The Marriage of Mathematics and Sacred Art: Piero della Francesca’s ‘The Baptism of Christ’

A detail from Piero della Francesca’s “The Baptism of Christ,” 1448. National Gallery, London. Public Domain

“We don’t go to art for information. Rather it’s the experience.”—Roger Scruton, philosopher

Piero della Francesca’s “The Baptism of Christ,” which hangs in the National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square, was rather like a personal shrine to me. I visited it frequently “for the experience.”