The essay focuses on the examination of the frescoes in the rock church of San Michele Arcangelo in Copertino, in the southern part of Apulia, known as Salento. After a careful analysis of the information contained in the dedicatory inscription, the topic moves on to the description of the iconographic themes on the walls of the cave. With iconic panels that adapt to a more usual repertoire (Annunciation, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Onofrio, St. John the Evangelist) there are more unusual themes (the episode of Jonah and the fish, the Crucifixion between angels in the main apse niche); the rarest theme, however, a real unicum for the Apulian painting of the Middle Ages, is realized on the vault of the cave: it is the Embrace between two lovers in a landscape teeming with stars and flowers, the only scene of courtly love that has been conserved for medieval Apulia. A careful iconographic reading allows, finally, to understand the real iconological value of the scene, which iconographically draws on images spread thanks to the chivalric codes circulating throughout Europe and even in the Angevin Kingdom of Naples since the end of the thirteenth century, while iconologically alludes to the reunion of the two spouses after death, in an ideal night garden.

Riflessi della miniatura ‘cavalleresca’ nella pittura murale del Trecento pugliese. Il caso degli amanti di Copertino e il piano iconografico della grotta di San Michele

Marcello Mignozzi
2019-01-01

Abstract

The essay focuses on the examination of the frescoes in the rock church of San Michele Arcangelo in Copertino, in the southern part of Apulia, known as Salento. After a careful analysis of the information contained in the dedicatory inscription, the topic moves on to the description of the iconographic themes on the walls of the cave. With iconic panels that adapt to a more usual repertoire (Annunciation, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Onofrio, St. John the Evangelist) there are more unusual themes (the episode of Jonah and the fish, the Crucifixion between angels in the main apse niche); the rarest theme, however, a real unicum for the Apulian painting of the Middle Ages, is realized on the vault of the cave: it is the Embrace between two lovers in a landscape teeming with stars and flowers, the only scene of courtly love that has been conserved for medieval Apulia. A careful iconographic reading allows, finally, to understand the real iconological value of the scene, which iconographically draws on images spread thanks to the chivalric codes circulating throughout Europe and even in the Angevin Kingdom of Naples since the end of the thirteenth century, while iconologically alludes to the reunion of the two spouses after death, in an ideal night garden.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/232022
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