Biblical Nativity scenes sculpted in alabaster in 1343 on the Gothic retable or altarpiece of Santa Maria la Blanca in the medieval church of the Monestir or monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses in Ripollès county, Catalonia, Spain.
Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain: the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi are among the New Testament biblical scenes depicted on the left panel of the alabaster Gothic altarpiece or retable of Santa Maria la Blanca, sculpted in 1343, inside the medieval church of the Monestir or monastery of this town in the Pyrenean foothills. The Lombard Romanesque church was consecrated in 1150, but the monastery has much earlier origins. It was founded in 887 AD as a Benedictine nunnery - the first female religious community in Catalonia - by Count Guifré el Pilós or Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy), as part of his plan to repopulate frontier territories left uninhabited by the struggle against Saracen occupiers. Wilfred's 14-year-old daughter, Emma, was appointed its first abbess and she governed the nunnery until her death in 942. In 1017, the nuns were expelled, supposedly for moral laxity, and were replaced my monks - at various times under either Augustinian or Benedictine rule. The church had to be partly rebuilt after an earthquake in 1428 collapsed the bell tower, devastated an ancient bridge over the River Ter and damaged much of the walled medieval town. The Romanesque cloister was damaged by the earthquake and by a fire in 1442 and was then rebuilt in Gothic style.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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