Interazioni del sacro : forme e modelli di culto nella pittura bizantina di Puglia

To trace unusual connections in the Byzantine wall paintings of monuments around Salento in both their local and broader, Mediterranean-basin dimensions, this study considers paintings in constructed as well as rock-cut churches, mainly in the areas of Lecce and Taranto. Three aspects of painted decoration are investigated: (1) visual strategies of sacred images in their functions both within architectural structures and in relation to entire iconographical program(s); (2) visual responses to sainthood as specifically Byzantine, as well as cultural, and identity trademarks of the region, and; (3) the contribution of ornamental decoration as a multi-referenced element in the Mediterranean region. Comparisons with other southern Italian and Byzantine examples – mainly Macedonian – are proposed in order to argue inner and outer relations, particularly referring to iconographic and stylistic analyses.