Un progetto alla romana nella Sicilia del primo Seicento: Orazio Torriani e la riforma della chiesa Madre di Piazza Armerina (1627-1628)

Abstract

The contribution updates and delves into the planning story of the "Roman" architect Orazio Torriani in Sicily, invited in 1627 by the bishop of Catania Innocenzo Massimi, with the probable support of the Benedictines, to close the thirty-year project consultation for the reform of the Mother Church of Piazza Armerina. Torriani's project, drawn up in two stages (1627, 1628) and through various inspections in Sicily, was partly realized but can be reconstructed through the archive documents found and comparisons with the Roman production of the time, while the elaborate drawings were lost. The story, investigated in the context of contemporary Sicilian production, opens up questions (early introduction of a project with "Roman-style" language, schemes of the Counter-Reformation, authorship of the architect, interference of the client, respect for pre-existences, relationship with the place and with the skills of local workers, introduction of new materials and construction techniques) linked to the methods of receiving an imported project, between the strength of tradition and the need for renewal.