Frick to Present First U.S. Exhibition on this Remarkable Renaissance Artist, Piero della Francesca in America

painting of the Virgin, seatedm handing the child Jesus a flower, surrounded by four standing angels

Piero della Francesca was revered in his own time as a “monarch” of painting. Yet by the end of the sixteenth century his achievements had sunk into obscurity. During the nineteenth century, however, British and American collectors on the European Grand Tour rediscovered the master’s works and resurrected his reputation, and today Piero is widely acknowledged as one of the founders of the Italian Renaissance. The Frick was a beneficiary of this renewed interest and holds four of Piero’s paintings, more than any other institution outside of Europe. In February, the Frick will present the first exhibition in the United States dedicated to the artist, featuring its four panels together with works from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts; and the Museu Nacional d’Arte Antiga, Lisbon. Together these seven paintings — all created for Borgo San Sepolcro, the city of Piero’s birth — demonstrate the richness of Piero’s oil technique and the monumentality of his compositions for which he is celebrated. The exhibition was organized by Nathaniel Silver, Guest Curator and former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow, The Frick Collection. Support for the exhibition is generously provided by Mrs. Henry Clay Frick II, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Hester Diamond, the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Robert Lehman Foundation. The accompanying catalogue has been underwritten by The Christian Humann Foundation and a gift from an anonymous donor in memory of Charles Ryskamp.

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