The parents of future hermit saint, Anthony the Abbot, in peril on the sea as the mast of their ship breaks in a storm raised by the devil off the coast of northern Spain: square detail of late-1400s Renaissance fresco by Lombardic itinerant artist Dionisio Baschenis high on external south wall of Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate at Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: a mast breaks in a storm raised by the devil as the sailing ship carrying the parents of future saint, Anthony the Abbot or Anthony the Great, approach the Spanish pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. This image is a square detail of a charming Renaissance-era fresco, attributed to itinerant Lombardic artist Dionisio or Dionysius Baschenis, painted in the late-1400s or early 1500s below the external south wall eaves of Pelugo’s church, the Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate or Church of Saint Anthony the Abbot. It was created as part of a fresco cycle, spread over 30 panels in two rows, telling the life story of the hermit saint, who is also known as Anthony of the Desert, Anthony of Egypt and Anthony the Anchorite. Centuries of sun and rain have all but erased the lower panels, including their captions explaining each episode in the vernacular tongue spoken by the Pelugo villagers. However, the upper panels were better protected from the weather. The surviving scenes, painted in a simple rustic style, are all by the same hand. Dionisio or Dionysius Baschenis belonged to a travelling family of artists based at Averara, near Bergamo, who decorated dozens of churches throughout Trentino with biblical frescoes. In 1493, he also painted and signed the giant figure on the church’s frescoed west front of St Christopher carrying the Christ Child. Several of Dionisio’s relatives also painted at Pelugo. Nomadic artisans like the Baschenis family used to travel all over the alpine region, selling their skills wherever they could and working mostly at small churches in isolated mountain villages. They painted popular images rather than fine art, but their works successfully communicated the Christian message and Bible stories to the villagers.
Size: 2739px × 2739px
Location: Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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