The Four Seasons (Sozzi)

{{Short description|Cycle of four frescoes by Francesco Sozzi}}

{{Infobox Artwork

|image_file= Francesco Sozzi Inverno.jpg

|image_size= 260px

|caption = Winter, detail

|title= The Four Seasons

|artist= Francesco Sozzi

|year= 1760

|type= Fresco cycle

|height_metric=

|width_metric=

|height_imperial=

|width_imperial=

| metric_unit=cm

| imperial_unit=in

|city=Palermo

|museum=Palazzo Isnello

}}

The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni it) is a cycle of four frescoes by Francesco Sozzi in the Palazzo Isnello, Palermo, Italy.

Description and history

The cycle, completed in 1760, was painted on the Four Seasons Hall vault of the Counts of Isnello palazzo's. It is a graceful example of Palermitan Rococo, that is, late-Sicilian Baroque, fresco cycles.Citti Siracusano, La pittura del Settecento in Sicilia, p. 81. The four paintings are framed in butterfly wing shape, decorative solution adopted at Palazzo Isnello.Giulia Sommariva. Palazzi nobiliari a Palermo, p. 254. Among the gilded stucco decoration of the vault there is the artist signature, dated 1760 in golden characters.

In the four allegorical paintings each of the seasons is represented by the image of a deity: Venus represents spring, Ceres, summer; Bacchus, autumn; and finally Aeolus represents winter.

Images

File:Primavera Sozzi Part.jpg|The Spring personified by Venus.

File:Estate 1760.jpg|The Summer, personified by Ceres.

File:Autunno Sozzi Part.jpg|The Autumn, personified by Dionysus.

File:Inverno Sozzi Part.jpg|The Winter, personified by Aeolus.

References

= Bibliography =

  • Citti Siracusano, La pittura del Settecento in Sicilia. Rome, De Luca, 1986.
  • Rita Cedrini. Repertorio delle dimore nobili e notabili nella Sicilia del XVIII secolo. Palermo, Regione Siciliana BBCCAA, 2003.
  • Giulia Sommariva. Palazzi nobiliari a Palermo. Palermo, Flaccovio, 2004. {{ISBN|88-7758-598-6}}
  • Mariny Guttilla. Cantieri decorativi a Palermo dal tardo barocco alle soglie del neoclassicismo, in Il Settecento e il suo doppio.[http://www.zikg.eu/cgi-bin/gucha_de.pl?t_idn=b337757r Il Settecento e il suo doppio. Table of contents]. Central Institute for restoration and preservation of books - OPAC. URL retrieved 1 September 2010. Palermo, Kalós, 2008, p. 177-206. {{ISBN|88-89224-67-3}}

= Notes =

{{reflist}}