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SAN SEVERING

beautiful architectural composition in the cathedral of Urbino. According to a well-established tradition recorded by Vasari, Piero became blind in later life. At this time he wrote his celebrated treatises: "De quinque corporibus regularibus", which show him as a great geometrician, and his "Prospettiva Pingendi" (Treatise on Perspective), a manual for painters. This work reveals him as the greatest master of the theory of perspective in his day, and gave him a reputation beyond Italy. His testament is recorded 5 July, 1478, and he was interred in the present cathedral of his native town in 1492.

His principal frescoes, besides those mentioned, include: the "Resurrection," in the town haU of Borgo San-Sepolcro, a marvellous piece of foreshort- ening and per-

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spective; a "Her- cules", now in the possession of Mrs. J. L. Gardner of Boston ; and an im- liosing "Magda- len" in the ca- thedral of Arezzo. Amone; his panel pieces are the "Tri- umph of Chivalry" (New York His- torical SocietjO ; the "Baptism of Christ" and the "Nativity", both in the National Gallery, London, the latter the first moonlight scene in modern painting; an "Annunciation" in the Gallery at Perugia; "St. Michael" in London; and "St. Thomas Aquinas" in the Poldo-Pezzoli Mu- seum at Milan. The charming "Portrait of a Young Girl" attributed to him in this gallery, as well as similar portraits in other European galleries, is now generally a.scribed to another artist. Piero's position in the devel- opment of Itahan art is a unique and important one. He is the greatest of that group of pathfinders, the Realists, whose scientific experiments created the grammar of modern painting. In mural painting he towers above his contemporaries as the worthy successor of Masaccio, and the connecting link be- tween his art and that of Raphael. In the Central Italian painting of the Renaissance his position was a dominant one; he may be called the founder of the school. The chief masters of the following gener- ation — Perugino and the rest — either studied under or were influenced by him. Of his more intimate pupils, Meiozzo da Fori! carried perspective to the highest perfection, while Luca Signnrelli developed figure-painting to the greatest excellence attained before Michelangelo. To Florentine excel- lence of draughtsmanship Piero united the suix-rior colour sense of the Umbrians. Most remarkable was his rendition of light and air, in which he easily surpassed his contemporaries. His types are seldom beautiful, hut they are strong and primeval, admir- ably modelled, and as impassive as the sculptures at the Parthenon. Perhaps the most striking feature of his art is this wonderful objectivity, in which regard he stands rivalled by Holbein and VelAzquez alone in modern painting.

Vahabi, Vile, ej]. Milanesi (1878); tr. Blahhfield and Hop- kins (1897). { the hioKTuph'utH of Pioro that by Pichi (JIofko BauSaptAcTO, 189.3) is rath(r a panegyric; that of Wittino (Strasburg. 1898) ia the most scholarly; another is by Waters (London, 1901); Ricci, Piero della Francenra (Rome, 1910), is best for illustrations,

Georqe Kriehn.

San Severino, Diocese of (Sancti Severini). — San Severino is a small town and seat of a bishopric in the Province of Macerata in the Marches, Cen- tral Italy. It has two cathedrals, the ancient one near the old castle, which contains precious quattro- cento paintings and inlaid stalls in the choir. The new cathedral, dating from 1821, is the old Augustin- ian church and contains paintings by Pinturicchio (Madonna), Antonio and Gian Gentile da S. Severino, Pomarancio, and others. The Churches of S. Domen- ico andS. Francesco are also adorned with fine pictures; the Church of S. Maria in Doliolo, formerly a Benedic- tine monastery, has a crypt believed to be the ancient temple of Feronia converted later into a church. The two sanctuaries of S. M. del Glorioso and S. Maria dei Lumi are worthy of note. The most imi)ortant civic building is the communal palace, which contains some halls richly decorated and a collection of ancient in- scriptions. S. Severino stands on the site of the ancient Septempeda, a city of Picenum, later a Roman colony. In the eighth century it was a fortress of the Duchy of Spoleto. The Church of San Severino gave its name later to the new town that grew up around it. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it was at con- stant war with the neighbouring cities, especially with Camerino, and always supported the cause of the emperors, particularly of Frederick II. Louis the Bavarian named as vicar of San Severino Smeduccio della Scala, who, passing into the service of the Holy See, gave great help to the expedition of Cardinal

Thl Old Cathkdkal, .San Sevkkino, XIII Centuhy

Albornoz and became feudal lord of San Severino, a post held later by his son Onofrio. His nephew Antonio paid with his life for attempting to resist the arms of Pietro Colonna, the representative of Martin V; his sons tried in vain to recapture the city (1434), which remained immediately subject to the Iloly See. Among its illustrious sons were: the lacquer-workers Indovino and Giovanni di Pier Gia- como, the poet Panfilo, the physician Eustacchi, the condottiere FrancucciodaS. Severino, and the Francis- can, Saint Pacifico. A local legend attributes the preaching of the Gospel to a holy priest, Maro. Under the high altar of the cathedral are the relics of Sts.