A Sienese village called Corsignano was the birthplace of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family.

Having become Pope Pius II, he has had the entire village rebuilt as an ideal town and commune, renamed Pienza.

Intended as a retreat from Rome, it represents the first application of humanist urban planning concepts, creating an impetus for planning that will be adopted in other Italian towns and cities and eventually spread to other European centers.

The rebuilding is done by Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known as Bernardo Rossellino) who may have worked with the humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti, though there are no documents to prove it for sure.

Alberti is in the employ of the Papal Curia at this time and serves as an advisor to Pius.

Construction had started about 1459.

Italian painter, sculptor, and architect Vecchietta, born Lorenzo di Pietro in 1412, works in a linear but naturalistic style that reflects Florentine influences.

In 1461-62, he creates his masterwork, The Assumption of the Virgin, an altarpiece for the Duomo at Pienza, which Pius consecrates on August 29, 1462, during his long summer visit.