Resurrection

1463-65 - Mural fresco and tempera, 225 x 200 cm - Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro

This is one of Piero's most beautiful masterpieces. He painted it for his hometown, very likely before he moved to Rome in 1458. Here we can appreciate his ability to use archaic iconographic elements, taken by the religious folklore, and adapt them to an absolutely new cultural and stylistic milieu.
The composition is divided in two parts, each with its own separate perspective. The lower part, where the guards are sleeping, has a very low point of view which gives the scene monumental stability. Above them, Piero portrayed Jesus Christ, who is not seen from below, but has a perfectly frontal point of view. The Resurrected is a perfect representation of Piero's ideal man: practical and measured, but at the same time solemn. The splendid landscape also belongs to the folklore: Piero symbolically painted it half in winter and half coming back to life, i.e. resurrecting, in spring.