Inspired by Piero Della Francesca

Piero della Francesca (1415-1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was a Florentine painter of the Early Renaissance. Born in the town of Borgo Santo Sepolcro, in present-day Tuscany, to a merchant father Benedetto de' Franceschi, Della Francesca's lineage was of Florentine and Tuscan nobility. A lesser known aspect of his career is that he also practiced as a mathematician and geometer. Della Francesca's legacy is instead better understood as an artist of the 15th century. 

Paying testament to the time at which Della Francesca was an artist, his work is characterized by the humanist style. The Humanist movement is defined by an ideological ambition to emphasize the impact of man. It alludes to a moral philosophy, inspired by classical antiquity, that had a considerable influence upon the Italian Renaissance. As Europe emerged from the Middle Ages, painters, sculptors and architects sought to recapture the ideals from classical Greek and Roman society of civic duty and the influence of mankind upon the world. Della Francesca's most well-known piece of art is the fresco entitled The Story of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. 

Furthermore, his painting is characterized by a unique use of geometric forms. His innovative use of perspective, cultivated by his mathematical knowledge as a geometer, allowed him to reach new ground in two-dimensional painting. In his career, Piero della Francesca was commissioned by the Church as well as an increasingly wealthy Italian merchant class to create religious and secular works. Centuries later, he has been noted as having a major influence upon many modern masters including the likes of Georges Seurat or Giorgio de Chirico. Discover contemporary artists on Artsper such as Tishk Barzanji and Olivier Lamboray that embody the legacy of Della Francesca in their art today!