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