Francesca

Francesca, Pietro della, an Italian painter, often known as Piero Borghese, from the name of his native town, Borgo San Sepolchro, in Umbria. He was born probably about the year 1415, and died either in 1492 or 1494. He assisted Domenico Veneziano with the frescoes of Sant' Egidio, Florence, and probably also was engaged with him at Loretto. About 1454 he finished for the Duke of Rimini the series illustrating The Legend of the Holg Cross at Arezzo. At Urbino, where lie made the acquaintance of Raphael's father, he painted for the Duke, The Flagellation. The National Gallery, London, contains three of his pictures, besidesa portrait attributed to him. He was one of the earliest painters in oil, and left a treatise on perspective, copies of which are at Milan and in the Vatican Library. Among his pupils were Luca Signorelli, and perhaps Perugino.