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

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta

1451
Oil and tempera on panel, 44 x 34 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

This portrait is taken from a a medal made by Pisanello in 1445. Yet, even though he was working within a context od traditional International Gothic iconography, Piero succeds in giving it a new depth: what was just an emblem on a coin becomes a fully-rounded, almost sculptural portrait with a proud expression of unrelenting cruelty. The three-dimensional effect is achieved also by a most realistic skin tonality, created with the technique of oil paints.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.