Itinerant painters in the Fassa Valley

At the beginning of the 19th Century, life for people in the Fassa Valley took a turn for the worse due to wars, high taxes, illness and poor harvests. Superstition and magic were expressed in symbolism and defensive magic by the Fassa decorative painters.
Bright colours and a wide range of ornamental patterns covered house facades, traditional wooden dining rooms (Stuben), furniture and other household objects.

Large numbers of men were able to better their lifestyles thanks to extra work done outside the valley: their brightly coloured decorative work found favour above all in the rural areas of Central Europe.

The Fassa painters worked their way along the Dolomite passes and went north across the Alps on foot, finding work in Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Southern Bavaria and around Salzburg, as well as Carinthia and Styria. Their traces can also be found in Switzerland and Hungary. Postcards, often hand-painted, bear witness to their destinations, contacts and experiences.