A Legacy of Art & Architecture

For decades, scholars have claimed that if you want to uncover the history of Western civilization, you need look no further than the island of Sicily. The original melting pot is a showcase of art and architecture of the Mediterranean, as each conqueror brought a different style and artistic statement to the island over 10,000 years of history. From the earliest graffiti found in caves to the glorious Doric temples at Agrigento to the pinnacle of Sicilian baroque in Catania, each wave of civilization has left its mark. Sometimes the styles of two different occupiers have been uniquely blended -- witness the marriage of Arabic and Norman art and architecture into an "Arabo-Norman" style.

The bad news is that much of Sicily's artistic legacy has been damaged by volcanic explosions, earthquakes, and a range of man-made forces, from Hannibal's invading troops from North Africa to the Allied bombardments of 1943, which routed the Nazi occupiers. Much that remains is threatened by decay.

The Mafia hasn't helped either. The looting of the island's treasures for sale abroad to wealthy, anonymous buyers has taken a vast toll on Sicily's artistic heritage.

Prehistoric Art

Artists have been at work in Sicily since prehistoric times, as rock paintings and graffiti discovered at Palermo and Messina reveal. Even in the Neolithic period, the first indigenous cultures, such as those who settled Lipari, were turning out artful ceramics and terra cotta, many of which remain to this day (to see some, visit the Museo Archeologico Eoliano in Lipari).

The most remarkable cave paintings were those found at Grotta del Genovese on Levanzo, one of the Egadi Islands off the western coast of Sicily. Discovered by accident in 1949, the Paleolithic wall paintings and Neolithic drawings are anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 years old. Most of the drawings are of wild animals, such as deer and horses. Even the mighty tuna traditionally found in these waters show up here.

The Legacy Of The Greeks

From the 8th century on, the Greeks settled Sicily in waves, leaving great contributions to architecture before they were replaced by other conquerors. Much of their heritage was destroyed by pillagers, but much still remains to delight us. The Greeks left a legacy of some of the best-preserved temples in the Western world, especially those at Agrigento in the Valley of the Temples, those in the ruined city of Selinunte, those in the archaeological gardens at Syracuse, and (best of all) the magnificent and still-standing Temple at Segesta. The temples constructed in Sicily were more innovative than even those of classical Greece.

The archaeological museums of Sicily are filled with artifacts from the Greek occupation: painted ceramics and amphorae, sculptures and metopes, and bronzes and carved ornaments for temple buildings.

The apogee, however, of Greek architectural contribution to Sicily is the Doric temple, which stood on a three-stepped base, its inner chamber housing a statue of the god to whom the temple was dedicated.

The Coming Of The Romans

Unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not leave a great artistic legacy in Sicily, except for the Villa Romana (Roman villa) at Casale, outside the town of Piazza Armerina. The vast polychrome floor mosaics at this 40-room villa from the 3rd century A.D. are worth the trek across Sicily. Other traces of Roman architecture can be found in the amphitheaters of Taormina and Syracuse, as well as in Syracuse's Christian catacombs.

Artistic Flowering Under The Normans

Subsequent conquerors such as the Byzantines and the Arabs made little artistic impact on Sicily until invited back by later conquerors, the Normans. The Byzantines transformed Greek temples into Christian basilicas, while the Arabs built palaces, private residences, and religious buildings with such Asian characteristics as domes piercing the roofs. The Arab-Norman artistic expression -- called the Arab or "Arabo-Norman" style -- represented a flowering of art and architecture.

From the 11th century on, the Normans began to transform Sicily, and much of their achievement remains today. This trio of different cultures -- Norman, Arabic, and Byzantine -- created what came to be called the "Sicilian Romanesque" style.

The Normans erected cathedrals, or duomos. Their achievements -- the cathedrals at Monreale and Cefalù and the Palazzo dei Normanini in Palermo -- remain among the greatest sightseeing attractions on the island today.

Roger II (1131-54) launched the first major Sicilian cathedral at Cefalù, using a Latin cross plan with a chevron pattern. Pointed arches and angled columns particular to Sicily, as opposed to mainland cathedrals, still characterize this landmark church. The mosaic decorations in its interior alone would make this one of Sicily's greatest churches.

The mosaics in the cathedral at Monreale are even more stunning and beautiful. It was at Monreale that Sicily reached the apex of its contribution to medieval art in Europe. The Monreale Duomo also contains the most examples of Norman sculpture on the island, more than 200 slender columns with twin capitals. Each of these capitals is graced with a singular composition.

Palermo also has a splendid cathedral and important churches of the period, such as Martorana and San Giovanni degli Ermeti, along with the Arab-influenced palaces of La Cuba and La Zisa.

But the Normans lavished the most attention on the seat of their power, the mammoth Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo. This sumptuous palace became the seat of the Hauteville dynasty. Using a palace originally constructed by the Arabs in the 9th century, the Normans greatly extended it between 1132 and 1140. The crowning architectural glory of this palace is the Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel), with its Arab-inspired cupola and a stunning modern honeycomb ceiling based on Arab designs.

With the passing of the Normans and the arrival of the Hohenstaufen rulers in the 13th century, the great flowering of Sicilian art slowly died. The Hohenstaufens were more interested in fortifications and castles than in art. The dark ages of Sicilian art had descended on the island and would last for 4 centuries.

Sicily Sleeps Through The Renaissance

At the height of the Renaissance, Sicily remained under Spanish occupation. That may explain why Sicily virtually slept through the Renaissance, which began in Florence and swept across the rest of Italy. Although no great architectural heritage remains in Sicily from this era, painting and sculpture dominated the artistic firmament, revealing mainly Spanish but also Flemish influences.

Sicily's greatest artist, Antonello da Messina (1430-79), emerged during this period, initially inspired by the Flemish school and later showing the influence of his encounters with Piero della Francesca and Giovanni Bellini in Venice. One painting more than any other exemplifies his work: Portrait of an Unknown Man, in the Cefalù Museo Mandralisca. His other notable works, the greatest of Renaissance art in Sicily, are the Polyptych of St. Gregory, in the Museo Regionale in Messina, and the Annunciation, in the Palazzo Bellomo in Syracuse.

The Gagini family of sculptors and architects moved down from Lake Lugano and had an enormous impact on Sicily. The founding father of the Gagini school was Domenico Gagini (1420-92), who often worked in conjunction with his son, Antonello, born in Palermo in 1478. Their sculpture still adorns many of the churches of Palermo, and a Gagini school flourished in Sicily until the mid-1600s.

The Explosion Of The Baroque

The baroque style swept Sicily, awakening the island from a long slumber since the Normans departure centuries earlier. That observer of all things Italian, Luigi Barzini, saw the baroque as a metaphor for "a frenzied search for consolation and revenge against crude and overbearing foreign devils."

The baroque came into vogue as a result of a devastating earthquake in 1693 in eastern Sicily that leveled such cities as Catania. The style of their reconstruction was baroque, the founding father of which, in Sicily, was Rosario Gagliardi (1700-70). He designed the magnificent Cattedrale San Giorgio at Ragusa Ibla. Islanders combined the Spanish-inspired version of the baroque with Sicilian decorative and structural elements to create their own unique style.

The baroque city that emerged after the earthquake in Catania was created in part by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-69), who devoted 3 decades of his life to pulling a new Catania out of the ashes.

Noto, in southeastern Sicily, is another city that was rebuilt in the baroque style after the earthquake. The unity of the baroque style here remains unequaled anywhere else on the island.

In the west in Palermo, the baroque style came under the influence of Spanish dons who preferred Spagnolismo, or a love of ostentation. The Quattro Canti crossroads of the city remains today as the most lavish example of the dons' taste for overly adorned squares and streets. Private palaces, or palazzi, were also richly adorned, with sculptures ranging from angels to nymphs to gargoyles.

The master of the Palermitan oratories, Giacomo Serpotta, born in Palermo in 1656, specialized in adorning church oratories with molded plasterwork in ornamental frames. You can see one of his masterpieces today, Palermo's Oratory of the Rosary, in the church of Santa Zita -- about which the author Paul Duncan once claimed: "You can almost hear the chortling, farting, and giggling of the putti."

Contemporary Art

Now that the 20th century has ended, it can safely be said that few books will be written on modern art and artists in Sicily. The one exception is Renato Guttuso (1911-87). Painting in a style often called visceral, Guttuso became renowned around the world for his nudes, landscapes, and still lifes. Visitors to Palermo today need only drive just outside the city to the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, at the town of Bagheira, to see the best examples of Guttuso's work as well as his on-site tomb.