Page 587 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Siracusa in 1698, he worked in Noto as a carpenter from the age of 10, and was first

acknowledged as an architect in 1726. Between 1760 and 1784 he was chief architect
for the city of Noto, and during this time also worked on many different projects in
Ragusa and Modica. As far as is known, he never travelled outside Sicily, let alone to
Rome, yet he absorbed contemporary architectural trends from the study of books and
treatises, and reproduced the ideas with some flair.

Gagliardi’s prime interest was in facades, and his work achieved a sophisticated
fusion of Renaissance poise, Baroque grandeur and local Sicilian ornamentation. He

had no interest, however, in spatial relationships or structural innovation, and the
interiors of his buildings are disappointing when compared to the elaborate nature of
their exteriors. Perhaps his most significant contribution was his development of the
belfry as a feature. Sicilian churches traditionally didn’t have a separate belltower,
but incorporated the bells into the main facade, revealed through a series of two or

three arches – an idea handed down from Byzantine building. Gagliardi extended the
central bay of the facade into a tower, a highly original compromise satisfying both the
local style and the more conventional notions of design from the mainland. The belfry
on the church of San Giorgio in Ragusa Ibla, Gagliardi’s masterpiece, is an excellent
example of this.

The principal architect on the design and rebuilding of Catania after the 1693

earthquake, Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, was born in Palermo in 1702. He trained in
Rome and embraced the current idiom, working with such illustrious figures as
Alessandro Specchi (who built the papal stables) and Francesco de Sanctis (designer
of the Spanish Steps). In 1730 he arrived in Catania, having been appointed as city
architect by the Senate, and at once began work on finishing the Municipio. Outside he
placed a fountain, whose main feature is an obelisk supported by an elephant, the
symbol of Catania – reminiscent of Bernini’s elephant fountain in Rome.

Giacomo Serpotta, master of the Palermitan oratories, was born in Palermo in
1656. He cashed in on the opulence of the Church and specialized in decorating
oratories with moulded plasterwork in ornamental frames. He would include life-
sized figures of Saints and Virtues, surrounded by plaster draperies, trophies, swags
of fruit, bouquets of flowers and other extravagances much beloved of the Baroque.

Among his most remarkable works is the Oratory of the Rosary in the church of Santa
Zita, where the end wall is a reconstruction of the Battle of Lépanto. Three-
dimensional representation is taken to an extreme here, and actual wires are used as
rigging.

Other Baroque architects are less well known, but are influential in Sicily all the
same. Giacomo Amato (1643–1732) was a monk, sent to Rome in 1671 to represent

his Order, where he came into contact with the works of Bernini and Borromini.