SAN SEVERING
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SAN SEVERING
beautiful architectural composition in the cathedral
of Urbino. According to a well-established tradition
recorded by Vasari, Piero became blind in later
life. At this time he wrote his celebrated treatises:
"De quinque corporibus regularibus", which show
him as a great geometrician, and his "Prospettiva
Pingendi" (Treatise on Perspective), a manual for
painters. This work reveals him as the greatest
master of the theory of perspective in his day,
and gave him a reputation beyond Italy. His
testament is recorded 5 July, 1478, and he was
interred in the present cathedral of his native town
in 1492.
His principal frescoes, besides those mentioned, include: the "Resurrection," in the town haU of Borgo San-Sepolcro, a marvellous piece of foreshort- ening and per-
'itir<o i)r.j.i.A KRWCF.srA pittouk
, ,., UAI. BOnrx^AS..SEPOL. ,-^.^_.,
spective; a "Her-
cules", now in the
possession of Mrs.
J. L. Gardner of
Boston ; and an im-
liosing "Magda-
len" in the ca-
thedral of Arezzo.
Amone; his panel
pieces are the "Tri-
umph of Chivalry"
(New York His-
torical SocietjO ;
the "Baptism of
Christ" and the
"Nativity", both
in the National
Gallery, London,
the latter the first
moonlight scene in
modern painting;
an "Annunciation"
in the Gallery at Perugia; "St. Michael" in London;
and "St. Thomas Aquinas" in the Poldo-Pezzoli Mu-
seum at Milan. The charming "Portrait of a Young
Girl" attributed to him in this gallery, as well as similar
portraits in other European galleries, is now generally
a.scribed to another artist. Piero's position in the devel-
opment of Itahan art is a unique and important one.
He is the greatest of that group of pathfinders, the
Realists, whose scientific experiments created the
grammar of modern painting. In mural painting
he towers above his contemporaries as the worthy
successor of Masaccio, and the connecting link be-
tween his art and that of Raphael. In the Central
Italian painting of the Renaissance his position was
a dominant one; he may be called the founder of
the school. The chief masters of the following gener-
ation — Perugino and the rest — either studied
under or were influenced by him. Of his more
intimate pupils, Meiozzo da Fori! carried perspective
to the highest perfection, while Luca Signnrelli
developed figure-painting to the greatest excellence
attained before Michelangelo. To Florentine excel-
lence of draughtsmanship Piero united the suix-rior
colour sense of the Umbrians. Most remarkable
was his rendition of light and air, in which he easily
surpassed his contemporaries. His types are seldom
beautiful, hut they are strong and primeval, admir-
ably modelled, and as impassive as the sculptures
at the Parthenon. Perhaps the most striking feature
of his art is this wonderful objectivity, in which
regard he stands rivalled by Holbein and VelAzquez
alone in modern painting.
Vahabi, Vile, ej]. Milanesi (1878); tr. Blahhfield and Hop- kins (1897). (){ the hioKTuph'utH of Pioro that by Pichi (JIofko BauSaptAcTO, 189.3) is rath(;r a panegyric; that of Wittino (Strasburg. 1898) ia the most scholarly; another is by Waters (London, 1901); Ricci, Piero della Francenra (Rome, 1910), is best for illustrations,
Georqe Kriehn.
San Severino, Diocese of (Sancti Severini). —
San Severino is a small town and seat of a bishopric
in the Province of Macerata in the Marches, Cen-
tral Italy. It has two cathedrals, the ancient one
near the old castle, which contains precious quattro-
cento paintings and inlaid stalls in the choir. The
new cathedral, dating from 1821, is the old Augustin-
ian church and contains paintings by Pinturicchio
(Madonna), Antonio and Gian Gentile da S. Severino,
Pomarancio, and others. The Churches of S. Domen-
ico andS. Francesco are also adorned with fine pictures;
the Church of S. Maria in Doliolo, formerly a Benedic-
tine monastery, has a crypt believed to be the ancient
temple of Feronia converted later into a church. The
two sanctuaries of S. M. del Glorioso and S. Maria dei
Lumi are worthy of note. The most imi)ortant civic
building is the communal palace, which contains some
halls richly decorated and a collection of ancient in-
scriptions. S. Severino stands on the site of the
ancient Septempeda, a city of Picenum, later a Roman
colony. In the eighth century it was a fortress of the
Duchy of Spoleto. The Church of San Severino gave
its name later to the new town that grew up around it.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it was at con-
stant war with the neighbouring cities, especially with
Camerino, and always supported the cause of the
emperors, particularly of Frederick II. Louis the
Bavarian named as vicar of San Severino Smeduccio
della Scala, who, passing into the service of the
Holy See, gave great help to the expedition of Cardinal
Thl Old Cathkdkal, .San Sevkkino, XIII Centuhy
Albornoz and became feudal lord of San Severino, a
post held later by his son Onofrio. His nephew
Antonio paid with his life for attempting to resist
the arms of Pietro Colonna, the representative of
Martin V; his sons tried in vain to recapture the city
(1434), which remained immediately subject to the
Iloly See. Among its illustrious sons were: the
lacquer-workers Indovino and Giovanni di Pier Gia-
como, the poet Panfilo, the physician Eustacchi, the
condottiere FrancucciodaS. Severino, and the Francis-
can, Saint Pacifico. A local legend attributes the
preaching of the Gospel to a holy priest, Maro. Under
the high altar of the cathedral are the relics of Sts.
