Bavarian Art: The Church of Saint Proculus in Naturno/Naturns
The wall painting in the Church of Saint Proculus in Naturno deserves much broader familiarity, but it, like most wall painting, proves challenging to teach. Scholars generally date the structure to the seventh century; Marese Sennhauser-Girard refers to new research dating it to tenth or eleventh, but I do not know to what research she refers. The paintings, in turn, most likely date to the eighth century, but other possibilities certain exist.
The church and its museum (opened in 2006) have a website, which includes a select bibliography on the church. You may find some photos on Flickr (search Naturns and Naturno), but I have taken a complete set of the wall paintings, which I now make available here. Just click through for very large images.
The west wall shows cattle, a cowherd, and the owner in something of a procession.
The north wall, of which only the upper register survives, shows five seated figures and at the east end, an angel.
The facing south wall has one solitary remaining in its lowest register.
The upper register begins at the far left, adjacent to the east wall, a group of five veiled women.
Behind the five veiled women appears the most curious aspect of the entire program – the scene with the Swinging Saint, who has been variously identified as Paul and Proculus, and the structure above him as a city wall and a boat.
We then come to the east wall. In the upper zone of the triumphal arch hover two angels.
Below the angle to the right sits a figure holding a cornucopia.
At the center of the east wall, one may see within the interlace, from left to right: the dove of the Holy Spirit, the hand of God, and the Lamb of Christ.
