Lucanian roots on the ceiling of the Teatro Stabile

The civic theater of Potenza, dedicated to the Lucanian composer Francesco Stabile (1801–1860), is a small one-of-a-kind jewel. The structure and interior decorations were made on the model of the San Carlo theater in Naples and, although it certainly does not reach its size, it replicates its refinement and harmony. Built between 1856 and 1881, the ceiling was painted by the Neapolitan painter Luigi De Luise, a member of the Resìna School (related to the dictates of the Impressionists and Macchiaioli). It depicts the Apotheosis of Pythagoras, a tribute to the noble roots of the culture of Basilicata where, in the fifth century BC, a Pythagorean school flourished.