7) 1763 - Vito D'Anna - The Guardian Angel (San Giorgio)
MOTHER CHURCH OF SAN GIORGIO MARTIRE Ragusa Ibla
1763 – Vito D'Anna – The Guardian Angel
In 1763 Vito D'Anna was commissioned to paint the canvas of the Guardian Angel. D'Anna (1718-1769) was born in Palermo. His training in Palermo was integrated by that in the workshop of Pietro Paolo Vasta in Acireale between 1736 and 1744. Upon returning to Palermo he married the daughter of the painter Olivio Sozzi. Between 1745 and 1751 he went to Rome to the workshop of Corrado Giaquinto. He looks at the paintings of Maratta and Conca at the same time. Returning to Palermo, he acquired a leading role in the city panorama, obtaining many commissions for works to be sent to many Sicilian centres. Starting from direct knowledge of the Roman baroque style, combined with the suggestion of the refined material of Giaquinto, D'Anna can be considered the most refined and sensitive interpreter of Palermo rococo (Citti Siracusano).
The canvas of the Guardian Angel (cm.320×215, signed “Vitus De Anna pingebat 1763”) sees, in a natural environment made of slabs of rock, vegetation and a tree of which the trunk on the side is highlighted sinister and with a mountain in the distance, a curly-haired child with a white robe and a blue belt about to advance towards a precipice; an angel in the center of the composition dressed in white and pearl gray assists and protects him. The angel, with a luminous complexion, with polychrome spread wings, is rendered diagonally and, although the Child acts as a counterpoint, he remains dynamic precisely because of his oblique composition. High up in the sky on the left side two putti are assisting, while three winged heads look towards the angel on the right side. This, together with the painting of the Immaculate Conception, is one of the masterpieces present in this church.
