Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca (c. 1412 – October 12, 1492) was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries, he was known as a mathematician and geometer as well as an artist, though now he is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism and its use of geometric forms, particularly in relation to perspective and foreshortening. Most of his work was produced in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. Piero probably was born and died in the very small town of Borgo Santo Sepolcro, Tuscany, to Benedetto de' Franceschi, a tradesman, and Romana di Perino da Monterchi. He may have learned his trade from one of several Sienese artists working in San Sepolcro during his youth. It is known that Piero apprenticed in Florence with Domenico Veneziano, with whom he worked in 1439 on fresco for the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova (church of Sant'Egidio, now lost). He also knew Fra' Angelico, who introduced him to the other leading masters of the time,... full article at wikipedia