Note su S. Francesco della Scarpa a Bitonto: un esempio trascurato dell’architettura mendicante in Terra di Bari

The Franciscan church of Bitonto is still little known today, despite being the first Gothic building in the city and one of the few Mendicant constructions of the Angevin period left in Apulia. The settlement of the Minors in the city started in 1283 thanks to Charles I of Anjou, with the involvement of Franciscan bishop Leucio Corasio. Sergio Bove, representative of the urban patriciate and native of Ravello, was in charge of the operations. The role of his family in supporting the Franciscan construction during the first half of the 14th century appears as an attempt to emulate the patronage common to other members of the merchant and bureaucratic classes of the Kingdom. Engaged also in the Augustinian construction in Andria, the Bove family occupied a key position in the logistical connection between institutions, a commitment that probably also included the management of local workers. In the Bitonto Franciscan church, indeed, the use of the typical constructive model of the Order left room for an original and eclectic decorative language, typical of the local artistic culture, partly influenced by the Abruzzese sculpture and on the other hand close to the French style widespread in the Angevin buildings of the Kingdom.