Bizarre, Romantic Fantasies

Piero di Cosimo - Forest Fire - c. 1500 - Panel, 71 x 203 cm (28.4 x 81.2 in.) - Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (click photo for larger image)Piero di Cosimo’s (1462-1522) mature style is exemplified by his mythological paintings, which exhibit a bizarre, romantic fantasy. Many are based on Vitruvius' account of the evolution of man. They are filled with fantastic hybrid forms of men and animals engaged in revels. “The Forest Fire” contains a disjunctive narrative with animals fleeing the fires. Human figures either flee also or concentrate on bringing water to the fire. The composition is not firmly set. Instead, Piero loosely divided the picture by the placement of trees. The decorative richness of the work and the transparent beauty of the glowing distances in the forest and rich, coral colors can now be appreciated after a recent cleaning. Piero’s is one of Vasari's most entertaining biographies, for he portrays the artist as a highly eccentric character who lived on hard-boiled eggs, "which he cooked while he was boiling his glue, to save the firing”. Piero helped Cosimo Rosselli in decorating the Sistine Chapel. Following this debut, his career progressed slowly, and his style changed. He was influenced by Leonardo and by Luca Signorelli and Filippino Lippi. He excelled at painting animals with a sympathy rare in his age.