Flagellation of Christ

Tempera painting on panel of the 1450s by Piero della Francesca (Galleria delle Marche, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino). Although small in scale (about 62 x 81 cm/24 x 32 in) when compared to Piero's great fresco cycles, it is one of his masterpieces in its faultless use of perspective. The meaning of the painting, particularly the prominence and identity of the three figures in the foreground, has excited much speculation.