WINTER
2023
Film lovers: a journey inside a film through places - The Leopard
Sicily has often played an important role in cinema, not just the Italian one. If usually the stories related to the mafia are told, there is however a piece of island history that gave the inspiration for one of the most famous Italian films ever, namely "The Leopard". The famous film by Luchino Visconti, interpreted by a stellar cast which included Burt Lancaster, Alan Delon and Claudia Cardinale among others, inspired by the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, in fact tells the story of the events that characterized the arrival of the Thousand on the island and the attempts of the Sicilian upper classes to maintain their privileges even after the change of regime that was to ensue. Finally giving life to a magnificent fresco, still today considered an absolute masterpiece.
If the political side of Visconti's film still represents a subject of wide debate today, precisely in the light of the topicality of Tomasi di Lampedusa's message, there is another aspect that has always struck the viewers of the film. In other words, the extraordinary beauty of the places in which it unfolds over the more than three hours of vision.
In particular, there are two locations that had the privilege of being adopted by the production for filming: Palazzo Manganelli, located in Catania, and Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi, in Palermo.
Palazzo Manganelli is one of the most prestigious noble buildings in the city. Located between piazza Manganelli and via di Sangiuliano, it is a jewel of late Baroque architecture, nestled in the heart of Catania.
The construction of the palace dates back to 1400. In 1505, it was bought by Alvaro Paternò and Isabella, barons of Sigona. However, almost nothing remains of the original building, except the external perimeter walls, given that the Palace was almost entirely destroyed by the devastating earthquake that struck the city of Catania in 1693. After the catastrophic earthquake, Palazzo Manganelli was rebuilt by Antonio Paternò, under the guide of the architects Alonzo Di Benedetto and Felice Palazzotto, who gave new life to the building.
The last operation inside the structure took place in the seventh decade of the 19th century, when a part of the second floor was redecorated according to new architectural concepts where the Zafferanese painter Giuseppe Sciuti and the Florentine painter Ernesto Bellandi worked there, known for having frescoed the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania.
Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi is known to the general public for having been chosen by the director Luchino Visconti as the set for one of the most fascinating and romantic scenes of his famous film The Leopard. In fact, the dance scene between Claudia Cardinale and Burt Lancaster was set in one of its splendid halls. The palace is one of the most important noble residences in Sicily due to its high and priceless artistic value. Probably of sixteenth-century origin, the current appearance of the building is the result of an important restructuring work commissioned in the second half of the eighteenth century by Prince Pietro Valguarnera, husband of his niece Marianna, owner of the residence. Over the years, important architects of the period were involved in the construction site of the factory: Andrea Gigante, a young Trapani architect trained at the school of Amico and author of the marvelous and monumental staircase of Palazzo Bonagia, Mariano Sucameli, creator of the stuccos, medallions, and stucco balusters on the facade, Giovan Battista Cascione, also involved in the construction of the magnificent Santa Croce palace in via Maqueda. On the other hand, illustrious painters such as: Intergugliemi, Fumagalli, Velasco and Serenario worked inside the palace for the decoration of the superb halls. The latter is the author of the central fresco "The Virtue of Faith" in the grand ballroom. A masterpiece of Sicilian rococo, the Galleria degli Specchi, so called due to the presence of 4 ancient mirrors in pure gold, has a spectacular double wooden ceiling with perforations, most likely conceived by the Giant: a project very similar to the works of the Bibienas. The decoration of the perforated ceiling painted with false architectures, floral triumphs and games of cherubs is most likely due to the Serenario. The majolica floors in the ballroom with battle scenes and in the gallery depicting the Labors of Hercules are splendid. The numerous halls that follow one another when crossing the entrance hall, once a weapons room, are also splendid: the "neoclassical hall" with paintings by Velasco, the "red hall" with its precious furnishings, the "blue hall" with the showcase it houses a valuable collection of fans and antique glassware.
Today the building is owned by the Vanni Calvello princes of San Vincenzo.
To these two dominant places, however, many others were added. Starting from Piazza San Giovanni Decollato, Piazza della Vittoria allo Spasimo, Piazza Sant'Euno and Piazza della Marina, all located in Palermo and brought back for the occasion to the typical state of the years in which the clashes between Garibaldi's soldiers and the Bourbon army took place.
For the scenes in which the summer residence of the Salinas is evoked, however, Ciminna was chosen, in particular for the presence of the Mother Church and a fairy-tale surrounding landscape. With a digression represented by Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, where some interiors were set. The end result is what can still be admired today in Visconti's film. A masterpiece.
Credits to toscanainside.com ph. dallasicilia.com
