Sant'Orsola (Palermo)
The Sant'Orsola is a Baroque church in Palermo .
Building history
The church on Via Maqueda was built in 1662 by order of the Association of Saint Ursula (Compagnia di Sant'Orsola). The “Compagnia” was given the additional name “Confraternita dei neri dell'Orazione” or “I Negri” for short, to express its task of accompanying mourners after the death of a loved one through their black clothing.
The facade
The white plastered facade, which is still committed to the Renaissance, is structured by double pilasters made of natural stone, which end at a massive beam. The high entrance is flanked by several figures, atlases carry the agraffes to the broad cornice, which is decorated with skulls and above which a heavily blasted segmented gable rises.
The upper area is closed on both sides by an open loggia with round arches and a stone balustrade . In the middle there is a large window covered by a segmented gable, which is supported by two artistically crafted angels on both sides. The facade ends in a triangular gable with a human figure framed by flames. On the right the facade is raised by a short bell tower.
The inner
The single-nave, richly decorated interior shows the influence of the architect Giacomo Amato , who spread the ideas of the Roman builder Francesco Borromini in Palermo. There are three chapels on each side of the nave, the right chapels are dedicated to the souls in purgatory and the left to Saint Ursula as intercessor. In 1696, Giacomo Serpotta provided two of the chapels with dramatically designed figural stucco, personifying the souls ascending into the sky and death with skeletons. Other chapels show a wooden crucifix as well as paintings by unknown masters "Holy Family", "Martyrdom of St. Ursula" and "St. Joachim Anna".
Above the chapels are six ovals framed in stucco with the Palermi saints Lucia , Cristina, Agata , Ninfa , Oliva and Rosalia from the workshop of Pietro Novelli .
For the Cappella della Pietà Gaspare Serenario created the fresco “Triumph of St. Ursula ”(1756), and in the sacristy there is Antonio Manno 's panel painting“ Christ in Limbo ”(1778).
The church's crypt, also decorated by Serpotta, has numerous cupboard-like loculi that served as the final resting place for “Negri” and influential citizens of Palermo.
literature
- Donald Garstang: Giacomo Serpotta and the stuccatori of Palermo 1560-1790. A. Zwemmer Ltd., London 1984, ISBN 0-302-00550-1 ( Studies in Architecture 22).
- Exhibition folder “Itinari Serpottiani” Arti Grafice Giordano. Palermo 1996.
- Adriana Chirco: Palermo la città ritrovata. Flaccovio, Palermo 2002, ISBN 88-7758-469-6 .
- Pierfrancesco Palazzotto: Palermo. Guida agli oratori. Confraternite, compagnie e congregazioni dal XVI al XIX secolo . Kalós, Palermo 2004, ISBN 88-89224-07-X .
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 46.7 ″ N , 13 ° 21 ′ 46.7 ″ E