Piero della Francesca’s Sacred Conversation (also known as the Brera Altarpiece) is a timeless masterpiece of incredible beauty, harmony and composure. The light, the study of perspective and the perfection of the figures make it one of the most emblematic works of the Italian Renaissance.
This painting by Piero della Francesca, also called the Montefeltro Altarpiece or the Brera Altarpiece, is a work known throughout the world. It marks the peak of Renaissance painting for the perfection of its perspective, its light and its proportions.
But what does it depict?
The subject is, on the face of it, quite simple. Inside a classicising church, the enthroned Madonna sits with the sleeping Child, surrounded by saints and angels, before whom the patron Federico da Montefeltro kneels.
And yet this painting conceals numerous symbolic meanings, and there are many mysteries and questions that art historians have been asking themselves for decades.
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The figures in Piero della Francesca’s Sacred Conversation
The Brera Altarpiece is a beautiful example of the research into perspective that had revolutionised Italian painting from Giotto onwards.
One very particular thing that sets it apart is, first of all, its dimensions. The work measures 248×170 cm and has no side compartments, unlike traditional polyptychs. For this reason it is one of the first “Sacred Conversations” to be developed entirely in height, and it would be taken as a model by many altarpieces throughout central and northern Italy.
But what does it show?
At the centre of the whole composition is the Virgin, whose perfectly oval face is no accident: it corresponds to the vanishing point of the work. The structure of the painting is made of circles: Mary’s face, the ring of saints around her, the shell and the arch of the vault all make the whole harmonious.
A little lower down is the Christ Child, asleep on his mother’s lap with a coral necklace around his neck, a symbol of his future sacrifice. Even the pose in which he sleeps is a premonition of his early death, so much so that it looks like a “pietà”.
And the kneeling knight, who is he?
He is the patron of the work, Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and one of the most famous condottieri of the Italian Renaissance. A very curious thing not everyone knows is that he is always shown in profile, because he had lost his right eye in combat. According to the stories of the time, it is even said that he had the upper part of his nose removed so he could also look to the right with his left eye, and that this is the reason for the unique shape of his nose.
As you can see, the condottiero is portrayed in his gleaming armour, a symbol of his military valour and of his earthly “mission”. The presence of the armour in this work by Piero della Francesca might also indicate that the altarpiece was commissioned in connection with one of his military victories, as thanks to the Madonna for having saved him.
All around are the saints, each with the signs of their own martyrdom. They are motionless, though some have their lips parted, as if whispering. The four figures behind the Madonna are the angels. They are depicted motionless and detached, perfect.
The coloured marbles of the background, the carpet and the details of the vault’s sculptures are rendered with a precision of Flemish inspiration.
The egg and the shell: symbolism in Piero della Francesca
For a long time there has been debate about the symbolic value of the work, above all about the presence of the ostrich egg (or is it an enormous pearl?) and the shell behind the Madonna.
The egg is without doubt a symbol of motherhood and rebirth: its position hanging above the scene is thought to indicate the superiority of faith over reason, or to allude to the virgin birth of Christ. Nor should we forget that the ostrich was one of the heraldic emblems of the Montefeltro: that egg is therefore also a refined family signature.
The shell, on the other hand, was already widely used to decorate religious buildings, but it may also represent the link with the sea and the fertility associated with the Madonna. Read this way, the Virgin would be the Christian “new Venus”, but the bearer of new values and virtues such as chastity and devotion.
The mysteries of Piero della Francesca’s Sacred Conversation
The dating of the Sacred Conversation and its true meaning have long been the subject of discussion among historians. Most critics lean towards a date somewhere between 1472 and 1474, but there are no certainties.
Just think that we don’t even know for sure the place this work was intended for, nor the reasons that led the patron Federico da Montefeltro to have it made.
The most widely accepted hypothesis links it to 1472, the year in which Federico’s long-awaited heir, Guidobaldo, was born, and in which his young wife Battista Sforza died in childbirth. Many scholars recognise her very face in that of the Madonna, and in the sleeping Child the newborn: the altarpiece would thus be, at once, a thanksgiving for the birth and a funerary commemoration.
The altarpiece by Piero della Francesca is an incredible masterpiece of multiple and complex meanings, not easy to grasp. For this reason some scholars have suggested that the work has been cut down on all four sides, and that a part of the painting is therefore missing.
For now the mystery remains unsolved.
Where it is
The Brera Altarpiece is in Milan, inside the Pinacoteca di Brera, which it gives its name to, but it hasn’t always been here.
On the death of Federico da Montefeltro, Piero della Francesca’s work was placed inside the Ducal Mausoleum of San Bernardino, in accordance with the duke’s wishes. Its place was to be on the high altar of the temple, where it remained for more than 300 years.
So how did it end up in Milan?
The work was moved to Milan in 1811, because of the Napoleonic suppressions. The Lombard capital thus became the new home of this masterpiece, which found its place inside the beautiful gallery.
So if you’re passing through Milan, it’s well worth seeing it in person: no reproduction really conveys the depth of the perspective and the light of that apse. You can book your ticket for the Pinacoteca di Brera and skip the security queue.
And you, what fascinates you most about this masterpiece: the suspended egg, the face of the Madonna or the mysterious profile of Federico da Montefeltro?
