The art of the Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola lands in Catania: the diocesan museum hosts the exhibition "Sofonisba Anguissola and the Madonna dell'Itria. The cult of Hodighitria in Sicily from the Middle Ages to the modern age", available from September 17, 2022 to December 4.
"Sofonisba Anguissola and the Madonna dell'Itria. The Cult of Hodighitria in Sicily from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age."
Another very important one show goes to enrich thecultural offering of our cityThe protagonist is the painter of Cremonese origin Sofonisba Anguissola, very active in Sicily during the Renaissance period. Her name is similar to that of the painters Artemisia Gentileschi e Lavinia Fontana, artists and especially "modern" women, active thanks to their talent throughout Italy and at the most important European courts between the 16th and 17th centuries. They are considered pioneers and ladies of Italian art.
The Cult of Hodighitria in Sicily from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age, Sofonisba Anguissola and the Madonna dell'Itria: this is the title of the show set up in the Diocesan Museum of Catania, curated by Roberta Carchiolo, Mario Marubbi and Grazia Spampinato. It was born from the collaboration between the Superintendency for Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Etna, the Ala Ponzone Civic Museum of Cremona and the Diocesan Museum of CataniaThis is a traveling exhibition that has stopped in Cremona and Milan. The event is funded by Sicilian region for an amount of 32 thousand euros.
Who was Sofonisba Anguissola?
It's one of the most intriguing female painters of the Italian RenaissanceHis work enriches our complex and varied Sicilian cultural heritage. Sofonisba Anguissola (ca. 1532 – 1625) was born in Cremona to an aristocratic family from Piacenza. Her father Amilcare belonged to the Council of Decurions on behalf of the King of Spain Philip II, loved art and introduced her daughters to the study of literature, painting and music. Sofonisba decided to become a painter. Her favorite field was portraitureShe was educated in Spain, establishing a very close bond with this country; in fact, she served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella and guardian of the infantas. In 1573, she married the Sicilian nobleman Fabrizio Moncada cadet prince, moving to her husband's palace in Sicily and Paternal.
She remained here until 1579. After her husband's death in a pirate attack on Capri, the artist decided to return to Cremona. She served as “Ruler” of the Moncada fiefdomDuring the voyage, she fell madly in love with the captain who was sailing the ship. The two married and lived together for a long time in Genoa. Sofonisba, to fulfill her role, then decided to return once again to Sicily, specifically to Palermo, where he died at the age of ninety. His was an adventurous life, almost like a novel.
The painter was appreciated by artists such as: Michelangelo, Giorgio Vasari, Anthony van Dyck and by European courts, configuring itself as the first internationally recognized artist.
Today she is an artist who is increasingly attracting international interest in art and culture.
The Madonna of Idria
The travelling exhibition (from north to south) tells the story of Sofonisba and her Madonna dell'Itria or Idria or Odigidria, patron saint of Sicily, whose feast day falls on the Tuesday after Pentecost. The title in Greek means “she who instructs, who shows the direction".
This is an iconographic model of Byzantine origin that depicts the Madonna in half-length with the Baby Jesus in her arms, seated in a blessing gesture. The Virgin has a particular posture, pointing with her right hand while sitting on a wooden chest carried on the shoulders of two Basilian monks. (the “calogeri”). They refer to the legends relating to the theft and the safekeeping, inside a chest, of the miraculous icon that was believed to have been painted by the same San Luca and which had long been considered a protector by the inhabitants of Constantinople, before the final catastrophe of 1453. To protect it from the destructive fury of the Ottomans, the monks who had it in their custody supposedly entrusted it to the waves, and thus it reached the western shores. More than 50 churches throughout Sicily, from large to small towns, are dedicated to the Madonna dell'Idria.
The altarpiece painted by Sofonisba (mixed media on wood, 234 x 166 cm) dates back to the 1570s. It is considered by critics the artist's masterpiece. Sofonisba is appreciated for her portraits but she also created sacred subjects in large-scale altarpieces, some of which were helped by her husband, Prince Moncada.
The exhibition set up in Cremona and Catania, presents the altarpiece restored in Cremona, alongside other works (frescoes, paintings on wood and canvas, sculptures) from Sicily, but also from Northern Italy. The restoration took place in 2020 by the Maestro Domenico Cretti, Under the direction of Architect Antonio Caruso, the supervision of Professor Mario Marubbi, and the oversight of officials from the Catania Superintendency, Dr. Roberta Carchiolo and Dr. Carmela Di Blasi. The work, on loan from Paternò, was first at the Royal Palace in Milan and then in Cremona. It has now returned to Sicily.
The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the mark that the painter left in Sicily with two important works, but also and above all the evolution through the story told through images of the Madonna dell'Odighitria, of her cult and of her iconography which is transformed in Sicily over time in the Madonna dell'Itria.
The connection with Paternò
During the years she lived in the Moncada castle, Sofonisba Anguissola developed a bond with the city, so much so that it has now been adopted by the city of Paternò. It was here that the painter created the altarpiece of the Madonna dell'Itria. Sofonisba, on the verge of leaving the island in 1579, donated the work to the Franciscan convent of Paternò, then the burial place of the Moncada family. The altarpiece was then destined for the Church of the Annunziata. To cement the bond between the city and the artist, the association "Gli Amici di Sofonisba" was founded, which works to relocate the painter's works to the city. It is hoped that, during the upcoming celebration of the patron saint of Santa Barbara, the people of Paternò will be able to once again admire the two altarpieces created for the city by the Cremonese artist, displayed inside the Church of the Ex Monastero dell'Annunziata.
In particular we refer to the altarpieces from the parish of Santa Maria dell'Alto (the city's matrix) on the acropolis of Hybla, Or the Madonna of Itria and la Madonna of the Recommended or of the ShelterThe two paintings were “rediscovered” thanks to relatively recent attributions, the first by Dr. Alfio Nicotra between 1995 and 2002, the second in 2019.
The presentation of the exhibition
The presentation of the exhibition took place Saturday September 17, inside the art gallery of the Diocesan MuseumPresent: theArchbishop Luigi Renna, the Superintendent of Catania, Arch. Donatella Aprile, Dr. Grace Spampinato, Director of the Diocesan Museum, the Prefect Dr. Maria Carmela Librizzi, the Hon. In the Musumeci, Luca Burgazzi, Councillor for Culture, Municipality of Cremona, Father Carmelo Signorello, director of the Cultural Heritage Office of the Archdiocese of Catania.
During the presentation there was also space for a project that also concerns the cathedral of Catania through a 3D journey with “Mudismart” – The connected museum“, app for the use of the heritage of the museum and the Diocese, financed by theRegional Department for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity and made by Superintendency for Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Catania with the technical support of the Brescia BBSThe app offers a multimedia tour of some of the museum's rooms.
The exhibition, in free admission, Sara Open until December 4th, Monday to Saturday from 9am to 13pm; Tuesday and Thursday also from 15pm to 18pm; Sundays and holidays only for groups by reservatione.
INFO:
ppgad@pucrs.br
Tel. (+39) 095.7472279/259
ppgad@pucrs.br
ppgad@pucrs.br
Tel. (+ 39) 095.281635
Sources: Official website of the Sicily Region; Corriere etneo; Sikelian.
