Piero della Francesca

“ Piero della Francesca was born about 1416 at the little town of Borgo San Sepolcro, just within the borders of Tuscany towards Arezzo. [124] He was a great student of perspective, a friend of mathematicians, of Fra Luca Paccioli, for instance, who later became the friend of Leonardo da Vinci. His work has force, and is always full of the significance of life. Influenced by Paolo Uccello, founding his work on a really scientific understanding of certain laws of vision, of drawing, his work seems to have been responsible for much that is so splendid in the work of Signorelli and Perugino. ”

“ And the man who should have laboured with all his powers to secure the fame and increase the glory of Piero, from whom he had acquired all that he knew. Fra Luca del Borgo namely,—he, on the contrary, envious and malignant, did his utmost to annihilate the name of Piero, his instructor, and sought to arrogate to himself that honour which was due to his teacher alone, publishing, under his own name, all the laborious works of that good old man, who, in addition to the acquirements named above, was highly distinguished in painting also. ”

“ Piero gave considerable attention to mathematics in his early youth; and although he was induced to become a painter in his fifteenth year, he yet never deserted the study of that science; but, on the contrary, made extraordinary progress therein, as well as in painting. ”

“ Francis, Maestro Luca del Borgo, whose works treat of regular geometrical bodies, was his disciple, and when Piero became old, and finally died, after having written many books, the above-named Maestro Luca, attributing them to himself, caused the works of his master to be printed as his own, they having fallen into his hands on the death of Piero. ”

“ For all these things, the artist well deserved the large rewards bestowed on him by Luigi Baeci, whose portrait, with those of Carlo and others of his brothers, he has depicted in the figures present at the decapitation of a king, which makes part of the story. The portraits of other Aretine citizens, distinguished as men of letters, accompany those of Luigi and his brothers, by whom Piero was highly esteemed, as he was indeed by the whole city, which he had so richly adorned and ennobled by his works. ”

“ These words wounded Paolo so grievously that he would no more leave his house, but shut himself up, devoting himself only the more to the study of perspective, which kept him in poverty and depression to the day of his death.
Paolo had been influenced, it is said, by Domenico Veneziano, who in his turn was influenced by the work of Masolino and Masaccio. Nothing is known of the birthplace of this painter, who appears first at Perugia, and was the master of Piero della Francesca. His work is very rare; in Florence there are two heads of saints in the Pitti, and Mr. ”

“ In the same work is a battle, in which fear, animosity, force, dexterity, and other passions and qualities exhibited by the combatants, are expressed with extraordinary truthfulness. The occurrences of the struggle are equally well represented, and fearful scenes of carnage; the wounded, the dying, and the dead, are depicted with great animation. Piero has likewise found means to imitate in this fresco, the erlitterinsr of the arms for which he well merits praise ”

“ A small flute-voice of infinite wail speaks there, into our very heart of hearts. A touch of womanhood in it too: della bella persona, che mi fu tolta; and how, even in the Pit of woe, it is a solace that he will never part from her! Saddest tragedy in these alti guai. And the racking winds, in that aer bruno, whirl them away again, to wail forever!—Strange to think: Dante was the friend of this poor Francesca's father; Francesca herself may have sat upon the Poet's knee, as a bright innocent little child. Infinite pity, yet also infinite rigor of law: it is so Nature is made ”

“ To persons, however, who are ready to think with me that we may be trained to art in fields and on hillsides, the essential Tuscan character of Pier della Francesca is brought home quite as strongly by the particular satisfaction with which we recognise his pictures in some unlikely place, say a Northern gallery. ”

“ From the little oratory where she held secret communion with heaven, she went out into the world with the most ardent desire to serve the poor, to console the afflicted, to do good to all. The affection of her young heart found vent in numerous works of charity; and Francesca's name, and Francesca's sweet voice, and Francesca's fair face, were even then to many of the sufferers of that dark epoch a sign of hope,—a pledge that God was still amongst them as of yore, and His Spirit at work in the hearts of men. ”

“ She was relating the history of Francesca, and endeavouring to render it as interesting as possible. She took it up from its earliest period, painting her as the lonely child in the deserted palazzo, yet careful beyond her years for the sake of the strange old astrologer, whose wild and wayward habits certainly lost nothing by Marie's description.
"And yet, your Grace, the young lover then sued in vain. She can now renounce rank and wealth for his sake; but she could not leave that aged and weary man desolate in his last years." ”

“ They used occasionally to go with her to one or other of her vine-gardens without the walls, to take exercise in the pure open air. Francesca's gentle gaiety on these occasions increased their enjoyment; and the labour of gathering wood and grass, of making up faggots, and carrying away their spoil on their heads at night, was a part of their amusement. The conversation that was carried on between them the while was as merry as it was innocent. These young persons, born in palaces and bred in luxury, worked like peasants, with more than a peasant's lightness of heart. ”

“ Deeply within her inmost soul Francesca felt that thus she could never love again.
It is no "romantic phantasy," no "eternal constancy," no "dying for love," no "blighted affection,"—phrases so strangely misunderstood, and still more strangely misapplied,—no vain dreaming sentiment, when I say, deeply is that woman to be pitied whose first attachment has been ill requited. The qualities most natural to youth are at once destroyed;—suspicion takes the place of confidence, reserve of reliance, distrust instead of that ready belief in all that was good and beautiful. ”

“ Liking Francesca warmly herself, it seemed the most natural thing in the world that others should like her too. It never would have entered into her head, that the Queen hourly saw, with more and more suspicion, her sister's influence increasing, and that she calculated on Francesca's attraction as a passing lure to Louis. The friendless Italian was a much safer person than the niece of the all-powerful minister, whose ambition would not stop but at the throne. Francesca might be allowed to detach him from Mademoiselle Mancini, and could then be easily flung aside. ”

“ Poor Francesca might seem the offering to Fortune made for the rest of the party. Every word of her father's cut her to the heart. The very fact of her childhood and her youth having passed without being the object of that near and deep affection, made her exaggerate its happiness, as we ever exaggerate the unknown. And now that she found herself, and by no fault of her own, an object of indifference, nay, of dislike, where she had so long gathered up her hopes, cruel indeed was the disappointment. ”

“ My beloved Francesca, our destiny is now in our own hands. I can no longer offer the fair halls and the broad lands of the once honoured house of Evelyn; my portion is an obscure home in a foreign country; but if love tried by years, by utter hopelessness, by what seemed change in yourself, and which yet but became more deep and more intense,—if such love can be security for your future, that future, Francesca, you will entrust to my care. ”

“ For the ground on which Pietro had attempted to free himself from the obligation to furnish the promised dowry was this solely: that Francesca was not his own daughter, but the child of an unknown father and of a harlot. Every man, however, well knows whether this kind of a declaration would wound the reputation of a nobleman. ”

“ On my honour! Dundas, nothing but fear for my poor Francesca restrained me from putting back to save or avenge you: and we all imagined those base paesani would have respected your uniform and character——"
"No more apologies: but say, how does the Signora Francesca?'
"Indifferently, indeed. She bemoans her degraded situation incessantly (here Bianca reclined her head on my epaulette, and sobbed audibly) . Torn from her convent, to which she dare return no more, she is still a nun; and, until her vows are dispensed with at Rome, I cannot make her my wife. ”

“ This combination of deep feeling with the lightness of youth added an enchanting grace at this moment to Francesca’s charms. This is the key to her character; she laughs and she is touched; she becomes enthusiastic, and returns to arch raillery with a readiness, a facility, which makes her the charming and exquisite creature she is, and for which her reputation is known outside Italy. Under the graces of a woman she conceals vast learning, thanks to the excessively monotonous and almost monastic life she led in the castle of the old Colonnas. ”

“ Never for one moment can we forget that high souled girl, among all the varied scenes through which we are conducted, and characters to whom we are introduced. The whole work seems skilfully constructed for this purpose; wherever we turn, Francesca is the centre of all interest. She is one of those beings of the mind who compel assent to their reality. Never was a lovelier, more womanly creation. ”

“ Francesca felt as if life had suddenly lost its interest; yet it was not the lover that she regretted, but the love. Never more could the future be one vague but delicious hope; never more could she turn away disbelieving from the tale of treachery and inconstancy; never more take refuge in the depths of her own imagination, and find comfort in her own belief of perfect love. ”

“ In her new home Francesca followed the same mode of life which she had pursued in her father's house; but her zeal was tempered with so much wisdom and prudence, that she offended no one, and contrived to win the affection of all her relations. Her good sense, her sweetness of temper, her earnest piety, charmed them all; and they were astonished that so young a girl could at once assume the part and fulfil the duties of a devoted wife and a noble matron. ”

“ Francesca and Guido, accustomed to be their own heralds in the lonely Italian palace, were startled by the sudden contrast of the many domestics and the numberless visitors who choked up the passages and the ante-room. The chamber into which they were ushered was filled with people; but both the Duchesse and Marie came forward and received them with every mark of kindness and affection. But Francesca's eye was quick to remark that Mademoiselle Mancini's manner to Guido was wholly changed. ”

“ But Francesca, my sister—my unhappy sister!—we can discover no trace of her: her fate is enveloped in mystery. We have every horror to fear; for Petronio the Bishop of Cosenza, though deemed a saint by the peasantry, is a bold and bad-hearted man; and, Francesca in his power!—oh! Madonna! Would that you could visit us: her loss and Luigi's illness fill us with perplexity and dismay."
Next day, I despatched an answer by the chasseur, promising to solicit the general for a few days' leave of absence, to visit the villa. ”

“ No wonder that the name of Francesca grows every day more famous, and that she is every day more dear to the people amongst whom she dwells; that hearts are subdued, sinners reclaimed, mourners consoled by the sight of her blessed face, by the sweet sound of her voice. Many rise about her and call her blessed; but children, and more especially her own spiritual children, are soon to call her mother. A new epoch is now at hand in her career. ”

“ Francesca is really more unhappy, and with more cause, than Guido, but not, like him, does she yield to grief's self-indulgence, or to mere imagination's morbid dreams. She thinks, she plans, she acts, she endures for both. Neither prosperous nor afflictive circumstances, admiration nor neglect, disappointment nor hope fulfilled, ever tempt her to swerve from her noble principles, or to deviate from the right line of conduct they have prescribed. ”

“ The presence of her heavenly guide was also to Francesca a mirror, in which she could see reflected every imperfection of her fallen, though to a great extent renewed, nature. Much as she had discerned, even from her earliest childhood, of the innate corruption of her heart, yet she often told her director, that it was only since she had been continually in the presence of an angelic companion that she had realised its amount. So that this divine favour, far from exalting her in her own eyes, served to maintain her in the deepest humility. ”

“ Francesca da Rimini, though a brilliant drama, with innumerable beauties of detail, misses, like the Dead City, the quality of great tragedy. Of the principal characters Francesca alone excites a fitful sympathy, while Paolo’s effeminacy provokes a contempt which diminishes our compassion for the woman whose love he has won. These coward ‘heroes’ who leave their mistresses in mortal peril, or slay their sisters, or see their brides borne to execution in their place, seem to haunt the egoist imagination of the poet, to the grievous hurt of his work. ”