Day 35 - Human and Divine

“The Baptism of Christ” by Piero della Francesca, National Gallery, London

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,” (Matthew ch3: v17)

I heard a radio interview where someone said that you should be able to visit an art gallery even if you only want to look at one painting. It is just as well, therefore, that so many of our wonderful art galleries are free to visit!

If I am in London, and if I have a few moments spare, my choice is the National Gallery and – if I only have time to look at one painting - it is often Piero della Francesca’s “The Baptism of Christ”. The painting shows the moment of Christ’s baptism by John. The Spirit of God hovers as a dove over Jesus’s head and three angels watch from close by. This painting is arguably one of the greatest, and most valuable, in the National Gallery. But why is it so captivating? Why does it draw so many people, me included, back to it?

Piero della Francesca studied perspective and was the first artist to write a treatise on the subject. Here he uses that knowledge and skill to create an illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface. All of the figures and objects that he paints are in proportion, as we would see them in real life, emphasising the depth of the landscape in the background. There is also a rhythm and harmony in the picture with the eye drawn to Christ’s praying hands and then upward to heaven through the dove.

It is this that gives “The Baptism of Christ” its timeless appeal. The painting portrays a moment of the divine as the dove descends (you can see a gasp on the face of one of the angels!). But it is also a very touching human moment; John gently leaning towards Jesus as he pours the water on his head; Jesus almost imperceptibly bending his knee to make it easier for his cousin to lean over; the next person to be baptised removing their robe in preparation. It is these things that truly bring the picture to life.

The painting was made for a small chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in Piero’s hometown, Sansepolcro in Tuscany. The landscape and vegetation are Tuscan and would have been familiar to anyone viewing the painting at the time, making it relevant and - most importantly – accessible.

It is easy, as we hear the stories of the life of Christ, to get a sense of Jesus’s divinity; “Immanuel; God with us”. It is harder sometimes, particularly after 2,000 years of history, to get a glimpse of Jesus the brother, the son, the friend, the cousin, the man. As we approach the end of Lent, let us look within the Easter stories we know so well for fresh insights into both the divinity, and the humanity, of Christ.

Philip Clarke