The life of St. Anthony shown in the frescoes in Tito (Potenza)

Mariangela Salvia

In the north-east of Tito (a small town in the province of Potenza, about 15 km from the regional capital), on one of the three promontories around which the original urban settlement took shape, stands the convent complex of St. Anthony of Padua, one of the main Franciscan settlements in Basilicata. It was built on the initiative of a group of Franciscan fathers from the town, within the movement of the Regular Observance to which they belonged—which at that time was a promoter of cultural and artistic development and of an intense building activity in the region. Having obtained the consent of Pope Leo X, in 1514 they started the construction of the convent with the help of the Universitates (the ancient municipalities) of Tito and of the nearby town of Pietrafesa (now called Satriano), and of the local population—which highlights the strong roots in the territory of the Franciscans. The events of the complex of Tito were parallel to the parable of the movement: a great importance in the first centuries of its diffusion and a progressive decadence, during the French military occupation of the Kingdom of Naples and after the terrible earthquake of 1857, until the suppression wanted…