By Anne Leader
On 12 September 1439, the young Piero della Francesca (d. 1492) was recorded as assistant to painter Domenico Veneziano (d. 1461), then at work on frescoes in the choir of Sant’Egidio at the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Sadly, the paintings are mostly destroyed. That Piero was working as an assistant is confirmed by the fact that he received two florins and three lire on behalf of his boss Domenico, a common task for workshop assistants in the Renaissance.
Reference: Archivio di Stato, Firenze, Santa Maria Nuova, 5060, Quaderno di cassa EE, 1439-1440, fol. 94v. Published by Hellmut Wohl, “Domenico Veneziano Studies: The Sant’Egidio and Parenti Documents.” The Burlington Magazine 113, no. 824 (Nov. 1971): 635-641.