Un unicum fra Oriente e Occidente: l’immagine della Trasfigurazione in San Gabriele ad Airola, Benevento

Abstract

Under the walls of the eighteenth-century Monte Oliveto convent in Airola, near Benevento, lies the monastic church of St Gabriel; its foundation has been dated at 960-970. Among the paintings recently discovered in the church, of particular interest is a Transfiguration in the right apse. Beyond the liturgical implications associated with its placement, the Airola version has distinctive figurative detail with strong symbolic significance. Between the apostles who attend the Vision is evidence of three tents, which refer to Peter’s proposal that, in the Gospels, remains unheeded (Matthew 17, 1-8; Mark 9, 2-8; Luke 9, 28-36). This article examines the exceptional nature of this subject, which is highly significant in terms of both theology and doctrine. More generally, it also offers a formal and iconographic analysis of the paintings of St Gabriel, taking into account both the Byzantine origin of the Transfiguration and other subjects depicted (e.g., St Theodore Slaying the Dragon and St Nicholas and the Three Officers), and the stylistic language reflecting the local pictorial tradition of the tenth and eleventh centuries.