PUGLIA

II. History

For more than two centuries, from the 3rd to the 4th century, Christianity spread through the Apulian region: first the bishoprics of Egnatia, Canosa, Siponto, Venosa, Acerenza, Gnazia, Trani, Erdonia, Carmignano, and perhaps Bari were established; later, those of Brindisi, Oria, Lecce, Gallipoli, and Taranto. After the fall of the Western Empire, the possession of Apulia was long contested among the Byzantine emperors, the Lombards, and the Saracens; but the Byzantines always maintained a notable superiority over the other claimants and in the 10th century were able to re-establish their dominion over most of the region.

The union of several dioceses, though not all those traditionally included in what is known as Apulia. The current division, in fact, comprises the territories of four provinces (Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto), bordering to the north, through the limits of the diocese of Cerignola, on the Beneventan conciliar region and to the east on the Lucanian and Calabrian regions.

The conciliar region comprises: five metropolitan sees with their respective suffragans: Bari with Conversano, Ruvo, and Bitonto; Brindisi with Ostuni; Otranto with Gallipoli, Lecce, and Ugento; Taranto with Castellaneta and Oria; Trani and Barletta with Andria and Bisceglie; and nine immediately subject sees: Gravina and Irsina; Molfetta-Giovinazzo and Terlizzi; Monopoli; Nardò; and the *prelatures nullius* of Altamura and Acquaviva delle Fonti. The metropolitan church of Manfredonia, with the suffragan see of Vieste and the episcopal sees of Foggia and Troia, which were initially aggregated to the Apulian conciliar region, were later reunited and assigned, with their territory, to the Beneventan region.

The Apulian regional seminary, established in Lecce and later transferred to Molfetta, remained there with its various theological and high school courses for the formation of the secular clergy; the seat of the unified first-instance tribunals, consolidated into a regional tribunal for matrimonial nullity cases according to the *motu proprio* *Qua cura* of 31 December 1938, is in Bari, with ordinary appeal to Benevento, seat of the tribunal of the Beneventan conciliar region. In Apulia, the metropolitans are all residential archbishops and enjoy the special rights listed in canons 274 and following of the *Codex Iuris Canonici*, as well as the distinctive vestment of the pallium.

IV. Art

Evidence of prehistoric and protohistoric civilization attests to an intense life in the region prior to its direct contacts with Hellas. Various architectural structures, certainly very ancient, such as the so-called *Centopietre* of Patù—a small town near the site of the Messapic city of Veretum, destroyed by the Saracens in the 9th century—are a small rectangular building made of enormous squared blocks joined without mortar and covered by 26 large stones arranged in a double pitch; or the remains of gigantic walls in other Messapic cities, such as Muro Leccese, Egnatia, and Manduria, relate to proto-Italic constructions, although for some scholars, in some cases, these walls may be dated to the 4th or even 3rd century BC. Far rarer and less significant are the architectural structures of pure Hellenic taste in Apulia—exterior of the octagonal dome of St. Catherine (1384–91), Galatina.

Apulia – Exterior of the octagonal dome of St. Catherine (1384–91), Galatina.

—of a taste, moreover, abundantly testified in the region by the rich harvest of Greek vases of the best period found in the necropoleis, especially near Taranto. From these derives that magnificent flowering of vase art that also occurred in the region during the Roman period, partly connected to Hellenic models, such as the terracottas of Taranto of the Tanagra type, and partly a manifestation of a most lively indigenous expressiveness.

Bridges, roads, aqueducts, the column of Brindisi marking the end of the Appian Way, the edicule of Fasano, the amphitheater of Lecce, and the triumphal arch of Canosa recall the growing interest Apulia enjoyed in Roman times during the Empire, of whose late age a singular testimony at Barletta is the colossal bronze statue, considered by some historians to be an image of Valentinian, by others of Heraclius or Marcian. By contrast, there are few testimonies of artistic value from the early Middle Ages, and, after the already Orientalizing museums of the dome of the oratory of Casaranello, which belong to the 5th century, such testimonies must be sought in the paintings covering the walls of the caves that in Terra d’Otranto were cenobitic dwellings of Basilian monks. These cenobites, carved into the rock and called *laure*, were indeed decorated with paintings mostly dating before the 11th century and reflecting various gradations of Byzantine taste, even if translated with popular inflections.

The destructions caused by the Lombards in the 6th century, by the Saracens and Byzantines in the 9th, have partly contributed to the extreme poverty of Apulian monuments from before the 11th century; but such poverty was certainly also determined by the intense cultural, artistic, political, and civic life that flourished in the region between the 10th and 13th centuries, and by the spirit of renewal that presided over its fortunate development. At that time, in place of the old constructions, new ones began to rise everywhere, reflecting in their manifold aspects the diverse predilections, interests, tastes, and the constant aspiration toward force and originality of expression, often through reflections of models from Asia Minor. They appear also in San Leonardo and in Santa Maria in Siponto, in the cathedrals of Monte Sant’Angelo and of Foggia.

But alongside these forms, others of distinctly Byzantine imprint also flourished in Apulia. They appear in domed constructions such as the cathedrals of Venosa, San Andrea and San Francesco in Trani, San Pietro in Otranto, Santa Margherita in Bisceglie, the cathedral of Molfetta, and San Benedetto in Brindisi. Of particular interest is the so-called tomb of Rotari in the Gargano, surmounted by a very high dome and with reminiscences of forms derived from northern and eastern—above all Arab—influences both in structure and decoration. During the Romanesque age, Apulia was a most vital center of cultural activity, of great importance for the influences it was later (in the 13th century) to exert on all Italy. Byzantine, Muslim, and even northern elements flowed into the region in the 11th and 12th centuries and were first elaborated with new vigor and a popular character. This is evidenced by the work of Acceptus, who in the 11th century carved the pulpit of the cathedral of Canosa, and by that of his contemporary Romuald, who in the same cathedral carved the episcopal throne supported by two elephants. In 1088, the throne of San Nicola in Bari was also executed, where northern elements (the exaggerated facial features) and the throne of Canosa (the flock of sheep) create a whole full of strength and character.

Muslim motifs are still found in capitals and portals in the Cathedrals of Bari and San Nicola, in the cathedrals of Trani and Lecce, in the portal of Ruvo, and in the pulpit of the cathedral of Bitonto, a work of 1229 by a master Nicola. Yet already during the 12th century, human images with forms ever closer to classical models became increasingly frequent in Apulian decoration. While Apulian artists such as Barisano da Trani became skilled in casting large bronze doors in ways used in Byzantium, classical forms also appeared in the portal of the cathedral of Troia, which in other respects recalls Muslim elements, as well as in that of San Nicola in Bari and in its wonderful rose window. Serene classical forms also appear in the corbels of Castel del Monte, in others from the cathedral of Ruvo, in the portal of Anserano da Trani, in the portal of the church of the Rosary in Terlizzi, and finally triumph in solemn grandeur in the pulpit of the cathedral of Ravello and in the image of Sigillagoda Rufolo carved by Nicola di Bartolomeo da Foggia (1272). These are works noted in the milieu from which emerged the sculptor who set Italian sculpture on new paths: Nicola da P., Nicola Pisano (v.).

Between the 12th and 13th centuries, numerous civil and military buildings such as palaces, castles, and fortifications were also constructed and decorated in Apulia; among these are cited the castles of Bari, Gioia del Colle, and Lucera, and, splendid above all, Castel del Monte built by Frederick II near Andria, in whose sculptural decorations elements of that Gothic taste also appear which in Apulia was to penetrate later, almost always through the activity of Campanian decorators and builders.

Romanesque painting has left in Apulia insufficient elements to outline a historical profile; whatever of that period survives, like the earlier painting of the Grottoes of the Basilian monks, is a dialectal or popular version of Byzantine themes. Nevertheless, the activity of Muslim craftsmen who executed the great pavement of the cathedral of Otranto and the fragmentary one of the cathedral of Trani is of interest. In both, the cultural elements encountered are the same as those of contemporary sculpture.

During the 14th century, there is little that is new in painting as well, except for Tuscan-influenced elements derived from Naples, which recur here and there in minor works and reach their highest expression at the beginning of the 15th century in the paintings that adorn the interior of the church of Santa Caterina in Galatina. At that time, paintings from northern Italy, particularly from Adriatic centers, also began to arrive in Apulia. Thus for the Madonna known as della Disfida, which is in the cathedral of Barletta, a work by the Modenese Paolo Serafini.

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PUGLIA – Façade of the Cathedral (1316 and 17th-century superstructures) – Altamura.

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Almost during the Romanesque period, Apulia appears among the most interesting centers of architectural activity in all of Europe. It is the place where elements, tastes, and inventions of northern imprint meet with others from the Hellenistic East, and rather than merely combining with them, they fuse, amalgamate, and resolve themselves with different sensibilities.

And it is in the maritime Apulia, where architectural forms contemporaneously found in Lombardy, Trani, Bitonto, Ruvo, and Bari seem to prevail, that the architectural members take on a new dynamism. While the façades display pointed profiles flanked by those great square towers that also flank the apses, everywhere there is a sense of projection that seems to preclude the Gothic. Yet such a constant feature in maritime Apulia diminishes along the shores of the Gulf of Manfredonia and in the Capitanata, where instead the clear spatial cadences of classicism of contemporary and ancient Hellenistic architecture of the Asia Minor coasts prevail, which at the same time—due to similar relations with the East—influenced the formation of the architecture of Pisa.

These classicizing and Oriental characteristics of the art of the Capitanata, like those of northern origin in maritime Apulia, are not however confined to these two territories. At times they blend with one another, reduced to a highly expressive and colorful architectural language, fused by the activity of master stonecutters. Even so, curious and aspiring toward the new, these highly skilled carvers blended Oriental and northern modes with classical reminiscences.

A masterpiece of Romanesque architecture in maritime Apulia is San Nicola in Bari (11th–12th century), originally crowned by a dome similar to the one seen at the crossing of the transept of the cathedral of the same city. The type of church created in San Nicola was repeated with varying degrees of originality in other Apulian buildings: in Bitonto, Trani, and Ruvo in their respective cathedrals. A exemplary monument of Romanesque architecture in the Capitanata is instead the cathedral of Troia, begun in the 11th century like the tomb of Bohemond in Canosa, with clear

But during the 15th and then the 16th centuries, whatever good painting was produced in Apulia came entirely from Venice, and the little that local craftsmen produced was of Venetian imprint. The Gentile Bellini of the cathedral of Monopoli, the Giovanni Bellini of the town hall of the same city, the Bartolomeo Vivarini of the cathedral of Modugno, the museum and San Nicola in Bari, Palma the Elder in the cathedral of Monopoli, as well as the Titianesque Saint Francis of Paola in Montrone, the Madonna by Paolo Veronese and the Saint Roch by Tintoretto in the cathedral of Bari, where there is also a Paris Bordone, while another painting attributed to that artist is in Santa Maria Nuova in Terlizzi, where there is also a Nativity by Giovan Girolamo Savoldo, bear witness to the lively and intelligent interest that Apulians then had in fine Venetian painting.

But during the Baroque age, while in architecture—especially in Lecce, in extremely lavish motifs revealing affinities with contemporary works in Sicily and Spain—Apulia still asserts its own independence and creative strength, and in sculpture the activity of local masters is exhausted precisely in the sculptural decorations of architecture, for painting the Apulians recognized the most vital center of their interests in Naples. Thus while a Ferroglio, a Luca Giordano, and a Bonito worked in Apulia, in Naples fortune was made in the artistic field by Carlo Rosa of Bitonto, the Francanziano of Barletta, and above all Corrado Giaquinto of Molfetta. And even during the 19th century, ties with the major artistic center of southern Italy remained strong, not only because of the few and mediocre buildings erected in Apulia by Neapolitan architects such as Alvino, but because the best Apulians went to Naples to practice and thus participated in Neapolitan artistic life. Thus Antonio Bortone, a Lecce sculptor (1844–1932), and the painters Saverio Altamura of Foggia (1826–97), Gioacchino Toma of Galatina (1838–91), and Giuseppe de Nittis of Barletta (1846–84).

V. FOLKLORE

Customary rules govern the relationships between the boat owner and the crew, as well as the distribution of the catch, compensation, and food. Traditional methods also include fishing with paranze (pairs of boats) and the forms of selling fish through an expert auctioneer called a *viatocare*. A lively religious sentiment permeates all aspects of the maritime folk life of the Apulians. Thus, the formula for calling the sailors to their nighttime work shifts is "S. Nicola"; images of the Saint and the Virgin, or the Holy Family, are sometimes painted on the sides of boats. Numerous are also the sea processions: among the most characteristic are those of the Madonna dei Martiri in Molfetta (September 8), of S. Nicola in Bari (May 8), and of S. Teodoro in Brindisi (date unspecified); the sacred image, placed on an altar entrusted to a festively adorned paranza, is carried out to sea for a couple of miles with a following of hundreds of small boats and returns triumphantly to the harbor.

Characteristic expressions of popular devotion include pilgrimages to the sanctuary of S. Michele Arcangelo on the Gargano, to the basilica of S. Nicola in Bari, to the Incoronata near Foggia, and to the Madonna di Finisterre venerated at S. Maria di Leuca, the southernmost tip of Italy, among others. During the feasts of Holy Week and Christmas, survivals of sacred drama are frequent, whether in the more elementary forms of dramatic processions with wooden statues, called *misteri*, sometimes in large numbers and accompanied by costumed figures, or in the more complex aspects of true sacred representations, such as those in the Taranto countryside for Christmas (*La sonata dei pastori*) or for Epiphany (*Il viaggio dei Re magi*).

Agricultural life in Apulia also offers interesting folkloric aspects: among rural constructions, the *trulli*, or *cascine*, deserve mention; in Alberobello and other small centers of the province, they form entire characteristic urban agglomerations with their white-capped cupolas. The olive harvest is regulated by ancient labor customs, as is the harvesting in the Tavoliere plain; it concludes with a *cape canale*, a lavish dinner offered to the landowner. For the grape harvest, ancient lyrical chants resound. The tarantella, a courtship dance performed by one or more couples to the sound of bagpipes, is originally from Apulia; it derives its name from the city of Taranto, not from the tarantula spider, which often bites with grave danger to life. There is indeed also the dance of the tarantolati, which sometimes lasts twenty or thirty hours, but it has a curative purpose and is distinctly different from the graceful tarantella.

Folk art in Apulia often reaches notable expressive value: woven saddlebags from home looms, embroidery and lace with characteristic motifs such as the *girandola*, rustic ceramics from Grottaglie, Ruvo, and other centers, and elaborately carved chests and cassoni are all remembered. Abundant too is the harvest of songs and legends, which often display deep elaboration of setting, even if they reflect patterns, themes, or models common to other regions.

V. tavv. VI-VIII.