Santa Maria dello Spasimo, or Lo Spasimo, is an unfinished Catholic church in the Kalsa neighborhood in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, on Via dello Spasimo. Construction of the church and accompanying monastery of the

Olivetan Order The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are ...

began in 1509 with a papal bull from Julius II, on land bequeathed by Giacomo Basilicò, a lawyer and the widower of a rich noblewoman. The ''Spasimo'' or Swoon of the Virgin was a controversial idea in late medieval and Renaissance Catholic devotion. The church commissioned the painting by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, '' Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary'', or ''Lo Spasimo di Sicilia'', as it is also known. This was completed in Rome in about 1514–165, but in 1622 the Spanish Viceroy of Naples twisted arms and obtained its sale to

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

, and it is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The church was never completed because of the rising Turkish threat in 1535, where resources meant for the church were diverted to fortifications of the city against any possible incursions. Even in its unfinished states, ''Lo Spasimo'' shows the late Gothic style architecture that permeated building practices in Palermo at the time as well as the Spanish influence in the city.De Seta, Cesare. Palermo città d'arte: Guida illustrata ai monumenti di Palermo e Monreale. Kalós. Palermo, 2009: 222 The church now hosts open air musical, theatrical and cultural events because of its lack of a roof.

References

Sources

* Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume I'', 2004, National Gallery Publications Ltd, *Bellafiore, Giuseppe. ''Palermo: guida della città e dei dintorni''. Palermo, 1990. (reprinted several times) *De Seta, Cesare. ''Palermo città d'arte: Guida illustrata ai monumenti di Palermo e Monreale''. Kalós. Palermo, 2009. (pp. 222–223) *La Fisca, Anna Maria and Giovanni Palazzo. ''Santa Maria dello Spasimo''. Edizioni Guida. Palermo, 1997. {{Authority control Maria dello Spasimo Gothic architecture in Palermo Unfinished buildings and structures