TIMELESS MASTERPIECES Edited by Elvira D’Amico
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TREASURE MAPS Twenty Itineraries Designed to Help You Explore the Cultural Heritage of Palermo and its Province Soprintendenza per i Beni culturali e ambientali di Palermo TIMELESS MASTERPIECES edited by Elvira D’Amico REGIONE SICILIANA Assessorato dei Beni culturali e dell’Identità siciliana PO FESR Sicilia 2007-2013 Linea d’intervento 3.1.1.1. “Investiamo nel vostro futuro” Project TREASURE MAPS Twenty Itineraries Designed to Help You Explore the Cultural Heritage of Palermo and its Province project by: Ignazio Romeo R.U.P.: Claudia Oliva Soprintendente: Maria Elena Volpes Timeless Masterpieces edited by: Elvira D’Amico texts by: Gaetano Bongiovanni, Elvira D’Amico, Evelina De Castro, Maddalena De Luca, Valeria Li Vigni, Alessandra Merra, Maria Emanuela Palmisano, Rosario Perricone, Costanza Polizzi, Maria Reginella, Alessandra Ruvituso, Giuliana Sarà photographs: Dario Di Vincenzo (cover, p. 5, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 27, 31, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44-49, 50, 52, 53, 57); Gero Cordaro (p. 21, 23, 25, 32); Archivio fotografico Museo Salinas (p. 7, 8, 11, 12); D’Aguanno/Civita Sicilia (p. 54); Archivi Guttuso (p. 58); Paola Verro (p. 60); Fabio Sgroi (p. 61); Enzo Brai (p. 62); Maria Antonietta Emma e Salvatore Bommarito (p. 63). editorial staff: Ignazio Romeo, Maria Concetta Picciurro collaborations: Maria Reginella, Girolamo Papa graphics and printing: Ediguida s.r.l. translations: Logoteum Language Services we would like to thank all the museums and institutions who grant us the reproduction of the works presented in this volume special thanks are due to Fondo Edifici di Culto del Ministero dell’Internoand Prefettura di Palermo, Arcidiocesi di Palermo; Archivi Guttuso and their Chairman Fabio Carapezza Guttuso Treasure Maps: Twenty Itineraries Designed to Help You Explore the Cultural Heritage of Palermo and its Province. - Palermo : Regione siciliana, Assessorato dei beni culturali e dell’identità siciliana, Dipartimento dei beni culturali e dell’identità siciliana. – v. 709.45823 CDD-22 SBN Pal0274341 20.: Timeless Masterpieces / edited by Elvira D’Amico. - Palermo : Regione siciliana, Assessorato dei beni culturali e dell’identità siciliana, Dipartimento dei beni culturali e dell’identità siciliana, 2015. I. D’Amico, Elvira <1952->. 745.109458 CDD-22 CIP - Biblioteca centrale della Regione siciliana “Alberto Bombace” © REGIONE SICILIANA Assessorato dei Beni culturali e dell’Identità siciliana Dipartimento dei Beni culturali e dell’Identità siciliana Soprintendenza per i Beni culturali e ambientali di Palermo Via Pasquale Calvi, 13 - 90139 Palermo Palazzo Ajutamicristo - Via Garibaldi, 41 - 90133 Palermo tel. 091-7071425 091-7071342 091-7071411 www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali TIMELESS MASTERPIECES 6 Metope from Temple C at Selinunte 8 Metope from Temple E at Selinunte 10 Mosaic of Orpheus Charming the Animals 12 Bronze Ram from Syracuse 14 Capitals of the Cloister of Monreale 18 Crown of Costance of Aragon 20 The Triumph of Death 22 Bust of Eleanor of Aragon by Francesco Laurana 24 The Virgin Annunciate by Antonello da Messina 26 Portrait of an Unknown Man by Antonello da Messina 28 Polizzi Triptych by the Master of the Embroidered Foliage 30 Altar of Saint George by Antonello Gagini 32 Malvagna Triptych by Jan Gossaert 34 Our Lady of the Rosary by Anton Van Dyck 36 Saint Benedict distributes ‘the Rule’ by Pietro Novelli 38 Nativity with Shepherds by Matthias Stom 40 Nativity Scene by Giovanni Matera 42 Embroidered Altar Frontals (Paliotti) in the Church of Saint Francis of Paola 45 Frescos with Scenes from the Life of Christ by Guglielmo Borremans 48 Tapestry with Baldachin at Palazzo Mirto 50 Monstrance with Saint Ignatius of Loyola by Antonio Nicchi 52 Mellerio Stele by Antonio Canova 54 Tuna Fishing by Antonino Leto 56 School Children by Felice Casorati 58 Gioacchino Guttuso Surveyor by Renato Guttuso 59 ‘La Vucciria’ by Renato Guttuso 61 Untitled by Jannis Kounellis 62 Gradasso Moor 63 Cart from the Palermo Area 5 It is not easy to choose the most representative Notwithstanding this fundamental limitation, works of the artistic culture of such a vast the approach to addressing the subjects and multifaceted area such as Palermo was left to the discretion of the authors. without being accused of superficiality or Furthermore, as in most cases these works are incompleteness. The criterion used has universally known, it was deemed unnecessary privileged several significant pieces from to list a copious bibliography for every work, each period or artistic context particularly and so instead a few select functional quotes characteristic of the local culture, to provide a are given in the texts. representative, though inevitably incomplete, With rare exceptions, the selection criterion overview. The space available admittedly ultimately favoured works on display in turns out to be very limited in relation to public collections, for obvious reasons of the complexity of the subjects to be covered. accessibility. TREASURE MAPS TIMELESS MASTERPIECES METOPE FROM TEMPLE C AT SELINUNTE were discovered in 1823 by two young Archaic period (6th century BC) British architects, William Harris and Limestone Samuel Angell, scholars of ancient history, on the steps in front of the vestibule, where Museo Archeologico Regionale ‘Antonino the fragments had been buried under the Salinas’ collapsing building. Based on the location Piazza Olivella Palermo and arrangement of plates at the time of tel. +390916116807 their discovery, it was possible to establish their position as sixth, seventh and eighth The three metopes from Selinunte depicting in the sequence of ten figurative scenes, of the Quadriga of Apollo, Perseus and Medusa which only a few other fragments remain. and Heracles and Cercopi, on display at the They alternated with the triglyphs, and Archaeological Museum of Palermo ‘A. together they constituted the entire frieze of Salinas’, rank among the most significant the pronaos. testimonies of archaic colonial plastic art The first metope, from the part of the and document the transition from the style frieze reconstructed by the 19th century known as “Daedalic”, in the 7th century BC restoration, shows Apollo driving his and the first decades of the th6 century BC, chariot flanked by two female figures characterised by the strict frontality of the identified as Leto and Artemis, the God’s figures and the symmetry of the composition, mother and sister respectively, forming to that of ‘mature archaism’ of the mid 6th the ‘Delphic Triad’. In the foreground, century BC, when the need to represent the horses are in full perspective. Their the human figure in movement began to front legs are completely detached from manifest itself among Greek artists, which the background and the heads of the two they inserted in the space and engaged in horses at the sides are directed outwards action through devices and solutions that and proportionally slightly larger, used volumes, proportions and colour suggesting a position further forward to create a perspective view that was not than the central pair. The three gods are exclusively frontal but also foreshortened. represented frontally and protrude from The reliefs, which were carved in limestone, the background of the relief. The female belonged to the frieze on the entablature of figures, which are largely lost, are at the the east facing entrance portico of Temple C, sides and Apollo is in the centre, his head, a Doric peripteros built over the remains forearms, hands with reins and lower torso of a previous building in the sanctuary of retaining the Daedalic tradition. Traces of the Acropolis of Selinunte around 560 BC. red remain on the harness of the horses and It was probably consecrated to Apollo, a the cart. In the next metope, the centre of hypothesis corroborated by epigraphic finds the composition is dominated by the high and mythical episodes relating to the worship relief figure depicting the burly shape of the of the god represented in the architectural hero Perseus, his face shown from the front, decoration. his torso slightly turned and his legs in The fragments of the metope sculptures profile, as he cuts off Medusa’s head while 7 holding her hair with his left hand. Medusa’s in the configuration as Perseus. He proceeds legs, which are in profile, are bent in the briskly to the left carrying the two Cercopes archaic ‘kneeling-running’ configuration. Her robbers on his shoulders. They are hanging monstrous face and bust are shown from the from a pole with their legs bent and head front, with both arms encircling the winged down, also naked, facing the viewer. Their horse Pegasus, who has just been born from long hair is gathered into Daedalic style the blood of her severed neck. On the right braids pointing downwards, highlighting side of the frame, the goddess Athena, who their unusual position. The upper listel of is represented frontally, dressed in a long the metope retains a section of the original tunic (chiton) with rigid and symmetrical painted meander decoration. pleats, observes the scene unseen but ready to (For those wishing to learn more, we intervene on behalf of her protégé. Traces of recommend Clemente Marconi’s work from polychrome decoration can be found on the 2007 Temple decoration and cultural identity goddess’s dress and the bottom of the panel. in the archaic greek world: the metopes of Finally, the last of the reliefs depicts the Selinus). mighty Hercules, naked, his face and torso shown from the front and his legs in profile, Alessandra Ruvituso TIMELESS MASTERPIECES METOPE FROM TEMPLE E AT SELINUNTE 460-450 BC. The sculptured metopes formed Classical Age (5th century BC) part of the Doric frieze, and decorated the Limestone and marble east front of the pronaos (the colonnade in front of the cell) and west opisthodomus (the Museo Archeologico Regionale ‘Antonino portico behind the cell), six on each side. Salinas’ According to the most recent hypotheses Piazza Olivella Palermo (Clemente Marconi, Selinunte: le metope tel.