Piero della Francesca was an Italian artist in the early renaissance being born in 1420 and died in 1492. His art invites the eye to travel across the surface of the painting without losing momentum. This visual continuum is characteristic of his work and is rooted in his interest in geometry, maths and perspective. Francesca’s style is serene, as if caught in the moment and shows a disciplined exploration of perspective and angles. His cool colour palette and knack for exquisite geometrical composition contributes to and refines the meditative nature of his work. Although this ‘still’ quality partially influenced his downfall when the next generation of renaissance artists like Raphael and Michelangelo re-established popular style, it also caused the emergence of his name again in later centuries as his precision and accuracy was appreciated and admired.
Piero della Francesca painted frescoes which require rapid application on wet plaster on a wall/ceiling so that the colour penetrates the plaster and becomes fixed as it dries. This is a very skilled art practice. Francesca used tempera to paint with. Tempera is made from coloured pigments that are dispersed in an emulsion miscible with water, typically egg yolk. Piero’s work is done in the true fresco technique which involves painting on moist plaster with paint made from alkaline resistant colour pigments, ground in water. However he also adopted the fresco secco technique in his practice where he used pigments ground in water that are tempered with egg yolk and applied it to dry plaster (temper moistens the dry plaster). Francesca’s art making process involved many stages before he applied paint to the wall. First he drew the outline of the subject onto paper and made small holes in the outline. This template is then placed against the wall and the dusting method, which involves dabbing a cloth with red pigment over the holes so that the outline appears on the wall behind, is used. In this way he transfered his drawings and could begin painting. In 1463 he created one of his most famous works, ‘The Resurrection’ which was commissioned by the church in his hometown of Borgo San Sepolcro. It depicts the resurrected Christ above His tomb. Considering the name of his town translates to ‘the town of the Holy tomb’ this painting is seen as a reference to the town and is believed by many to be at the heart of the town. However the painting not only offers homage to the town but also to the artist himself through secret symbols. It is theorised that the second soldier from the left is actually a self portrait of Piero della Francesca. The choice of a religious scene resonates with biblical stories and the recounts according to the narration of the Golden Legend, a contemporary book. These writings were a collection of recounts of the lives of saints but were adapted to fit a medieval Italian context by re-contextualising the stories to make them clearer and more meaningful to the audience. This is seen as Piero depicted the resurrection of Jesus as occurring in the hills of Tuscany in Italy. On the left side of Jesus they are depicted as winter and the right as summer which is a metaphor for the transformation of Christ. Piero creates an experience for the audience that is personal and immediate with Christ as the guards below are asleep and unengaged in this pivotal moment in history. The flag has a red cross which is a symbol of Christ’s victory over death and this is typical as the Golden legend is not concerned with historical accuracy but rather in providing inspiring stories to bring to life the scriptures and make immanent the Holy Spirit in a society just moving out of medieval times. This is also shown in Piero’s earlier work, ‘The Baptism’ which depicts Christ with the river Jordan in a Tuscan backdrop. These visual narratives are coded by Piero using various symbols and signs. For instance in ‘The Baptism’ (1442) references are made to religion and spirituality. The dove symbolises the existence of the Holy Spirit at the moment of baptism and the three angels allude to the trinity of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. The painting depicts the perfect moment of anticipation as the water is about to drop onto Christ’s head and Piero shows the tension of the occasion in the hands of both John and the Angels. Geometrical harmony is established on the vertical plane with the dove directly above the bowl of water and the drop of water directly centred over Christ’s head. His hands are in prayer in the middle of His chest above His feet in the middle of the painting. Horizontally Piero establishes accuracy and implements the Golden Mean (the Fibonacci Sequence) which refers to ratio and aesthetically pleasing proportions as he balances the painting with angels on one side and John on the other. The composition is complementary as the angel’s belts on the left line up with the Tuscan hills and Johns belt on the right. Typical of Piero’s work he has managed to capture the ‘ideal moment’ which conventionally would be displayed by depicting movement and energy but instead is depicted through a charged ‘stillness’ and serenity. We can see how his work evolved through his life by comparing ‘The Baptism’ with the ‘The Resurrection’. In The Baptism the Christ is younger and appears modest and even less confident. However in ‘The Resurrection’ Piero depicts Jesus as engaged with deep penetrating eyes. His facial expression is somehow emotionless while also consumed with emotion in this moment of sacred, ultimate triumph against sin. Yet while showing the power of this person Piero also offered comfort to the audience by showing the physicality of Christ and his reality through flexed muscles, droopy eyelids and accurate muscle depiction. Both frescoes show the motif of landscape as integral to his work again featuring the Tuscan hills. Piero’s lack of action can be seen as a deeper and more profound and spiritual approach then a painter who skilfully captures movement. It allows us to experience the amazing events in a calm way and absorb all the importance and meaning. |
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