Viewed from the south, the Chiesa di San Vigilio in Pinzolo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. Below the eaves is a Dance of Death fresco frieze, painted in 1539 by Simone II Baschenis (c. 1495-1555), depicting (from left): three skeletons playing musical instruments; Christ on the cross; 18 people with different positions in society, each pierced by the arrow of Death, with skeletons; Death on a galloping horse; and finally, the Archangel Michael and the devil holding a book on which the deadly sins are written. The church is believed to date from the 1200s and was rebuilt in 1515.
Pinzolo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: viewed from the south, the Chiesa di San Vigilio (Church of Saint Vigil or Church of St Vigilius of Trent). Running along the top of the wall, below the eaves, is a Dance of Death fresco frieze, painted in 1539 by Simone II Baschenis (c. 1495-1555) in what the Northeast Italy Cadogan Guide describes as “a vividly eerie medieval-style Dance of Death”. The Guide continues: “Placid, business-like skeletons conduct princes, popes, soldiers and everyone else to their end”. The Dance of Death fresco, signed and dated 25 October 1539, depicts (from left): three musical skeletons, followed by Christ on the cross and 18 people with very different positions in society, each already pierced by the arrow of Death. All dance with a smiling skeleton while Death, at the back of the procession, advances on horseback. The procession ends with the Archangel Michael and the devil holding a book on which the deadly sins are written. Below each scene are the words that each skeleton addresses to their companion. Dance of Death paintings generally function as memento mori. The exact date of construction of the Chiesa di San Vigilio is not known, but from the shape of the bell tower is believed to be some time in the 1200s. The first official document naming the church is dated 28 October 1232. On that day, representatives from surrounding villages gathered under the church’s portico to assess damage caused by flooding. Documents from 1362 mention San Vigilio in Pinzolo as a sanctuary. The building was consecrated on 28 August 1454 and rebuilt in 1515 in a rectangular shape with three naves. Pinzolo is a ski resort in the Val Rendena, on the banks of the Sarca River in the Brenta Dolomites in the northern Italian Alps. It lies inside the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta nature reserve.
Size: 4144px × 2757px
Location: Chiesa di San Vigilio, Pinzolo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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