This essay aims to investigate the story of the first community of Dominican nuns through the remaining artistic evidence in the city of Barletta between the end of the XIII and XV centuries. This settlement appears to be the second to formally get into the Dominican Order in Southern Italy after that of St. Anna in Nocera. The holy building shows many signs of a medieval story. These include an interesting cycle of Late Gothic frescoes, revealing a culturedpatronage dating back to the abbess Paladina de Riso, belonging to one of the most prominent noble familiesof Barletta and in contact with the papal court and with other monastic settlements in the territory
