Della Francesca, Piero A&I (Art & Ideas) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Known for his sculptural use of light, Piero della Francesca created works that are a perfect confluence of the underpinnings of the RenaissanceAby someone who helped invent it. Calvesi presents up-to-date scholarship in the reassessment of Piero based on recent archive discoveries and restorations of paintings, including the Arezzo Frescoes. He provides careful descriptive analysis of the major works with attention to biography and development, achievement, historical circumstance, philosophy, and influences on and by the artist. The second section contains full color plates and is insightful for its portrayal of iconographic images in such works as the "Misericordia Polyptych," reproducing this important work in its entirety. The catalog of works preceding the final extensive bibliography illustrates each painting in black and white with references to previous scholarship and description of the condition of each piece. This beautiful, inviting book should appeal to Renaissance scholars and students of Italian art; recommended for special, research, and large public collections.AEllen Bates, New York
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Piero della Francesca (c.1413-92) is one of the most intriguing artists of the early Italian Renaissance, known not only for the balance of his compositions and the emotional coolness of his style, but also for his outstanding talent as a mathematician. Taking advantage of documentary evidence that has emerged, particularly since the quincentenary of the artist's death in 1992, Piero scholar Marilyn Aronberg Lavin covers all aspects of the career of an artist who can justifiably be called a "Renaissance Man". Born in Sansepolcro, a small town on the border between Umbria and Tuscany, Piero della Francesca worked there periodically throughout his life. But he also travelled elsewhere in Italy - to Florence and Rome for brief periods, and to Urbino (the location of his famous "Flagellation"), Arezzo ("Legend of the True Cross" fresco cycle), Rimini and Ferrara. He was well respected and worked for the provincial rulers in these cities. However, his fame was not just due to his skill as a painter. Concurrently, he pursued his interest in mathematics and wrote three treatises on the subject. This work was linked to his artistic output - the application of the rules of perspective in his compositions, with their structured spaces and idealized shapes, are one of the reasons why he has become so univesally admired and studied in the modern era.

Piero della Francesca (c.1413-92) is one of the most intriguing artists of the early Italian Renaissance, known not only for the balance of his compositions and the emotional coolness of his style, but also for his outstanding talent as a mathematician. Taking advantage of documentary evidence that has emerged, particularly since the quincentenary of the artist's death in 1992, Piero scholar Marilyn Aronberg Lavin covers all aspects of the career of an artist who can justifiably be called a "Renaissance Man". Born in Sansepolcro, a small town on the border between Umbria and Tuscany, Piero della Francesca worked there periodically throughout his life. But he also travelled elsewhere in Italy - to Florence and Rome for brief periods, and to Urbino (the location of his famous "Flagellation"), Arezzo ("Legend of the True Cross" fresco cycle), Rimini and Ferrara. He was well respected and worked for the provincial rulers in these cities. However, his fame was not just due to his skill as a painter. Concurrently, he pursued his interest in mathematics and wrote three treatises on the subject.

This work was linked to his artistic output - the application of the rules of perspective in his compositions, with their structured spaces and idealized shapes, are one of the reasons why he has become so univesally admired and studied in the modern era.

Marilyn Aronberg Lavin is a well-known and respected scholar who has written and taught extensively on Piero della Francesca and the history of fresco painting. She has been a professor at Princeton University since 1975. Her publications include Piero della Francesca: The Flagellation (rev edn 1990), Piero della Francesca's Baptism of Christ (1981), The Place of Narrative: Mural Decoration in Italian Churches 431 - 1600 (1994) and Piero della Francesca: San Francesco, Arezzo (1996). Author's residence: Princeton, New Jersey, USA