Ecstasy of Saint Vigilius

It is a life size depiction of the patron saint of the diocese in a setting defined to the right by a column and perspectively paced by the receding joints of the floor made of two-coloured stone.
The prelate is portrayed in an ecstatic position and wears a magnificent cope. Several cherubim are holding his attributes (the clog and the palm of martyrdom), the episcopal insignia (the mitre and the crosier), and a painting depicting his martyrdom. The clever pictorial expedient of having ‘a painting in the painting’ allows to associate in a single image the bishop’s ecstasy to the prefiguration of his sacrifice.The work is one of Giuseppe Alberti’s best. He is one of the most representative paintings of Trentino baroque art and the founder of the Val di Fiemme school of painting. The painting was commissioned by the prince bishop of Trento, Sigismondo Alfonso Thun, for the Castello del Buonconsiglio castle. It was moved to the cathedral in the 19th century.