Piero Della Francesca, Italian Early Renaissance artist, whose circa 1450 work, ‘The Resurrection’ referred to in my Easter Saturday newspaper, brought a transcendental light on the road to Damascus moment to my mind. The power of art – to weave a story, to provide a narration, to inspire, to challenge, to comfort. What does Francesca’s ‘The Resurrection‘ mean for you?
To me, my story – here is the power of the fecundity of nature, resurging from the dark days of winter to bring renewal, growth and vitality back to the land and us, all awakening from our slumbers.
Our noble Earth, a mere yet significant speck in the vast dynamism of the universe. Urging to evolve, to establish to replenish, to rebirth, to make good the wrongs and injuries inflicted upon it and us.
Humankind as a vital component within mother nature, within the cosmos, striving always to put good what is wrong, to repair injustices, striving to betterment and to resurrect from the ashes of damages inflicted by nature herself and man’s influence within, towards a better life.
That urge within us to move forward, to care, to love, to grow yet stabilise, to seek security and creative comforts and well-being. As with the earth and nature as our omnipotent creator, that supreme force of the universe is within us, thrusting and unfolding to bring life, balance and harmony uncompromisingly to the fore.
Let the power of the force of mother nature, epitomised by the Piero Della Francesca’s work, give reassurance that the spring skylark soaring and singing so proudly, of the symbolism of Christ’s resurrection, are signs that natural powers of good and symmetry, are deeply within us and are always in ascendance, unless we choose to sleep.
That’s my story and relationship of the picture to me, interpretation. What’s yours? Look at the way the artist has depicted Christ – challengingly rising from the dead and looking straight at you, almost stepping out of the picture. How to you interpret his posture and stare? Look also at the sleeping figures below – what do you make of them? The colours, the structure of the painting – strong horizontals and verticals: how is the picture strengthened by such composition? What of the background – does it add to the story?
Read my book – The Primacy of Your Eye …