The
“Quattro Canti” is the junction in Palermo dividing the four areas of the old
town center. Going southeast down Via
Maqueda you will come across Piazza Pretoria that is home to a splendid
fountain known for generations as La Fontana della Vergogna, or the Fountain of
Shame. Originally built in 1555 by the
Florentine sculpture Francesco Camiliani for a Tuscan villa owned by the
Viceroy Pedro de Toledo, his son on inheriting the villa in 1574 and in debt up
to his neck, sold it to the City of Palermo who erected it where it now stands. The large central fountain is the focal
point for sixteen nude statues of nymphs, humans, mermaids and satyrs. The men are missing the distinguishing mark
of their sex, apparently having been too much for a nearby convent, the nuns
made a midnight requisition.
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The
Baroque facade with the Romanesque belltower |
Nearby are Piazza
Bellini and the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio (more commonly known as
La Martorana). La
Martorana was commissioned in 1143 by George of Antioch, a famous Admiral of
the fleet of King Roger II. Admiral is a
word originated in Sicily from a conflation of Arabic: أمير البحر, amīr al-baḥr, "commander of the sea", with
Latin admirabilis "admirable", although alternative etymologies
derive the word directly from Latin. Antioch
where George was born was an important city of the Byzantine Empire in what is
now southern Turkey. George was a devout
Greek Orthodox Christian in command of Sicily’s navy and mercantile fleet.
Unfortunately for the Byzantine Empire, his power and wealth came from
plundering Greece.
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| Romanesque belltower |
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Baroque
frescoes
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The choir where the nuns could be heard but not seen.
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Initially
dedicated to the celebration of Greek Orthodox rites the church changed in the
13th century when it became Roman Catholic. During the 17th century many of the
original mosaics were removed for Baroque frescoes. The surviving mosaics are amongst the most
impressive in Sicily. The craftsmen were
brought from Byzantium by King Roger II for work on the Palazzo dei Normanni and the Duomo at Cefalu’, also contributed to
this church. The bell tower outside is the culmination of Norman-Arab
architecture.
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| George of Antioch kneeling to Theotokos |
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Roger
II receiving the crown directly from Christ |
The walls
display two mosaics taken from the original Norman façade, depicting King Roger
II, George of Antioch's lord, receiving the crown of Sicily from Jesus, and, on
the northern side of the aisle, George himself, at the feet of the Virgin in
Greek Theotokos. His prostrating requests
forgiveness for a life of piracy and other actions. Theotokos is holding a scroll in Medieval
Greek saying “He who built this house of mine from its very foundations,
George, first among the first of all princes, o Son, protect him and his people
from harm and forgive him for his sins; for you are empowered to do so as the
one and only God, o Word.” The depiction
of Roger was highly significant in terms of its iconography. In Western Christian tradition, the Pope
crowned kings, however, Roger is shown being crowned by God himself. Roger is standing wearing the ornate
ceremonial robes of an emperor of Byzantium.
He is the only sovereign, apart from the emperors of Constantinople,
portrayed in a similar scene.
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Islamic
inscription in Kufic reads: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate, God is sufficient for me and He is the best advocate."
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