Le maioliche di Angelantonio Paladini nel Salento. La produzione, i materiali costituenti e lo stato di conservazione

The study examines a unique artistic production that developed in Salento in the second half of the nineteenth century: the majolica artifacts. The development of the maiolica product, much used as a piece of furniture, was promoted by the opening of a factory by one of the most visionary and pioneer protagonists of Lecce, Angelantonio Paladini. At San Pietro in Lama village near Lecce, he made a "steam plant" for the production of majolica artifacts. He introduced throughout the Lecce province (there are many majolica pavements and decorative tiles made within palaces, churches and villas) the elaborate works seen in Campania, mostly made up of quatrefoil motifs, composed by the union of four "formelle". The failure of its industry also marked the decline of this type of production, which left in Salento significant examples of high artistic value, that are little known and insufficiently studied. In this short excursus we present some majolica pavements located in several buildings, both religious and civil, of Salento. We refer in particular to the floors of the churches of Santa Maria della Provvidenza (Alcantarine) and Madonna degli Studenti in Lecce, the churches of San Luigi in San Pietro in Lama and San Giovanni Battista in Carmiano, as well as those that decorate the small coffee house within the garden of the Personè castle in Nardò and the floors of the Plantera (now "Maglietta") palace in Novoli. The study also shows the state of conservation of these artifacts, with the most common forms of alteration that affect them. Laboratory analyses were performed on some samples coming from the tiles of some artifacts. They allowed to identify the materials used for the manufacture of the ceramic body and the finishing on the surface, as well as their technics of execution.