PALERMO NEL QUADERNO DI VIAGGIO IN SICILIA DI NICODEMUS TESSIN (1674)

Abstract

In 1674 the Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, during his short journey to Sicily, visited Palermo, where he stayed only for three days. Yet he had the opportunity to spend some of his time visiting the city and keeping a journal, a notebook characterized by concise writing, but where brief notes of whatever he found interesting or peculiar elements (such as monuments, marble statues and fountains, architectural furniture ecc.) and therefore the journal witnesses indeed what a young XVIIth century architect, destined to the future role of royal architect, could select and choose.Tessin's further observations are directed towards painting, along with extremely useful information about the knowledges of that period. The notebook, which is today kept at the National Archives of Sweden, Stockholm, represents a precious source and an excellent testimony for a XVIIth century Palermo.