Piero della Francesca was an Italian painter and mathematician whose exploration of perspective has been recognized as a major contribution to the Italian Renaissance.
The works of Piero della Francesca are scattered all around Italy (Urbino, Milan, Florence, Rimini, Venice) and the world (London, Berlin, Paris, Boston, New York), but some of the most important masterpieces are within a few hours from the villa.
Piero della Francesca’s mature style is revealed in frescoes painted in the choir of the church of S. Francesco at Arezzo.
The narrative cycle The Legend of the True Cross was completed by 1466. Its simplicity and clarity of structure, controlled use of perspective, and aura of serenity are all typical of Piero’s art at its best.
Less known than the The Legend of the True Cross is a less known work, located in the Cathedral of SS Donato and Peter in Arezzo, the Mary Magdalene.
Leaving Arezzo and going on to the crossborder with Umbria, there's more masterpieces to admire.
The Museo Civico di San Sepolcro holds no less than 4 works of Piero della Francesca: two minor works (the remains of the frescoes of San Giuliano and San Ludovico) and two masterpieces (the Resurrection and the Polyptych of Misericordia).
Last but not least, the city of Monterchi has a whole museum for the Madonna del Parto, an enigmatic masterpiece which Piero painted for the local church of Santa Maria di Momentana, before it was destroyed by an earthquake.
The whole tour is feasible in one day from the villa.