ALFANO of TERMOLI. — A Puglian sculptor of the first half of the 12th century. Three capitals, once part of the destroyed ciborium above the high altar of the cathedral of Bari and now preserved in the provincial museum of that city, bear in three distichs his name, “Alfanus civis termolitanus,” accompanied by strongly laudatory expressions, and that of a family of wealthy Bari merchants, the Effrem, who commissioned the work. Since the altar was consecrated in 1233, the ciborium must certainly date from shortly before that year. In the figured and decorative motifs of the capitals (one shows angels with the images of the donors, the second has intertwined vipers, and the third is foliated) one notes the blending of classical Apulian traditions with motifs from transalpine sculpture.
Enciclopedia Cattolica