The Apse Frescos at St. Mary's Church, Cračišće, Croatia

Circa 1425

The fresco at the top presents the entombment of Jesus: The shroud that falls out over the trompe-l'oeil "ledge" is a key feature of Entombment images. The two women who kneel as they prepare the body model the response of the faithful who will kneel before this image. One can also just make out what appears to be a hand on Jesus' chest; perhaps when the fresco was new one could see Mary leaning in to kiss her son.

In the middle fresco is the Adoration of the Magi: The fresco has suffered from the passage of time, but it can be seen to resemble 14th century images of the Magi. Pictured as kings with crowns on richly caparisoned horses, they approach the Christ Child in a sort of procession. At right, one of them kneels before the child, who sits on his mother's lap. She is seated, but not on a throne. The stable and animals can be seen behind her, and the man on the far right is probably St. Joseph holding one of the gifts, as he does in many other medieval images of this event.

The bottom left portrays St. Christopher and two bishop saints: All three saints have halos. Christopher can be identified by the Christ Child on his shoulders. The saint in the middle holds what seems to be a crozier in his right hand, although it might be just a processional cross. On his head he wears what is most likely a mitre. The case of the saint on the right is more obscure. Is he holding a crozier or a long staff? Is that a mitre on his head or some other kind of headpiece?

The fresco on the bottom right is too faint to make out.

Read more about images of the Entombment.
Read more about images of the Adoration of the Magi.
Read more about images of St. Christopher.

Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.