ART / Picture Choice: Pax Christi: Actor Barry Foster on the art of Piero della Francesca

'All of Piero's paintings fascinate me completely for their monumental calm - but especially this one. It says everything about an Italian morning - the total silence of it, broken only by the trickle of the water. The subdued colour of the Christ figure and the white of the tree create a peaceful monument. It is not as impressive or aggressive as Piero's Resurrection in San Sepulchro, in which Christ is a traveller who has returned from an undiscovered country. Here, in the baptism, Christ is necessarily a more modest person altogether - a rural presence in the Umbrian landscape - and, with the young man behind him, makes for a more domestic image. I think I've seen every Piero in Italy. He is one of my favourite painters of that time. Talking to friends who are painters, I have learnt how geometry of composition can evoke an emotional response. There is no doubt that harmony works in shapes and masses as much as it does in music. And here it is. In this picture hanging in a lovely grey room at the National Gallery. It's there for you to see, for free. It is something that I often go and stare at.'

Barry Foster is currently appearing in 'Grand Hotel' at the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, London.

(Photograph omitted)