Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection of Christ

Description

At the center of the work is the risen Christ who rises solemnly and imperiously from the tomb. Below him four soldiers of the Roman army are sleeping. The painting can be easily read by dividing the scene geometrically. The figure of the risen Christ divides the landscape vertically into two parts. On the left there is a bare landscape typical of winter, on the right instead the vital spring rebirth.  The sarcophagus, on the other hand, divides the painting horizontally: in the lower part the sleep of men, while in the upper part the risen Christ dominates. Among the men who are sleeping at the foot of Christ's sarcophagus, right where the pole of the banner held by the Savior falls, there is a man dressed in a green robe: it is the self-portrait of Piero della Francesca. The fact that the flagpole falls where he is is not accidental: it indicates that it is God who guides the artist, it is the support given to the artist by faith.