Church of Saint Mary of Jesus

Church of Saint Mary of Jesus
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Gesù

Façade of church of Saint Mary of Jesus

Façade of church of Saint Mary of Jesus
Basic information
Location Alcamo, Trapani, Italy
Territory Alcamo
State Italy
Province Trapani
Region Sicily
Patron Saint Mary of Jesus
Website http://santamarialcamo.jimdo.com/
Groundbreaking around 1450

The church of Saint Mary of Jesus is a catholic church located in Alcamo, in province of Trapani.

Historical Hints

The church of Saint Mary of Jesus in a print of 1770. You can also see the castle of the Counts of Modica, close to town walls.

According to some sources, the church of Saint Mary of Jesus was founded at about 1450 by the Blessed Arcangelo Placenza from Calatafimi,[1] after the foundation of the adjoining monastery of padri Minori Osservanti (called "Friary of Saint Mary of Jesus") by the same Blessed Arcangelo after the mandate of the Blessed Matteo Guimerà of Agrigento.[1] Other sources postpone the date of the church's foundation at the end of the 15th century.[2]

Initially this church was located outside the town's walls, in the open country.[1] Around 1500 the church gave the name to a gate of the town defensive walls, the so called "Jesus' Gate".[3]

In 1507 the church was restored and widened,[1] thanks to the financing by the governors of Alcamo Federico Enriquez and Anna I Cabrera (his wife).[1] This date is interpreted by other sources as the date of completion of the architectonic work.[2] In the same period they restored the monastery, too.[1] and between 1762 and 1776, by Father Lorenzo from Casteltermini's will, the church was widened again, as the historian Ignazio De Blasi[1] testifies.

In 1920 the church was entitled as an autonomous parish by the bishop of Mazara.[1]

In 1960 and in 1984 the friary was restored.[1] In 1997 during some restoration works, they renewed the altar, the ambo, the baptismal font, the candelabrum and the officiant's see.[1]

Works

The church's portal, made with Carrara marble, was bought by Luigi Enriquez and Anna Cabrera (owners of the castle of the Counts of Modica in that period) and is ascribed to Bartolomeo Berrettaro,[2] an Italian sculptor who lived between the end of the 15th century and the early years of the 16th century.

The church's vault and walls are adorned with frescoes representing the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, realized by Carlo Righetti (a painter from Padua) in 1901.[1]

Inside the church there is a painting commissioned by Federico Enriquez and Anna I Cabrera, called "Madonna delle Grazie" (Our Lady of Graces) or "Madonna Greca" (Greek Madonna). It represents Our Lady of Graces with the infant Jesus in her arms, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Benedict on the sides, three kneeling pages next to count Federico Enriquez and three damsels close to Anna I Cabrera.[1]

Besides, inside a glass urn, there are the mortal remains of the Blessed Arcangelo Placenza, coming from the church of Saint Michael Archangel in Calatafimi and put inside this urn in 1961.[1] On a side wall you can see also the Blessed Arcangelo's gravestone.[4]

In the sacristy there is a wooden statue representing Saint Paschal Baylon, realized by Giovanni Stellino (1835).[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chiesa di Santa Maria di Gesù (Alcamo).

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 (Italian) Parrocchia Santa Maria di Gesù - La storia della chiesa e del convento
  2. 1 2 3 (Italian) Fulvia Scaduto, "Il complesso di Santa Maria di Gesù ad Alcamo tra XV e XVI secolo".
  3. ↑ Calia, Craparo & Baldassano Cataldo 1991, p. 10
  4. ↑ (Italian) Atlante dell'arte italiana - "Lastra tombale del beato Arcangelo Placenza da Calatafimi, XV d.
  5. ↑ Cataldo 2001, p. 191

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.