As one of the most innovative and enlightened painters of the early Italian Renaissance, Piero della Francesca brought space, luminosity, and unparalleled subtlety to painting. In addition, Piero invented the role of the modern artist by becoming a traveler, a courtier, a geometrician, a patron, and much else besides. In this nuanced account of this great painter’s life and art, Machtelt Brüggen Israëls reconstructs how Piero came of age. Successfully demystifying the persistent notion of Piero’s art as enigmatic, she reveals the simple and stunning intentions behind his work.
Machtelt Brüggen Israëlsis a lecturer in Italian Renaissance art at the University of Amsterdam and visiting professor at the University of Florence. Her previous books include
The Bernard and Mary Berenson Collection of European Paintings at I Tatti.
"To reduce his work to clinical, impersonal experimentation, as is sometimes done by art historians, is to neglect the strange mystery contained within Piero’s clarity—of form, space, and luminous color. Israëls’s book 'focuses on the works of Piero and uses close looking as its method. It tries to understand the intention of the artist in the hope that, if he were to read the book, he might actually realize that it is his works that are being discussed. Still, while Piero’s paintings need to be understood in their time, they also resound in ours.' Incorporating new documentary, technical, and archival information, the monograph makes good on these promises. It is a concise and eminently readable account of Piero’s fascinating life and far-reaching legacy."
“Elegantly written, it combines close looking with documentary precision and technical insight. Each of its ten differently-paced chapters . . . focuses on a different aspect of Piero’s art. By virtue of this organization, Israëls’s monograph cuts across pló)
![Piero della Francesca and the Invention of the Artist [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/7/8/6/2_4447389.jpg "Piero della Francesca and the Invention of the Artist [Hardcover]")