habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

THE ART IN RUPESTRIAN CULTURER. CapraraArcheogruppo “E. Jacovelli” Massafra, Taranto, Italia1. SculptureSculpture is very rare in rupestrian sites, as every cave ismore ore less a sculpture work. Therefore, there are sculptures(mostly graffiti and engravings) in rupestrian churches ofCappadocia, Armenia and Puglia: they are mostly representationsof symbolic animals, such as the peacock or the dove,and different kind of more or less elaborated crosses. Crossesare carved on the façade of churches or inside, in symbolicdomes, inscribed in three concentric circles, which symbolizethe Trinity. The monogram Phòs Stauròs in Greek fontsis carved in the ceiling of many churches, especially in Cappadocia:it means “the Cross is the Light” or “Christ is theLight”. Bassorilievi with sculptured icons are very rare: anexample is in the rupestrian church of Filigheddu 1, in Sassari(Sardinia), where three faces (the Trinity) were carved inthe arch before the apse during the Early Medieval period. Inthe parecclesion of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli in Castellaneta(Taranto) there are the rest of an altorilievo of a hoodedface. Byzantine capitals are in the same church, with acanthus.Sculptured capitals are very common in the churches of Puglia,even if in more simple forms.There are also more raw Early Medieval figures, as the saddledhorse on the pluteus of the presbitery in the church ofSan Michele (Castellaneta), which cane be interpreted as therepresentation of the verses Bonum certamen certavi, cursumconsummavi, fidem servavi, “I fought a good battle, I endedmy race, I kept the faith”.2. PaintingMedieval painting is much more frequent than sculpture. Rupestrianchurches offer a wide collection of paintings, realizedbetween the 9th and the 15th centuries, and with morefrequency between 12th and 14th centuries.Some icons on tables were imported from Constantinople orCrete: rupestrian churches still present the bare original locationsof these tables, and some of these icons have been transferredto new churches when rupestrian churches were abandoned.The frequent subject of these icons is Maria, the Odegitria,the Glicofilusa and the Galattotrofusa; a prototype ofthese icons is in the Episcopy of Andria, which has been replicatedmany times by local painters. There are also Christologicalicons, as the Pantocrator, and scenes from the Passion,or pictures of Saints on thrones, as Saint Joan the Merciful andSaint Joan the Evangelist and Saint Knight as Saint George.Wall Paintings represent the greatest expression of rupestrianpainting: there is no doubt about their provenience, as theywere realized where they are now. The only subject for frequentdebates among the researchers is influence and derivation,starting from personal style analysis. Researchers try todelineate the figure of artists, which are generally unknown.Only few painters are known, as Eustazio and Teofilatto, whorealized two figures of Christ in Carpignano Salentino, in 959and in 1020, and Giovanni, who defined himself as a “poorpainter” in a hypogeal church in Taranto. Painters generallynever signed or dated their works: the two above mentionedpaintings and a painting from 1321 in Déisis on the apse ofSanta Marina in Massafra (Taranto).Paintings in southern Italian rupestrian churches mostly representicons, single figure of Saints, and were committed fordevotion. The single devote asked for the representation of hisfavourite Saint, no matter if there was another painting of thesame Saint in the same church: in the church of Santa Marinain Massafra (Taranto) the Saint Patron of the church waspainted three times between the 12th and the 13th centuries,twice with an exegetic Greek inscription, and once with theLatin name, Margarita.Cycles of Ancient and New Testament (which were paintedin great monastic churches of Cappadocia) are not present,due to the kind of committeemen and the lack of a decorativeprogram. Isolated episodes were painted, as the Original Sin(in Matera and in Castellaneta), the rare Sacrifice of Isaac (inMassafra), the Last Supper (very rare, in Massafra), the Crucifixion(which was very common in the Late period) and theDeposition from the Cross (very rare, in Massafra). In Salen-Fig. 1 Valley near Göreme. Cappadocia, Turkey.57volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 57 16/11/2012 15:01:12