PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
(b. 1416, Borgo San Sepolcro, d. 1492, Borgo San Sepolcro)

Polyptych of St Anthony: St Anthony and St John the Baptist

c. 1460
Panel, 124 x 62 cm
Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia

The central part of the composition, the Madonna and Child with Saints Anthony, John the Baptist, Francis and Elizabeth, reveals in its unusual damask-like background the artist's acquaintance with a trend of contemporary Spanish painting, which Piero would have had the opportunity to see in Rome.