One more photo from last night… moon over the castle.

Travelled to Sansepolcro on Friday, the birthplace of Piero della Francesca, and the location of his masterpiece The Resurrection. Aldous Huxley called The Resurrection (1465) the greatest painting ever created, and this fame protected the city of Sansepolcro during WWII because the allies did not want to bomb the city and destroy it. It was recently restored and sits in a museum that was once the municipal building ( the city commissioned Piero to do the fresco for the municipal building).

Christ’s face in this painting is so very different from most depictions of Christ during the period. Apparently Piero (who is depicted in his self portrait as the second Roman soldier) painted his figures ( including Christ) to look like working people of the time. Again, the Director from Civitella was our extraordinary guide for this in depth look at the work of Piero della Francesca.

We had some time to wander the wonderful streets of Sansepolcro before having a marvelous lunch at a local restaurant.

Around Sansepolcro

In the afternoon we travelled to La Verna to the place where St. Francis went for a forty day fast and where he received the stigmata. A Franciscan monastery now sits on this site. We had an amazing experience as we came across the monks and other pilgrims processing in the hallway of the stigmata toward the stigmata chapel chanting and praying in magnificent voices. It was incredible! We then went into the church and several minutes later the monks returned to the church chanting as they processed by us. A double gift!

The crag in a rock where St. Francis reportedly lived when he was in La Verna. The monastery was built around this sacred spot.

The fog on the mountain at the monastery felt like a mystical and spiritual embrace…