Catania

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The minor apse mof the right aisle is home to the highest concentration of votive artwork dedicated to St. Agatha .
The apse walls are completely frescoed and the floor is richly decorated. The wall decorations, gilding and all the decorative elements give the room a sense of triumphant theatricality.
dattaglio retablo della gloria di sant'Agata
Here we find the Retablo della Gloria di Sant’Agata (Retablo of the Glory of St. Agatha), the monument to Ferdinando d’Acuňa and the precious sacellum of St. Agatha.
The concept of scenography is found in these works. In fact, the retablo, a structure placed behind the altar, often focuses on events of the Passion of Christ, and served as a backdrop for the Holy Communion.

reliquiario di sant'Agata
foto alla cappella nel suo insieme
In the lower section some angels are depicted carrying the instruments of the crucifixion; in the centre we find the glorification of St. Agatha, or the same scene offered by Corradini in the fresco in the apsidal vault ; and on the sides there are St. Peter and St. Paul, while the four evangelists are placed in the upper section. The golden portal guards a veritable treasure .
The sacellum is the place where the remains of the Catanese saint are still kept today, in a reliquary bust and various anthropomorphic reliquaries kept in the Casket.

The art of maiolica

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The city palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Badia di Sant’Agata

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

City and nature

The Church of St. Benedict

The works in the church

The Staircase of Angels

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The church and the monastery

The interior of the church: space and colour

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

St. Agatha and the candelore

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The new roads of the city

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

A casket of precious works

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The church and the college

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

A story of rebirth

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The articulated interior spaces

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Art in the cathedral

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The palace, the town, the church

Luminous sacred spaces

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Religious architecture

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Paul

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. Francis

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Franciscan convent

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

A stone garden

The expansion of space and changing reality

The city within the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

One city, three sites

The interior and works of art

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Maria del Monte