the Tempietto del Clitunno

Inside there are wall-paintings of remarkable quality, which have been compared to those in the presbytery of Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome; the frescoes frame a marble shrine in the apse constructed with a mixture of reused architectural items and newly-made decorations.

The establishment of the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto by Faroald took place shortly after the Lombards’ arrival in Italy. Like that of Benevento, this duchy in central Italy with its capital in Spoleto also remained largely independent until AD 729, when it came under control of the Lombard king. The latest studies suggest that the Clitunno ‘Temple’ was associated with the period of Spoleto’s independence.

Together with the church of San Salvatore, located on the edge of the city of Spoleto, it clearly manifests a taste for prestigious architecture that is found in all the other duchies, in the north and south, and constitutes an expression of the aspirations of the Lombard elites.

Sporadic documentary evidence suggests that the Lombard elites in Italy commissioned prestigious buildings from the outset (palaces and residences, but also churches and chapels), on the model of their Roman predecessors, in order to legitimize their position and authority.