Virgin and Child throned, Saint Roch, Saint Sebastian and angels

The fresco can be referred to the entourage of the Baschenis, a family of itinerant painters originally from Averaria, in the province of Bergamo, who worked extensively in Val di Non and in Val Rendena between the 15th and 16th centuries. The fresco, originally located on the façade of a house in Mori (near Rovereto) subsequently demolished in the early 20th century, was saved by the Museum’s first director, don Vincenzo Casagrande, who had it detached using the ‘strappo’ method in the early 20th century.
As indicated in the inscription in the lower margin, the painting was commissioned by the sons of “Maestro Ognibene calzolaio” (the master shoemaker Ognibene), the trade being hinted at by the presence of the scissors. The angel handing Jesus a scroll with the first letters of the alphabet is a clear reference to the apocryphal Gospels that attributed to the angels the role of Jesus’ first alphabetizers.