Il prospetto e il fianco della chiesa di Santa Maria la Croce a Regalbuto

Abstract

Today’s appearance of the church of Maria Santissima la Croce in Regalbuto is the result of interventions carried out during the last 300 years. The 19th century’s plaster decorations of the interiors hide the original structure of the 16th-century church. One of the “antiquities remainings” survived on the red carved stone arch upon the main apse. The study reveals that the model of the façade, completed in 1774, is the arch of Triumph for Porta dei Greci in Palermo, designed in 1735 by Nicolò Palma and known today thanks to an engraving by Antonino Bova. A document in the archive of the church of San Basilio demonstrates the process of the side façade design, which required reinforcement at the beginning of the 19th century. The graphic renditions show that the previous version of the project presented arches that would have shaped the sidewall, which is now scanned by square Tuscan columns.