Giacomo Serpotta
(b Palermo, 10 March 1656; d Palermo, 27 Feb 1732). Son of (1) Gaspare Serpotta. He was the leading Sicilian sculptor of the late 17th century to the early 18th. Though occupying a central role in the intellectual and artistic life of his day, his real significance derives from the stuccos he produced for the oratories of Palermo, for which he was celebrated in his lifetime. A stay in Rome has been suggested, but this seems unlikely as the Roman elements in even his most mature work, such as the St Monica (c. 1720; Palermo, S Agostino), are derived from prints. His first commission, in 1677, was for the decoration of the small church of the Madonna dell'Istria in Monreale, in collaboration with Procopio de Ferari. The level of execution gives few hints of Giacomo's outstanding future, but two years later he received a much more important commission for work at the oratory of the Compagna della Carit? di S Bartolomeo degli Incurabili in Palermo (destr. 1780). From 1679 to 1680 Giacomo worked on the model for an equestrian statue of Charles II, King of Spain and Sicily; the statue was then cast in bronze by Andrea Romano and Gaspare Romano. This was destroyed in 1848, but a small bronze version survives (Trapani, Mus. Reg.).
Part of the Serpotta family
See the Abbreviations for further details.
