Giacomo Serpotta (10 March 1656 – 27 February 1732) was an Italian sculptor, active in a

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style and mainly working in

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

Biography

Serpotta was born and died in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

; and may have never left Sicily. His skill and facility with stucco sculpture appears to have arisen without mentorship or direct exposures to the mainstream of Italian

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Rudolf Wittkower Rudolf Wittkower (22 June 1901 – 11 October 1971) was a British art historian specializing in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, who spent much of his career in London, but was educated in Germany, and later moved to the Unite ...

describes him as an aberrancy in an otherwise provincial scene, a "meteor in the Sicilian sky". In 1677, along with Procopio de Ferrari, he decorated the small church of the Madonna dell’Itria in

Monreale Monreale (; ; Sicilian: ''Murriali'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy. It is located on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the very fertile valley called ''"La Conca d'oro"'' (the Golde ...

. His first independent work appears to be in 1682 in connection with an equestrian statue cast of

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...

and Sicily, which was cast in bronze by Gaspare Romano. The Serpotta family, including his brother Giuseppe (1653–1719) and his son Procopio (1679–1755), was immensely prolific in Palermo, decorating churches and oratories. In style, he has a florid elegance that often recalls

Antonio Raggi Antonio Raggi (1624–1686), also called ''Antonio Lombardo'', was a sculptor of the Roman Baroque, originating from today's Ticino. Biography He was born in Vico Morcote on the Lake Lugano. His mentor in Rome for nearly three decades was Gian ...

, a slightly older artist who was adept at stucco decoration and active in Rome. For example, decorating the '' Oratory of San Lorenzo'' (1690/98–1706) with such a profusion of statuary, teeming with putti, that the walls appear to quiver with the movement of a crowd. He completed work also for the Oratory of Santa Cita;Oratory of Santa Cita (1668–1718)
the Oratory of Rosario di San Domenico (1710–17); the Oratory of San Mercurio; the Oratory of Santa Caterina, adjacent to the church of the Olivella; and the chapel for the ''Ospedale di Palermo''. His work at the oratory of the Compagna della Carità di San Bartolomeo degli Incurabili in Palermo has been lost. Oratorio_del_Rosario_di_Santa_Cita_08

His stucco work for the oratories follows a general formula, but each elaboration is its individual tour de force. Two of the oratories are dedicated to the

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

, and the wall is divided into a series of tableaux or dioramas, each matching a ''Mystery of the Rosary'', above these are allegorical figures or a fecundity of cherubs in playful frolic. The tableux develops a program of prayer images, like a

via crucis The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imitati ...

for contemplative prayer. The Santa Cita oratory is remarkable for its dioramas, coupled with almost genre like figures calling our attention from the moldings on which they perch. Between the doors entering the oratory is a remarkably detailed depiction of a naval battle, referencing the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

. In the frames above and below are a trophy of arms, including helmets and body armor, and a Hapsburg eagle spreads its wings. He also decorated the Archbishop's Palace in Santa Chiara; the

Badia Nuova Badia Nuova is a Catholic church located in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. Adjoining the church there is the convent of Saint Francis of Paola. History The church was founded in 1531 by Father Filippo Scamacca, w ...

; and the Saints Cosmas and Damian's Church in

Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilo ...

Gallery

Statue di Giacomo Serpotta Oratorio di San Domenico.jpg, Oratorio di San Domenico, c.1600. La Giustizia di Giacomo Serpotta (Alcamo).jpg, ''Justice'', (one of four cardinal virtues) stucco, dated 1722 ( Saints Cosmas and Damian's Church in

) Mansuetudine di Giacomo Serpotta, Alcamo.jpg, ''Prudence'', stucco, dated 1724

in Alcamo San Pietro di Giacomo Serpotta, Alcamo.jpg, Saint Peter,

in Alcamo

References

Sources

* *
Web Gallery of Art Biography
* Donald Garstang: Giacomo Serpotta and the Stuccatori of Palermo 1560-1790

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serpotta, Giacomo 1652 births 1732 deaths Artists from Palermo Italian Baroque sculptors 17th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 18th-century Italian sculptors Rococo sculptors Catholic sculptors 18th-century Italian male artists