Santa Rosalia

Wall furniture Hand carved tuff
Single artwork

400,00

Description by the artist

The work of art represents Santa Rosalia distinguished by its basic characteristics: the cave, the lily symbol of purity, the skull symbol of the plague from which Santa Rosalia saved the city of Palermo the tuff is a magmatic effusive rock , medium hardness and easily workable. I work my artworks with rudimentary tools, such as hammer, saw, file and chisel. For this reason, the artifacts may have irregularities and will always be unique pieces. After the processing of the artifact I consolidate it with materials that make it waterproof, durable and unalterable over time.

Details and dimensions

Materials: Hand carved tuff
Dimensions (cm): Height 44, Width 17, Depth 8
Weight (kg): 5
Handcrafted in Sicily

The artwork in the Sicilian culture

By the Governance of Sicilian Artisan Foundation

Santa Rosalia, a santuzza for the Palermitani, is the patron saint of the Sicilian capital: Palermo. Born Rosa Sinibaldi, in 1130, when in Sicily reigned the Normans, from a noble family related to King Roger II of Sicily. Promised in marriage to Prince Baldovino, the day before the wedding had a mystical vision and decided to take the vows taking refuge in a family estate, the forest of Santo Stefano di Quisquina. There she lived 12 years inside a cave documenting her choice of life with a Latin epigraph written at the entrance of the cave. Later she returned to Palermo where she settled in another cave, at the top of Monte Pellegrino, where she died. In this place in the seventeenth century  was built her sanctuary, venerated by the people of Palermo. At least once in their life every Palermo citizen undertakes the climb to the sanctuary of the santuzza.

Photo Santa Rosalia shrine on the top of Mont Pellegrino, Claude Chatelet, 1785

The Governance also suggests

The objective of the Governance is both to safeguard the traditions and ancient crafts of the people of Sicily, and to sustain economically the Artisans and the Artists, both the real ethno-anthropologists of the country.
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Santa Rosalia

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