The New Student's Reference Work/Francesca, Piero della

Francesca, Piero della (pē-ā’rō dâl’lâ frǎn-châs’kǎ), an Italian painter, was born in 1398, and died in 1484. Some fine pictures of his exist still, but his early ones perished, and Raphael painted out his frescoes in the Vatican. His fame comes chiefly from his being the first Italian artist to formulate the principles of linear perspective, study the anatomy of the nude and employ lay figures. He modeled these in clay, and draped them with costumes folded wet. He lost his sight at 60, and devoted himself to mathematics.