Criticità, aspetti metodologici e prospettive di ricerca per la conservazione delle pitture murali delle chiese rupestri

The rock churches of the Mottola area (TA) house a rich array of pictorial decorations which covers extensive surfaces of these religious architectures and which represent an extraordinary testimony to medieval art in Southern Italy. From a conservation perspective, the iconographic decoration embedded in the rock context is the part most subject to deterioration and is therefore the most vulnerable part. Based on a survey of the Mottola rock context available in the literature, the contribution proposes a reflection on the methodology for conservation of the paintings in a diagnostic approach that connects the artwork with the specific characteristics of the architectural and orographic context. This relationship is to be understood as an inseparable whole, in order to understand the ongoing degradation phenomena and to develop an effective maintenance strategy for the purposes of conserving the heritage.