Some general observations concerning aspects of Piero della Francesca's paintings

1 In several of his works, viz. St Jerome with a Devotee, the Portrait of Battista Sforza and the Resurrection, a castle with a large square tower appears; also in at least two of the predella pictures (probably not painted by Piero) for the Polyptych Altarpiece of the Madonna della Misericordia; what is the significance of this castle or fortress to Piero della Francesca? Was it that such fortresses were not unusual in the Italian landscape of his time and he therefore included them as a commonplace in his landscapes; or, was this a particular castle with which he had some personal connection? In any case, in the three examples shown here, the fortress is always in the same position in the picture. In the instance of the Sforza portrait, it is conceivable that the image represents one of her personal holdings but, if that is so, why does such a similar structure appear in other, apparently unrelated paintings? And particularly, in the Resurrection, where it is an extraordinary inclusion in such an image.

Double Portrait of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro (detail) 1462-63 (?), by Piero della Francesca, in the Uffizi; the castle is in the right middle-background (Photo: the author)

The Resurrection, 1458 (?), by Piero della Francesca, in the Museo Civico of Sansepolcro; the castle is again in the right middle-background (Photo: the author)


Detail of St Jerome and a Devotee (or, Supplicant), 1460-64 (?), by Piero della Francesca, in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, showing the castle or fortress with its square tower in the same position as in the other two paintings.

                      

2 Could his colleague Domenico Veneziano's altarpiece, the Pala di Santa Lucia dei Magnoli (the St Lucy Altarpiece) of 1445-47 have been in part - an important part that is, being the shell framing the head of the Madonna - the inspiration for the shell, and its lighting, in the so-called Brera Altarpiece (La Pala Montefeltro) of 1472-74? Shells framing the seated Madonna were a common attribute of many pictures but, given that Piero had worked with Domenico, the relationship is already established.

The St Lucy Altarpiece (La Pala di Santa Lucia dei Magnoli), 1445-47, by Domenico Veneziano, in the Uffizi (Photo: the author)

3 In that same work of Domenico Veneziano, the position of the dais on which the Madonna is placed is visually ambiguous: is it within the shelter of the double colonnade, or is it in front of the colonnade? Could such ambiguities have been an influence on Piero's compositions, an example being, again, the Brera Altarpiece, where the position of the suspended egg and that of the various actors is, at least initially, ambiguous? In Piero's Baptism in London, is the catechumen in the background removing his garment, or is he putting it on again?

4 Interestingly, in the St Lucy Altarpiece, the exterior arches of the colonnade are Gothic 'pointed' arches, whereas, the arches beyond the colonnade, including the one which frames the Madonna, are rounded, that is to say, 'Roman' arches; a curious mix of two periods, given that Domenico Veneziano was clearly a Renaissance painter and that this image is 'Renaissance' in so many ways. It might be recalled however, that in his St John the Baptist in the Desert (1445), the 'desert' locality, and its river, are rendered in an anachronistically stylized manner, more typical of late Medieval representations; this despite the fact that the figure of St John itself is clearly a Renaissance rendering and not a Medieval one. Note also the halo of St John, done in a style typical of Piero della Francesca.

5 In the Città ideale kept at Urbino - a work for good reason sometimes given to Piero and variously to other artists - the church in the middle background on the right seems to have as its model either (or, both) San Miniato al Monte in Florence or the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, this latter designed by Leon Battista Alberti. The Tempio Malatestiano itself seems to have been influenced by San Miniato (among other things1). Although the painted church (?) has square portals and not rounded ones, the general layout of its façade is similar to both of the real buildings just mentioned. Another link with the Tempio Malatestiano is that, on the pediment of the building on the extreme right of the Città ideale (see detail photos below) is a Greek inscription: on the external side walls of the Tempio Malatestiano there is also an inscription in Greek. In addition, given the decidedly un-Piero clouds in the sky of the painting, its authorship by Piero della Francesca would seem unlikely, despite the picture's absolute dependence on perspective drawing, a subject of which Piero was an acknowledged master; that it is by Alberti is quite possible for the reasons just given, not to mention that he also wrote books on perspective and was, amongst other things, an architect.

Città ideale (Ideal City), 1475-77 (?), Anonymous artist, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
The photo is not very good and the painting is exhibited behind glass, however, the church referred to can be seen in the background, to the right of the central circular building (Photo: the author)

Detail of the Città ideale showing the pediment with its inscription in Greek, on the top of the building in the extreme right foreground of the painting (Photo: the author)

The Tempio Malatestiano, external side wall with the Greek inscription
(Photo: the author)

The façade of the Tempio Malatestiano (or, San Francesco) in Rimini, 1450, designed by 
Leon Battista Alberti (Photo: the author)

Note the large rounded arches, the split pediment and the inserted opening (left unfinished), all reminiscent of San Miniato al Monte in Florence (as well as Roman triumphal arches, not to mention ancient Greek temples). San Miniato's façade is divided into five large arches (not three as here), in three of which are large doors (only one here); nevertheless, the split pediment, most likely to have been completed by a raised structure with a pediment of its own as in San Miniato, suggests a strong relationship (Alberti was himself a Florentine); of particular interest is a medal of the (unfinished) Tempio - notwithstanding this, bearing the date MCCCCL - by Matteo de' Pasti, showing as well as a cupola, various other apparently original ideas not present in the existing building. On the external left side wall and I believe as well on the right, is a dedicatory inscription in Greek (Photo: the author)

6 John Pope-Hennessy2 caused critical dismay when he suggested that the real subject of the Piero della Francesca's Flagellation was actually the Dream of Saint Jerome - that is, not the flagellation of Christ; Pope-Hennessy himself admitted that his explanation was heterodox but to me it seems as interesting as many of those more orthodox. It is not necessary to go into his reasoning here but within it he referred to a picture by Matteo di Giovanni which deals with exactly that theme, that is, the Dream of Saint Jerome. Matteo's painting is interesting to me, not because of its subject but because of its structure: like the Flagellation, it too has on the extreme right, behind two foreground figures (in the Flagellation, three), a street (?) receding into the background; this street seems to function as a structural device to interrupt the large theatrical plane of the main building. Matteo's picture has as well, on the left, a forward projecting portico wherein a judge is seated, and the main part of the building is set back. In Piero's picture, the portico also projects towards the foreground of the left half but the 'judge' is seated further back in his building; the rest of that building however, like Matteo's, seems to continue in the middle-ground to the right. There is no comparison between the two works in terms of figurative development (sophisticated skill) but, given that Matteo's painting is (apparently) the later picture, it would appear that Matteo may have adopted 'suggestions' from Piero's painting.

Of course, Piero had used this same device in his Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo. As in the other examples, the street in the episode called the Proof of the True Cross is on the extreme right behind a group of foreground figures; it creates a space going into the background, thereby implying the depth of the large temple, itself seen almost fully frontally. This particular street resembles quite closely the one in Piero's Flagellation and, from a formal point of view, helps us to read and comprehend his illusion, an intellectual as well as an aesthetic activity. 

The Dream of Saint Jerome, 1476, by Matteo di Giovanni, in the Art Institute of Chicago

Image: WikiMedia Commons Universal Public Domain Dedication

The Flagellation (1452 (?) by Piero della Francesca, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino

(Photo: the author)

The Discovery of the True Cross (L) and The Proof of the True Cross (R), fresco, 1452-55 (?) by Piero della Francesca in San Francesco, Arezzo.

Image: WikiMedia Commons Public Domain

7 The Bolognese painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) is most famous for his still-life studies in oils, water-colours and etchings; however, in some ways, I find his landscapes, particularly the oil paintings, even more subtly intriguing, perhaps because of a kind of implied ephemerality in the depicted scene, and in the painting technique. In his landscapes Morandi frequently portrays buildings more or less as simplified blocks - with a roof! It has often occurred to me the similarity of those buildings, or 'blocks', to some structures in the paintings of Piero della Francesca. These block-like structures - houses, farm buildings, etc. - appear in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge and in the background (a 'portrait' of Arezzo) of the Discovery of the True Cross, both in Arezzo, as well as in the small panel painting of Saint Jerome in the Desert. In fact, I don't know whether or not Morandi was ever especially interested in Piero's work although art historians often make the link in relation to their shared rigour. 

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (detail), 1452-55 (?), fresco by Piero della Francesca 
in San Francesco in Arezzo.

This photo shows the open space between the competing armies of the emperors Constantine and Maxentius giving onto a sunlit landscape and a winding river with some buildings along its banks. These simple block-like structures seem to have a resonance in the landscapes of Giorgio Morandi. (Photo: the author)

Paese (Village), 1936 by Giorgio Morandi, in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome

A typical example of this period in Morandi's career but, as he developed, such landscapes became ever more essential and cursory in their treatment. (Photo: the author)

1 Alberti was also the architect of the top part of the façade, completed in 1470, of the large church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence; this imposing front also echoes the façade of San Miniato al Monte - as well as elements of the Baptistry at Florence - but with notable differences, such as the softening of the pediment geometry by the use of large scrolls. But the substantial inserted section, with its own pediment, once again mimics ancient Greek temple design. The large central doorway of Santa Maria Novella calls to mind of course, the similarly large entrance of the Tempio Malatestaino. Moreover, in this project we have yet another example, such as that cited above in relation to Domenico Veneziano, of a Renaissance artist fusing Medieval taste with that of the contemporary period: Alberti had to work with the existing incomplete Gothic façade onto which he had to add his 'modern' elements and structures.

2 John Pope-Hennessy, The Piero della Francesca Trail, 1991 & 1993, Thames and Hudson, pp 8, 9 and 10. An excellent little book full of interesting observations about Piero's work, as well as the suggestion that the subject of the Flagellation is in fact the Dream of Saint Jerome. As explained above (I hope), my interest is not so much in Pope-Hennessy's proposition but rather in the example of Matteo di Giovanni's painting used to illustrate it; that is, those structural elements which resemble similar elements in several works by Piero della Francesca.

* It should be explained that the dating of Piero della Francesca's paintings is approximative in most cases and virtually guesswork in others. Only one or two of his pictures have dates and, together with extant contemporary documents, help to piece together a rough chronology of his life and particularly of his painted works. The dates given above to his paintings are hotly contested amongst historians and should therefore be taken as indicative only.