In conjunction with the recently completed restoration of Piero della Francesca’s monumental Resurrection,
the Sansepolcro Civic Museum has opened an exhibition entitled Piero Della Francesca. The seduction of perspective, running until January 6, 2019. Mayor of Sansepolcro Mauro Cornioli described the exhibition as “an extraordinary way for visitors to get a deeper look at the immense scientific knowledge of our most famous citizen”.
To that end, the exhibition portrays Piero della Francesca’s work not just as a painter, but as a mathematician. Through drawings, perspectival models, scientific instruments, videos and additional materials, visitors will learn about the mathematic and geometric principles Piero della Francesca applied to his works and how this was passed onto perspective theorists and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Daniele Barbaro, well into the middle of the 16th century.
Eight different sections explain the studies carried out by della Francesca over the course of his life, covering geometry, investigations of artistic perspective, the human figure and architectural design. Each section explains his relationships with cities, other artists and mathematicians and the ways in which he influenced them. Included in the exhibition are displays of his writings, most notably De prospectiva pingendi (On Perspective in Painting), which helped spark the “great experiment” of painterly perspective during the Renaissance.
The exhibition is open daily; full-priced tickets cost 10 euro.
