Franciscan Art Gallery of the Friars Minor of Lecce is an architectural complex that includes a monumental entrance portal, a chapel dedicated to Saints Philip and James, a nymphaeum, an elegant space located on the ground floor.
The Gallery, inaugurated and opened to the public on November 7, 1968, houses a collection of paintings from the convents of the Minorite province of Salento, along with other works of art worthy of preservation. The brilliant creator and founder of this unique art collection was the Franciscan priest from Salice Salentino, Father Egidio De Tommaso.
The gallery occupies the staircase and the upper floor of the ancient building. The works displayed in Fulgenzio’s gallery share a common denominator: most belong to the same historical period (17th-18th centuries), that of the Baroque and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and are by unknown authors; they come from Franciscan convents scattered across the provinces of Lecce, Taranto, and Brindisi. Among the most notable painters represented are Serafino Elmo, Oronzo Tiso, and Brother Francesco from Martina Franca.
