Leandro Summo's Videomapping Restores Lost Frescoes at Bari's Teatro Petruzzelli After 35 Years

Fatti principali

• A new videomapping installation by Leandro Summo recreates the dome frescoes of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, destroyed by fire in 1991.
• The original frescoes by Raffaele Armenise depicted ancient and modern circus games: Il Carro di Tespi, La Corsa Romana, La Corrida, and Il Torneo Medievale.
• The theater reopened in 2009 after an €50 million reconstruction funded by public money, leaving the dome blank where the frescoes had been.
• The 1991 arson occurred on the night of October 26-27, following a performance of Bellini's Norma.
• Giuseppe Mesto and Francesco Lepore were convicted as material perpetrators after sixteen years; a civil case against Ferdinando Pinto resulted in an unpaid damages award.
• A 2021 Court of Appeal ruling assigned ownership to the Messeni Nemagna family, requiring the City of Bari and the Fondazione Lirico-Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari to pay over €1 million annual rent plus back payments from 2009.
• Mayor Vito Leccese stated the installation will allow the theater to host diverse creative languages and provide directors with a scenographic element.
• The original theater, designed by Angelo Cicciomessere and inaugurated in 1903, was declared a Monument of historical and artistic interest in 1945.