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Domenico Girbino

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Sculptures and Compositions in essential and balanced forms

Domenico Girbino

DOMENICO GIRBINODomenico Girbino, sculptor born in Bronte where he completed his studies. Catanese by adoption, he is a teacher at the Artistic Lyceum of Catania and author of wonderful works such as stained glass, bas-reliefs and sculptures that appear in many squares and at the headquarters of numerous public and private institutions.

Other works include the fountain of Piazza Europa in Catania, the monument to the fallen in 1860 in Piazza San Vito inaugurated in Bronte on the occasion of the "Bixio Process" held in October 1985, the Via Crucis composed of 14 stations built along the staircase leading from Taormina to the Sanctuary of the Rocca, the monumental Christ of the Virgillito Church in Paternò and the bronze doors of the churches of the Madonna della Catena, of the Rosary and of the Santuario dell'Annunziata, in Bronte.

For the square of Cosentini (a fraction of the municipality of Santa Venerina), Girbino has carved the monument to the fallen (bas-relief in bronze) and panels depicting scenes of war.

The great season of Girbinian doors, begun in 1973, has not met stasis, indeed in recent years it has appeared very lively for the happy results that the artist has managed to achieve with surprising continuity.

We remember the doors (central and lateral) of the Cathedral of Taormina, that of the mother church of Paceco, the doors made with bronze bas-reliefs of the sanctuary of Sant'Alfio in Trecastagni (1974), the bronze portals of the Sanctuary of San Sebastiano Martire Melilli, the bas-reliefs and stained glass windows of the Parish of St. Francis de Sales in Palermo.

And also the monument to the peasants, near the Madonnuzza school in Mazzarino and the door of the convent of the church Madonna del Carmelo (1977) and, last in chronological order, the bronze doors to the church of San Gregorio di Catania.

«... Every door is a bet with itself. It may seem rhetorical and it is not, because of its gates Girbino is the artist who draws the sketch and the model that shapes the forms, the building company that builds the framework and the craftsman who assembles the entire work in person. .. »(M. D.)

Girbino's abstractionism does not create contrasts with the environments that host his works that crystallize in essential and balanced forms.

The sculptures of Girbino, writes Gaetano Palumbo, reveal "a space that involves the observer in an active dimension where the complexity of reality and individual tension clarify each other and find a complete coherence."

In the photo on the right, the monument by Domenico Girbino in memory of the five Brontians, presumed guilty of massacres and fires in the events of Bronte in 1860, shot by Nino Bixio.

It was erected by the Municipality of Bronte at the conclusion of a Conference-trial on the events of 1860, which took place in October 1985, which had a national resonance;
It is placed at the foot of the staircase that leads to the square of the Church of San Vito where, precisely on the morning of August 10, 1860, the shooting of five unfortunate Bronte people took place.
 

Mimmo Girbino (left), lawyer Renato Radice (son of historian Benedetto Radice) with his son Bene­detto (at rear) and (to the right) professor Nunzio Sciavarrello, pictured in 1973 on occasion of the «Exhibition of the Bronte Artists of yesterday and today», held in the Capizzi College.

In the photo above, Mimmo Girbino, awarded in 1987 with the XXIV Casali for sculpture "for having been able to express with his creative art the deepest feelings of the soul".

The monument, Domenico Girbino work, built in Bronte  in memory of the five brontese presumed culprits of slaughters and fires during the facts of Bronte of 1860, who got shot by Nino Bixio.

It is placed below the steps leading to the square of the San Vito church where, in the morning of August 10th, 1860 the shooting took place.
It was built by the Council at the conclusion of a Convegno-processo on the facts of 1860, held in  October of 1985.

Cristo, di Mimmo GirbinoCristo (part.), di Mimmo Girbino

The statue of the risen Christ sculpted by Mimmo Girbino in 1998 for the 50th anniver­sary of the Parish of Christ the King in Catania (1998). Of the same sculptor are the poly­chrome windows (1975) and the bronze door with panels that illustrate the evangelical allegories about the Kingdom of God (1992).

Santuario dell'Annunziata, il PortaleSantuario dell'Annunziata, porta di D. Girbino

Above, the door of the Santuario dell'An­nunziata.
In the bronze reliefs are the names of all the districts (the 24 Casali) that from 1535 to 1548 met by order of Charles V in ancient Bronte.

Above right, detail of another Girbino door of the Church of the Madonna della Catena, iden­tical in form and style to that of the Annun­ciation.

Bronte, Church of the Madonna del Rosario, details of the bronze door created by Mimmo Girbino.

Translated by Sam Di BellaITALIAN VERSION

     

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