San Castrense di Monreale

Saint Castrense, Bishop venerated in the city of Monreale, became its patron thanks to William II who laid his relic, received as a gift for his marriage, under the high altar of the Cathedral. Two miracles are attributed to the Saint, the liberation of a man possessed by the devil and the rescue on the high seas of a ship loaded with people. In this painting he is represented in the act of performing the miracle. This painting made on glass sheet, was made with the use of oil paints and gold leaf. The glass painting is an ancient painting technique almost disappeared, whose peculiarity is to realize the subjects according to a “specular” perspective, so that at the end of the work the glass sheet must be “turned”, to show the correct side that will be clearly visible thanks to the transparency of the glass. In order to obtain the correct pictorial result, the artist will have to proceed by superimposing various layers of paint, inserting, first, the decorative details of the subject, and then finish with the larger parts.