The Frescoes in the Crypt of Saint Adam
Abstract This essay explores bibliographic and historiographical studies on the frescoed vaults in the crypt of Saint Adam, located in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Guglionesi (Campobasso province, Molise, Italy). The frescoes have never been the subject of a detailed study; in fact, they have received only sporadic mention in some volumes of Molise art and history. The most ancient bibliographic information that can be recovered is reported in the nineteenth-century La Cronistoria di Guglionesi by Canon Angelo Maria Rocchia (Guglionesi, 1830–1907) and the three glorious translations by the medieval Benedictine monk Saint Adamo Abate (990–1070). The canon mentioned the historical events that led to the establishment of the crypt and the changes in its pictorial decoration. This essay begins with Canon Rocchia’s hypotheses and moves on to further investigate the crypt and the history of the frescoes, bringing to light similarities and differences in the interpretation of the pictorial decorations.