The Missale Romanun of 1662: A Visual Source for Giacomo Serpotta’s Work

Abstract

The paper focuses on some moments of the artistic production of the palermitan sculptor Giacomo Serpotta. We dwell, specifically, on the identification of the precise iconographic sources concerning some details that are part of the decorative scheme elaborated by the artist for the churches of Carmine Maggiore and Gesù in Palermo, and the church of Santo Spirito in Agrigento. Said works were realized respectively in 1683-1684, after 1710, and after 1709. These iconographic sources are identified in some of the prints contained within the Missale Romanum published in Rome during the papacy of Alexander VII in 1662. The missal in question is characterized by the considerable presence of valuable full-page engravings, the realization of which was entrusted to a team of artists who worked under the supervision of Pietro da Cortona. Serpotta’s use of these engravings, for one of his very first works and for later works, is therefore significant since it testifies to a lasting, but above all precocious openness of the artist to the figurative culture of Roman Baroque.