Sicily

A guide to the fascinating and diverse history and culture of Sicily.

The book includes key events, places and artists highlighted in wide-ranging articles presented in four parts: History, Cities, Ancient Sites and Artists. A rich tapestry emerges of an island that has experienced dramatic changes of fortune while becoming a melting-pot of cultural influences from the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and mainland Italy. It also includes commentary on the monuments and works of art to be seen today, linking Sicily past and present.

Follow the stories of Dionysius' castle, the foundation of the cathedral at Monreale, the Sicilian poets who invented the sonnet and the British merchants who made Marsala wine an international brand.

Tour the big cities of Catania and Messina, the resorts of Taormina and Cefalù, and the baroque hilltowns of south-eastern Sicily. Explore the ancient sites, among them Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento.

Witness the originality of the island's culture through the profiles of eight artists, sculptors and architects from the Renaissance to the twentieth century including Antonello da Messina, Giacomo Serpotta and Renato Guttuso, as well as Caravaggio, who left some of his last masterpieces on the island.

This book complements the author's previous work on Syracuse and Palermo, filling in gaps in the island's story, to form a comprehensive trilogy on Sicily.

Auteur

Jeremy Dummett is an expert on the history of Sicily and author of Syracuse, City of Legends: A Glory of Sicily (I.B. Tauris)

Texte du rabat

The diversity of Sicily's history and culture is vividly portrayed in this book. In it, key events, places and artists are highlighted in wide-ranging articles presented in four parts: History, Cities, Ancient Sites and Artists. A rich tapestry emerges of an island that has experienced dramatic changes of fortune while becoming a melting-pot of cultural influences from the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and mainland Italy. Commentary on the monuments and works of art, to be seen today, links Sicily past and present.

With this book follow the stories of Dionysius' castle, the foundation of the cathedral at Monreale, the Sicilian poets who invented the sonnet and the British merchants who made Marsala wine an international brand. Tour the big cities of Catania and Messina, the resorts of Taormina and Cefalù, and the baroque hilltowns of south-eastern Sicily. Explore the ancient sites, among them Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento. Witness the originality of the island's culture through the profiles of eight artists, sculptors and architects from the Renaissance to the twentieth century including Antonello da Messina, Giacomo Serpotta and Renato Guttuso, as well as Caravaggio, who left some of his last masterpieces on the island.

This book complements the author's previous work on Syracuse and Palermo, filling in gaps in the island's story, to form a comprehensive trilogy on Sicily.

Contenu

Foreword

PART I: History

1. Introduction
2. The Castle of Dionysius
3. Sicily under the Roman Republic
4. The Arabs in Sicily
5. The Cathedral at Monreale
6. Frederick II and the Sicilian Poets
7. Domenico Caracciolo, the Reforming Viceroy
8. The British Wine Merchants
9. The Revolution of 1848

PART II: Cities

10. Introduction
11. Catania, Sicily's commercial capital, and Mount Etna
12. Taormina, Sicily's top international resort
13. Messina, port with connections to mainland Italy
14. Cefalù, seaside town with a Norman cathedral
15. Noto, baroque hill town
16. Ragusa and Modica, baroque hill towns
17. Palazzolo Acreide, baroque hill town
18. Marsala, ancient Lilybaeum, port city famous for its wine

PART III: Ancient Sites

19. Introduction
20. Pantàlica, a pre-historic site
21. Segesta, an Elymian city, with a Greek temple
22. Selinunte, ancient Selinus, a Greek city
23. Agrigento, ancient Akragas, a Greek city
24. Mozia, ancient Motya, a Punic city
25. Villa Casale at Piazza Armerina, a Roman villa

PART IV: Artists

26. Introduction
27. Antonello da Messina, Renaissance painter
28. Antonello Gagini, Renaissance sculptor
29. Caravaggio, baroque painter
30. Pietro Novelli, baroque painter
31. Giacomo Serpotta, baroque sculptor
32. Rosario Gagliardi, baroque architect
33. Ernesto Basile, architect of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
34. Renato Guttuso, twentieth century painter

Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Maps
Index