Angels, evangelists, kings and churchmen in golden roundels and medallions: Early Renaissance frescoes filling the ribbed ceiling vaults in the medieval cloister beside the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta at Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: angels, evangelists, kings and churchmen look down from their golden roundels and medallions between the ribs or groins of ceiling vaults covering the medieval cloister beside the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The cloister was richly decorated with Late Gothic and Early Renaissance biblical and symbolic frescoes from about 1390 onwards, after being rebuilt in Romanesque style following a fire in 1174. The earliest were painted here from about 1390 onwards by a group of artists active throughout this mainly German-speaking region, including some from the nearby town of Brunico or Brunech. Later frescoes such as this one are believed to be either the sole work of 15th century painter and sculptor Lienhart Scherhauff (also known as Leonhard von Brixen or Leonardo da Bressanone), or to be by artists based at his workshop, which was responsible for producing fresco cycles for churches throughout South and East Tyrol. Some feature proof of Lienhart’s involvement: the painted scorpion emblem he used as a signature that led to him becoming known as the Maestro dello Scorpione (Master of the Scorpion). Lienhart / Leonardo and his team are credited with transforming formerly harsh and crude Tyrolean Christian art with their much more delicate style - most obvious in the softer and more lifelike faces of the Biblical characters they portrayed. The spa city of Bressanone-Brixen was founded in 901 AD, becoming the seat of powerful Prince Bishops whose influence forged links between southern Germany and northern Italy. South Tyrol became part of Italy after the 1914-18 First World War.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Bressanone-Brixen, South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1300s, 1400s, 14th, 15th, adige, angel, angels, art, assunta, bishops, boss, bressanone, bressanone-brixen, brixen, cathedral, cathedrals, catholic, ceiling, century, christian, christianity, churchmen, cloister, , da, decorated, di, domplatz, duomo, early, evangelist, evangelists, fresco, frescoed, frescoes, frescos, golden, groined, heavenly, holding, host, inscriptions, italian, italy, kerr, kings, latin, leonardo, leonhard, lienhart, maria, medallions, painted, painting, piazza, prelates, renaissance, ribbed, roman, roundels, santa, scherhauff, scrolls, smiling, south, symbolic, symbolism, symbols, terence, trentino-alto, tyrol, tyrolean, vault, vaults, von, wall
