Finding Caravaggio

The Search for Caravaggio

February 10

The day after we got back from our road trip was spent searching for the painting of the Entombment of Santa Lucia, patron saint of Siracusa. This little search had turned into a mystery tour. We followed the guide books and went to where the painting was supposedly kept.

Our first visit was to the museum Galleria Regionale di Palazzo Bellamy which is dedicated to Sicilian art and artifacts and Byzantine paintings. This is where the Entombment of St. Lucy by Caravaggio was supposed to be, but funnily enough it’s not there. We came away disappointed. We checked more websites, talked to people and were determined to find the location of the Santa Lucia painting.

Our next stop was the Duomo in Ortigia.  It made sense that the painting should be here since the cathedral is dedicated to Santa Lucia and some guide books clearly indicated Caravaggio's painting of St. Lucy was housed in this Duomo. Our visit proves this is definitely not the case.

As an aside, this cathedral was built on the foundation of the Greek temple to Athena. The actual temple columns form part of the external/internal church structure as you can see from these photos.  Many churches were built using former Greek temples – very economical and environmentally friendly to use existing structures. 

 

 Column from ancient temple on outside of Duomo

 

 Columns from ancient temple on inside Duomo

 

Back to Santa Lucia - We asked at the cathedral about the painting and were told the painting is kept in the Chiesa of Santa Lucia alla Badia.  This church faces the same piazza as the cathedral and we had passed it numerous times on our walks through Ortigia. Most of the time, the church was locked so we moved on. This time, however, we were there early enough in the day and it was open.  And guess what?  The Caravaggio painting of The Entombment of Santa Lucia is indeed in the Chiesa of Santa Lucia alla Badia.  Mystery solved and searching over. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos.  As well, the painting is a whole altar away so must be admired from a distance. 

 

 Online photo of the Entombment of Santa Lucia

 Castello Maniace

After our successful discovery of Santa Lucia, we visited the Castello Maniace. We had walked by often and always found it closed. Took us a while to learn it is only open in the mornings. There are no signs with hours of operation. This castle sits at the very tip of Ortigia and served as a fortress to protect and control the port of Ortigia.  Unfortunately, the castle is under renovation so we didn’t get to see it, but walked around, under and on the outside walls of the fortress.

 Castello Maniacs built by Frederick II

Artemesion Siracusa
Next to the Duomo (Temple of Athena in antiquity) are the underground remains of the foundations of an Ionic temple.  We happened upon this museum by pure chance. We were attracted by the unusually modern façade stuck in the middle of much older buildings. We met a very gregarious young man who spoke some English and our conversations were a mixture of Italian and English.  We have since met for coffee and had more of our Italenglish discussions.  Thanks to this young fellow, we were able to visit a locked room where the remains of the Doric columns are kept.

 

 Caroline and Carlo with Doric column remains

 Doric column base ancient and recreation of same