Schooldays of a future saint: the Egyptian boy born in 251 AD who grew up to be hermit saint Anthony the Abbot, identified by his halo and dressed in Italian Renaissance costume, presents his work to a seated teacher: late-1400s rustic fresco by a Lombardic itinerant artist, high on external south wall of Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate at Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: this young schoolboy in Italian Renaissance costume presenting his work to a seated teacher is the youngster, born in Lower Egypt in 251 AD, who grew up to spend years living alone in the North African desert as the hermit Saint Anthony the Abbot. The charming rustic fresco, shifting the saint’s life story to a different continent and a new millennium, was painted in the late-1400s or early-1500s by itinerant Lombardic painter Dionisio or Dionysius Baschenis, a member of a family of nomadic artists based at Averara, near Bergamo. It can be found high up on the southern external wall of the Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate or Church of Saint Anthony the Abbot at Pelugo, a small village in the scenic Val Rendena amid the Brenta Dolomites. The painting is part of a fresco cycle, spread over 30 panels in two rows, telling the life story of the saint, also known as Anthony the Great, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony of Egypt and Anthony the Anchorite. Centuries of sun and rain have all but erased the lower panels, including captions explaining each episode in the vernacular tongue spoken by the Pelugo villagers. However, upper panels such as this were better protected from the weather. Over several decades, the Baschenis family decorated dozens of churches throughout Trentino with biblical frescoes. At Pelugo, Dionisio also painted the giant figure on the church’s frescoed facade of St Christopher carrying the Christ Child, which he signed and dated 1493. Nomadic artisans like the Baschenis family travelled 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: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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