The Graffiti of the Spanish Inquisition Prisons in Sicily: The Pantheon of Francesco Baronio

• In Event: Repositioning Art, Architecture, and Humanism in Renaissance Sicily and the Italian South I

Abstract

In 2003, the renovation of the Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) led to the discovery of several drawings and inscriptions left by prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily: saints and martyrs, portrayals of the Virgin Mary and the Passion of Christ, and biblical and war iconography of the XVII century. My talk aims to present the graffiti of the inquisitorial prisons of Palermo, focusing on the case of Francesco Baronio, a political prisoner who drew sixteen representations of saints on the prisons walls — a true Christian Pantheon accompanied by prayers and hymns in Latin. Through cross-analysis of both archival and iconographic sources, I will reconstruct the prison experience of Francesco Baronio, highlighting the policy reasons for his detention.

Author

• Valeria La Motta, Independent Scholar