(Re)Birth of a Seal: Power and Pretense at San Nicola, Bari, ca. 1300

This study introduces and contextualizes the artistic patronage of Petrus de Angeriacus (d. 1313), the powerful yet controversial treasurer of the pilgrimage church of San Nicola in Bari, Italy. It begins by assessing the life and activities of the treasurer within the dramatic political, religious, and social setting of the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of Charles II. It proceeds to evaluate Petrus’s commissions for San Nicola, four lost candlesticks described in inventories from 1326 and 1362. It then probes in detail a work intended to travel beyond San Nicola—a seal impression previously concealed within a protective sac—and reconstructs its genesis within European currents of art production. Both the seal and candlesticks are placed in conversation with Charles II’s political and artistic initiatives and contested endeavors to expand royal jurisdiction. Ultimately, the treasurer’s commissions materialize networks of authority that have not previously registered in our understanding of Bari or southern Italy around the year 1300.