L’epitaffio longobardo di S. Giorgio in Filattiera e la cultura epigrafica del sec. VIII: punti di arrivo, prospettive di ricerca

This essay deals with a VIII century inscription kept in the church of S. Giorgio a Filattiera in Lunigiana. A general survey of the previous historiography is supplied, together with a new critical edition with full commentary of the epitaph, written in rhythmical hexameters. The usual identification of the dead who was commemorated there with Leodegar, bishop of Luni, is questioned. The inscription, written in an elegant capital which recalls the distinctive writing used in VIII manuscripts, is also examined from a palaeographical perspective and compared with the contemporary epigraphical production developed in Pavia at the Lombard court, which is different both in quality and style.