Piero della Francesca (/ˌpjɛəroʊ ˌdɛlə frænˈtʃɛskə/, also US: /- frɑːnˈ-/, Italian: [ˈpjɛːro della franˈtʃeska]; c. 1415 – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo.