San Giuseppe dei Teatini is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church on via Vittorio Emanuele, at the southwest corner of the

Quattro Canti Quattro Canti, officially known as Piazza Vigliena, is a Baroque square in Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy; it is considered the center of the historic quarters of the city. The site is the intersection of two major streets in Palermo, the Via Maq ...

, in the historic center of the city of

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 ...

, region of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy. The east flank of the nave faces the

Fontana Pretoria The Praetorian Fountain (Italian: Fontana Pretoria) is a monumental fountain located in Piazza Pretoria in the historic center of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. The fountain dominates the piazza on the west flank of the church of Santa Caterin ...

, across the piazza from Santa Caterina. San Giuseppe is an example of the Sicilian Baroque in

History

The church was built at the beginning of the 17th century by Giacomo Besio, a Genoese member of the Theatine order. It has a majestic though simple façade. In the centre niche is housed a statue of San Gaetano, founder of the order. Another striking feature is the large dome with a blue and yellow majolica covering. The tambour decorated with double columns, and was designed by Giuseppe Mariani. The belfry tower was designed by

Paolo Amato Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American s ...

. The interior has a Latin cross plan with a nave and two aisles, divided by marble columns of variable height. The inner decoration is a nearly overwhelming parade of

Baroque art 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 th ...

, with stuccoes by Paolo Corso and

Giuseppe Serpotta Giuseppe Serpotta (1653–1719) was a Sicilian sculptor, the brother of the famous stucco sculptor Giacomo Serpotta Giacomo Serpotta (10 March 1656 – 27 February 1732) was an Italian sculptor, active in a Rococo style and mainly working in ...

. Frescoes decorate the nave ceiling and the transept vault, painted by

Filippo Tancredi Filippo Tancredi (1655–1722) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born in Messina to a minor painter and his mother, who was sister of the painter Filippo Giannetto.Guglielmo Borremans and

Giuseppe Velasquez Giuseppe Velasquez, Velasques or Velasco (16 December 1750 – 7 February 1827) was an Italian painter, active in a Neoclassic style. Biography He was born at Palermo into Spanish family; his father was Fabiano Ungo de Velasco. At the age of ...

. The frescoes were severely damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but have been accurately restored. The most important piece of art is however a wood crucifix by Fra' Umile of Petralia. The crypt houses remains of a former church, dedicated to Madonna of Providence.

References

Description page in Italian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giuseppe Dei Teatini Palermo 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Giuseppe dei Teatini San Giuseppe dei Teatini Palermo Church buildings with domes Theatine churches Sicilian Baroque