Al Fresco

I became a little bit obsessive about frescoes last week.

In Bavaria, there seem to be two main varieties.

Variety the first: narrative or illustrative. Saints and other personages added to your house or business to make it more appealing to the passer-by, whether you’re a hotel,

or a souvenir-seller.

Variety the second: architectural. Don’t have enough money to add an architectural feature to your building? Paint it on instead! (In my imaginary house – which is going to be quite something, I promise – I think I’m going to adopt this idea.)

I was particularly taken with the architectural frescoes we saw in Benediktbeuern where there is a monastery dating back to the 8^th century – though the buildings (and frescoes) are from the 17^thcentury.