Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Piero della Francesca

by Giorgio Vasari

 

LIFE OF THE PAINTER, PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, OF
BORGO SAN SEPOLCRO.

[Born in the first years of the fifteenth century,—was still living in 1494.

Unhappy, of a truth, are those who, devoting themselves to laborious studies, in the hope of benefiting others and acquiring fame for themselves, are impeded by infirmities or prevented by death from carrying the works they have commenced to their ultimate perfection. For it sometimes happens, that leaving their labours when all but completed, or in a fair way for the attainment of perfection, the credit of all is usurped by the presumption of those who seek to conceal the skin of the ass beneath the glorious and honoured spoils of the lion. And although time, who is declared to be the father of truth, does sooner or later make the real state of things manifest, yet it is none the less true, that the labourer is, for a certain period, defrauded of the honour which should attach to the works he has performed. Such was the case with Piero della Francesca, of Borgo San Sepolcro,^[1] who, being considered an admirable master in the difficulties of drawing rectilinear bodies, as also well versed in arithmetic and geometry, was nevertheless prevented in his mature age, first by blindness, and finally by the close of his life, from bringing to light the various fruits of his meritorious labours, and the many books written by him, which are still preserved in Borgo, his native place.^[2]

And the man who should have laboured with all his powers to secure the fame and increase the glory of Piero, from whom he had acquired all that he knew. Fra Luca del Borgo namely,—he, on the contrary, envious and malignant, did his utmost to annihilate the name of Piero, his instructor, and sought to arrogate to himself that honour which was due to his teacher alone, publishing, under his own name, all the laborious works of that good old man, who, in addition to the acquirements named above, was highly distinguished in painting also.^[3] Piero was born in Borgo San Sepolcro,—now a city, which it was not at that time,—and was called Della Francesca, from the name of his mother; whom the death of her husband and his father had left a widow before he was born, and because he had been brought up solely by herself, who furthermore assisted him in the attainment of that learning to which his good fortune had destined him. Piero gave considerable attention to mathematics in his early youth; and although he was induced to become a painter in his fifteenth year, he yet never deserted the study of that science; but, on the contrary, made extraordinary progress therein, as well as in painting. He was much employed by Guidobaldo Feltro the elder, Duke of Drbino,^[4] for whom he executed many pictures. These works comprised numerous small figures, and were extremely beautiful, but have, for the most part, been much injured, or altogether destroyed in the many times that this Duchy has been disturbed by wars.^[5] Some of the writings of Piero della Francesca, on geometry and the laws of perspective, are nevertheless still preserved there. In knowledge of these sciences Piero was certainly not inferior to the best-informed of his contemporaries; nay, was per- haps equal to any who have followed him down to the present time, as may he shown by the many fine drawings in perspective which fill his works. Among other instances of this kind is a vase, which is treated in such a manner that it can be seen before, behind, and at the sides, while the base and mouth are equally visible; without doubt a most astonishing thing. In this work the smallest minuti^ are attended to with the utmost exactitude, and each turn of every circle is foreshortened with the greatest delicacy. Having by these things acquired considerable eminence in the court of Urbino, Piero desired to make himself known elsewhere; he therefore proceeded to Pesaro and Ancona,^[6] whence, at the moment when he was most busily occupied, he was summoned by the Duke Borso, to Ferrara, where he painted many apartments of the palace. These chambers were afterwards destroyed by Duke Ercole the elder, who rebuilt the palace after the modern taste, one consequence of which was, that there now remains no work in that city from the hand of Piero, if we except a chapel in the church of Saint Agostino, which he painted in fresco, and even that has been grievously injured by the humidity of the place.^[7]

From Ferrara Piero della Francesca was invited by pope Nicholas V. to Rome, where he painted two stories in the upper rooms of the palace, in company with Bramante of Milan.^[8] But these works also were destroyed in like manner by pope Julius II., to the end that Raffaello da Urbino might paint the imprisonment of St. Peter, with the miracle of the corporale of Bolsena in its place. At the same time there were likewise destroyed certain pictures which had been painted by Bramantino, an excellent master of that time.

And as I cannot write the life, nor particularize the works of this painter, because the latter have been destroyed, I will not refuse the labour of inserting a slight notice as a memorial of him, since the occasion appears opportune for doing so. In the works destroyed, as has just been related, this artist had produced, as I have heard say, certain heads from nature so beautiful and so perfectly executed, that the power of speech alone was required to give them life. Many of these portraits became well known from the circumstance that Raphael caused them to be copied, to the end that he might possess the likenesses of the persons represented, who were all great personages. Among them were Niccolo Fortebraccio, Charles VII., King of France, Antonio Colonna, Prince of Salerno, Francesco Carmignuola, Giovanni Vitellesco, Cardinal Bessarion, Franceso Spinola and Battista da Canneto. These portraits were all presented by Giulio Romano, disciple and heir of Raffaello da Urbino, to Giovio,^[9] who deposited them in his museum at Como. In Milan, over the door of San Sepolcro, I have seen a Dead Christ by the hand of this master, which is so judiciously executed in foreshortening, that although the picture is not more than one braccio high, the whole length of the body is shown in a manner that must have been impossible but for the judgment and ability of the master.^[10] In the same city are other works by the same artist: as, for example, certain apartments and loggie, or galleries, in the house of the Marchese Ostanesia, wherein are many paintings executed by him with great ability, and much evidence of power in the foreshortening of the figures. Without the Porta Vercellina, and near the castle, Bramantino painted several grooms currying horses, in a stable which has since been entirely demolished; the pictures are consequently lost, and this is the more to be regretted as one of these horses is declared to have been so life-like that a living horse mistook it for reality and kicked it repeatedly.

But to return to Piero della Francesca: when he had completed his work in Rome he returned to Borgo, where his mother had died, and in the deanery there,^[11] he painted two saints in fresco, within the central door, which are considered extremely beautiful. In a convent belonging to the monks of Sant' Agostino, this master painted the picture for the high altar, which was a much esteemed work.^[12] He likewise painted a Virgin in fresco^[13] for a society, or, as they call themselves, a brotherhood, of the Misericordia; and in the palace of the Conservators he executed a Resurrection, which is held to be the best of his works in that city; nay, of all that he ever performed.^[14] At Santa Maria di Loretto, Piero commenced a work in company with Domenico of Venice: this was the decoration of the sacristy, but as he left it incomplete from fear of the plague, it was afterwards finished by Luca da Cartona,^[15] a disciple of Piero della Francesca, as will be related in the proper place. Departing from Loretto, and proceeding to Arezzo, Piero there painted the chapel of the Bacci family in the church of San Francesco, the chapel is that near the high altar, and the work was executed for Luigi Bacci, a citizen of Arezzo, The ceiling of the chapel had already been commenced by Lorenzo di Bicci: the subject represented is the History of the Cross,^[16] from the moment when, at the burial of Adam by his sons, the seed of the tree from which the wood of the cross was afterwards taken, was placed beneath the tongue of the patriarch by their forethought, to the time when the exaltation of the cross itself was solemnized by the Emperor Heraclius,^[17] who, supporting it on his shoulders and walking barefoot, thus enters with it into Jerusalem. In this work are many admirable qualities, and various merits in the attitudes, all of which are worthy of consideration. Among other things, the vestments worn by the female attendants of the Queen of Sheba will be found to deserve praise; they are treated in a pleasing manner, which was then new. There are, besides, many portraits from life which exhibit great animation, with a range of Corinthian columns, the proportions of which are absolutely perfect; and a peasant, who, leaning with his hands on his spade, stands listening to the discourse made by St. Helena, while the three crosses are in process of being disinterred, with an attention which is expressed so perfectly that it would not be possible to improve it. The dead body which is restored to life at the touch of the cross is also very well executed, and the joy felt by St. Helena is equally well expressed, as is the arrangement of the bystanders, who prostrate themselves in adoration. But, superior to all besides, whether for conception or execution, is the representation of Night, as given by this master: in this picture is an angel; the figure, admirably foreshortened, is descending with the head downwards, bearing the insignia of Victory to Constantine, who is sleeping in his pavilion, watched by a chamberlain, and guarded by armed men, whose forms are obscurely seen in the darkness. These figures, with the tent, and all within a certain distance, are illumined by the light which proceeds from the angel himself, and which is managed with the utmost care and judgment. In this work, Piero della Francesca has shown the importance of copying things as they really are, and of taking nature and reality for the models; this he has done excellently well, and has thereby given later artists the opportunity of profiting by his example, and in doing so to arrive at the high position Avhich they have attained in our day. In the same work is a battle, in which fear, animosity, force, dexterity, and other passions and qualities exhibited by the combatants, are expressed with extraordinary truthfulness. The occurrences of the struggle are equally well represented, and fearful scenes of carnage; the wounded, the dying, and the dead, are depicted with great animation. Piero has likewise found means to imitate in this fresco, the erlitterinsr of the arms for which he well merits praise; and no less for a group of horses in the flight and submersion of Maxentius, these animals being foreshortened with such extraordinary skill, that when the time in which they were executed is considered, we may truly declare them to be excellent and beautiful beyond measure.^[18] A figure, partly nude, partly clothed in Saracenic vestments, and seated on a meagre horse, is also in this work, and displays the knowledge which Piero della Francesca possessed of anatomy, a science but imperfectly understood in his time. For all these things, the artist well deserved the large rewards bestowed on him by Luigi Baeci, whose portrait, with those of Carlo and others of his brothers, he has depicted in the figures present at the decapitation of a king, which makes part of the story. The portraits of other Aretine citizens, distinguished as men of letters, accompany those of Luigi and his brothers, by whom Piero was highly esteemed, as he was indeed by the whole city, which he had so richly adorned and ennobled by his works.^[19]

In the episcopal church of Arezzo, Piero della Francesca executed a Santa Maria Maddalena in fresco,^[20] beside the door of the sancristy; and for the brotherhood of the Nunzata, he painted the banner which they carry in procession.^[21] He likewise depicted San Donato in episcopal robes with figures of children, on a seat drawn in perspective at the head of the cloister belonging to Santa Maria delle Grazie, and at San Bernardo he executed a figure of San Vincenzio, in a high niche of the wall, for the monks of Monte Oliveto, which is much esteemed by artists. In a chapel at Sargiano, a residence of the Frati Zoccolanti,^[22] situated outside of Arezzo, Piero executed a figure of Christ praying by night in the garden, which is very beautiful.^[23]

In Perugia, also, this master produced many works which are still to be seen in that city. Among others, a picture in “tempera,” for the church of the nuns of Sant’ Antonio of Padua, this represents the Virgin with the Child on her lap; she is accompanied by San Francesco, Sant’ Elizabetta, San Giovanni Battista, and Sant’ Antonio of Padua. Above these figures is a most beautiful Annunciation, with an angel which seems in truth, to have descended from heaven; and, what is more, a range of columns diminishing in perspective, which is indeed beautiful. In the predella are representations in small figures, depicting St. Anthony restoring a boy to life; St. Elizabeth saving a child who has fallen into a well, and St. Francis receiving the stigmata.^[24] At Ancona, likewise, on the altar of St. Joseph, in the church of San Ciriaco, Piero della Francesca depicted the espousals of our Lady in a story of extraordinary beauty.^[25]

This master was exceedingly zealous in the study of arts. As I have said, he devoted much attention to perspective, and possessed considerable knowledge of Euclid, inasmuch that he understood all the most important properties of rectilinear bodies better than any other geometrician; and the most useful elucidations of these matters which we possess, are from his hand: for the monk of St. Francis, Maestro Luca del Borgo, whose works treat of regular geometrical bodies, was his disciple, and when Piero became old, and finally died, after having written many books, the above-named Maestro Luca, attributing them to himself, caused the works of his master to be printed as his own, they having fallen into his hands on the death of Piero.^[26]

It was the custom of Piero della Francesca to form figures in clay whereon he afterwards arranged draperies of soft textures richly folded, from which he then drew, using them as his models. Among the disciples of Piero was Lorentino D’Angelo, of Arezzo,^[27] who, imitating the manner of his master, executed numerous paintings in that city, and also completed many of those which Piero, overtaken by death, left unfinished.^[28] In the Madonna delle Grazie, Lorentino painted certain events from the life of San Donato in fresco, near the figure of that saint, which had been executed by Piero, with many other works in different parts of the city. He laboured also in various districts of the surrounding country, partly, because impelled by a restless activity, but also for the support of his family, which was at that time extremely poor. In the above-mentioned church of the Grazie, Lorentino executed a story wherein he has depicted Pope Sixtus IV., who is in the act of conferring an indulgence on that cloister. On one side of the pontiff* stands the Cardinal of Mantua, and on the other. Cardinal Piccolomini, who was afterwards Pope Pius III. In this story are the portraits of Tommaso Marzi, Piero Traditi, Donato Rosselli, and Giuliano Nardi, all citizens of Arezzo, and wardens of the building, whom Lorentino has depicted from the life in a kneeling attitude.^[29] In the hall of the palace of the priors, this master executed portraits from the life of Galeotto, cardinal of Pietramala, the Bishop Guglielmino degli Ubertini, and Messer Angelo Albergotti,^[30] Doctor of Laws. He likewise produced many other works, which are scattered about in different parts of the city.

It is related of Lorentino, that on a certain time, as the carnival was approaching, his children entreated him to kill a pig, as is the custom in that neighbourhood. But that he, not having the means for buying one, they asked him, “Plow then, father, if you have no money, how will you manage to get us a pig?” to which Lorentino replied, “Some saint will help us.” But when he had made this reply several times, and no pig was forthcoming, the children seeing the season passing away, had lost all hope; when at length, a peasant of the deanery fell into their hands. This man desired to have a San Martino painted for the fulfilment of a vow, but had no other means of payment than a pig, worth five lire. Coming to Lorentino, therefore, he told him that he wished for the St. Martin, but had only the pig for payment. Whereupon they made an agreement; Lorentino painted the San Martino, and the countryman brought him the pig, and so the saint provided for the poor children of the painter.

Piero da Castel della Pieve^[31] was also a disciple of Piero della Francesca, and decorated an arch over Sant’ Agostino with a figure of St. Urban for the nuns of Santa Caterina, since destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. In like manner, Luca Signorelli da Cortona^[32] was among the disciples of Piero, and did him more honour than all the others.

The works of Piero Borghese were executed about the year 1458. At the age of sixty he was attacked by a catarrh, in consequence of which he became blind, and thus lived till he had attained his eighty-sixth year. He left considerable property among which were certain houses in Borgo, which he had himself built, but which were burnt and destroyed in the strife of factions during the year 1536.^[33] He was honouraljly interred by his fellow citizens in the principal church, which originally belonged to the monks of Camaldoli, but is now the episcopate. His books, which are for the most part in the library of Frederick H., duke of Urbino, are of so much value, that they have deservedly obtained for him the name of the first geometrician of his time.^[34]

1. Called also Piero Borghese, from the place of his birth.
2. It has been asserted that various MSS. belonging to Piero had descended to Signor Marini Franceschi of Borgo San Sepolcro, but this is not true; that gentleman does indeed possess a small picture in which is the portrait of Piero, painted by himself, evidently that used by Vasari for his second edition. A pictirre representing the Nativity, and said to be by this master, is in possession of the cavalier Frescobaldi, of Florence, and there is a Coronation of the Virgin, at Citta di Castello, reported to be also by Piero. A description of the latter will be found in the Giornale Arcadico, May and December, 1826.—Ed. Flor. 1849.
3. So grave a charge as this must not be suffered to pass without remark, and the less so as the renowned and much respected mathematician, Fra Luca del Borgo Sepolcro has been largely defended from the odious accusation here brought against him by the Padre della Valle, and more effectually by P. Lanzi Pungileoni, in the Giornale Arcadico, Nos. 0'2—G5 (1835). See also Gaye in the Kunstblatt, No. 69. The painter Guiseppe Bossi likewise, in his admirable work Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci, has undertaken the defence of Fra Luca, Avhich he conducts with much temperance and judgment. Nay, Vasari himself has in part withdrawn the accusation of the text, by excluding from his second edition a certain epitaph on Piero, wherein the supposed plagiarisms of Fra Luca were alluded to with reprobation, and which Vasari had inserted in his first edition. Taxgiom, Viaggi, &c. vol. ii. p. 65, repeats the charge of Vasari, which Lauzi and, after him, some of the later commentators, also consider to be well founded: the reader is therefore referred to these authorities, by whom he will find the question ftilly discussed.
4. Guid’ Ubaldo, of Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, was bom in 1472, when Piero was already old and blind. The prince here meant may be Guid’ Antonio di Montefeltro, Count of Urbino, who died fifteen years before Piero become blind, or it may have been Federigo, son of Guido Antonio.
5. The only well-authenticated work of Piero della Francesca now to be found in Urbino is a small picture of the Scourging of Christ; it may be seen in the sacristy of the cathedral, and bears the inscription “Opus Petri de Burgo Sci Sepulcri.” Pungileoni attributes a picture in the sacristy or San Bartolommeo with six others in the sacristy of the cathedral to this master; but Gaye considers them to be by no means worthy of him, and denies their authenticity. The later Florentine commentators inform us that there is a small work by Piero in the Gallery of the Uffizj, in which are the portraits of Federigo di Montefeltro, and of Battista Sforza, his wife.
6. No vestige now remains of Piero’s works in Pesaro and Ancona. Vasari fails to notify those performed by him in Rimini, where there is still to be seen a fresco well preserved in the church of San Francesco in that city. It is in the Chapel of the Relics, and represents Sigismondo Malatesta kneeling before his patron St. Sigismund with the following inscription.— Sanctus Sigismtjndus Pandulfus Malatesta Pan F. Petri de Burgo Opus, 1451.
7. The church has been demolished, and the paintings are consequently destroyed.
8. Writers are divided in opinion as to whether Bramante of Milan, and Bramantino, be one person or two; but in any case we are not to confound the architect Bramante, whose birth-place was Castel Durante, near Urbino, with any other master. On this subject see Passavant in the Kundblatt, 1838.
9. Paul Jovius.
10. The Dead Christ, with other figures, may still be seen over the principal door of this church. — Ed. Flor. 1849.
11. Now Sant’ Agostino. Some years since, when the church was repaired, these two saints were brought to light, precisely in the place here pointed out by Vasari.— Ed. Flor. 1849.
12. The church is now called Santa Clara. The picture still adorns the high altar, but has been mutilated in the repairs of the building.
13. This work is not in fresco, but on panel; it is still preserved in the small church of the hospital. The principal part will be found engraved in Rosini, Storia, pl. 38, with one of the five compartments of the Gradino, or Predella, pl. 39.
14. The fresco of the palace of Conservators is still in good condition, and merits all the commendation bestoAved on it by Vasari.— Ed. Flor. 1849.
15. Luca Signorelli.
16. This admirable Avork may still be seen, but has been considerably injured, probably more by men than by time.— Masselli, and Ed. Flor. 1849.
17. This legend is now declared by the Catholic Church to be apocryphal.
18. The original has, “too beautiful and too excellent;” troppo belli e troppo eccellenti.
19. Rumohr, Italienesche Forschungen, 2, 336, note, describes these works as mannered and feebly executed; he does not believe them to be by Piero della Francesca. They are also described by Dragomanni, Monographie, p. 20, but he does not clearly distinguish the order of the arrangement, and the reader will find a more satisfactory account of them in Gaye.
20. Still in existence.
21. No trace of this work now remains.
22. The Zoccolanti are Franciscan monks, so called from having originally worn wooden shoes or sandals (zoccoli): they are sometimes called the Barefooted Friars.
23. In the restoration of the church towards the middle of the last century this picture was destroyed.
24. Destroyed during the last century in restorations of the church.
25. Believed to be the Tryptica, now to be seen in the Academy of the Fine Arts in Perugia.
26. Of this work no trace remains. See Ricci, Mem. Stor. dell'Arte e degli Artisti della Marca d'Ancona.
27. Vasari speaks of Lorentino in another place as the scholar of Don Bartolommeo della Gatta, but Bottari remarks that he may possibly have studied under Piero and Don Bartolommeo consecutively.
28. See notes second and third, p. 14.
29. The church of the Grazie has been frequently restored, and these paintings are probably concealed beneath the whitewash.
30. This palace was demolished in the year 1533, when the portraits were destroyed. Bottari remarks that the legist here meant must be Francesco and not Angelo Albergotti. Vasari probably wrote Angelo Gambiglioni and Francesco Albergotti, both Doctors of Law.
31. Pietro Perugino.
32. The life of this artist follows, as does that of Pietro Perugino.
33. For the history of these disorders, see Graziani, De Script. invitâ Minervâ, lib. 3.
34. Misson, Voyage d'ltalie, p. 187, informs us that a portion of this library was incorporated in that of the Vatican; a second part was appropriated to the library of the Sapienza. The remainder is said to have been destroyed by Caesar Borgia.