Room 66

In The Baptism of Christ, a tree, the upright figures and the pale landscape establish a carefully ordered space. John the Baptist pours water over Christ’s head, while other people wait nearby. Stay with the arrangement before looking for individual symbols. Piero della Francesca was both a painter and a writer on mathematics and perspective. The three paintings here were made for his native town, Borgo San Sepolcro, and include Saint Michael and The Nativity. Compare the sense of space across them. His work later attracted artists and collectors who valued its colour, light and composed figures, helping restore a reputation that had long rested heavily on his writings.