The Vision of St Hubert, a stag or hart with a crucifix between its antlers, painted in ancient fresco art on an exterior wall of the church of a former convent, the Convento di San Francesco, at Susa, Piedmont, Italy, said to have been founded in person by St Francis of Assisi.
Susa, Piedmont, Italy: this ancient fresco of the Vision of St Hubert - a stag or hart with a crucifix between its antlers that appeared to Hubert or Hubertus as he was hunting - survives on the north exterior wall of the church of the former Franciscan convent of San Francesco di Susa. The stag warned Hubert that he would go to Hell unless he led a holy life, prompting his spiritual conversion and his appointment in 708 AD as the first Bishop of Liege, France. According to legend, the church was built after St Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan monastic order, visited Susa as he travelled to France in 1214. He is said to have stayed there as a guest of Beatrice of Geneva, wife of Tommaso I, Count of Savoy, and to have given her the sleeve of his cassock in return for land on which to build a convent. A sleeve said to be the one he gave Beatrice is preserved as a relic in the church of the Capuchin Friars Minor in Annecy, France. The former convent is the earliest building in Piedmont to be dedicated to St Francis. It was supressed and used as a warehouse during the Napoleonic era, but was regained by the Franciscans in 1899. They finally left in 2007 and the convent buildings are now used as a guesthouse for modern travellers following the ancient Via Francigena Christian pilgrimage route from Canterbury in England to Rome, via France, the alpine Moncenisio Pass and the Val di Susa. The church interior is decorated with valuable frescoes including a ceiling vault featuring the four Evangelists sitting at desks while writing their gospels.
Size: 3700px × 2467px
Location: Susa, Piedmont, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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