The finely decorated wooden ceiling that deserves to be admired

Thanks to the desire to transform and embellish the sacred environment implemented in the eighteenth century, even the ceiling could not escape these changes, in fact the old trusses, certainly dating back to the primitive structure, were masked by a wooden false ceiling with a simple plank, tied to the chains of the trusses themselves, thus eluding the theme of the masonry vault which twice, in 1699 and in 1725, had been, without confirmation, re-proposed by the then University.
Thus we return to the ancient wooden roofing system, probably not due to a lack of substantial funds but for static reasons and, consequently, due to the great technical difficulties involved in carrying out the project.

The new ceiling, divided into two parts, the nave and the presbytery, was decorated at the time with a wealth of pictorial details distributed according to the scenographic taste in vogue at the time. In that of the nave, four large allegorical figures stand out at the corners, namely Faith, Hope, Charity and, perhaps, Justice and, on the sides of the canvas placed in the center, the representations, within false frames, of the patron saints S. Stefano and S. Cesario , Santa Barbara and S. Irene, as well as, along the lateral bands, imaginative and elegant architectural motifs in the Rococo style (curved balustrades on high bases with shaped and curled frames with scrolls on which rest symmetrical figures of winged angels), drawn with a beautiful game of perspective fiction. These decorative works, begun in 1715 by the hand of the master Francesco Cristofano, a decorator of probable origin from Bari, were completed and extended up to the ceiling of the Presbytery in 1743 by an excellent master from Bari, whose name is unknown, thanks to the interest and generosity of the fellow citizen Giandomenico Spilotros, who lived in that coastal town, who, in exchange for his generosity, had the consent to have the family crest painted there, still visible today.

 

The entire decoration is completed by two devotional canvases, placed in the center of the two parts of the ceiling.

 

The first, that of the nave, represents "the Virgin of Sorrows" suspended on a mound of clouds, her chest pierced by a stylus, while she looks at the Cross carried in triumph by lively winged angels, some of which also support other symbols of Christ's martyrdom . Below, on the sides, with the gaze turned to the Madonna, the figures of St. Peter and St. John the Baptist are depicted, holding up a slender cross with an enveloping scroll and with a lamb at their feet. Among these figures stands out a little angel who, pointing with his left to Saint Peter, raises with his right the emblematic two-colored keys received from Christ.

 

The canvas on the ceiling of the Presbytery depicts the «Virgin crowned by SS. Trinity ". In the center, as the fulcrum of the entire composition, is the Immaculate Virgin with her hands folded and her head reclined in a humble attitude, redeemed by twelve shining stars, as we read in the Apocalypse. Above, with the usual iconographic attributes , the people of the Holy Trinities form a protective triangle. While the emblematic dove in the center radiates light in every direction, the Father and the Son stretch out their arms to hold a royal crown suspended in the direction of the Virgin's head Below, in perfect symmetry of the two winged cherubs in the upper part, divided into two groups, are the archangels Michael and Raphael, looking on the left, and Gabriel plus another unidentified one, on the right, are recognizable by their iconographic attributes: St. Michael is dressed as an ancient soldier with cuirass and helmet, San Raffaele holds a traveling staff, while San Gabriel holds the lily of the announcement to Mary on his chest. ima in that they denote the crude way of depicting in an unnecessarily redundant way the folds of robes and cloaks in their sashes, the summary way of creating the bodies, and the inexpressiveness of the Archangels, some of which is difficult and embarrassing.

 

This is to be attributed to the unknown master of Mola, as shown in the handwritten memoirs of the lawyer. Casulli, and dates back to 1743, while the first, more drawn and with a looser brushstroke, could be by the aforementioned master Cristofano and probably dates back to around 1728, the year in which the Virgin of Sorrows was declared the Principal Patroness of Putignano.