Blessing Christ depicted as Salvator Mundi with a globe. Among hastily painted frescoes decorating the interior of medieval tombs in the Cathedral of St Saviour, Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium. The idea was that these paintings would be the first thing the person would see when they arose from the dead. The frescoes were discovered during 1989-1993 restoration work and are now displayed, still in situ, under glass in the west porch of the cathedral.


Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium: among frescoes decorating the interior of 1300s AD tombs, discovered in 1989-1993 restoration work. The frescoes are now displayed, still in situ, under glass in the west porch of the Cathedral of St Saviour or Sint-Salvators-kathedraal (Dutch) or Cathédrale Saint Sauveur de Bruges (French). The frescoes are hastily painted because they had had to be executed after a person died, but before that person was interred and their tomb sealed. The idea was that these paintings would be the first thing the person would see when they arose from the dead. The Cathedral of St Saviour is Bruges’ oldest church, with the earliest parts of its structure dating back to the 900s AD. In 1116 a fire destroyed the original church, but it was restored in 1127. In 1250 the construction of much of what can be seen today began and lasted for more than a hundred years. The cathedral was built in the Gothic Schelde style of the 1300s. It became the seat of the Bishopric of Bruges in the early 1800s.


Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Cathedral of St Saviour, Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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