The Greatest Picture in the World
Fr Brendan Thomas • April 19, 2020
How a painting came to save a town, and the town speaks forth of Resurrection
Writing in 1925 Aldous Huxley described a seven hour journey in an ‘omnibus’ to Sansepolcro, a small town in the less-visited eastern part of Tuscany:
“And when at last one has arrived at San Sepolcro, what is there to be seen? A little town surrounded by walls, set in a broad flat valley between hills; some fine Renaissance palaces with pretty balconies of wrought iron; a not very interesting church, and finally, the best picture in the world… We need no imagination to help us figure forth its beauty; it stands there before us in entire and actual splendour, the greatest picture in the world.”
The best picture in the world! That is quite a claim, but sometimes a painting can make an immediate impression. Piero della Francesca (1415-1492) was eminent in his lifetime as an artist, but surprisingly after his death was better remembered as a mathematician. Yet now he is considered the first true Renaissance painter who brought an original use of colour, light and perspective to his art.
How do you paint the Resurrection? The Gospels contain no description of the actual event, only what happened afterwards. Any artistic depiction is going to be inadequate to the spiritual reality of what happened. “I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!”
are the exuberant words put on the lips of Mary Magdalene in the Victimae Paschali Laudes
(only she didn’t – she met him afterwards in the garden!)
Piero portrays Christ as a colossus emerging from a Roman sarcophagus, victory won. The triumphant banner becomes his sceptre, the halo his crown. His dark piercing eyes convey his sovereignty. His wounds are still fresh and are on display for all to see. He has come through death into new life. We sing at Easter: “Death and life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own Champion, slain, yet lives to reign.”
The Roman guards, in contrast to Christ’s strong form, sleep below, collapsed in a heap, oblivious to what is happening. Giorgio Vasari wrote that the soldier in brown armour was a self-portrait of Piero.
For a thousand years Sansepolcro has been associated with the Resurrection. It was called Borgo Sansepolcro, the Town of the Holy Tomb, because it was said to have been founded in the 10th century when two pilgrims returned from Jerusalem carrying precious relics (some shavings) from Christ's tomb. Devotion to the Holy Sepulchre was still strong in Piero’s time.
The fresco was not in fact painted for a Church but for the Town Hall. Christ is not confined to the church but rises in the public sphere to animate all of our life and our dealings, his sovereignty to hold sway over all we do. His risen life is to touch all our reality. Are Christians known as a people made alive by the Resurrection of Jesus? Do we show that we are an Easter People animated by the living Christ?
Nor is Christ portrayed rising from the dead in some faraway land but in the familiar landscape of Tuscany. On the left of the painting the trees are barren, it is winter, on the right the trees are green, full of the growth of new life. His risen life is to touch all our reality.
"O soil, do not be afraid; be glad, rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things.
Beasts of the field, do not be afraid;
the pastures on the heath are green again,
The trees bear fruit once more,
vine and fig trees bear fruit in abundance."
Joel 2:21-22
In the late summer of 1944, towards the end of the Second World War, the Allies' advanced northward in Italy and British troops came to a hillside overlooking Sansepolcro.
The troop commander Anthony Clarke had orders to shell the town to clear it of Germans before the Allies moved in. But a question kept nagging the officer. “Why do I know the name of Sansepolcro?” Something at the back of his head had told him he should defy orders and stop the shelling. It was the memory, at the back of his head, of reading about “the best picture in the world” that had made him do so.
If he had not done so, Piero’s Resurrection might have been a pile of dust.
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
