L'imago di S. Francesco nella chiesa di S. Antonio a Capo Rodone: una restituzione figurativa al patrimonio culturale albanese medievale

Abstract

The restoration (Edlira Çaushi, 2024) of fragmentary frescoes in the church of St. Anthony (Kepi i Rodonit) has brought to light a fresco fragment depicting the stigmata on the feet of Saint Francis of Assisi, located on a votive panel dating back to late 14th cent. In 1488 the church was entrusted to the Franciscans (still maintaining); the frescoes consist of two phases recognizable in scant remnants. Already correctly reported by f. Zef Pllumi ofm during the 2001 restoration, the fragment had deteriorated to the point of illegibility. Unique in Albania, the rarity of the theme in the proposed region and chronology is highlighted; the semiotics of a liminal topic in the Eastern Mediterranean figurative repertoire along the missionary trajectories of the Franciscans at the end of the Middle Ages is examined.