Oratorio di San Lorenzo
The Oratorio di San Lorenzo is a house of prayer of the Franciscan Convent on Via Immacolatella in Palermo next to the Oratorio dell'Immacolatella and the Basilica of San Francesco .
Erected on private property towards the middle of the 16th century, the oratory was later given to the Franciscan convent of Palermo. The religious order, which was particularly concerned with the burials of the poor in the Kalsa district of Palermo, cultivated and spread the cult of Saints Francis and Laurentius .
The artistic equipment of the Oratorio di San Lorenzo contains relief cycles with scenes from the life of the saints and ten allegorical standing figures is one of the main works of the Palermitan plasterer Giacomo Serpotta . The stucco work was done between 1698 and 1701.
In 1609 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted " The Nativity of Christ with Saints Laurentius and Francis " . The 268 × 197 cm canvas picture was stolen by unknown perpetrators on the night of October 18-19, 1969 and has been lost to this day. It is considered the best work that Caravaggio created in Sicily . In the FBI's wanted list , it is one of the ten most wanted works of art in the world.
The mahogany benches, decorated with mother-of-pearl, date from the 18th century.
literature
- Pierfrancesco Palazzotto: Palermo. Guida agli oratori. Confraternite, compagnie e congregazioni dal XVI al XIX secolo. Presentazione di Donald Garstang. Kalós, Palermo 2004, pp. 184-194. ISBN 88-89224-07-X
- Roberto Longhi : Il Caravaggio. Aldo Martello, Milan 1952.
- Renato Guttuso: L'opera completa del Caravaggio. Rizzoli, Milano 1967 ( Classici dell'arte 6, ZDB -ID 1117369-5 ).
- Eberhard König: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. 1571-1610. Könemann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-8290-0685-3 , pp. 130/131.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 0.1 ″ N , 13 ° 21 ′ 59.1 ″ E