Baroque
Baroque is the superlative of the bizarre, the excess of the ridiculous.
Francesco Milizia
Baroque
The term "baroque" was coined in the 1700s and indicates the style of the "shapes that fly",contrasting the exaggeration of the 17th century with the rational simplicity of the 18th century Enlightenment.Despite this term being revalued at the end of the 19th century,it is still used in a derogatory way to indicate an exaggerated and refined artificiality.The Baroque was born in the late sixteenth century.Baroque is characterized by the imitation of terms and subjects taken from tradition and the attempt to overcome them through the very bizarre emphasis of asymmetry and chromatic contrasts.Many artists had a strong desire to return to naturalism.With the earthquake of 1693,there was the destruction of the inhabited centers of eastern Sicily,and some cities were rebuilt,including Catania,Acireale,Noto and Modica.These cities,despite having ancient traditions and still retaining some of both previous and later cultures,retain their Baroque importance today.It is the Baroque of the Val di Noto,which differs from other cities due to the use of building materials.For example,the dark gray baroque of Catania is modeled on lava stone,while that of Noto appears pinkish-honey.
The characteristics of the Baroque
The Baroque has a dramatic architectural style,rich in sculptures and decorations,with chiaroscuro effects.Sicilian Baroque is the most defined compared to the general characteristics of the continent's Baroque.The buildings take on important characteristics:
-The presence of masks and cherubs,which support the balconies or decorate the horizontal parts of the entablature of a building;
-The balconies,often accompanied by wrought iron balustrades.The railings can also be found around the windows;
-The widespread use of external stairs in all public buildings often had been designed with a portal in the main facade,accessible to carriages,leading up to an internal courtyard,where double stairs lead up to the main floor,constituting the noble entrance to the house;
-Churches and palaces exhibit facades with complex geometry,concave or convex.This feature involves villas or palaces that have external staircases carved into the recesses created by the curves;
-Initially the bell tower was not positioned next to the church in a single bell tower,but placed on the facade, in the center, overlooking the tympanum,with one or more bells,each in sight with the arch.If in a church there are many bells the main facade becomes higher,pyramidal in shape and quite modeled;
-The interiors of the churches with a profusion of inlaid marble flooring and wall cladding;
-The columns, usually isolated and detached from the facade, support the broken architraves;
-The ashlar is a type of coating formed by bosses and derives its name from the old French: buigne is a term that indicates what protrudes,a protuberance with respect to a plane.The architects decorated the bosses with sculptures of leaves,scales,with sweets and with shells that became the ornamental symbol of the Baroque.Sometimes ashlar was used for pillars instead of walls, left smooth, with decorative and chiaroscuro effects;
-Many buildings of the Baroque, especially in Sicily, are built with the local lava stone.As this is the easiest to find,its shades of black and gray were often used to create decorative contrasting chromatic effects;
-Persistence of constructive and decorative elements of the architecture of the Norman period.
-The architectural influence of Spain (which then dominated Sicily) is often recognizable and particularly evident in Sicily.The monumental Porta Grazia di Messina (1680) would be at home in any citadel built by the Spaniards elsewhere,in their colonies.The style of this arched city gate was widely copied throughout Catania immediately after the earthquake.
Baroque Artist:Rosario Gagliardi
Rosario Gagliardi, born in Syracuse in 1680 and died in Noto in 1726,is the greatest Baroque architect in Sicily,whose immeasurable work is all concentrated on this island, is also active in the two cities close to Noto,namely Ragusa and Modica In Ragusa,he built the churches of San Giuseppe and San Giorgio.Gagliardi, perhaps helped by other Neapolitan architects,designed for Modica, the plan of the magnificent church of San Giorgio, recognizable by its slender bell tower.Majestic interventions also in Catania,"Rebuilt" by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini who,during his learning in Rome under the guidance of Carlo Fontana,discovers the brilliant creativity of the great and tormented architect Borromini.The church of San Salvatore with its elliptical dome and numerous private buildings are the testimonies.Among all the Baroque monuments of Palermo,such as Porta Felice and Porta San Domenico,the fountains and facades located at the crossroads of the Quattro Canti in the historic center,characterize fully the Baroque style.The new aristocratic residences also flaunt their wealth, covering themselves with extravagant decorations,such as the Mirto and Butera palaces.Among the Baroque palaces,those of Bagheria,located a few kilometers from Palermo are certainly the most representative of Sicilian Baroque art.Among these refined villas,immersed in luxury and gardens populated with statues,stand out Villa Cattolica,Villa Trabia,Villa Butera,Villa Valguarnera and Villa Palagonia,known for the abundance of its decorations.The villa became the symbol of the absurd,known throughout the Europe of the Enlightenment even before Goethe's visit in 1787.
