“SAGOME” IN SICILY: SUBJECTS, FUNCTIONS, TECHNIQUES AND THE CASE STUDY OF NICOSIA

Abstract

This article analyzes the iconographic subjects, the practical functions and the compositional techniques of a particular form of artistic representation that was popular between the 18th and 19th centuries: these are the painted “sagome” (cut-outs) found in Sicily. Particular attention is paid to a series of six paintings, unknown until now, executed on shaped wooden panels and painted on both sides, which are stored in the library of the Convent of the Capuchin Friars Minor of Nicosia (Enna).