baroque in palermo

beauty in stone

The baroque style arrived in Sicily about 100 years before the famous earthquake of 1693 that destroyed half of the island. The baroque, style that originated in Rome and characterized by dramatic architectures and decoration, arrived in Palermo in 1600 and had as first example the Quattro Canti. Quattro Canti is a cross-road built between the two main streets of the city, Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda. In this cross-road we have four buildings richly decorated, where statues of four Sicilian kings and  four saints protector of the city are showed together with a personification of the seasons. In particular we have Spring with Saint Cristina and Charles V; Summer with Saint Ninfa and Philip II; Autumn with Saint Oliva and Philip III; Winter with Saint Agata and Philip IV.

The rest of the baroque Palermo starts from this cross-road and is spread all around the old town. To better understand the baroque we differentiate between palaces, churches and oratories.

Via Maqueda, the newly built street in 1600, was the main place where the noble families of Palermo spent their money made in the farms outside of the city to build their palaces. On this street we find the famous Fontana Pretoria o della Vergogna (the Fountain of Shame, due to the naked statues), which is a large fountain comprising of many statues of naked gods and goddesses made in Florence and brought to Palermo in 1570.

In the many churches of the city we find a very dramatic expression of the Sicilian baroque, characterized by the use of colorful marbles, irregular shapes that create special light effects and very dramatic frescoes and paintings. Just to mention few of them, a must see next to Quattro Canti is the Chiesa di San Giuseppe ai Teatini, which frescoes on the ceiling are breath-taking. Probably the most important baroque church in Palermo is the Chiesa del Gesù or Casa Professa, built by the religious order of the Jesuits. This church is considered the perfect example of Sicilian baroque with the fusion of architecture, painting and sculpture in one single art, perfectly harmonized. Another example of Sicilian extravagant baroque style is the Chiesa del Santissimo Salvatore, built by the popular architect Paolo Amato. Differently than other churches, this church has an elliptic plant and a huge dome, but like the others each corner of the church is richly decorated with paintings and stucco. The church was destroyed during the second world war but rebuilt and now used as auditorium. Other baroque churches to visit are: Chiesa di S. Caterina, Chiesa di S. Maria della Pietà, Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio all'Olivella, Chiesa di San Domenico, Chiesa di Santa Teresa alla Kalsa, Chiesa dell' Itria o dei Cocchieri.

Another expression of the typical Palermo baroque is in the oratories, where we can admire the work of the main artist of stucco sculptures, Serpotta. The main oratories are: Oratorio di Santa Cita, Oratorio del Rosario, Oratorio di San Lorenzo, Oratorio di Santa Caterina D' Alessandria. The function of those oratories was both religious and social and were built and used only by a family or a group of people belonging to the same organization. In these oratories, the style characterizing Serpotta featured a high number of putti, baby angels, often portrayed while being mischievous or playful.