Palermo, Italia
The dome of Carmine Maggiore is the third in chronological order among the largest built in Palermo. At that time a literature of theoretical treatises on the construction of domes was not yet available, so the Carmelites had to rely on the expertise of local technicians with proven experience. The director of the works, brother Angelo La Rosa, was joined first by the head master of the Kingdom Giuseppe D’Amato and then, halfway through the work, also by the jesuit Angelo Italia. To give greater stability to the dome, Italia had the idea of superimposing the masonry buttresses disguised as telamons on the drum already built. The giants are not the representation of prisoners subjugated under the weight of the dome but rather the ancient hermits of the sacred Mount Carmel which is symbolically represented by the vault, whose majolica covering depicts the coat of arms of the religious Order. On the skyline of Palermo, the dome reminds at the devotees the cult of Mary, which an image widespread in Sicily, the Odigitria, portrays her supported by two elderly so-called “caloeri”.
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