Pitture frammentarie dalla citta romana di Salapia, in Puglia settentrionale: note preliminari. In Atti AIPMA 2022

We present the initial results of our ongoing research into fragmentary and in situ wall paintings discovered at the Roman city of Salapia, a lagoon site on the Adriatic coast of Apulia (Cerignola, FG). The paintings identified in insula XIX were recovered from three adjacent rooms of a building, whose function is difficult to define, and record two separate and successive decorative phases. The latest and most legible phase displays architectural elements set against a white backdrop, featuring botanical and zoological motifs, and can be dated to the mid- half of the 2nd century AD. The Salapia frescoes represent, in the current state of research, one of the most significant discoveries of urban pictorial art in north-central Apulia, and enhance our understanding of Roman Apulia’s artistic production.