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 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.

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

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