Country Life Country Life
  • Property Property
      • Property
        • View all Property
        • Cotswolds
        • South East & Home counties
        • London
        • The South-West
        • Castles & Estates
        • Waterside property
        • Cottages
        • Scottish property
        • International property
  • Home & Garden Home & Garden
      • Home & Garden
        • View all Home & Garden
        • Interiors
        • Gardens
        • Antiques & Collecting
        • Country Life's Top 100
        • Country Life's Little Black Book
  • People & Places People & Places
      • PEOPLE & PLACES
        • View all People & Places
        • Out & About
        • London Life
        • Podcast
  • Life & Style Life & Style
      • LIFE & STYLE
        • View all Life & Style
        • Fashion, Jewellery & Watches
        • Cars
        • Travel
        • Dogs
        • Food & Drink
  • Art, Culture & History Art, Culture & History
      • ART, CULTURE & HISTORY
        • View all Art, Culture & History
        • Architecture
        • Art
        • Theatre, Film & Music
        • Books
  • The Countryside
  • More
    • About Country Life
    • Contact us
    • Meet the team
    • Pitch a story
    • Latest magazine issue
    • Country Life Image Archive
    • Advertise in Country Life
  • Newsletter Newsletter
  • Country Life Subscription
    Country Life Subscription
    Why subscribe?
    • ➛ Country Life is the UKs only perfect-bound weekly magazine and a leading authority on British rural life and all of its diverse joys and pleasure
    • ➛ Enjoy complimentary access to more than 600 digital back issues for as long as you are a subscriber
    • ➛ Delivery straight to your front door in plastic-free wrap
    • ➛ Save on the price you would pay in the shops
    From£6
    /mth
    View Deal
    This week
    • Quiz of the Day
    • Chelsea Flower Show
    • Grain silo for sale
    • Summer season style secrets
    • The ultimate garage

    Claudia Pritchard

    Piero della Francesca's The Resurrection (c. 1460) is in the collection of the Museo Civico, Sansepolcro. Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images.

    How 'the best picture in the world' was saved from destruction by a British army officer refused to follow his orders

    Claudia Pritchard on the extraordinary tale of how Piero della Francesca’s 1460s fresco 'The Resurrection' was saved.

    • A costly slumber: betrayed by Delilah, a sleeping Samson lies limp as his tresses are trimmed in Peter Paul Rubens’s Samson and Delilah, 1609, the Philistine soldiers gathering in the doorway a sign of his inevitable capture once shorn of his superhuman strength. Credit: Alamy

      Eyes wide shut: The art of sleeping

      Sleep takes many shapes in art, whether sensual or drunken, deathly or full of nightmares, but it is rarely peaceful. Even slumbering babies can convey anxiety, discovers Claudia Pritchard.

      By Jonny Harris Published 9 December 2024

    Country Life
    • About Us
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X
    • Do not sell or share my personal information

    Country Life is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.