St.Stefan, Hunger Cloth

Yesterday, exactly one year ago, I posted
several images of the so-called Hunger - or Fasting cloths.
During the Lenten period, some catholic churches,
particularly in Carinthia and Tirol
cover the images on their altars with a sheet of cloth.
Originally they were of one colour (mostly purple)
and meant to simply hide the pictures of the altar.
Later they themselves became veritable works of art,
being used to teach a largely illiterate population
the happenings during the life of Christ.

PLEASE VIEW THE FOLLOWING PICTURES
IN THE LARGE FORMAT FOR FULL ENJOYMENT

This is the "Fastentuch" of the church of
St.Stefan im Krappfeld.
On either side of the image of the cruzifiction
are four circular pictures, showing scenes
of the Bible.

The upper circle depicts a moment of
Jesus carrying his own cross to the place
of his execution and, I believe,
Veronica, offering him her kerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow.
The lower circle shows the resurrection, with two astonished guards
sitting beside the grave.

In the same church they found a painting
of the Pieta behind a layer of plaster.
Although this work was covered by plaster for many years
the colours are well preserved.
Unfortunately there is an area of Christ's midsection
which was damaged. Talented restorers, however,
will undoubtedly bring the entire image back to its original beauty.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL BELIEVERS