SERPOTTA, A BARBECUED SAINT, AND A STOLEN CARAVAGGIO

"I ran to that oratory in Via Immacolatella, just behind my convent church.  I entered:  it seemed to me that I was entering paradise.  I return around the walls, in the sky, on the altar, there were finely modeled stuccoes, bands, squares, statues, cornices, of a very white milk color, and here and there intertwined together in glittering gold, festoons, scrolls, flowers and foliage, cornucopias, flames, shells, crosses, rays, spandrels, tassels, cords ... And niches with scenes from the lives of saints Lorenzo and Francesco, and joyful angels, naked and round infants, prancing on clouds, curtains and waterfalls, in volutes, on spirals.  But there were larger and more imposing statues of women borne on corbels, very dreamy ladies, noble ladies, in graceful or imperious postures.  I was dazzled, even by a ray of sunshine that, from a window, striking the great crystal nymph, came to strike me on the face.”

                                 Vincenzo Consolo Retablo, Sellerio editore Palermo, 2009

Consolo’s description of the Oratorio di S. Lorenzo is excerpted from his novel, Retablo, set in 1700s Sicily. (Coincidentally, the publisher is our neighbor in Palermo.) The visitor to the oratory is a frate (a friar in the San Franciscan order) who is stupefied by the work of the master craftsman who created its interior decoration, Giacomo Serpotta.  You would be stupefied too.

Giacomo Serpotta (1656-1732) was born and died in Palermo.  Some say he never left the city, but he certainly left his mark.  He was the son and brother of sculptors and is credited with bringing the craft of molding stucco to a high art worthy of a master stone carver.  His style was Rococo and his technique was unique.  Sicily has no pure white marble, and what you see has likely been imported from Carrara, making the material very expensive and accordingly rare.   Serpotta’s genius was to mix white marble dust into his white stucco, which allowed him to polish it to a sheen that mimics Carrara marble.  The result is virtually indistinguishable from stone.

My favorite work by Serpotta in Palermo is the interior decoration of the Oratorio di S. Lorenzo, built in 1570 by the confraternity of Saint Francis, who constructed the basilica of the same name next door.  An oratory is a private place of worship for a lay group or confraternity, which is sometimes opened to the public at the confraternity’s discretion.  Most oratories are not consecrated for Mass and were built at the shrines of martyrs, where the faithful could assemble and pray to their chosen saint.  Among the many services that the confraternity of Saint Francis performed was the dignified burial of the poor from the Kalsa, the old Arab quarter in which the basilica of Saint Francis is located.

Basilica di S. Francesco

The site of the Oratorio di S. Lorenzo was originally occupied by a small church dedicated to the martyr, Saint Lawrence.  For this reason, and because the Caravaggio which hung in the presbytery depicts both saints Lawrence and Francis at the nativity, the oratory and Serpotta’s decoration are dedicated to both saints. 

Caravaggio’s Adoration of the Shepherds

The decorations in the presbytery (what would be the altar, were the chapel consecrated) were designed around Caravaggio's nativity scene, painted in 1609, while he was on the lam in Sicily, having murdered a man in a bar room brawl in Rome.  But don’t get too excited about seeing a genuine Caravaggio if you visit the oratory.  The painting was stolen on the night of October 17-18, 1969, and is probably gracing the rec room of some Mafioso.  A faithful (no pun intended) digital reproduction now hangs in place of the original.  Even though it’s not real, it’s still glorious.

Presbytery and Caravaggio’s Adoration of the Shepherds

The strong diagonal composition and the source of the light in Caravaggio’s nativity scene point the viewer toward the right side of the oratory, as you face the presbytery.  Here, above the inlaid wooden benches and just below the clerestory windows are four teatrini (little theaters), depicting episodes from the life of Saint Francis.  Serpotta chose this wall for the saint because Saint Francis was responsible for elevating the nativity to an exalted position within the Catholic rite.  On this wall, marching from the presbytery to the oratory entrance, we see four of Serpotta’s little stucco dioramas:  the Temptation of S. Francesco, S. Francesco Dressing a Poor Man, S. Francesco’s Prayer to the Sultan, and S. Francesco Receiving the Stigmata.  Unfortunately, many figures have suffered the same fate as the Caravaggio; they have been removed to an unknown location, never to be seen again, except in the photographs displayed in the oratory.

Wooden Benches Inlaid with Ebony, Ivory, and Mother of Pearl

On the opposite wall, are four teatrini depicting scenes from the life of Saint Lawrence:  S. Lorenzo Donates Goods to the Poor, S. Lorenzo Meets Pope Sixtus II, the Dispossession of S. Lorenzo Before his Martyrdom, and the Last Prayer of S. Lorenzo.  These eight scenes culminate in a large tableau over the entrance door depicting the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.  Those of you familiar with the story will remember that he was tied to a grill and roasted alive.  (That’ll put the fear of the Lord in ya!)  Above Saint Lawrence is the figure of Christ on the cross, the ultimate martyrdom, emphasizing and reinforcing the theological imagery and significance.  For those illiterates or who had no scripture available, the message was clear.

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

This grill is repeated in the central motif of the spectacular inlaid marble floor.

Punctuating the eight teatrini are ten allegorical statues of women representing the virtues:  Humility, Glory, Hospitality, Penance, Constance, Mercy, Charity, Eleemosynary, Truth, and Faith.  

Hospitality

Festooned all around the teatrini is a riotous visual cacophony of chubby cherubs (putti) bursting out of the walls, defying gravity, and tumbling down and careening toward us in various playful poses, some naked and others partially clothed in period attire; some playing with coins or blowing soap bubbles; others indicating something noteworthy in Serpotta’s scenes and some indifferent to their theological content; but most are engaged with us in a very lively, theatrical way.  They are roly-poly plump and absolutely adorable!  The women and babies look remarkably lifelike and there is a reason for that.  Serpotta used everyday people as his models.  In fact, no two virtues and no two putti look alike.  

But perhaps the most remarkable thing about these works in stucco is that they were molded in situ.  Incredible, I know.  Serpotta attached metal support rods to the walls and clerestories of the oratory and then molded his figures around these supports, in place, and later polished them to a marble sheen.  It’s actually quite mind-boggling to think that this could be achieved, but that’s the genius of Serpotta and the miracle of saints Lawrence and Francis.

S. Lorenzo’s Dispossession

Keep it real!

Marilyn