A saint brandishes a broadsword in this crude but powerful fragmentary Lombardic fresco preserved in cement against a wall of black Olcio stone within the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Tiglio, a 12th century Romanesque church on the northwest shores of Lake Como at Gravedona, Lombardy, Italy.
Gravedona, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy: this crude but powerful fragmentary Lombardic fresco of a saint brandishing a broadsword is preserved in cement against a wall of black Olcio stone within the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Tiglio, a 12th century Romanesque church on the northwest shores of the Lago di Como. The artwork is located beside a damaged yet striking medieval fresco of Saint Christopher, patron saint of travellers, bearing the Christ Child – and the weight of the world’s sins – on his shoulders as he wades across a swollen river to safety. Other frescoes surviving in the church from the 14th and 15th centuries include the Adoration of the Magi, St John the Baptist, St Julian the Hospitaller and a superb early 14th century Last Judgement. The church also houses a masterpiece of Lombard Romanesque sculpture, a 12th century Crucifixion carved from poplar and alder wood. The lakeside land occupied by Santa Maria del Tiglio and the adjoining parish church of San Vincenzo is believed to have been a sacred site from at least Roman times. The first Christian building, a baptistery dedicated to St John the Baptist, was probably built on the site of a pagan temple. The two churches both incorporate re-used ancient materials, including a Roman altar and a fragment of 5th century Roman floor mosaic.
Size: 4094px × 2756px
Location: Gravedona, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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