Today, we accomplished three-quarters of what is probably our main purpose in coming to Tuscany - following the paintings on what has come to be known as the Piero Della Francesca Trail. I would not recommend this without a car as two of the towns are not accessible by train. The first port of call was to Arezzo, to see my favourite of all, the cycle of frescoes known as 'The Story of the True Cross'. One of these, depicting the Queen of Sheba, is seen in the film 'The English Patient'. Sorry about the poor quality of the images:
The second painting we visited was 'The Resurrection' at Sansepolcro, Piero's birthplace. It is called 'The Resurrection' and was termed by Aldous Huxley in 1925 'the best painting in the world':
Finally, a sentimental favourite, the 'Madonna del Parto' or 'Pregnant Madonna':
Tomorrow, we'll be finishing the trail with 'The Flagellation' at the Ducal Palace at Urbino. The trail is also mentioned in John Mortimer's excellent novel, 'Summer's Lease', and the accompanying BBC series.
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