Giacomo Serpotta – sculptor

Artist could transform wet plaster into realistic scenes

A section of Serpotta's remarkable work in the Oratory
of San Cita in Palermo, depicting a naval battle

Sicilian sculptor Giacomo Serpotta, whose creations in stucco have been described as turning a craft into an art, was born on this day in 1656 in Palermo.

Serpotta constructed entire scenes that included lifelike figures with realistic facial expressions. He decorated churches in his home city using stucco, a traditional material used in Sicily during the 17th century in architecture.

His decorations for the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo incorporate such a profusion of statuary that the walls appear to quiver with the movement of a crowd, according to people who have visited the church.

It has been claimed by Serpotta’s biographer that the artist never left Sicily and had no exposure to the Italian baroque style, but this has never been proved one way or the other.

Serpotta was born into a family of sculptors and stucco workers. With his brother, Giuseppe, and his son, Procopio, he established his own studio in Palermo that specialised in stucco work.

Stucco is a type of building material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. It is applied wet and later hardens and can be used as a decorative coating for walls. Serpotta used it to create statues and complex wall decorations, working with it when it was still a malleable paste before it hardened irreversibly.

Serpotta’s remarkable work for the Oratory of Santa Cita includes a detailed depiction of a naval battle, inspired by the Battle of Lepanto, all made out of stucco.

His biographer, Filippo Meli, has stated that Giacomo Serpotta never left Sicily, but some experts have said his work indicates the clear influence of Roman-style baroque art. There is a theory that Serpotta may have visited Rome, but that the trip was never documented. However, this has never been corroborated.

Antonio Ugo's bust of Giacomo Serpotta in the
cloister of the Church of San Domenico

Some experts thought the influence of Roman baroque style to be evident in his design for an equestrian statue of Charles II, which was cast in stucco and then constructed in bronze and erected in the square of the Duomo di Messina in 1680. Unfortunately, this statue was destroyed in 1848 and so it is now known to scholars only through the drawings of it that remain.

His work, Ecstasy of Santa Monica is also believed to show Roman influence as it is a translation of Bernini’s marble sculpture through the medium of stucco.

In addition to decorating churches in Palermo, Serpotta also worked with his family on the Palermo hospital chapel, the Archbishop’s Palace in Santa Chiara, and the Badia Nuova of Alcamo.

Giacomo Serpotta has been described by an art historian as ‘a meteor in the Sicilian sky’ because of his light, graceful style. The signature he used on his work was a carving of a lizard, because the word ‘sirpuzza’ means ‘small serpent’ in the Sicilian language. An example of this signature can be seen on a gold column next to one of his statues in the Oratory di San Rosario di San Domenico. 

Stories about the churches he decorated in Sicily eventually spread to Germany, where his style went on to influence artists of the Rococo period there.

Serpotta died in 1732 in Palermo, at the age of 76.

Catania's Cattedrale di Sant'Agata is an
example of Sicily's prevalent Baroque style

Travel tip:

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, just off the toe of Italy’s boot. The ancient ruins, diverse architecture and wonderful cuisine enjoyed by visitors are all testament to the island’s colourful history. Watching over the island is Mount Etna, a volcano that is still active today. Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is a vibrant city with a wealth of beautiful architecture, plenty of shops and markets to browse in, and a large opera house. Sicily’s other major cities include Catania, a vibrant city of Baroque architecture sitting in the shadow of Etna, with a splendid fish market, as well as Messina, which faces the mainland in the northeast corner of the island, and the Baroque gems that are Siracusa, Noto and Ragusa. Siracusa is also famous for its Archaeological Park, which contains the remains of both a Greek theatre and a Roman amphitheatre. Agrigento, on the south coast, is home to the Valley of the Temples, one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of Magna Graecia to be found anywhere.

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Serpotta's stucco adorns the Church of
San Domenico in Palermo

Travel tip:

The Oratory of the Rosary of San Domenico, which showcases the magnificent stucco work of Giacomo Serpotta, is in the historic centre of Palermo in Via dei Bambini. Building work on the Oratory began in 1574 next to the Church of San Domenico, in the Loggia quarter. In 1714, Serpotta was commissioned by the Oratory to create, in stucco, episodes from the Apocalypse, and Allegorical statues of the Virtues to go above and between the paintings on display there. In addition to Serpotta’s sumptuous decorations, the Oratory houses paintings by important artists such as Matthias Stom, Pietro Novelli, Valerio Castello and Luca Giordano as well as an altarpiece by Anthony van Dyck, the Flemish Baroque painter, whose depiction of the Madonna of the Rosary with Saints Dominic, was commissioned during the period of the 1624 plague. Van Dyck spent six years in Italy, based mainly in Genoa. He was visiting Palermo at the time of the plague outbreak and remained quarantined there.

Palermo hotels from Expedia

More reading:

The unsolved theft of a Caravaggio masterpiece from Palermo's Oratory of San Lorenzo

Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, the architect who shaped the look of Catania

How the devastation of a massive earthquake led to Sicily’s architectural rebirth

Also on this day: 

1628: The birth of scientist Marcello Malpighi

1749: The birth of librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte

1872: The death of Risorgimento inspiration Giuseppe Mazzini

1900: The birth of architectural sculptor Corrado Parnucci

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