Yesterday we “did” the Tuscan part of the Piero Della Francesca Trail, viewing his paintings in the towns of Sansepolcro, Monterchi and Arezzo. Piero della Francesca was an artist and mathematician and is now regarded as one of the greatest Renaissance painters. His works are mainly in small out of the way places; this is the reason why he was overlooked for so long by northern Europeans on the “Grand Tour”. If you stay at one of Gorgacce Rentals’ Villas on the Tuscany Umbria border, it’s fun to go on the Piero della Francesca Trail, you’ll see some fantastic works of art and also explore this beautiful part of Italy.
We decided to not be too ambitious and only visit the paintings in Tuscany, you can also go on to Urbino in Le Marche or Perugia in Umbria, but it requires a lot of stamina to do it in one day! We started in the town of Sansepolcro, the birthplace of Piero della Francesca and once part of the Papal States but sold to the Dukes of Tuscany. This why Umbrians and Tuscans will both claim Piero della Francesca as “their” painter.
Read about Piero della Francesca’s Altarpiece in Perugia
Sansepolcro: Piero della Francesca
There are two great works of art by Piero della Francesca in the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro, the Madonna della Misericordia (Madonna of Mercy) and the Resurrection of Christ.
Piero della Francesca, Madonna della Misericordia, Sansepolcro, Tuscany
The Confraternita della Misericordia who commissioned the Madonna della Misericordia wanted a traditional altarpiece with gold leaf in the background. Despite this, Piero della Francesca demonstrates his mastery of perspective showing the Madonna’s cloak surrounding and sheltering the patrons of the painting. The flat gold leaf seems to be very much in the background as the figures are painted in perfect perspective.
The Resurrection of Christ is still on the wall where it was painted. Described by Aldous Huxley as the “greatest painting in the world” it is probably the first picture to deliberately use two vanishing points, a trick the cubists took to further extremes several centuries later. Christ emerging from the tomb is painted as if you are looking straight at him whereas the sleeping soldiers are painted as if you are looking up at them; the effect is to make Christ jump out from the painting. The Resurrection is heavy with the symbolism of renewal, the trees on the left have no leaves but the trees on the right are covered in foliage and the clouds are lit with a slight pinkish hue by the rising sun. It is said that the sleeping soldier in the brown tunic is a self portrait of Piero della Francesca.
Piero della Francesca's Resurrection in Sansepolcro, Tuscany
Monterchi: Piero della Francesca
We then went on to the village of Monterchi to see the beautiful Madonna del Parto (Madonna in Labour). Do watch out for the speed cameras in Monterchi, there are four of them and the speed limit is only 50km/hour. I have written about the Madonna del Parto in another post, but suffice to say that it’s an extraordinarily beautiful painting. The Madonna leans back, supporting the weight of her pregnancy while two angels open the curtains of the tent she is standing in.
Piero della Francesca's Madonna del Parto in Monterchi.
The missing top of the tent was added on by an art historian in the early 20th Century and has since been removed as it affected the otherwise perfect perspective of the painting.
Arezzo: Piero della Francesca
From Monterchi we went on to Arezzo to the church of San Francesco and Piero della Francesca’s fresco cycle of the Story of the True Cross. This is considered to be Piero della Francesca’s greatest masterpiece and narrates a medieval story about the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Piero della Francesca's frescoes of the Legend of the True Cross in Arezzo, Tuscany
Note that the crucifix in the foreground and the ceiling are not by Piero della Francesca or part of the narrative.
Piero della Francesca, Arezzo Tuscany. The Queen of Sheba has a vision
Piero della Francesca, Arezzo Tuscany, Legend of the True Cross
This is a rather convoluted story about the origins of the cross (it grew from a branch of the Tree of Original Sin placed in the mouth of Adam when he was buried) through to it’s recapture and return to Jerusalem by a Christian army long after Christ’s death. You really need to take a guidebook with you to follow the narrative, but you can appreciate the beauty of the pictures simply by looking. Piero della Francesca has matched similar scenes on opposite walls of the church’s apse. For example, in one scene the Queen of Sheba has a vision foretelling the end of the Jews when she crosses a bridge made with the beam from which the cross is made, this is directly opposite the discovery of the true cross by Helena, the Emperor Constantine’s mother.
Piero della Francesca, the Byzantine Heraclius defeats the Persians
The two battle scenes in the story are also juxtaposed, the first is Constantine’s victory over Maxentius and the second is the defeat of the Persians and subsequent recovery of the cross.
The Church of San Francesco, Arezzo Tuscany
If you would like to see the frescoes in Arezzo it is best to telephone beforehand, (0039) 0575 352727 and reserve places with a specified viewing time. In the busy months of the year all the time slots are likely to be full one to two days in advance. Collect tickets from the office to the right of the church entrance.
In the Duomo in Arezzo there is another Piero della Francesca fresco of Mary Magdalene on the far left hand wall. It was early afternoon when we were there and the Duomo had not yet opened after lunch.
Piero della Francesca's Mary Magdalene in the Duomo, Arezzo, Tuscany.
On the way back we made a detour to the isolated village of Morra in Umbria to see a fresco cycle by Luca Signorelli in a country church. Unfortunately, the church was closed on Monday afternoons and we were once again thwarted! I’ll write about the frescoes another time.
Read about my visit to the Luca Signorelli Frescoes in Morra, Umbria
Read about The Flagellation of Christ by Piero della Francesca
Tags: Arezzo, Art, Holiday, Holidays, Italy, italy villas, Madonna del Parto, Perugia, Piero della Francesca, Renaissance Art, Rental, rental villa, Rentals, Sansepolcro, Travel, Tuscany, tuscany villas, Umbria, umbria villas, Villa, Villa Rentals, Villas
April 22, 2009 at 16:13 |
I loved your piece on Piero della Francesca, it is such a luxury to have all these wonderful history making paintings on our doorstep and I constantly marvel at the beautiful works little villages like Morra and Monterchi have in their possession.
April 22, 2009 at 20:13 |
Hey Neal
Long time no see, I’m glad you liked the Piero post. I’ll be putting more art visits on the blog in the near future!
Martin
April 22, 2009 at 23:59 |
[...] There are several other paintings by Piero della Francesca close to Gorgacce Rentals’ villas on the Tuscany Umbria border. With a little planning, most of these can be visited in a single day on the Piero della Francesca Trail. You will find paintings by Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, Perugia, Urbino, Sansepolcro, Monterchi, Florence (Uffizzi) and Rimini on the Adriatic coast. See also my blog post on the Tuscan part of the Piero della Francesca Trail. [...]
April 27, 2009 at 08:41 |
[...] of columns. A visit to the National Gallery of Umbria and this altarpiece can be included in the Piero della Francesca Trail. Annunciation by Piero della Francesca, [...]
April 30, 2009 at 23:31 |
[...] crowd of soldiers and strongly foreshortened horses are highly reminiscent of the battle scenes in Piero della Francesca’s Arezzo frescoes. If you’ve seen Luca Signorelli’s frescoes in Orvieto, you’ll probably recognise [...]
October 2, 2009 at 22:15 |
[...] visit to Urbino can be combined with visits in a single day to other Piero paintings as part of the Piero della Francesca Trail. Given Urbino’s location, it’s beautiful architecture and the wealth of art treasures [...]