Piero Della Francesca 360

Piero Della Francesca was an early Italian renaissance artist with an individual style and perspective that linked geometry and art together to create works of intense religious value. He believed that forms should have the purity of geometry, and was dubbed the "monarch of painting" by Luca Pacioli. His theories and perspectives have been studied by artists all over the world. Piero was born in Borgo San Sepolcra, Italy around 1415. His father worked as a wool and leather merchant, and his mother lived in the nearby town of Monterchi. Piero Della Francesca began his career in art by taking an apprenticeship with Antonio d'Anghiari, although it is believed that he was strongly influenced by Domenico Veneziano. Piero Della Francesca applied a deep understanding of Florentine art to his paintings that is common to many of Veneziano's great works. It is thought that Piero worked as an assistant to Domenico Veneziano for painting the fresco "History of the Virgin" for the church of Saint Egidio. Some of Piero's earlier works display lucid colors and brilliant sunlight which is very similar to the techniques in Veneziano's works. Piero Della Francesca's artwork has also shown similarities to that of Massacio's. Massacio was one of the first great artists of the renaissance whose depiction of natural light influenced some of Piero's works. Later, around 1440, Piero worked for Marquis Leonello d'Este, one of the most clarified patrons of the renaissance. All most all of Piero Della Francesca's works are related to religion. He has created dozens of altarpieces and church frescoes. One of his most famous religious Frescoes was the series "Legend of the True Cross" which was completed for the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo. Some of Piero's later works show an influence of Flemish art principals like intricate details and complex still life pieces. Piero spent his career working in numerous cities such as Rome, Ferrara, Arezzo, Urbino, and Rimini. His work was too individual to have a dramatic impact on Florentine art, but certain aspects of his work were significant to the later Bellini and Raphael. Piero Della Francesca died in Borgo San Sepelcron on July 5th in 1492.