Formis: MRA-ITA-For001

Within the Sant'Angelo in Formis, near Capua in southern Italy, Sant’Angelo in Formis is a major example of 11th-century Benedictine architecture and mural painting. Rebuilt between c. 1072 and 1087 under the patronage of Desiderius of Monte Cassino, the church forms part of the cultural programme of Monte Cassino during the Norman period. Its extensive fresco cycle, executed by artists working in the Byzantine tradition, combines Eastern iconography with Western narrative schemes and reflects the artistic exchanges fostered by the monastery. Largely preserved despite later alterations, the church remains a key monument for understanding medieval monastic patronage and cross-cultural transmission in southern Italy.

Bibliographic sources
Kitzinger, E., Byzantine Art in the Making; Demus, O., Romanesque Mural Painting; Pace, V., Arte medievale nel Mezzogiorno.

Further reading
Norwich, J. J., The Normans in the South; Toubert, P., Les structures du Latium médiéval; Wharton, A. J., Art of Empire.