Matera Cathedral

The construction of the cathedral of Matera is generally placed between 1203 and 1270 (as the inscription on the small door leading to the bell tower seems to testify: “Mille ducentenus erat annus septuagenus dum fuit completa domus spectamine leta”).

Initially it was perhaps dedicated to St Eustace, because it was partially built on the area that, from the end of the 11th century, housed the Benedictine monastery of St Eustace and the adjoining church (consecrated by the Bishop of Acerenza Arnaldo in 1082; according to Lupo Protospatario, who mentions it in his Annales, Pope Urban II himself visited the church during a visit to Matera in 1092). However, the original dedication was to Santa Maria de Episcopio; later (between the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century) it was dedicated to Santa Maria della Bruna and then, probably in the 17th century, also to Sant’Eustachio.

The construction of the Cathedral was motivated by the elevation of the Episcope of Matera to an Archiepiscopal See in union with the Archdiocese of Acerenza, in the year 1203, and should be included in a broader process of urban redevelopment that affected the Civita from the 11th century onwards, with the building of the castrum and the monastery of Sant’Eustachio .

Exterior of the Cathedral

Matera Cathedral, built in the Apulian-Romanesque style, is characterised by the ‘salient façade’ typical of Romanesque churches, in which the profile of the building follows the different heights of the naves.

The façade is therefore marked by pilasters overlaid with vertical elements consisting of small columns supported by telamons and fantastic animals. Two-thirds of the way up the façade is dominated by the splendid rose window marked in the central space by 16 small columns and ‘wrapped’ by two decorated cornices. Surrounding the rose window are four figures; the one at the top is the only one of undoubted identification: it is the Archangel Michael slaying the dragon. For the two figures on the sides, who seem to be holding up the rose window, there is a differentiation in clothing: the figure on the left is more modestly dressed than the one on the right. However, it is the figure at the bottom, in the attitude of an atlas, who wears the richest clothes, almost as if he were a nobleman. It is possible that these figures represented the different social classes of the time (an artisan, a rich man and a nobleman); but they could also symbolise, thus placed around the rose window, the Wheel of Fortune, and thus the instability of fate and the unpredictable succession of human cases.

Above the rose window, at the top of the façade, a blind archway is punctuated by 12 small columns supported by an equal number of telamons, possibly representing the Twelve Apostles (just as the four small columns, two on each side, on which the last side element of the archway rests, could represent the Four Evangelists).
Above the architrave of the main entrance is a Madonna and Child, while on either side are sculptures of Saints Peter and Paul. Further down, at the two corners of the façade, below the two single-lancet windows opening into the side aisles, are the images of St Eustace (right) and his wife St Theopista (left). The two sculptures, as well as those of St. Peter and St. Paul, are attributed to Aurelio Persio, a sculptor active in the first half of the 16th century, or in any case to his circle.
The southern side features two monumental gates. The first, called ‘Porta di piazza’, is decorated all around with plant motifs typical of the Apulian Romanesque style.

On the sides, placed on two corbels, are depictions of two monks: the one on the right is intent on reading, the one on the left, headless, is depicted in the act of prayer. A reference to the Benedictine rule of ‘Ora et labora’ is probable. In the lunette above is a bas-relief depicting Abraham, the father of the three great monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all of which were present in the city at the time the bas-relief was made.
The second monumental gateway opens below the prothyrum and is called the ‘Lion Gate’, because of the lions on which the two small columns supporting the prothyrum rest, and which seem to have been placed there to guard the faith. The architrave, on the other hand, is decorated with apples and six small heads, maidens or angels, probable symbols of purity: it is clear that sacred symbolism is mixed with profane symbolism, giving a series of images a clear apotropaic function. A window finely decorated with plant friezes opens between the two doors.
Also of great value is the small rose window on the transept arm, surmounted by a relief of St. Eustace that, due to its rather geometric shapes, differs from the other sculptures present outside .

On the other side of the cathedral there is a secondary door, but one of great historical value: it appears to have been the door through which Count Giovancarlo Tramontano tried in vain to save himself before the people of Matera put an end to his abuse of power by killing him (29 December 1514). A second door, now walled up, was called the ‘snake door’, due to the figure of a snake around the entrance arch.
The bell tower was altered in its original layout by a later intervention that cannot be placed precisely in time: initially it ended in a tower, with windows and mullioned windows; later the spire was added, raising its height to 52 metres. It is not known whether the intervention was for aesthetic reasons or whether it was functional, as perhaps the pointed shape allowed it to better cope with adverse weather conditions, such as rain or snow.

Interior of the Cathedral

While the exterior largely retains its original structure, the interior, on the other hand, underwent a series of radical transformations until the early 19th century that completely altered its appearance. The floor plan of the Cathedral is divided into three naves and has the shape of a Latin cross; it measures 52 metres in length, 18 metres in width and 23 metres in height. Originally the plan was T-shaped, because it ended where the high altar stands today, in front of which the choir was placed.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the nave was lengthened, breaking through the original apse, to make room for the choir, which, as mentioned, was previously located in front of the high altar. All that remains of the Romanesque partition are the ten columns supporting the arches with their splendid capitals, each one different from the other, according to the stylistic features of the Apulian-Romanesque tradition.

But it was during the 17th century that the most radical transformations took place: the church was enriched with works of great value, stuccoes and decorations were added, corresponding to the style of the time. In the 18th century, new ornaments in gold stucco were placed on the walls and ceiling, while in 1719 a wooden false ceiling concealed the original trusses of the nave.

During the 19th century, three canvases by the Calabrian painter Giovanni Battista Santoro [Fuscaldo (CS) 1809-Naples 1895] were then placed under the planking: the ‘Conversion of St Eustace’ and ‘St John of Matera’ in the side medallions, the ‘Visitation of the Virgin Mary to St Elizabeth’ in the centre. On the walls, below the ceiling, again at the beginning of the 18th century, a series of frescoes by Anselmo Palmieri da Polla, depicting Stories of the Virgin, were painted.

Originally, the church had only one altar in the nave: today there are 12 altars, including the high altar. Also the result of later interventions are the chapels that extend the cathedral, many of which were eliminated during the 18th century (it seems there were as many as 33!).

Thefirst altar in the left aisle, erected in 1627, is known as the ‘Madonna della Bruna’ (the cult was initially dedicated to St. Mary of Matera; it was Urban VI in 1380 who instituted the feast in honour of the Madonna della Bruna, celebrated every year on 2 July): it holds the fresco of the ‘Madonna della Bruna’, so called because of her dark face or with reference to her function of defence against the city (from the Longobard Latin brunja meaning ‘armour, armour’). The fresco dates back as far as 1270, when the construction of the Cathedral was completed.

The second altar in the left aisle, built in 1939, is instead dedicated to St John of Matera and houses an urn with the remains of the saint, transferred from Pulsano to Matera in 1830.

The third altar, in honour of St Anne, holds a painting of the ‘Madonna with Child and St Anne, most probably attributable to the friar Francesco da Martina active in the first half of the 17th century.

Continuing towards the high altar is the Chapel of the Annunciation, built during the 16th century possibly by Altobello Persio: a splendid example of 16th-century construction with niche walls and a coffered vault. The upper lunette houses a Pietà, probably the work of architect and sculptor Giulio Persio, son of Altobello.

At the end of the nave, again on the left, is the chapel housing the splendid nativity scene sculpted in stone by Altobello Persio and Sannazaro d’Alessano in 1534. It appears from the documents in our possession that the two sculptors were the authors of the chapel itself. The pictorial cycle adorning the vault of this chapel is also of great value: it consists of figures of Sybils and Prophets, attributed by some to Giovanni Todisco of Abriola, a painter active in the 16th century. The marble altar was added later, in 1725. To the right of the crib, above the door leading to the sacristy, are three stone sculptures depicting the Madonna and Child and two Saints, attributed to the workshop of Altobello Persio. Regarding the sacristy, it must be said that it too was subject to various interventions. Initially, it was leaning against the apse of the high altar. The current sacristy was built in 1597, on the part of the land destined for the cemetery and bordering the Benedictine monastery of St. Eustace, which was gradually obscured by the construction and subsequent extensions of the Cathedral.

At the end of the left transept is the beautiful dossal of the St. Michael altar, a work by Altobello Persio generally dated 1539: decorated with delicate Renaissance friezes, its niches host the Madonna and Child and four Saints (St. James, St. Simeon, St. Jude and St. Catherine of Siena), while the predella at the bottom is decorated with a bas-relief depicting the Last Supper. Next to the dossal, on the lintel of the door leading to the bell tower, is the couplet referring to the date of completion of the church, the year 1270 (see above).

Behind the high altar is the splendid altarpiece made by Fabrizio Santafede, who worked in his hometown of Naples between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century: on the central panel is a representation of the Virgin Mary with Saints John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Donato d’Arezzo, Blaise of Sinope and the patron Giovanni Pietro Sanità; the predella is made up of a series of panels, depicting the Vision of St. Eustace, St. Catherine, St. Peter of Sinope and St. Peter of the Holy Family. Eustace, St. Catherine, the Fall of St. Paul, Salome with the Head of the Baptist, the Visitation, the Martyrdom of St. Peter, a Bishop Saint, and St. John in Oleo. In the upper oval there is a depiction of the Trinity.

Behind the high altar is the wooden colo. It was made between 1451 and 1453, as can be seen from the inscription above the stall reserved for the choir rector, which also bears the name of the author, Giovanni Tantino da Ariano Irpino: it consists of 50 stalls and is meticulously decorated in carving with plant, animal and fantastic motifs as well as sacred subjects. There is a strong link with Franco-Flemish culture as well as Catalan culture, but also with the illuminated texts of the time.

In the right aisle, immediately beside the main entrance is the marvellous Last Judgement, the only remnant of a larger medieval pictorial decoration generally attributed to Rinaldo da Taranto, a painter from the 13th century.

Proceeding further, above the first altar is a ‘Madonna with Child and Saints’ attributed to Giovanni Donato Oppido from Matera (1627). On the coffer of the first side entrance, the Porta di piazza, is a ‘Madonna delle Grazie tra i SS. Ilario e Giovanni da Matera’ by Domizio Persio (1592), currently in custody at the Museum of Medieval and Modern Art in Palazzo Lanfranchi. A canvas depicting ‘San Gaetano’ by Carlo Rosa, a 17th-century Apulian painter, is also kept here: its original location is on the coffer of the second portal, the so-called ‘Lion Door’, between the second and third altars.

Finally, the last altar on the right houses a polyptych by Vito Antonio Conversi, a painter active mainly in Matera in the first half of the 18th century.