Ornate churches in Cencelle: the use of sculpture in the early medieval period

Abstract

In memory of Maria Cataldi are presented some early medieval sculptures from the initial phase of the city. These are used for the decoration of urban churches and then reused in various ways, in the Romanesque phases of the town. Just this reuse has allowed the transmission, in Italy, of this first, large nucleus of urban early medieval sculptures entirely from an archaeological excavation. This set of sculptures is ascribed to the pontificates of the popes Leo IV (847-855) and Benedict III (855-858), and therefore represents the terminal phase of early medieval sculptural production.