L'età di Arechi II: forme di produzione artigianale nel ducato di Benevento dopo il 774

The paper focuses on sculptural production in Southern Italy with particular respect to geometrically carved capitals found in Capua, San Vincenzo al Volturno, Sicopoli, Salerno Sant’Agata de’ Goti and Benevento. The analysis takes into consideration the cultural and technical elements in order to clarify their production time and area: the results show that the most ancient geometrically carved capitals were sculpted in Capua in the Ninth century and later in the closest Lombard areas, up to Eleventh and Twelfth centuries. Even if these capitals belong to buildings with uncertain architectural phases, this peculiar pattern in Southern Italy was probably shaped within the open cultural and artistic environment supported already by Arechis II in the Duchy of Benevento. In fact, under his reign and above all after the 774 Lombard diaspora from North Italy, the Southern territories hosted foreign craftsmen who worked next to the local ones and contributed in renewing the ornamental patterns. This peculiar geometrically carving spread and strengthened in the following centuries and its success is demonstrated also by the latest capitals of Santa Maria d’Aurona, in Milano, dated to Twelfth century, showing as this pattern gradually moved from Southern to North Italy.