Santa Maria di Maniace

On the high altar there is a splendid icon of the Madonna with Child (Santa Maria di Maniace, XII century).
Tradition attributes it to San Luca and tells that it was left there by the Byzantine general Giorgio Maniace in memory of the victorious battle against the Arabs (1040).

The icon of the Virgin breastfeeding the baby is a precious painting of classic beauty and shows unequivocally the presence of Byzantine figurative canons, as the position of the bodies, the brilliant and flat golden background.

The long and tapering hands of the Virgin, the red cloth wrapping up the baby and the initials in Greek letters.

But in this work, to the figures deprived of the classic Byzantine figurative tradition, is used such light to give an unusual fullness and density to faces and soft undulations to drapery.

The iconographic schemes are renewed by the diverse pictorial fashion which uses on the faces colour with deep clashes and hard glitter, with full, solemn figures laden with serene humanity and a masterly construction of the drawing.

The figure gains its pictorial density over the brilliant golden background.

The veil wraps the small face with the rhythmic drapery; the beautiful and slender hands support the light, suckling baby wrapped up in the thick dress’s weaving.

In the extremely composite context of XII and XIII century Sicilian culture this work assumes a particular importance as it documents the vitality and the vivid presence of the Byzantine figurative canons in the painting field, exactly during that artistic transition which shall last till the Renaissance’ threshold in the local artists works.

A Triptych

A triptych, of the XIV century, painted on wood in Gothic style, is placed on the major altar over the icon of Santa Maria.

In the centre portrays the Vingin on the throne while breast-feeding the Baby and on the side panels the fathers of eastern and western monasticism; San Benedetto with cope and pastoral mitre and rules book (to the right) and (to the left), San Basilio in habit and pastoral a tau.

Above, in the utmost centre there is Christ crucifixion, with the Virgin and San Giovanni at the cross feet. In the lateral lunettes you can see, on the left, a bishop with a Greek pontifical dress, pastoral and book (San Nicola) and at right, a warrior with armour, crossed shield and lance (San Giorgio or Guglielmo II).

The figures on the panels stand out on the gilt background and appear realistically human, even keeping their strong symbolic charge.

Evident stylistic and constituent analogies suggest the hypothesis that even the altar-piece placed on the left nave, depicting Santa Lucia with her martyrdom’s attributes, and in the lunette the archangel Gabriel, could belong to the polyptych of the high altar.

Holy Lucia

This pyramid-shaped altarpiece (11th century, painted on wood), originally part of a composition with several sections all painted on wood, depicts Saint Lucy with the attributes of her martyrdom and, in the triangular part at the top, the archangel Gabriel holding a ribbon bearing the greeting Ave gratia plena and some letters with an indecipherable meaning (I.S.A.Q.H.Th.H.).
The image of the Saint, delimited at the top by a troubled frame, stands out against the bright gold background. The upright figure, variously moved by a voluminous cloak that wraps her up to her feet, takes on physicality and strength in the human and well-modeled features of the face.
The painting, indicated as being of the Byzantine school, seems to have been executed with a certain artistic autonomy, especially in the use of color: in fact, a high vital charge and a marked human depth here modify the compositional schemes and traditional iconographic models.

The Annunciation’s

On the back wall of the church, at the altar’s sides, there are two small sculptures in white marble: the Annunciation’s group and what was left of the original high altar constituted by the par aments with, at centre, the Agnus Dei and the reading desk, decorated with clusters.

Valuable examples of XII century Romanesque sculpture, worked in bas-relief, the two works represent the Angel Gabriel holding a lily and the Annunciated Virgin.

In the Angel’s wings, and specialely in the face of the Virgin and in the geometric rigour of her clothes, that almost cancels any physical sense, emphasizing the symbolic meaning, can be seen stylistic and figurative tracts typical of European medieval art. The Virgin’s body, without any physical indication under the dress that comes down straight, looses importance, annulled in the Symbol that She represents.

On the altar of the right nave is the painting of the Vergine della Seggiola, on a panel measuring 80x100 cm (probably from the 15th century).

It depicts the Virgin Mary sitting with the Child in her arms, both in an upright position with their gaze forward. Above are two angels removing a curtain.
The well-drawn figures have the signs of the divine nature in their solemn and austere bearing.
The faces permeated with great serenity stand out against the essential design of the robes wrapped in very accentuated dark colours.
The solemn bearing of the two figures and the axial composition, which accentuates their verticality, underline a spiritual dimension, contradicted by the humanity of the faces.

The «Madonna with Child»

Another painting, probably from the 16th century, but which recalls the Raphaelesque school, depicts a Madonna con Bambino (Madonna with Child).

The Child, naked, lovingly pressed to his mother's breast, looks at her face with eyes full of tender gratitude, offering her a flower.
The feminine and delicate features of the Virgin's face are suffused with a spiritual sweetness, a gentle celestialism that recalls certain paintings from central Italy. The naturalistic setting of the background completes the harmonious configuration.
The brightness of the colors, the softness of the features and the chiaroscuro landscapes, the overlapping of the clothes and the notable depth of the landscape, give the painting a rare beauty and give it a clear stylistic and figurative identity that leads to the artistic sessions of the art of central-northern Italy of the 16th century.