Castello del Buonconsiglio monumenti e collezioni provinciali

The chapel of Saint Martin

Restoration work carried out in the 1980s brought to light an extraordinary pictorial cycle (early 13th century) in the chapel, a place of worship from the Charlemagne era (8th century) which was subsequently incorporated in the Palazzo di Nicolò.
On the northern wall, the best preserved, are depictions of episodes from the life of Jesus – the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Crucifixion – an apocalyptic scene and images of saints. This was most likely created by a workshop of travelling painters who, while aware of the new pictorial trends, as demonstrated by the accuracy of the details and the design as well as their attempts to render the figures plastic, express themselves in a language inspired by folk tradition.
The cycle, a rare and important example of Romanesque painting in the Trentino region, was fortunately preserved in good condition thanks to the fact it was against a wall that had already been built in medieval times, designed to strengthen the outer wall against attacks.
The altar wall contains frescoes from the 14th century.

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