The Church That Never Was
One of the most evocative moments you can experience in Palermo is to stand in the church ruins of Santa Maria dello Spasimo on a dying summer day, watching the remains of this late Gothic building catch fire with the rays of the setting sun. This sight evokes the spirit of Raphael, who came here to paint his famous portrait of the anguish of the Madonna before the cross. You'll have to go to the Prado in Madrid to see the actual masterpiece, but the inspiration for it is right here in La Kalsa.
The Mystery of the Stolen Painting
In 1969, the art world learned in newspaper headlines that "the divine" Caravaggio's last large painting, The Nativity, had been stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo, where it once hung over the altar. Caravaggio created the work in 1609, a year before his death. No motive for the theft has ever been declared, and it is believed that the painting has been needlessly destroyed. The curator told us, "We keep hoping that one day it will come back to us, but as each day goes by, that hope grows dimmer and dimmer."
