Piero’s Light: In Search of Piero della Francesca: A Renaissance Painter and the Revolution in Art, Science, and Religion

The latest book from Witham (Picasso and the Chess Player) is a workmanlike examination of the early Renaissance polymath Piero, whose life and accomplishments are used to survey “the precipitous changes in art, religion, and science” in the painter’s time and beyond. The biographical sketch is necessarily rough and speculative (little is known about his life), but Witham accessibly reviews the Quattrocento’s intellectual, political, and religious climate, summarizing Christian Platonism, Alberti’s On Painting, and describing Piero as an artist who synthesized these ideas in paintings such as “The Flagellation of Christ.” In addition, Piero authored treatises on abacus mathematics, perspective, and geometrical shapes that would foreshadow the scientific revolution. Witham demonstrates how Piero’s art and contributions to mathematics were absorbed over the centuries following his death, and how he participated in the evolving discourse on art interpretation, beauty, and science. Occasionally the narrative can feel shapeless and long-winded, with Piero appearing as a mere footnote among waves of summaries of Kepler, Newton, Kant, Helmholtz, and many other philosophers, art historians, and scientists. However, the book’s journalistic flavor may appeal to readers and distinguishes it from existing literature on the artist. 16 pages of color illus. Agent: Laurie Abekemeier, Defiore & Company. (Feb.)