The Four Seasons (Sozzi)

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

The Four Seasons
Winter, detail
Artist	Francesco Sozzi
Year	1760
Type	Fresco cycle
Location	Palazzo Isnello, Palermo

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.[1] The four paintings are framed in butterfly wing shape, decorative solution adopted at Palazzo Isnello.[2] 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

• 
  The Spring personified by Venus.
• 
  The Summer, personified by Ceres.
• 
  The Autumn, personified by Dionysus.
• 
  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.[3] Palermo, Kalós, 2008, p. 177-206. ISBN 88-89224-67-3

Notes

1. Citti Siracusano, La pittura del Settecento in Sicilia, p. 81.
2. Giulia Sommariva. Palazzi nobiliari a Palermo, p. 254.
3. Il Settecento e il suo doppio. Table of contents. Central Institute for restoration and preservation of books - OPAC. URL retrieved 1 September 2010.

External links

• Frescoes of Palazzo Isnello on Flickr