Influssi sinaiti nell’iconografia nicolaiana a Brindisi. L’icona murale monumentale di san Nicola della chiesa della Santissima Trinità – Santa Lucia

The paper examines an important and, at the same time, little known parietal icon of the late 13^th century, kept in the crypt of the church of Santissima Trinità - Santa Lucia in Brindisi, representing St. Nicholas of Myra. Of the fresco, considerable in size, is offered a thorough reading which, starting with iconographic elements until now escaped to criticism, clarifies the meaning and functions of the image inside the cultual environment of Brindisi, linked by close cultural and artistic relationships with the Christian East. In virtue of the high executive quality, of the extreme care in the rendering of details and, above all, of the fidelity to the archetypal icons of the bishop of Myra, particularly to those kept in the monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, the fresco qualifies as one of the best examples of monumental mural icon of the high Middle Ages, but also as one of the finest surviving images of Sinaite or crusader matrix representing St. Nicholas.