St. Francis of Paola
La statua lignea ‘800esca, di discreta fattura, has undergone over the years so many interpolations to lose its primeval beauty. For this reason, at the end of the 90s, now battered and worm-eaten, was removed from its usual position and replaced with a bad copy fiberglass. The first damage suffered by the statue date back to the beginning of '900 when, manomessa of a non precisato scultore, was again remodeled by an artist Lecce specially called by the Archpriest Raschellà to repair the damage of the previous restoration: the work, in fact, appeared grossly interpolated and aesthetically more acceptable. In recent times, further intervention of repainting, the replacement of the dais and affixing heavy jointing with pumice they had permanently affected the usability. In 2002, finally subjected to restoration, the work has regained its pristine splendor with the return to the original polychromies, especially interesting in the treatment of the flesh. Although the structure of habit and yield of some details is not well defined, sometimes almost sketched, stands out in this sculpture, more than any other feature, the expressiveness of the face that intense and benevolent, Executive style, appears almost independent in comparison to the other parts of the body.
Description © by Dr. Gianfrancesco Solferino
