The painting of Puglia and Basilicata in the early Middle Ages enumerates a few but valid surviving testimonies. Among the most significant must certainly be mentioned those of the cave of the Original Sin in Matera, which owes its name to the fact that inside it appears an extended cycle relating to the stories narrated in the Book of Genesis; in fact, on the southern wall there are the Creation of Light and Darkness, the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the Temptation of Eve and the Original Sin. The clothing analysis clearly refers not only to the barbaric culture of which it is the daughter (that of Langobardia minor), but also to the Byzantine one, providing more accurate information on ‘Benevento’ painting and its models. Rome appears in backlight, iconographically and partially due to some style choices. Also in Monte Sant’Angelo, in the area relating to the Lombard age structures that favored access from the valley, some almost unknown pictorial fragments related to scenes of the Original Sin appear, allowing us to formulate some interesting hypotheses on the decorative practices in the Southern Italic territories around the middle of the ninth century. Among the surviving fragments, recently restored by the Superintendency, stand out above all some relating to a snake coiled around the trunk of a tree and those belonging to the very rare scene, here recognized for the first time, of the Animation of Adam. In a rupestrian context of great interest, in an anonymous church near the ravine of Riggio in Grottaglie, in the Taranto area, an Old Testament scene full of allegorical meanings appears, that of Elijah who hands the cloak to Eliseo. This last testimony belongs, however, to a mainly Byzantine artistic current, typical of southern Puglia in the early Middle Ages, guaranteeing us the possibility of comparing two different cultures, to identify points of contact and discrepancies.
Episodi dell’Antico Testamento nella pittura di Puglia e Lucania tra IX e X secolo. Riletture, nuove proposte e alcuni spunti di riflessione
Marcello Mignozzi
2022-01-01
Abstract
The painting of Puglia and Basilicata in the early Middle Ages enumerates a few but valid surviving testimonies. Among the most significant must certainly be mentioned those of the cave of the Original Sin in Matera, which owes its name to the fact that inside it appears an extended cycle relating to the stories narrated in the Book of Genesis; in fact, on the southern wall there are the Creation of Light and Darkness, the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the Temptation of Eve and the Original Sin. The clothing analysis clearly refers not only to the barbaric culture of which it is the daughter (that of Langobardia minor), but also to the Byzantine one, providing more accurate information on ‘Benevento’ painting and its models. Rome appears in backlight, iconographically and partially due to some style choices. Also in Monte Sant’Angelo, in the area relating to the Lombard age structures that favored access from the valley, some almost unknown pictorial fragments related to scenes of the Original Sin appear, allowing us to formulate some interesting hypotheses on the decorative practices in the Southern Italic territories around the middle of the ninth century. Among the surviving fragments, recently restored by the Superintendency, stand out above all some relating to a snake coiled around the trunk of a tree and those belonging to the very rare scene, here recognized for the first time, of the Animation of Adam. In a rupestrian context of great interest, in an anonymous church near the ravine of Riggio in Grottaglie, in the Taranto area, an Old Testament scene full of allegorical meanings appears, that of Elijah who hands the cloak to Eliseo. This last testimony belongs, however, to a mainly Byzantine artistic current, typical of southern Puglia in the early Middle Ages, guaranteeing us the possibility of comparing two different cultures, to identify points of contact and discrepancies.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
