Where can you see Piero della Francesca in London?

At the National Gallery: The Baptism of Christ and The Nativity. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Piero della Francesca's most famous work in London?

The Baptism of Christ, of probably about 1437 to 1445, at the National Gallery. Christ stands in a shallow stream as pale as the tree trunk beside him, while John pours the water and three angels watch. The town in the distance is Piero's own, and the landscape is the valley of the Tiber.

When and where was Piero della Francesca born?

About 1415, at Borgo San Sepolcro, Tuscany. Piero della Francesca died on 12 October 1492, at Borgo San Sepolcro, aged about 77.

What is Piero della Francesca known for?

Wrote books on perspective and geometry. His frescoes of the True Cross are in Arezzo. The Baptism of Christ came to London in 1861. Piero della Francesca was an Italian painter, of the Early Renaissance.

Painter, 1415 to 1492

Piero della Francesca

Piero was forgotten for three centuries and is now thought one of the greatest painters who ever lived. Most of what he made is in small towns in Tuscany and Umbria. The best of it outside Italy is in London.

Born: 1415, Borgo San Sepolcro, Tuscany
Died: 1492, Borgo San Sepolcro
Movement: Early Renaissance
In London: 2 works in 1 museum

Where to see Piero della Francesca in London

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The National Gallery2 works

The Baptism of Christ
probably about 1437 to 1445
Christ stands in a shallow stream as pale as the tree trunk beside him, while John pours the water and three angels watch. The town in the distance is Piero's own, and the landscape is the valley of the Tiber.
The Nativity
1470 to 1475
The Virgin kneels before the child, who lies on a corner of her blue cloak on bare ground. Five angels sing to lutes, and an ox and a braying ass look over their shoulders. It may have been painted for his own family.

The life of Piero della Francesca

Piero was born in the small town of Borgo San Sepolcro, the son of a leather merchant, and worked for the courts of Rimini, Ferrara and Urbino and for the pope in Rome. He was a mathematician as well as a painter, and wrote treatises on perspective and on the geometry of solids.

The Baptism was the centre of an altarpiece for a church in his home town. The National Gallery bought it in 1861, when few people knew his name.

What to know

Wrote books on perspective and geometry
His frescoes of the True Cross are in Arezzo
The Baptism of Christ came to London in 1861

Born: About 1415, Borgo San Sepolcro, Tuscany
Died: 12 October 1492, Borgo San Sepolcro

Piero della Francesca: common questions

Where can you see Piero della Francesca in London?: At the National Gallery: The Baptism of Christ and The Nativity. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Piero della Francesca's most famous work in London?: The Baptism of Christ, of probably about 1437 to 1445, at the National Gallery. Christ stands in a shallow stream as pale as the tree trunk beside him, while John pours the water and three angels watch. The town in the distance is Piero's own, and the landscape is the valley of the Tiber.
When and where was Piero della Francesca born?: About 1415, at Borgo San Sepolcro, Tuscany. Piero della Francesca died on 12 October 1492, at Borgo San Sepolcro, aged about 77.
What is Piero della Francesca known for?: Wrote books on perspective and geometry. His frescoes of the True Cross are in Arezzo. The Baptism of Christ came to London in 1861. Piero della Francesca was an Italian painter, of the Early Renaissance.