Piero della Francesca, neoplatonismo, e spazio solidale: Lo spettatore incontra la regina di Saba

Piero della Francesca did not fully apply the rules of perspectiva artificialis though he was aware of their significance. Piero’s choice was dictated by his own comprehension of both the science of vision and theoretical convictions emanating from Neo-Platonism that had exerted a great impact on him. But confirmation of his specific expression is really found in his work that negated chronological continuity with respect to figures bathing in an airless surrounding. In the scene depicting the encounter between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, the viewer must first take in the woman of Sheba standing in the foreground in order to understand the event and fully integrate its logic of communication. This represents an act of co-participation of paramount importance in the concept of unio between the divine and the human found in Neo-Platonism. Moreover, the reasons for Piero’s revival in the beginning of the twentieth century as well as his links to others artists can be understood in his intentional flattening of perspective through his use of specific colors.