Origins of the Piero della Francesca Trail.
“The villa will appeal in particular to devotees of Italian painting. It makes a perfect centre for the study of the Sienese school. More importantly, perhaps, the work of Piero della Francesca can be followed from the frescoes in Arezzo to the pregnant Madonna in the small chapel at Monterchi. Enthusiasts can take the trail to San Sepolcro and on, across the Mountains of the Moon, to see the sublime ‘Flagellation’ in the Ducal Palace at Urbino, undoubtedly the greatest small picture in the world. Those making this journey should ensure that the stopcock is closed and all electrical appliances switched off before departure. The pleasures of art tend to be diminished by returning to a complete absence of bath water.”[1]
The late, comic novelist and satirist John Mortimer incorporates the “Piero della Francesca Trail” into his comedy cum murder mystery about Brits taking a villa near Siena. In the villa one character, Molly, finds a copy of Kenneth Clark’s book on Piero della Francesca, though as the art historian John Pope-Hennessy said there were other books which Molly failed to consult ranging from “a brilliant poetical volume by Roberto Longhi,” “a fat, holdall of a book by Battisti,” and “a mythomanical study, filled with imaginary history, by Carlo Ginzburg.” All these and others were mentioned in the book developed from his Walter Neurath memorial lectures, The Piero della Francesca Trail.”[2] Both Pope-Hennessy and Clark whose study appeared in 1951) took their cue from an earlier author, the polymath novelist Aldous Huxley who in 1925 wrote an essay on Piero’s Resurrection entitled “The Best Picture.” Clark was a friend of Huxley and from him learnt a lot about looking at pictures. And inspired by Huxley’s essay, Pope-Hennessy made his way to San Sepolcro to see the venerated Christ, almost the ritual of a private aesthetic cult, though today tens of thousands of people pursue what somebody called the Piero della Francesca Trail. In Summer’s Lease, Mortimer describes how Molly and two companions leave their villa in “Chiantishire” to drive successively to Arezzo, Monterchi, Borgo San Sepolcro and Urbino, though you could start in London with the Baptism of Christ (above). After an early breakfast they resolve to “do the Resurrection before lunch.” We shall follow in their stead, but will also look at other artists as well as Piero.
[1] John Mortimer, Summer’s Lease, (1988), 19.
[2] John Pope-Hennessey, The Piero della Francesca Trail, (Thames and Hudson, 1991).
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