Piero della Francesca and the Invention of the Artist

As one of the most innovative and enlightened painters of the early Italian Renaissance, Piero della Francesca knew how to capture the moment. He brought space, luminosity and unparalleled subtlety to painting, during an era that was aware it was forging epochal change. Piero invented the role of the modern artist by becoming a traveller, a courtier, a geometrician, a patron and much else, and his pursuits were taken up by countless authors and artists from Leonardo da Vinci to Giorgio Vasari.

In this nuanced account of his life and art, Machtelt Bruggen Israels 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.

‘Captures the essential clarity, truthfulness, and modernity of Piero della Francesca’s art…as magisterial as its subject in achieving a new and compelling perspective on his life and work.’ - Patricia Rubin, Professor Emerita of Fine Arts, New York University