Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo
The Oratory of San Lorenzo , located next to the church of San Francesco d'Assisi , was built around 1570 by the Compagnia di San Francesco, made up of wealthy Genoese merchants, on the remains of an ancient church dedicated to San Lorenzo.
It is accessed from an uncovered courtyard with a fountain, overlooked by the rooms of the rectory. The oratory has a classroom with a rectangular chapel and of considerable value is the very rich stucco sculptural repertoire that adorns the walls executed between 1699 and 1706 by Giacomo Serpotta . The work of the sculptor Giacomo Serpotta consists of a decorative cycle of intense sculptural narration consisting of eight " theaters " on the walls depicting scenes inspired by the life of San Lorenzo and San Francesco of Assisi. The statues placed on the sides of the theaters, allegories of Humility, Glory, Welcome, Penance, Constance, Mercy, Charity, Almsgiving are connected to the scenes depicted. The sculptures were made in stucco with crumbled marble powder which gives it a particular brightness.
In the presbytery, in the center of the sphere placed above the altarpiece, there is the representation of the Franciscan coat of arms with the gold cross placed between the arm of Christ and that of St. Francis, both with stigmata.
The precious benches on the side walls are also from the end of the 17th century. These are inlaid in ivory, mother of pearl and rosewood and rest on shelves carved with mythological scenes, each of which is mirrored on the opposite bench in a reflected way, to enhance the theme of the continuous alternation of good and evil, of life and death. br> The fame of the oratory of San Lorenzo is unfortunately also linked to the theft of the altarpiece " Nativity " painted in 1609 by Caravaggio precisely for this oratory. The canvas was stolen in 1969 and in its place there is now a splendid reproduction which, while not constituting the original, allows you to recreate the prestigious background which Serpotta's work in 1699 framed.
