Saint Willibald seeks Pope Gregory III’s Blessing Before Going to Evangelise the Saxons

Francesco Solimena

Download hi-res image TITLE Saint Willibald seeks Pope Gregory III’s Blessing Before Going to Evangelise the Saxons
AUTHOR Francesco Solimena
DATE 1701 -5
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 43 x 75
INVENTORY 262
ROOM XXXIV
Work on display

This pictue and The Meeting of Ratchis are preparatory studies for the decoration of the Chapel of St. Carloman (which housed the relics of Carloman, son of Charlemagne and brother of Pepin the Short) in the abbey of Montecassino. The chapel was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944. The cycle, for which only a handful of studies remains, told the story of the Benedictine abbey complex, depicting episodes associated with the many figures that have marked its thousand-year history.