1. Museums

Feb 11 2013 FRICK: Piero della Francesca's Altarpiece Heaven

Curator Nat Silver Gathers Religious Masterpieces Spiritual Balm for Modern Madness Perhaps the most celestial art in Manhattan may be seen at the Frick until My 19th, 2013, in its Oval Room, the hall at the far end of the main drag. Exclusive to the Frick, the young guest curator Nathaniel "Nat" Silver has gathered seven works by the holy founder of the Renaissance, Piero della Francesca, six of which are panels from the Saint Agostino altarpiece, the largest number ever reassembled, and the seventh is the only intact altarpiece in this country, the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels. The fifteenth century (1411/13 - 1492) Italian master painter of the Tuscany town of San Sepolcro was rediscovered by American collectors at the turn of the century, a story told by Silver in the accompanying catalogue, so four works belong to the Frick, two were brought over from Lisbon (Museu Nacional de Arte Antigia) and there is one from Massachusetts (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown) and one from Washington (Nationa Gallery). The 149 page catalogue with 80 color plates ($27.50) is a substantial account of Piero and his art with additional essays by the leading expert Machtelt Israels from the University of Amsterdam, whose mapping of the altarpiece is hung on the wall, and professor emeritus James Banker of North Carolina State University, who has discovered another patron of his work, and it includes revelations from new technical examinations. But the main impact of the show is to bring home once again how ineffably pure is the spirit which imbues these tributes to a religious faith which enabled the inhabitants of medieval Italy to transcend the privations and threats of their lives, which by modern standards were so appalling. These altar pieces seem like a direct window into some heavenly realm, and surely will serve just as well today as balm for the spirit for the contemporary visitor dealing with the materialism, virtual unreality and moral violence outside the walls of the Frick.
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Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Saint John the Evangelist, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel, thinned and cradled<br />
52.7 x 24.5 inches<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
<br />
Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 - 1492) <br />
St. John the Evangelist, c. 1454-1469<br />
tempera on poplar panel<br />
52 3/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. (133.99 cm x 62.23 cm)<br />
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1936.<br />
Accession number: 1936.1.138<br />
<br />
St John Evangelist cropped
1 / 76

Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)
Saint John the Evangelist, 1454–1469
Oil and tempera on poplar panel, thinned and cradled
52.7 x 24.5 inches
The Frick Collection, New York

Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 - 1492)
St. John the Evangelist, c. 1454-1469
tempera on poplar panel
52 3/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. (133.99 cm x 62.23 cm)
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1936.
Accession number: 1936.1.138

St John Evangelist cropped

  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Saint John the Evangelist, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel, thinned and cradled<br />
52.7 x 24.5 inches<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
<br />
Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 - 1492) <br />
St. John the Evangelist, c. 1454-1469<br />
tempera on poplar panel<br />
52 3/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. (133.99 cm x 62.23 cm)<br />
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1936.<br />
Accession number: 1936.1.138<br />
<br />
St John Evangelist cropped
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Saint Augustine, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel<br />
52.4 x 23.4 inches<br />
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon<br />
<br />
Augustine rettouched blue cropped FULL
  • (Missing from CD) Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Detail of Saint Augustine, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel<br />
52.4 x 23.8 inches<br />
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon)
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, c. 1460-70<br />
Oil (and tempera?) transferred to fabric on panel<br />
42.4 x 30.9 inches<br />
© The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts<br />
<br />
Clark original
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Saint Apollonia, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel<br />
15.3 x 11 inches<br />
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Augustinian Nun (Saint Monica), 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel<br />
15.2 x 11 inches<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
<br />
Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 - 1492) <br />
Augustinian Nun, 15th century<br />
tempera on poplar panel<br />
15 1/4 in. x 11 in. (38.74 cm x 27.94 cm)<br />
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1950.<br />
Accession number: 1950.1.158
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
An Augustinian Friar (Saint Leonard?), 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel<br />
15.7 x 11.1 inches<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
<br />
Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 - 1492) <br />
Augustinian Monk, 1454-1469<br />
tempera on poplar panel<br />
15 3/4 in. x 11 1/8 in. (40.01 cm x 28.26 cm)<br />
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1950.<br />
Accession number: 1950.1.157
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
The Crucifixion, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel, thinned and cradled<br />
14.7 x 16.2 cm<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
<br />
Piero della Francesca (1410/1420 - 1492) <br />
The Crucifixion, date unknown<br />
tempera on panel, cradled (irregular)<br />
14 3/4 in. x 16 3/16 in. (37.47 cm x 41.12 cm)<br />
Bequest of John D.Rockfeller, Jr. 1961.<br />
Accession number: 1961.1.168
  • 3<br />
8.<br />
Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
The Crucifixion, 1454–1469<br />
Oil and tempera on poplar panel, thinned and cradled<br />
14.7 x 16.2 cm<br />
The Frick Collection, New York<br />
9.<br />
Hypothetical reconstruction of Piero’s altarpiece for the Church of Sant’Agostino, Borgo San Sepolcro, showing the position of seven of the altarpiece’s eight surviving panels. The eighth panel, Saint Apollonia, is not illustrated in this view as it was located on the side of the altarpiece.
  • Piero della Francesca (1411/13–1492)<br />
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, c. 1460-70<br />
Oil (and tempera?) transferred to fabric on panel<br />
42.4 x 30.9 inches<br />
© The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts<br />
<br />
Clark FULL
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