ABSTRACT
The paper offers some preliminary results of a broader research project that aims at investigating the architectural use of paintworks in the Kingdom of Naples, little studied until now, focusing on the town of Bisceglie as an interesting study case. The work provides an historical outline of the painted facades of the town, based on archival and iconographic researches, survey campaigns and stratigraphic analysis. The results show how the colour and the architecture have developed together to create the urban landscape and points out how the facade paintwork is not only a decorative issue but a more important cultural one, related to the way in which the town wanted to show itself. The work, therefore, aims at being a useful tool for the future restoration activities, to be aware of a complex problem often unknown or, worse, culpably neglected and to deepen some theoretical questions behind the restoration practice.
