The Resurrection (Francesca)

Christ steps from the tomb, one foot planted on its rim, gripping the white banner of victory, while four soldiers sleep in a heap below; the one in brown armor is often taken for Piero's self-portrait. Behind him the trees shift from bare to leafing across the panel, winter giving way to spring, death to rising life. Frontal, weighty, and utterly still, Christ fixes the viewer with austere authority. Painted for the town hall of Borgo Sansepolcro, Piero's birthplace, whose name means 'holy sepulchre,' it was spared in 1944 when a British officer, recalling Aldous Huxley's praise of 'the greatest picture in the world,' held his guns.