San Matteo al Cassaro
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San Matteo al Cassaro is a church of Baroque in Palermo .
Building history
The church of San Matteo al Cassaro is located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele between Via Maqueda and Via Roma . It was built on the initiative of the Franciscan Father Leonardo Galici from 1633 onwards through a donation from the well-known lawyer Mario Muta, consecrated in 1647 by Archbishop Ferdinando Andrada and completed in 1664. Probably Mariano Smiriglio was the lead architect of the construction project.
Building description
The typical Baroque facade by Carlo D'Aprile and Gaspare Guercio shows the statue of Mary above the portal. Above the cranked cornice in a niche crowned with speckled segmented gables are the sculptures of Matthew and Mattias, in the middle of the wall a square-framed ox-eye , supported by two volutes . The building ends above an entablature in a raised triangular gable accompanied by further volutes.
The three-aisled interior of the church in the form of a Latin cross is structured by columns in the style of the High Renaissance. Under the direction of the architect Francesco Ferrigno, the interior of the church was decorated with sculptures, stucco and frescoes. All work was not completed until 1775. Above the main portal there is a relief "Christ saves souls" (1729) by Giacomo Serpotta , from which the four statues in the presbytery "Charity", "Justice", "Hope" and "Faith", completed in 1728, come (the last two probably with assistance by Bartolomeo Sanseverino). The organ comes from Giuseppe Lungarno (1871).
The 160 m² crypt, which is partly under the main nave, with burial niches arranged one above the other, serves as the burial place of numerous deserving citizens of Palermo, among others Vito D'Anna and Giacomo Serpotta are buried here.
Furnishing
- Vito D'Anna : Fresco dome fresco 1728 "Allegorical female figures" (1758, together with Francesco Sozzi)
- Filippo Randazzo : Panel painting "God's Sacrifice" (1741/43)
- Giuseppe Tresca : main altarpiece (1796)
- Filippo Cinistri: marble decoration of the main altar with agate and lapis lazuli and a bas-relief with biblical scenes
- Vincenzo Siracusa: bas-relief (19th century)
- Pietro Marino: sculpture 1738 (in the sacristy)
literature
- Maria Giuffrè: Baroque Sicily. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86568-264-2 , p. 157.
- Adriana Chirco: Palermo la città ritrovata. Flaccovio, Palermo 1999, ISBN 88-7758-469-6 .
- Giuseppe Bellafiore: Palermo. Guide to the city and the surrounding area. Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara 1959.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 59.3 ″ N , 13 ° 21 ′ 45.3 ″ E