The Crypt of Original Sin in Matera was the cultural site of a Benedictine rocky monastery of the Lombard period.
It is embellished with a cycle of frescoes dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries, depicted by the artist known as the Painter of the Flowers of Matera and expressing the historical characteristics of Benedictine-Beneventan art. The left wall is made of three niches, on which are depicted respectively the triarchies of the Apostles, the Virgin and the Archangels. The back wall, however, is enlivened by a large pictorial cycle depicting episodes of the Creation and the Original Sin.
The precious cycle of frescoes, for years attacked by musk, lichen and cyanobacteria, has been recovered thanks to the Zétema Foundation project, with the advice of the Central Institute of Restoration and the involvement of professionals.
Lucana Film Commission
Via Madonna delle Virtù snc — 75100 Matera (sede legale); Corso Garibaldi 139 — 85100 Potenza (uffici)
Phone: +39 0971 665034
Email: lucanafilmcommission@gmail.com