The National Gallery in London is preparing to open the largest ever exhibition dedicated to Piero della Francesca, a renowned Italian Renaissance painter. The exhibition is scheduled to run from October 2, 2027, to January 30, 2028. According to the National Gallery, this will be the most extensive display of Piero’s works ever assembled.
Among the works to be featured is The Urbino Diptych—portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, created around 1472. This diptych will be loaned from the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence, offering visitors a rare opportunity to view these iconic portraits in London.
The exhibition will also include the entire Pala di Perugia (Perugia Altarpiece, 1468), which will travel from the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria in Perugia. This significant altarpiece is a major example of Piero’s religious commissions and will be a highlight of the show.
Another important loan is the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, painted around 1460–70, from the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. This work adds to the international scope of the exhibition, bringing together pieces from both European and American collections.
Three works from the National Gallery’s own collection will serve as centrepieces: Baptism of Christ (probably about 1437–45), Saint Michael (1469), and The Nativity (early 1480s). These paintings are central to the gallery’s holdings and will be prominently displayed during the exhibition.
A digital version of The Legend of the True Cross, the fresco cycle from the Bacci Chapel of the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo, will also be featured. This digital presentation allows visitors to experience a major work by Piero that cannot be physically transported.
The exhibition is co-curated by Laura Llewellyn, curator of Italian paintings before 1500 at the National Gallery, and Machtelt Brüggen Israëls of the Rijksmuseum and the University of Amsterdam. Sponsors include the Intesa Sanpaolo bank and philanthropist John J. Studzinski. The gallery states that the exhibition will explore seven interlocking aspects of Piero’s art, including colour, design, space, perspective, narrative, and light, reflecting the artist’s unique approach and theoretical interests.
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