Casa Santa di San Francesco di Sales (English: "House of St Francis de Sales"; also known as the Sales Chapel; officially the Oratory of the Most Holy Sacrament, Italian: Oratorio del SS. Sacramento) is an 18th-century Roman Catholic oratory in Erice, Sicily, Italy. It is noted for its complete cycle of frescoes, completed in 1762, inspired by the writings of St Francis de Sales.
St. Francis de Sales, Catholic bishop and Doctor of the Church
History
The oratory was founded in 1742 by the Erice priest Giovanni Curatolo, who also established a Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament.[1][2] The institution was dedicated to the spiritual ideals of St. Francis de Sales, whose writings gained wide influence in early modern Catholic devotion, especially through the widely read Introduction to the Devout Life (1609) and the Treatise on the Love of God (1616).[3][4]
The Casa Santa was conceived primarily as a place for spiritual exercises and retreats; in addition, a life of charity and piety was practised there, and the house served to host distinguished visitors to Erice.[2][5]
From the mid-18th-century the building was decorated with a fresco cycle attributed to the Trapani painter Domenico La Bruna (1699–1763); sources place the execution of the wall and vault paintings around 1760–1762.[6][7][1]
The Casa Santa has remained closely connected to the parish of San Cataldo, which has historically overseen its access and administration.[1] In recent years it has been presented as part of Erice’s cultural heritage and opened to visitors on selected occasions, including during the “Le Vie dei Tesori” festival.[2][8]
Architecture and layout
The Casa Santa is a small, single-room structure adjoining the Church of San Cataldo in the historic centre of Erice.[2][5] It is accessed by a modest doorway on Piazza San Cataldo, separate from the church’s main entrances, and has historically been administered through the parish.[2]
The exterior is plain and unadorned, reflecting the building’s use as a retreat rather than a public church, whereas the interior features Rococo stuccoes and frescoes and a carved wooden altar embellished with crystal elements and gilded arabesques.[9]
The interior consists of a rectangular hall oriented toward a small altar. The walls and ceiling are entirely covered with fresco decoration, creating an immersive environment for prayer.[2][5] The altar provides the devotional focus of the room.
Decoration
The Casa Santa contains a cycle of frescoes executed between 1760 and 1762, attributed to the Trapani painter Domenico La Bruna; the decoration covers the walls and the vaulted ceiling as a single, unified scheme.[1][6][2]
Fresco programme
The cycle was realised between 1760 and 1762, when the oratory was brought to completion under the initiative of the nephews of its founder, Giovanni Curatolo.[1] The scheme combines figurative scenes with quadratura decoration: the vault originally featured an illusionistic sfondato of fictive stuccoes against a blue sky with the Dove of the Holy Spirit, while the walls presented narrative episodes framed by Rococo arabesques and trompe-l’œil architecture.[1]
Scenes include a Discesa dello Spirito Santo (“Descent of the Holy Spirit”) and San Francesco di Sales distribuisce la comunione (“St Francis de Sales distributing Communion”), representative of La Bruna’s late style in Erice and closely related to his other local commissions for the Carmelites and the Teresian convent.[1]
By the early 2000s the vault fresco was described as assai rovinato ("much damaged"), and the decorative scheme only partly legible.[1] Scuderi links the quadratura to contemporary Jesuit-Palermitan models (the Fumagalli circle), adapted here by La Bruna.[1]
Restoration
In 2015 the oratory was restored and reopened to the public as part of the diocesan programme Erice – la Montagna del Signore, an initiative of the Diocese of Trapani aimed at safeguarding and enhancing the ecclesiastical heritage of Erice. The reopening was marked by a liturgy in the Casa Santa di San Francesco di Sales, which had previously been closed for many years.[10]
Cultural significance
The Casa Santa di San Francesco di Sales is highlighted by local authorities and tourism bodies as a notable artistic monument in Erice, particularly for its complete fresco cycle illustrating episodes from the writings of St Francis de Sales.[2][5]
Contemporary cultural commentary describes the oratory as a “hidden treasure” of Erice, notable for its immersive decorative program. Visitors enter a space “surreal” in effect, with La Bruna’s 18th-century frescoes extending across the walls in trompe-l’œil stucco that culminates in the richly coloured vault.[8]
The building also reflects the religious culture of 18th-century Erice: it was founded in 1742 by the priest Giovanni Curatolo as a house for spiritual exercises and charity, and it hosted distinguished visitors to the town.[2][5]
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