Résurrection (d'après Piero della Francesca)

During the summer of 1926, the eighteen-year-old Balthus travelled to Italy. The trip was made possible through the genrosity of Jean Strohl, a professor of Zoology in Zürich and a friend of the artist's father, as well as the first owner of the present work. From Italy Balthus wrote often to his sponsor. "He described his thrill over Piero's frescoes and his love affair with Italy in general. He told his patrons that, having been haunted by the desire to make this journey, he had considered it dangerous to antcipate it, putting himself at risk of disappointment. Now his ecstacy was almost beyond measure--at seeing cypress trees that were like toys, at the balance and precision and unprecedented harmony of Piero's frescoes in Arezzo, at the divine mastery of his art... The eighteen-year-old's version of the Sansepolcro Resurrection (fig. 1) testifies to this combination of respectfulness and self-confidence which he responded to his artistic hero. In love with the past, the young artist made his own, highly personal selection of its offerings. He was devoted--but not enslaved" (N. Fox Weber, op. cit., p. 114)

(fig. 1) Piero della Francesca, Resurrection, fresco. Borgo Sansecolcro, Museo Civico.