Wooden ceiling in the Palazzo Chiaramonte
The wooden ceiling Palazzo Chiaramonte in the main hall ( Italian Sala Magna ) on the first floor of the Palazzo Chiaramonte in Palermo in Sicily was built between 1377 and 1380. Today the building is owned by the University of Palermo and the seat of its university rectorate. Because of its painting, the ceiling is of great value. Even if the craftsmanship does not exceed the usual level of craftsmanship , the image content is one of the most remarkable compilations in Sicily in the 14th century, as is also found elsewhere in Norman-Arabic-Byzantine artreflect. The wooden ceiling of the upper floor has a roof structure with exposed roof beams.
iconography
The representations in the 28 × 8 meter large coffered ceiling, which is divided by 24 transverse beams, range from biblical scenes to the apocalypse , ancient mythology , erotic subjects , medieval, i.e. contemporary heroic epics , legends of King Arthur and Charlemagne and fantastic figurative ones Scenes. Geometric and vegetable motifs are also shown, as well as a coat of arms at the base of each bar. A comparison of the total work of art with paintings in sacred and secular buildings in Andalusia or Aragon shows a great similarity in the execution, even if the subject is much more diverse here. Relationships between the ruling house and these regions of Spain are also evident in art. Moralizing and didactic topics are clearly taken up, which allow clear conclusions to be drawn about the state of the Sicilian island society. Heinrich M. Schwarz suspects a beneficial art competition between the Chiaramonte families and that of the Aragonese court. Similar ceiling paintings are still preserved in the great hall of the Carini Castle , in the Cathedral of Nicosia and fragmentarily in the Church of Sant'Agostino in Trapani . After the end of the 14th century they were no longer carried out in this way.
Restoration history
The paintings from the years 1377 to 1380 are by Cecco di Naro, Simone da Corleone and Pellegrino Darena. In 1886, restoration work took place on the ceiling for the first time, during which the names of only two of the three authors (Chicu from Naru and Simuni from Curiglu) were found at the end of the room , who were still completely unknown to art historians at the time.
Between 1972 and 1998 the ceiling paintings were again extensively restored. By 1967 the condition worsened and bureaucratic obstacles led to delays in the work, so that the West Sicilian monument authority was forced to intervene. Contrary to what was originally planned, the painted wooden ceiling was not dismantled in order to restore it, as that would have led to changes on the outer wall. Guglielmo De Angelis D'Ossat , an expert in the preservation of ancient and medieval architecture, Umberto Rizzitano , a scholar of Islamic civilization in Sicily and Cesare Brandi , a leading authority in the field of restoration, were particularly keen to preserve the original. The extensive restoration of the building, which began in 1970, did not do justice to its purpose, however, due to largely outdated intervention methods. Marginalia were formally questionable works such as inadequate reconstruction of cornices or faulty restoration of window reveals. The low point was the beginning of the demolition of a staircase from the 16th century. The work came to a standstill, which lasted until 1972. Due to the complexity of the construction project, the intervention lasted until 1998.
Web links
- Cecilia Waern: Mediaeval Sicily, aspects of life and art in the middle ages , Duckworth, London 1910, pages 247–260
literature
- Ferdinando Bologna: Il soffitto della Sala Magna allo Steri di Palermo e la cultura feudale siciliana nell'autunno del Medioevo. Flaccovio, Palermo 1975.
- Licia Buttà: Storie per governare: iconografia giuridica e del potere nel soffitto dipinto della Sala Magna del palazzo Chiaromonte Steri di Palermo. In: Licia Buttà (ed.): Narrazione, exempla, retorica: studi sull'iconografia dei soffitti dipinti nel Medioevo Mediterraneo. Caracol, Palermo 2013, ISBN 978-88-89440-94-0 .
- The wooden painted ceiling of the Sala Magna of the Palazzo Chiaromonte-Steri in Palermo . Journal of Transcultural Medieval Studies, Volume 4, Issue 1–2, pages 191–216, eISSN 2198-0365, Walter de Gruyter 2017
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich M. Schwarz : Sicily. Art, culture, landscape. Anton Schroll, 2nd edition Vienna 1945, page 30
- ↑ Licia Buttà: Storie per governare: iconografia giuridica e del potere nel soffitto dipinto della Sala Magna del palazzo Chiaromonte Steri di Palermo. Pp. 70-71.
- ↑ Art history. Medieval painters in Sicily . In: Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe , November 1886, issue 7, pages 231–232
- ^ Giovanni Moscato: La storia di Palazzo Chiaramonte . dooid.it-magazine
Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 3.5 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 12.5 ″ E