Details of the Apsidal Vault at the Church of St. John, Taufers

Three Bands of Saints: Details from the Apsidal Vault,

1220-30
Fresco
Church of St. John, Taufers, Italy

FIRST BAND: MILITARY SAINTS

In the first band on the left are five military martyrs, each with a sword and palm branch. No two look alike, but aside from the swords and palms there are no other attributes, so they cannot be readily identified. A "wild man" figure supports the band at the bottom.

SECOND BAND: FEMALE SAINTS

A younger, more handsome version of the wild man supports the band of female saints, shown here in the middle photo. The saint at the top holds two rods. The usual attribute for an abbess is a crozier, but it is possible that the artist chose rods instead to distinguish this saint and the fourth one down from the bishop saints shown here in the next band.

The second saint from the top has a palm branch signifying martyrdom and a stalk of what appear to be roses. The third has only a stalk of lilies. The fourth has a rod and a stalk of flowers (roses?) similar to those held by the second saint. The fifth holds both a palm branch and a stalk of lilies, presumably therefore a virgin martyr.

THIRD BAND: ROYAL SAINTS

The first, third, and fifth of these saints wear crowns. There may also be a crown on the second saint from the top; the fresco has degraded somewhat. The fourth saint down wears a headband of some sort. All five have haloes and hold crosses d sceptres. The saint at the bottom's sceptre is clearly in the shape of a fleur-de-lys: he cannot be St. Louis, who reigned only from 1226 to 1270.

Another wild-man figure holds up this band; just the hands and arms are showing in the photo.

THE BISHOPS AND ABBOTS

I have no separate photo of the band of bishops and abbots. All five have croziers, haloes, and books. The books are closed except in the middle portrait. The second and fourth figures from the top are abbots, wearing tonsures and simple habits. The third and fifth are bishops, wearing mitres and chasubles. The person at the top has the simple habit of an abbot but is wearing some sort of headgear not very different from the bishops' mitres.

View the entire vault.

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Photographs taken at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.