Novara: MRA-ITA-Nov002
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Nov002
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 5.2
- Width
- 4
- Height
- 1.3
- Notes
- largest fragment
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 43.1
- Notes
- all fragments together
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Novara
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Novara
Battistero del Duomo
Historical note about the site/monument
- The Novara baptistery was built in the early 5th century CE, although archaeological finds indicate that the site was in use as early as the Roman period. It is one of the oldest examples of Christian architecture in the Piedmont region. It has an octagonal hall with alternating semicircular apses and rectangular aedicules, each bordered by columns of the Corinthian order, radiating from a central baptismal font. The building was renovated in the 11th century, during which time a cycle of frescoes depicting scenes of the Apocalypse was added. The authorship of these works has not yet been conclusively established. Small portions of the opus sectile pavement and mosaics from the 11th century also survive to the present. Complementing its 11th century frescoes, the baptistery also has a large mural painting of the 15th century by Giovanni de Campo.
Further reading:
Perugini, A. (2002). Le pitture murali altomedievali nel Battistero di Novara. Dal restauro" archeologico" degli anni sessanta agli attuali problemi di conservazione. ICOMOS–Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees, 37, 34-38.
Chronological period (sample)
- 5th century