Incantato Castle
Castello Incantato ( German Enchanted Castle ) is the life's work of the Sciacca- based artist Filippo Bentivegna (1888–1967). It is located two kilometers east of the center of Sciacca. The olive grove surrounding his house is littered with heads carved in stone and some heads carved in olive wood. This work belongs to the Art Brut . Some of these works are shown in the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne , the world's largest such collection.
plant
Bentivegna's attempt to emigrate to the United States following his siblings in 1913 failed. He suffered a severe head injury there and was unable to work. In absentia he was sentenced as a deserter to three years in prison by his homeland , to which he, unaware, returned in 1919. Before entering detention, he underwent a psychiatric examination and found him insane but not dangerous. He bought a piece of land below Monte Kronio east of the village and began his work, which can be understood as coming to terms with his state of mind.
The sculpture garden is criss-crossed with pebble mosaic paths. These are lined with quarry stone walls that are decorated with a variety of stone carvings, such as the "Muragladiteste", the "Wall of Heads". Other heads are individual works, some of them larger than life. Only in the Muragladiteste are other body representations such as torsos and extremities present, otherwise not. The work of the autodidact is of a rather simple, naturalistic form. The faces are expressionless, none shows emotions.
Single head with paint residues
Long shot, excerpt
"Muragladiteste"
warrior
Wall painting
Sea of houses
Bentivegna's house, in which he lived for years, is adorned with numerous wall paintings. They mostly show fantastic city landscapes in silhouette , with simple black and fireplace-red lines on the whitewashed wall. The gables are partly decorated with oriental decorations, but overall these pictures could also depict Bentivegna's memorabilia from a big city in the USA. On one wall, grumpy faces are also built into the urban landscape, on another a port is illustrated. In addition, two fish can be seen, which are composed of many small fish (heads). The condition of these paintings is very poor: the roof was obviously leaking; Moisture pulls down in lanes. In addition, parts of the wall were newly plastered without taking the works of art into account.
Castello Incantato is open as a museum all year round. In the summer months there are also folkloric evenings with food, dancing and singing.
Web links
literature
- Francine Prose: Odissea siciliana , Feltrinelli Editore, Milan 2004, ISBN 88-7108-194-3 , p. 143ff. (ital.)
Coordinates: 37 ° 30 ′ 23.9 ″ N , 13 ° 6 ′ 22.5 ″ E