Cathedral of Ragusa: 9 Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
The chapel, a treasure chest of Eucharistic symbols, has inside a small temple on the eighteenth-century altar, which houses a nineteenth-century canvas of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Below, marble medallion of the Supper at Emmaus. On the sides, high reliefs depicting the offering of Melchizedek, an Old Testament figure of the Eucharistic sacrifice, in the act of offering bread and wine to God in the name of Abraham and the Last Supper, in imitation of the famous painting by Leonardo, both by Cavaliere Giuseppe Princes (1870). On the vault, stuccos representing the eye of God inscribed in the triangle, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the well of the Samaritan woman and the Ark of the Covenant, a prefiguration of the Eucharistic mystery. In the basin, the bas-relief of a pelican stands out, symbol of Christ's sacrifice.
The mortal remains of two bishops are kept in this chapel: Monsignor Francesco Pennisi (second bishop of Ragusa from 1955 to 1974); Monsignor Carmelo Canzonieri (from Ragusa, parish priest of this cathedral and later bishop of the diocese of Caltagirone from 1963 to 1983).
