St. Augustine

Part of an altarpiece that is today spread around several museums (and whose central panel has since disappeared), this work highlights the genius of Piero della Francesca.
This painting was part of a polyptych painted by Piero della Francesca for the Church of the Hermits of St. Augustine, at Borgo Sansepolcro, in Italy. The painter’s genius is evident in the solemn monumentality of the figure of the Doctor of the Church, a characteristic feature of the Renaissance, the extraordinary simplicity of the construction of the pictorial space and the virtuoso depiction of certain details, such as the transparent structure of the saint’s rock-crystal crosier, a sign of his episcopal authority.

The biblical episodes that decorate his pluvial compose a historiated sequence that covers Christ’s Childhood and Passion, functioning as an open compendium that directly contrasts with the closed book in the saint’s hand.