Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that by the power of the Holy Spirit - symbolised here as a white dove - she would conceive a son to be known as Jesus. Renaissance fresco in the medieval cloister beside the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta at Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: a white dove, symbolising the Holy Spirit, flies towards the Blessed Virgin Mary as the archangel Gabriel, sent by God, tells her that she will conceive a son to be known as Jesus, in a detail of a beautiful Annunciation fresco painted in the ribbed ceiling vaults of the 12th century cloister of the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption). The Annunciation was a popular subject in Christian art in the early years of the Italian Renaissance, which began in about 1330 AD. The earliest frescoes here, in Late Gothic style, were painted around 1390 by a group of artists active throughout this mainly German-speaking region. Later Renaissance frescoes in the cloister are judged to be either solo work by 15th century painter and sculptor Lienhart Scherhauff (also known as Leonhard von Brixen or Leonardo da Bressanone), or are by his studio, which produced fresco cycles for churches throughout South and East Tyrol. Lienhart and his artists, with their delicate style, transformed the often harsh and crude nature of earlier Tyrolean Christian art, most obviously in the softer and more lifelike faces of Biblical characters such as these. Some works here also feature proof of Leonhard’s own hand: the scorpion signature emblem he used that prompted his title of Maestro dello Scorpione (Master of the Scorpion). The spa city of Bressanone-Brixen was founded in 901 AD, becoming the seat of powerful Prince Bishops whose influence forged links between southern Germany and northern Italy. South Tyrol became part of Italy after the 1914-18 First World War.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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