The fresco on the side of the altar

From Saint Jerome to Doubting Thomas

When the chapel is renovated in 1953 some fascinating frescos are discovered on the wall to the left of the high altar which are assumed to have once covered the entire surface. The names of four saints - Jerome, Augustine, James and Thomas – can be deciphered on the surviving part.

An interesting combination, since the protagonists could not be more different. Jerome and Augustine, along with Ambrose of Milan and Pope Gregory I, represent the four church teachers of Late Antiquity. Jerome composes the Vulgata, which for a long time is the authoritative Latin Bible translation. Augustine is seen as one of the most important and influential philosophers and theologians of Late Christian Antiquity.

Saint James on the other hand, patron saint of the church at Ort Castle, is one of Jesus’ first four disciples along with his brother John and the Apostles Andrew and Peter. According to legend he lies buried beneath the cathedral on the famous pilgrimage site Santiago de Compostela in Spain. James, who makes his mark as a radical warrior in the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, is shown here as a symbol of the Catholic Church’s fight against another opponent: the Protestants.

Thomas is also one of the twelve Apostles. And is the only one to doubt the resurrection of Christ and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Thomas only changes his mind when Jesus reveals his wounds to him. The term “doubting Thomas” refers to this hesitation to believe in something without having seen it first-hand.