Early Christian Martyrs, Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Barbara, with John the Baptist. Late Gothic fresco in the Franziskanerkirche (Franciscan Church) in Lienz, East Tyrol, Austria. One of two former altarpieces painted c. 1440 by Nikolaus Kenntner, a Lienz artist.
Franziskanerkirche (Franciscan Church), Muchargasse, Lienz, East Tyrol, Austria: Late Gothic fresco, one of two former altarpieces painted c. 1440 by Nikolaus Kenntner, a Lienz artist. This fresco depicts, from left: St Catherine of Alexandria with a sword, symbol of her martyrdom, St Barbara with a three-windowed tower and John the Baptist. Catherine was beheaded with a sword after a spiked wheel shattered at her touch. Saint Barbara’s tower symbolises her imprisonment by her father; the three windows - which she ordered be inserted in her prison - symbolise the Holy Trinity. The Franciscan Church and Convent in Lienz was founded in 1349 by Countess Eutemia of Görz (now Gorizia in Italy) and was originally intended to house the Carmelite order. The friary was unable to avoid a wave of monastic suppressions under Joseph II (1741 - 1790), Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1780. In March 1785, the community was instructed to vacate its premises and the convent buildings were given to the Franciscan order. Lienz is a medieval town, chartered in the 1200s AD. Throughout the Middle Ages, its strategic position and access to trade routes made it important. In the late 1000s or early 1100s AD, it was purchased by a dynasty from Aquileia in Italy who, from about 1127, called themselves the Counts of Görz. When the House of Görz died out in 1500, the town went to the the Habsburgs, then ruled by Emperor Maximilian I. Today, Lienz lies in the District of East Tyrol (also known as East Tirol and in German as the Osttirol). East Tyrol is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the rest of Tyrol (known as North Tyrol) by Italy and the province of Salzburg: after the First World War, the province of South Tyrol (Alto Adige in Italian), part of Tyrol under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was given to Italy.
Size: 3008px × 2000px
Location: Franziskanerkirche (Franciscan Church), Muchargasse, Lienz, East Tyrol, Austria
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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