CONSTANTINE´S DREAM PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA. This painting was made in the Renaissance. Its technique is a “fresco” and it´s in the church San Francis, in Arezzo. Its dimensions are 329 x 190 cm (full painting). Tt´s part of a group of paintings called: The History of the True Cross or The Legend of the True Cross. It´s a sequence of frescoes painted by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, and an early Renaissance masterpiece.
A fresco is a pictorial wall technology consisting in applying color very diluted in water on a surface newly revoked and prepared based on lime and sand, following the before executed drawing; it is necessary to work per zones and always very rapidly. This fresco represents Emperor Constantine the Great, before the battle of Milvian Bridge. He is awakened by an angel who shows him the cross in heaven. With the cross on his shield, he slew the enemy, and later converted to Christianity. This work is considered to be the first night composition of the Italian painting. On the upper left zone, we find the angel (in a very foreshortened position) in the most
illuminated area of the set. On the lower left part one of the soldiers is facing backwards, giving pictorial space to the work. On the right side, there is another armed soldier, facing to the observer. The backbone of the work is the column that holds the tent. Constantine is represented sleeping, inside his tent, guarded his dream for a servant who supports his elbow in the imperial bed. In this work drawing predominates over color; Colors are hot in the illuminated zone (for the angel); the landscape is cold. The light stops being totally conceptual. We can observe that not everything is illuminated by the same intensity, but the night lighting creates a bold effect of chiaroscuro and volumetry. With this painting he creates a linear perspective. Piero della Francesca shows a sensation of perspective placing diverse tents to the bottom, creating a linear perspective. The servant is one of the best faces realized by the master, with an incredible sensation of modernity looking directly to the spectator.
MANUEL CRUZ MARTĂ?NEZ 3Âş ESO A