Piero del Pollaiuolo

Republic of Florence · 1443–1496

Piero del Pollaiuolo, whose birth name was Piero Benci, was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. His older brother, by about ten years, was the artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo and the two frequently collaborated. Their work shows both classical influences and an interest in human anatomy; according to Vasari, the brothers carried out dissections to improve their knowledge of the subject (although modern scholars tend to doubt this). Giorgio Vasari, who wrote several decades after both brothers were dead, includes a joint biography of Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Vasari says that Antonio was especially highly regarded for his disegno or drawing, and it may be that on shared works he did most of the underdrawing, leaving Piero and their assistants to complete the painting.