Early Christian martyr, Saint Margaret of Antioch, stands triumphant, her cross held aloft, having been spat out by Satan, disguised as a dragon, when the saint's cross irritated the monster’s innards. Medieval fresco in the cloister attached to the Chiesa di San Nicola (Church of St Nicholas) at the Abbazia di Piona (Piona Abbey), beside Lake Como at Colico, Lombardy, Italy.
Piona Abbey, Colico, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy: the 4th century AD martyr Saint Margaret of Antioch triumphs over Satan, disguised as a dragon, in this ancient fresco in the medieval cloister attached in the mid-13th century to the Chiesa di San Nicola (Church of St Nicholas). This panel is part of a fresco cycle painted in primitive or rustic style combining images of saints with a seasonal or monthly calendar featuring scenes of rural life, including peasants harvesting and threshing crops and symbolism celebrating the end of Winter and the arrival of Spring. St. Margaret, also known as St. Marina, was said to have embraced her foster mother’s Christianity, consecrating her virginity to God, after being disowned by her father, a pagan priest. She was tortured for refusing to renounce her faith in order to marry a Roman Governor, but miraculous events then included Margaret being swallowed whole by Satan disguised as a dragon - which regurgitated her alive when her cross irritated the monster’s innards. Even the medieval archbishop who compiled her hagiography doubted this story, but hundreds of churches were dedicated to her as a popular cult grew up. Medieval artists often painted her either standing above the dragon or escaping from its mouth; both versions appear in this example. The Abbazia di Piona is a former Benedictine monastic complex, once occupied by reformist Cluniac monks, on the tip of a peninsular extending into Lake Como. The church of San Nicola replaced a ruined 7th century oratory before 1138, with the cloister added around 1250. The monastery buildings and lands were seized and sold off in 1798, but the church and cloister were partly restored in the early 1900s. In 1938, Piona came back to life when the Cistercian monks of Casamari Abbey in Lazio acquired the complex and it is now open to the public.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Cloister, Abbazia di Piona, Colico, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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