The Red Tower in Halle – (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) Previous Next


Artist:

Style: Expressionism

Topic: Buildings Colour Gates

Date: 1915

Size: 120 x 91 cm

Technique: Oil On Canvas

This painting now resides in Piero della Francesca’s hometown of San Sepolcro, at the Museo Civico. The painting depicts the figure of Christ standing over four sleeping soldiers. The artist included a self-portrait in the figure of the sleeping soldier who is dressed in brown. During World War II, the city of San Sepolcro was supposed to be bombed, which would have destroyed the painting. But, the pilot of the bomber plane, Captain Clarke, who had read Aldous Huxley’s reports that The Resurrection was the greatest painting in the world, remembered that the painting was held in San Sepolcro. He ordered his men to stop the bombing, this saving the painting and the town from annihilation. After the fighting was over, it was determined that the Nazi soldiers had already left the area, and so the bombing wasn’t necessary. Captain Clarke was regarded as a hero, and the city of San Sepolcro named a street after him as a symbol of their gratitude.

This artwork is in the public domain.

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