Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Cita
The Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Cita is a house of prayer in Palermo , Sicily .
It was built in the 17th century next to the Santa Cita church by the Compagnia del Rosario in Santa Cita . The oratory to its equipment a classic example of the Counter-Reformation claims, even to the artists during the Tridentine Council were developed.
The oratorio became a total work of art thanks to the elaborate stucco work that Giacomo Serpotta created between 1685 and 1690. The central theme is the victory of Catholicism against heretics and unbelievers. The individual relief fields with their carefully modeled groups of figures show scenic narratives of the New Testament , the fifteen mysteries of the rosary , allegorical depictions of virtues, jubilant angels and putti and, as a central theme, the naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 in the strait of Nafpaktos, in which the Christian Mediterranean powers won a surprising victory against the Ottoman Empire . This victory, according to the legend, was only possible with the miraculous help of the Virgin Mary. Serpotta takes the sea battle as the programmatic starting point for his pictorial scenes for a forward-looking revival of Catholicism, which ultimately finds its deep expression in his stucco work. After working in the Oratorio del Rosario di San Domenico in Palermo, Serpotta created the large-format standing figures of Ester and Judith for the presbytery in 1717, which reveal his mature creative style. During the recent restoration, Serpotta's preliminary drawings were discovered under the stucco. Carlo Maratta created the altarpiece "Madonna with the Rosary" in 1695.
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Coordinates: 38 ° 7 '15.2 " N , 13 ° 21' 49.6" E