argenteria romana

The Cathedral of Altamura (Bari) was
built as a Palatine chapel between
1232 and 1254, following the wish of
the Emperor Federico II of Svevia, and
is the custodian of a large number of
liturgical silver objects, almost all of
them produced in Naples, as well as
being enriched by important objects of
XVII and XVIII centuries.
In this study we are analyzing, for the
first time, findings of the XIX century,
therefore, affined to the neoclassical
and revivalist style, which somehow
mark the crucial time of the civil and
religious history of that city.
Their commission is, in fact, tied to
three factors: that of integrating the silver
pieces stolen by the French in the
bloody sacking of March 1799,which
won her the heroic title of Lioness of the
Puglie; the institution of the Bishop’s
Palace on 16th August 1848; the
internal modernization of the internal
part of the Cathedral, realizing the
neogothic style between 1850 and
1860, done by the architect Travaglini.
The request for the restitution of these
silver articles came, not only from the
Chapter of the Cathedral and the
Bishops of the time, but also from the
élite of the aristocracy and the entrepreneurship
of Altamura.

Once again this authoritative magazine
accepts my contribution regards
the sacred silverware belonging to a
Catholic Church un Greece, especially
in the Rodi Cathedral. Nothing has
remained of the objects which belonged
to the old and prestigious Episcopal
Latin centre on this island of the
Aegean Sea, as also those of the knights
of Saint John in Jerusalem, who
were later forced to move to Malta.
The disappearance took place over
many centuries of occupation on the
part of the Ottoman Empire (1522-
1912). However, a considerable silver
“Peace” (1561) which had belonged
to the Minor Order of Monks in Rodi,
has been conveyed to the San Salvatore
convent in Jerusalem. The silver
objects now in their possession,
mainly pertaining to liturgy and
devotion cover the period between the
18th and 20th centuries. The history
of these pieces is not well known: some
seem to have reached the island of
Rodi through the Franciscans of the
Holy Land, who have always been the
custodians of the most important
Christological places in Palestine. It
was effectively in the basilica of the
Sacred Sepulchre in Jerusalem where
through the years different and considerable
gifts arrived especially from
Europe and the Middle East. One
must also keep in mind its ancient
history as well as its particular geographical
position. All this could
explain the presence in Rodi of silverware
of Armenian, Italian and
French manufacture, but also of some
objects produced in the near Turkey
and obviously from Greece, too.