San Paolo

The two sculptures illustrate the Saints apostles Peter and Paul recognizable thanks to the iconographic attributes (the book and the keys for the first; the book on the left and the sword on the right, for the other). They come from the Cathedral and were located on both sides of the presbytery to symbolize the pillars of the Church. They were later removed during the restoration works of 1854 that interested the Palatine Chapel, as evidenced by the longitudinal section of the Cathedral made by the engineer Federico Travaglini. With all probability, the statues had to be set against a wall, both being flat at the back. The large patchwork of the vestments contributes to the construction of the two saints' bodies, defined with well-marked lines in the stone, and reveal the artist's particular attention to proportions. Interesting are the definitions of the beards and hair, finely carved and worked with the drill (San Pietro), which enliven the composition. The two statues, with perfectly smooth surfaces, show traces of colours, identifiable in a more or less dark ochre yellow, depending on the features, in some points of the vestments and resting on circular stone bases. The formal elegance of the sculptures and the sharp lines of the physiognomy, makes it possible to affirm the uniqueness of the hand in the realization of the two statues in a period that can be considered close to the first decades of the 16th century, when the echo of the Late Gothic elegance was present in the catalogue of southern workers.