Faded late-1400s Renaissance fresco of St Michael the Archangel spearing a dragon on the west front of the Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate at Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. The village church is frescoed inside and out by members of the Baschenis family of nomadic Lombardic artists.
Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: armoured Saint Michael the Archangel spears a dragon symbolising Satan in this faded late-1400s Renaissance fresco on the west front of the Gothic Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate (Church of Saint Anthony the Abbot) in the scenic Val Rendena. The work is by a member of the Baschenis family of itinerant Lombardic artists, based at Averara near Bergamo, who decorated dozens of churches throughout Trentino with Renaissance biblical frescoes. This panel, mutilated by graffiti and with its pigments now pale, may be by Cristoforo I Baschenis, who signed his depiction of St Anthony the Abbot above the church’s Gothic portal in 1474. Alternatively, it may be by his brother, Simone, who completed some of the facade frescoes as well as painting inside the church. Cristoforo II Baschenis (documented 1472-1520) also worked at Pelugo, while a giant figure of Saint Christopher on the facade is by Dionisio or Dyonisus Baschenis, who signed and dated it in 1493. The early-15th century church at Pelugo and the Chiesa di San Viglio at Pinzolo, decorated with a dramatic external ‘Dance of Death’, are the best-known churches frescoed by Baschenis artists in the Val Rendena and its neighbouring valleys. The family belonged to a tradition of nomadic artisans who travelled all over the Alpine region and sold their skills where required. The Braschenis worked mostly in small churches in isolated mountain villages. Although their output veered more towards popular images than to fine art, it performed a vital role in communicating Bible stories and Christian messages to the villagers. However, the most famous member of the family, Evaristo Baschenis, was a very different type of artist, regarded as the best Italian still life painter of the 1600s and credited with creating the genre of still life art featuring musical instruments.
Size: 2678px × 4000px
Location: Pelugo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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