Church of the Jesuit College in Trapani
The Church of the Jesuits of Trapani , also known as Church of the Immaculate Conception , located in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, is one of the most significant monuments of the city.
It was built in 1613, based on a project by the Messina architect Natale Masuccio.
The facade is a clear example of the transition between Mannerism and Baroque. The first order is enriched by three portals in gray marble limestone bordered by pilasters. The three portals have the same architecture: Ionic columns surmounted by Corinthian capitals support tympanums with superimposed and broken arches. On the cymas, telamons or harpies hold a second order of tympanums with curled volutes, which delimit large intermediate oculi. The middle portal, wider and higher, in the intermediate part is surmounted by two angels holding the Marian coat of arms. The second order is characterized by pairs of fluted pilasters with summit garlands that include empty niches. Overall, they delimit the central window decorated with female sculptures supporting a triangular gable with an intermediate shelf. Two large curled spirals enriched with phytomorphic festoons connect the central body to the first order. A monumental gable with a broken triangle closes the perspective. Further putti, cherub heads, festoons of flowers and fruits, mascarons and female figures, shells and articulated moldings, Greek, rosettes and stylized flowers enrich the decoration.
The interior, with three naves, is richly decorated with mixed marbles on the model of the Baroque churches of Palermo. The vault is embellished with stuccoes, the work of Bartolomeo Sanseverino, a disciple of the famous Giacomo Serpotta.
Of particular value is a marble icon, dating back to 1766, the work of Ignazio Marabitti representing the Immaculate Conception.
