not known for their brevity when it comes to Church-related stuff. But Devawn goes to work early and, I guess, everyone wanted to ensure that he continued putting food on his family's table. Prior to closing out the session, Kim asked my Mom for a word-of-the-day. My Mom offered up "Committed" and related it to what we would all have to do/be in order for this exercise to be successful. And that became a practice, with my Mom issuing a word-of-the-day at the end of every session. The full list is presented below.

Words-of-the Day

And so it went over the next 40 days. We were businesslike in that we did not meet on weekends. I would open the Meeting Room at 5:58 and Grace would be sitting their patiently awaiting entry. On many a morning Hazel and Pat would be there also. Or they would join shortly after. Devawn was consistently late; and it was always the same excuse. He was up but fell asleep 5 minutes before the meeting started. The group did not play. If you were not there two minutes after the start time, someone was deputized to reach out and bring you back into the fold. I messed up one day and did a Devawn and so they had to sub my sister's room and start without me. When they finally woke me up and patched me in, my Mom asked if I had been taught how to set the alarm on these new iPhones. Ouch. When I tried to ditch one meeting because of an early flight out, she chastised me that it was like inviting people into your home and then running off leaving them uncomfortably sitting in your space.

These sessions were inspirational and bond-reaffirming. We tightened our bonds both spiritually and as a family unit. Karen joined us in the final week. We prayed for each other's health and success and used the few minutes after the end of the session  to laugh and jest and revel in the glow of famil-iality. And, of course, Mom did not miss the opportunity to point out actions that could be taken to positively impact family outcomes and upcoming events.

We concluded the meetings with our last session on Good Friday. I had us meet in a Pro Room for this session so that Mom's time would be less constrained. Everyone mentioned how impactful these sessions had been and how elevating for their lives. They had grown from questioning participants to full-throated advocates. The love flowed freely.

A deep dive into Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas

A few days ago I heard a YouTube reviewer describe Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas (1939) as Mexico's Mona Lisa. And that resonated with me for, like Mona Lisa, The Two Fridas is an iconic work created by an iconic artist which has attained the pinnacle of national cultural relativism. In a characteristic not shared by Mona Lisa, The Two Fridas is a homegrown product created by a national and resident in a national institution.

Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939

Before delving into the painting I would like to spend a little time discussing Frida' views on her art and the immediate context within which the piece was created.

Frida married the famed muralist Diego Rivera in 1929. He was 20 years her senior and on his third marriage. During the 1930s, Frida underwent a number of surgical procedures to include an appendectomy, amputation of gangrenous toes, numerous foot-related surgeries, and two miscarriages. In addition, her mother died in 1932.

The union was "unconventional and problematic" with numerous affairs on both sides (including one with Diego and Frida's sister Cristina (pbs.org)). Diego's philandering exacerbated the lifelong pain resulting from her trolley accident. As she stated, "I suffered two great accidents in my life ... One in which a streetcar knocked me down ... The other accident is Diego." In one of her letters to Diego at the time doctors were considering amputating her leg, Frida stated "No, I was already a married woman when I lost you, again, for the umpteenth time maybe, and still I survived ... I am not afraid of pain and you know it. It is almost inherent to my being, although I confess that I suffered, and a great deal, when you cheated on me every time you did it, not just with my sister but with so many other women" (timesnownews.com).

Here we already begin to see themes of emotional and physical pain as endemic in Frida's life; Diego as the source of much of that emotional pain; and her ability to survive in the face of that pain.

In discussing her paintings, Frida stated thusly (The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, pbs.org):

Really, I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know they are the frankest expression of myself ... since my subjects have always been my sensations, my state of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, I have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself, which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself.

Here Frida stipulates that the subjects of her paintings are objectification of non-physical aspects of her life.

In 1938, just prior to her leaving Mexico for her first solo exhibition in New York, Diego informed Frida that he intended to divorce her. This was devastating news and another in a long list of betrayals on his part. In 1939, "anxious and adrift," Frida traveled from the US to France at the invitation of Breton who promised a surrealist-themed, Parisian exhibition of her work. In addition to all of the personal issues she was facing: her materials were stuck in customs for an extended period; her accommodations were less than desirable; she found the surrealist community insufferable; and the exhibition would not be of her works solely. Frida complained about all this in a series of letters to her lover, the American photographer Nickolas Murray. At the conclusion of her Parisian trip, Frida headed to New York where she was supposed to liaise with Murray but he waved her off as he had found a new love.

This was the Frida that returned to Mexico to face a divorce and all that a life outside the Diego orbit would entail.

The Painting

The Two Fridas is a double self-portrait which was completed in 1939, shortly after Frida and Diego's divorce.

The rightmost figure is an image of Frida dressed in a traditional Tehuana ensemble (paying homage to her indigenous heritage) looking directly at the viewer and with legs at a "mansplaining" angle. She is holding a miniature portrait of Diego as a child between her thumb and forefinger, said portrait linked to an extra-body heart by a blood-vessel-adjacent structure.

Detail from The Two Fridas
(Source: smarthistory.org)

Frida's seating position seems non-natural in relation to the bench.

The leftmost Frida is dressed in a high-necked, European-style wedding dress (paying homage to her father's European roots) and her facial pallor is whiter than is the case for "Traditional" Frida. The "hearts" of both Fridas are connected by a single circuit but Euro-Frida's heart exhibits evidence of severe damage. There is an unregulated branching  of the Euro-Frida vessel with the pre-heart branch reaching downwards and spilling fluid onto the floral-patterned skirt even though restrained by a pincer which has been deployed to staunch the flow.

The two Fridas are holding hands and both possess the unmistakeable features of the creator: bold eyebrows; facial hair; austere outward gazes; and banded updos. The angle of the bench visible to the left of Euro-Frida does not comport with the angle visible between the two forms.

The barren landscape is of a reddish-brown hue and stretches to the horizon where it gives way to storm-cloud-laden skies. 

Initially Frida wrote in her diary that this painting originated from her memory of an imaginary childhood friend but later admitted that it expressed her desperation and loneliness with the separation from Diego. "The divorce period is often described as emotionally intense for Kahlo, and it aligns with a time when her work carried a sharp sense of rupture and self-examination. Divorce, for her, wasn't just a legal change. It was a confrontation with who she was outside the relationship and whether such a change was even possible after years of being intertwined with Rivera's world" (estragy.com).

In an insight shared with a friend, Frida indicated that Traditional Frida represented the Frida that Diego loved while Euro-Frida represented the Frida that he rejected.

Frida generally worked on smaller canvasses. At 5.69 feet x 5.68 feet, The Two Fridas marked a dramatic departure from her norm. The painting was acquired by the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City at a cost of 4000 pesos (about $1000) including 36 pesos for the frame (This was the most money she had received for a painting during her lifetime.). It was included in the International Exhibition of Surrealism at the Gallery of Mexican Art (Mexico City) in 1940 and was transferred to the Museum of Modern Art (Mexico City) in 1966.

My Interpretation

The system illustrated herein is not a closed-loop system. It begins with an immature, childlike Diego being the fount of emotion-battering material which Traditional Frida, even though being closest to the source, is able to impassively process and filter before passing it on. Frida has referred to Diego as being an accident and has referred to him in other sources as a child. She expects pain from this source and the figure indicates that it is the Mexican side of the coin that is able to handle this pain impassively and move on. Hence, this is the Frida that Diego likes. This is the Frida that allows him to be indisciplined and that continues to absorb the blows without holding up a mirror to his face.

The caustic emotional brew does its damage to Euro-Frida, whose seat of emotions is visibly scarred; even though some of the mess has been directed to the off -channel. Euro-Frida is unable to internalize the material and some of it spills out into the open, sullying reputations in the process. Diego does not like this Frida. By his standards, she is weak. She refuses to (or can't) suffer silently. Her pallor and the stuff that slips out between the pincer's grip alerts the external world to the pain and suffering that the system is being subjected to.

Caravaggio on the run: Alban Hills

Subsequent to my attendance at the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, I set out to describe the artist's oevrue based on the works that I have seen with my own two eyes and within a framework that made sense to me. To date I have written about the artist in terms of him: making a name for himself; invigorating the dark shades; scaling the heights; and riding the wave. In the latter, I closed with the death of Rannucio Tommasoni at the hands of Caravaggio (May 28, 1606) and the painter reaping the punishment of a death sentence as a result. In the remainder of this series I will cover Caravaggio as "the artist on the run."

Caravaggio on the run, 1606 - 1610
(By Shadowxfox et EnokAugusta 89Derivative
works : Frédéric-FR - File:Italy 1494-fr.svg
Augusta 89File:Italy 1494.svg Shadowxfox et Enok,
CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91656198

Caravaggio fled Rome in order to avoid the consequences of his crime. And he was aided in that effort. According to one source:

The story of Late Caravaggio is that of powerful patrons who sought to protect him despite knowing very well that he was a fugitive ... Wherever he went, the artist was honored and protected. Patrons were more interested in securing his brush rather than handing him over to justice.

Caravaggio's first assistance came from the powerful Colonna family. Costanza Colonna was the daughter of the famed Marcantonio II Colonna and Felice Orsini and was a longtime friend of the painter, a frequent guest at Palazzo Colonna. Costanza was 60 years old at the time of Ranuccio's death and the mother of a similarly rambunctious son, Fabrizio. It is held that Caravaggio fled to Palazzo Colonna after the death of Ranuccio.

The Colonnas owned feudal strongholds at Paliano, Marino, Zagarolo and Palestrina in the Alban Hills and Caravaggio was smuggled out of the city and into these locales. It was in this period that he painted Supper at Emmaus (1606) and St Francis in Prayer (1606). There is also some speculation that he might have also painted David with the Head of Goliath at this time.

The 1606 rendition of Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus appears in the inventory of Palazzo Patrizi in 1624 (valued at 300 scudi). It was acquired by Pinocoteca Brera in 1939 and resides there to this day. According to Bellini’s 1672 biography, this piece was painted in the Colonna palace at Paliano (as was the St Francis piece).

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,
Supper at Emmaus, 1606
(Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan;
viewed at the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition,
7/18/2025)

The technique, approach, representations, light, and color have all been toned down from the 1601 version, according to godwhospeaks.uk, because of:

• The ascetic influence of his patron Cardinal Mattei
• A now-precarious existence (and the mental weight that came along with that)
• Having to paint without a studio or sufficient material.

The main differences between the two paintings are captured in the annotated 1606 representation presented below.

One source sees the 1606 Emmaus as a "sad picture, drained of the dynamism of the earlier version." It was viewed as more withdrawn, with figures no longer bursting out of the canvas.

In my view, the 1606 version is a clear reflection of where Caravaggio was in his life. The worry lines on the foreheads of the Innkeeper and his wife(?) are pretty telling and that sense of worry, doom, and gloom pervades the face of Jesus and the overall environment.

Saint Francis was an Italian Roman Catholic Friar, deacon and preacher who was consecrated by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. He was associated with animals and the natural world and, as such, is considered the Patron Saint of animals. He is also one of two designated Patron Saints of Italy (Saint Catherine of Siena is the other). Saint Francis' life of poverty and humility was a popular subject in Caravaggio's time and the artist was not himself immune to this trend; he is thought to have painted at least three pieces with the Saint as the subject.

Two of these pieces are problematic for the Caravaggio scholar. Saint Francis in Meditation and Saint Francis in Prayer are almost exactly the same size and both feature the Saint contemplating a skull. The painting below, Saint Francis in Prayer, has the Saint looking to the side at the skull while Saint Francis in Meditation has the skull positioned in the foreground. 

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,
Saint Francis in Meditation, 1606
(Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona;
viewed at the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition,
7/18/2025)

The problem that these paintings present is that they were never recorded so their completion dates are not known with any degree of certainty. Further, it is not known whether these are originals or copies. "A connection to Caravaggio's personal life is suggested by a 1603 libel trial in which Orazio Gentileschi testified to lending Caravaggio a monk's robe." The supposition was that the robe mentioned was the one that appears in the painting and, on that basis, the painting was assumed to have been completed sometime between 1602 and 1604.

However, "the austere composition and relatively restrained painterly technique have led some scholars ... to date the work around 1606." There is some conjecture that this painting was completed during the time that Caravaggio hid in the area outside of Rome prior to being spirited off to Naples.

In the Footsteps of Piero della Francesca: Meetup and the Maddalena

Piero della Francesca's import to pre-Renaissance art and how I became involved in a trip to walk in his footsteps have previously been detailed. Now for the journey.

What I will call Day 0 of the trip entailed traveling from one's source-location to Hotel Tiferno in Citta di Castello, said hotel serving the role of Expeditionary HQ. Most of the trip participants were coming in from England and were scheduled to travel together on a BA flight to Bologna and then by coach to Citta di Castello. I will come back to that later.

I had flown into Rome earlier in pursuit of some church-bound Caravaggio paintings and then had gone on to Siena to visit some of the city's famous art repositories. My trip to Città, therefore, originated in Siena. Citta di Castello is almost due east of Siena but, due to intervening mountains, public transportation between the two locations is both circuitous and time-consuming. After exploring a number of alternatives, I settled on the train between Siena and Arezzo and a private car (NCC) between Arezzo and Hotel Tiferno. This arrangement still necessitated going north to Florence and then southeast to Arezzo  but saved significant time over taking the train from Florence to Citta di Castello. The chart below shows the journey.

I left Siena early enough to get to Hotel Tiferno for a meet-and-greet scheduled for 6:30 pm. Unfortunately, BA cancelled the flight from Heathrow and the organizers had to scramble for alternate arrangements. Fortunately they were able to get everyone to the hotel; ragged, tired, and late though they were. The meet-and-greet was dispensed with and the group dinner started after 8:30 pm.

Day 1 began with a breakfast in the hotel dining room followed by a pre-trip lecture by Tour Tutor Agnes Crawford.

Agnes Crawford and Day 1 lecture

This was the only "day-of" lecture of the entire trip; all subsequent lectures were delivered on the evening of the day prior to the tour. The intent of the lecture was to provide insight into our destinations and the Piero piece(s) we would see once there.

Our Day 1 journey entailed travel to Arezzo to see Piero works at the Cathedral of San Donato and the Basilica of San Francesca. This was a return journey for me as I had traveled from Arezzo to Città on the preceding day. We boarded our coach filled with anticipation. Piero's footsteps loomed large ahead of us.

After about 45 minutes of travel, we arrived at Arezzo.

We were dropped off at the bottom of the hill and made our way to the Cathedral of San Donato. 

Cathedral of San Donato, Arezzo

This cathedral, dedicated to Saints Donatus and Peter, is the largest Christian building in Arezzo and can trace its roots all the way back to the end of the 13th century. The original Arezzo Cathedral had been built nearby over the burial place of Saint Donatus, Arezzo's patron saint. In the 13th century the Pope ordered that the cathedral be moved to its current location within the town walls. Construction began in the 13th century but was sporadic with the facade only completed at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to its extended period of construction, it is a blend of architectural styles. According to Audiala.com: "The Duomo di Arezzo, as it stands today, is not a pure representation of any single architectural style. Instead, it stands as a fascinating blend of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance elements, each layer telling a story of the city's rich past. This fusion of styles, rather than creating a sense of disharmony, contributes to the Duomo's unique charm and visual appeal."

The Cathedral was beautifully appointed with stunning ceilings, stained-glass windows, and wall-mounted or frescoed paintings. 

But we were here to see Piero della Francesco's work: Santa Maria Maddalena.

Piero della Francesca,
  Santa Maria Maddalena, 1459.
Viewed in situ 9/27/2025

Piero was given the commission for this effort more or less at the same time that he was working on the final scenes of the cycle of the Legend of the True Cross. According to the accompanying literature:

The fresco, mentioned by Giorgio Vasari, is next to the vestry door and neatly hidden by the fourteenth-century cenotaph of Bishop Tarlati, which was moved here in 1783, destroying the ancient chapel. It was painted by Piero della Francesca before 1459, the year the great painter had probably completed the cycle of the Legend of the True Cross in the Church of Saint Francesco in Arezzo. The Magdalene is portrayed according to the ancient iconography, her long hair worn loose, while holding in her hand the container of ointments that she would then rub on Jesus' body in the Holy Sepulchre. The Saint, set within a classical-style Renaissance arch, embellished by an extremely elegant frieze, must have been represented on a blue background of which some traces remain, just as the gold of the halo has fallen off.

Not dissimilar to early 16th-century Venetian works, the painting relies on large patches of bright colors which are also rich in symbolism: green for hope; white for faith; and red for charity. The painterly skills of the artist are manifested in the shining light reflected on the glass container in the subject's hand and the strand by strand depiction of her hair on her shoulders. These reflect the attention to detail typical of the artist's mature works.

One source has described Magdalene's look as being "triumphant, rather than penitent" and as looking down at the viewer in a deep and expressive manner with her beauty being "elegant, almost transcendent."

According to centopassidalduomo.it, "Mary Magdalene ... portrayed in a state of deep reflection and spirituality, becomes an emblem of a beauty that transcends mere physical esthetics and succeds in reaching to the soul, demonstrating Piero's ability to fuse technical innovations with profound sensitivity."

A third source: "Piero della Francesca's "Maddalena" is recognized as an incredible masterpiece of the Renaissance, marking a crucial phase in the artistic and cultural revolution of that era ... the Fresco is positioned in a period of intense creative expression for artist, highlighting  a moment of synthesis between his investigations into perspective, the use of lighting and human portraiture."

*********************************************************************************************************

This was breathtaking. This piece was stunningly beautiful and had rested in this space, regally looking down at viewers, for almost 500 years. We needed a break to contemplate this before going on to see the Legend of the True Cross. A story that I will pick up on a subsequent post.

Piero della Francesca: Life highlights

I was ready to follow in the Footsteps of Piero della Francesca. I had "happened" on this small, English company (Learn Italy) specializing in leisurely educational tours focused on Italian history, art, and culture; had committed to their Piero della Francesca tour; and had completed a fair amount of preparatory work. Now it was time to embark. But before I do, a brief introduction to the painter is in order.

Piero della Francesca 

Piero was born in Sansepolcro (then known as Borgo San Sepolcro) sometime around 1415. 

His family was prosperous, engaged, as they were, in the leather and indigo industries. Being the son of a merchant, Piero received training in mathematics and those skills were reflected in his work. With his family background, and education, it would have been normal for Piero to enter the family business. But this was not to be. He would use his mathematical education to great benefit in his chosen profession. 

Portrait of Piero della Francesca
from a 1648 edition of The Lives
(Wikipedia)

A summary of key aspects of the painter's life is presented in the chart below.

Piero is, today, "regarded as a genius and a foundational artist of the Early Renaissance period" and, indeed, was held in the highest esteem while alive. His friend -- and a great mathematician -- Luca Paciola called him 'el monarchs de la pittura (the monarch of painting). His works disappeared from radar screens in the 17th century, however, only re-emerging with the European and American Grand Tours of Europe. His works gained greater acclaim, and his resurrection more sustained, with the 1991 John Pope-Hennesey lecture at the New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In describing the painter, Natalia Iacobelli, writing in dailyartmagazine.com, states thusly:

Piero della Francesca was not only an accomplished artist of the Early Renaissance, but also one of the greatest mathematicians of his day. His works reveal his innovative mind and his meticulous understanding of space, perspective, and proportion. Piero della Francesca was at the cutting edge of Humanism, writing extensively on the topics of arithmetic and geometry. His transfixing compositions built on geometric principles demonstrate his mathematical prowess and his sensibility of the classical past.

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With some perspective on the painter, you are now ready to accompany me in his footsteps.