Austere medieval church facade is enhanced by a faded 1300s Lombard fresco of St Christopher, wearing a fur-lined gown, carrying the Christ Child on his shoulder. The Chiesa di San Giorgio, founded in 1250 and consecrated in 1313, in Varenna, on the eastern shores of Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy.
Varenna, Lombardy, Italy: a faded 14th century Lombard fresco of Saint Christopher, protector of travellers and boatmen, with the Christ Child on his shoulder and wearing a gown lined with ermine, enhances the austere stone facade of the medieval Chiesa di San Giorgio (Church of St George), founded in 1250 and consecrated in 1313 for the inhabitants of this picturesque village on the eastern shores of the Lago di Como. The church stands facing Piazza San Giorgio and is preceded by a cobbled forecourt. It was built in Late Romanesque and Early Gothic architectural style, with three naves and a large oculus or rose window lighting the interior above the main entrance. Many ancient frescoes are preserved inside the building. They range from a Late Romanesque representation of Hell on the inner facade to a 1467 polyptych by Jo Pietro de' Brentanis or Brentani featuring the Virgin Mary and infant Christ enthroned, between saints Peter and George. A pontiff and a crowned woman holding a rose, painted on cylindrical columns in the 14th century, may be depictions of Pope Gregory the Great and Queen Theodelinda or Teodelinda (c. 570-628 AD), queen of the Lombards, who ruled a realm stretching from the Apennines to the Alps for about 35 years.
Size: 2688px × 4033px
Location: Varenna, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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