Piero della Francesca – Art History Road Trip III

Piero della Francesca, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, c. 1452

AREZZO

Casa di Vasari

Arriving in Arezzo we parked in a car park just outside the old walls (spacious and free) and were transported into town on a series of 5 or 6 lengthy escalators. I recommend a delegation from the comune in Siena pay them a visit to see how its done. The town centre is very lively and entirely car free, we liked it very much.

Arezzo was the birthplace of artist, architect and first chronicler of the Renaissance, Giorgio Vasari. He spent a great deal of his life working in Florence, mostly for Duke Cosimo the first, painting frescos in the palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government, and designing and building the Uffizi. He never lost his connection to Arezzo though and his house there is open to the public.

Vasari’s house in Arezzo

Sadly the main rooms are empty and unfurnished. They were frescoed by Vasari himself. He wasn’t a very imaginative painter and though they are probably amongst his least successful works there’s something quite personal about the way they speak of their creator. 

Vasari’s house interior

He had witnessed art history’s greatest names at work. In fact Vasari could be held responsible for the whole concept of artistic genius. His book, ‘The Lives of the Artists’, in which he first coined the term ‘Renaissance’, claimed this period was the pinnacle of human creative achievement.

He left enough space beside the house for a garden whose centrepiece is a large stone pond, and I felt more forgiving of the frescos knowing he was a gardener. As a gardener myself I sensed a kindred spirit.

Cappella Maggiore, Basilica of San Francesco

The other landmark on our Arezzo itinerary was the Basilica of San Francesco, a great gothic barn of a church with a chapel frescoed by the painter who became the focus of the remainder of our trip, Piero della Francesca. The frescos tell the story of the Legend of the True Cross, but they also underline what a talent Piero was. His grasp of complex mathematics informed his compositions using unconventional points of view and perfect perspectives supported by his knowledge of geometry. 

Piero della Francesca, Discovery and Proof of the True Cross, 1452

Movie fans may recognise the location from the film ‘The English Patient’ where Juliette Binoche swings around on a rope waving a flare while admiring the art.

I thought the scene showing the dream of Constantine was remarkable for the way Piero arranged the light source beyond the picture plane but out of sight. We view the sleeping emperor from the shadows, something Spike felt was an early example of a trick later developed by painters like Caravaggio and Joseph Wright of Derby.

Piero della Francesco, Constantine’s Dream, 1452

I loved the enormous hats worn by the oriental noblemen. Piero would have seen these in Florence where they were much admired when a delegation from the Eastern Orthodox Church was in town. The cylindrical and pyramidal shapes provided perfect subjects for the study of perspectival space. This has prompted me to enrol in a Royal Academy online evening class: Constructing an Image: Figures and Perspective, exploring the Renaissance preoccupation with these rules. I hope this will be a suitable subject to compliment my study of the classical painting techniques of drapery.

Piero della Francesca, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, detail, 1452

Piero della Francesca, Discovery and Proof of the True Cross, detail, 1452

Piero della Francesca, Battle between Heraclius and Khosrau, detail, 1452

FOLD OF THE WEEK: THE HALF LOCK

The half lock fold happens when the change of angle, between two points of suspension, is less than ninety degrees. It creates dramatic, dynamic and angular movements; twisting, collapsing and breaking the tubular forms that re-emerge into flat planes. It is much favoured in Gothic art. 

Half lock folds tend to occur in a voluminous sleeve.

Next week we conclude our trip visiting Piero’s home town of Sansepolcro, making a final stop over the mountains in Urbino.

Have a great week.

Fiona