Frescoes painted in the 1500s on the front of a chapel built on the reputed site of William Tell’s birthplace at Bürglen, Uri canton, Switzerland. On the right, legendary Swiss hero and national symbol of freedom, William (Wilhelm) Tell, holds his crossbow as he places an apple on the head of his son, Walter. On the left is William’s brother, Klaus. Above are the Saints Rochus, Wilhelm and Sebastian.
Bürglen, Uri Canton, Switzerland: weathered yet still vivid frescoes painted with the date 1588 on the façade of Tell’s Chapel (Tellskapelle), a chapel built in 1552 on the reputed site of William Tell’s birthplace. The fresco on the right depicts William tell placing an apple on his son’s head. On the left is William’s brother, Klaus, calling for peace. Above are three male saints (from left): Saint Rochus or Saint Roch, with an angel, lifts up his cloak to reveal his plague wound; Saint Wilhelm or William of Aquitaine, his right hand bearing a standard and his left hand resting on a shield; and Saint Sebastian, pierced by arrows. William Tell was a legendary Swiss hero and patriot. According to legend, he was a peasant and expert crossbow and arrow marksman from Bürglen who lived in the late 1200s and early 1300s CE, a time when Austrians controlled what is now Switzerland and the Austrian Habsburg emperors were seeking to dominate Uri. Tell’s story symbolises the struggle for political and individual freedom. He defied Austrian authority by refusing to pay homage to a tall pole set up by a Hapsburg official, Hermann or Albrecht Gessler, in the town square. As a punishment, on 18 November 1307, Tell was forced to submit to a test of marksmanship and shoot an apple from his son’s head. He split the fruit with a single bolt from his crossbow, without harming his son. However, Tell was arrested for threatening Gessler’s life with a second arrow. He was then imprisoned by Gessler, escaped, and ultimately killed Gessler. Tell’s daring exploits sparked a rebellion, leading to the formation of the Swiss Confederation. Bürglen also honours Tell’s memory with the Tell Museum and a late-18th century statuary group by Swiss sculptor and modeller Joseph Benedikt Curiger or Kuriger (1754-1819).
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Tell’s Chapel or Tellskapelle, Bürglen, Uri Canton, Switzerland
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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