San Cataldo Church in Palermo in the 19th century and the Invention of Norman Medieval Architecture

Bc. Paulína Horváthová

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Táto práca sa zameriava na kostol alebo kaplnku San Cataldo v Palerme z 12. storočia, postavenú počas doby Normanského kráľovstva na Sicílii. Jadro tejto práce sleduje príbeh procesov obnovy kaplnky počas dvadsiateho, devätnásteho a sedemnásteho storočia. Rovnako porovnáva kaplnku skrz architektonickú typológiu so stavbami v oblasti Apúlie či Severnej Afriky. Sekundárne sa venuje aj vzniku “Normanskej stredovekej architektúry”, ktorý je vysvetlený prostredníctvom analýzy politického pozadia druhej polovice 19. storočia v Taliansku, s dôrazom na obdobie po zjednotení Talianska.

Abstract:

This thesis focuses on the twelfth-century church or chapel of San Cataldo in Palermo built during the Norman period in Sicily. The core of this work follows the story of chapel’s restoration processes throughout the twentieth, nineteenth, and seventeenth centuries, as well as its architectural typology that retrieves comparisons from the region of Apulia and Northern Africa. Secondarily, the notion of invention of Norman Medieval architecture is addressed and explained through the analysis of the political background of the second half of the nineteenth century in Italy, with the emphasis on the period following the Unification of Italy.

Keywords

San Cataldo, Palermo, Norman architecture, twelfth-century architecture, Giuseppe Patricolo

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 18. 12. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 29. 1. 2024
• Supervisor: prof. Ivan Foletti, MA
• Reader: Elisabetta Scirocco

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Bachelor programme / field:
Art History / Art History