New Publication: L’abbazia di San Leone a Bitonto. Un monumento nel tempo. by Marcello Mignozzi

This volume traces the history of the Abbey of San Leone in Bitonto, from its medieval origins to the current days. The fortunes of the monastery, first Benedictine, then Olivetan and finally Franciscan, are linked to those of its famous fair, even mentioned in Boccaccio’s Decameron. In-depth documentary analyses allow critical gaps to be filled, and then intertwine with the reading of artworks. The different building phases, the sculptural repertoire, restorative interventions and pictorial evidence are examined with extreme care. The most substantial part of the work is dedicated to the fourteenth-century frescoes in the choir, analyzed wall by wall and investigated under the stylistic-formal and iconographic-iconological aspects. Great attention is then given to bitontine monumental attestations from the Angevin period and to the numerous pictorial testimonies preserved, the examination of which allows us to draw valuable information on Apulian art between the 13th and 15th centuries. A fundamental scholarly text for the study of Art History in Apulia between the Middle Ages and the contemporary age.