Every desire for renewal hides a period of transition. Continuity and innovation interacted in Sicily, only reaching the most eloquent and authentic expression of Baroque in the late 1670s.
The widespread commitment of the religious orders to educate a modern generation of artists in the cultural and artistic knowledge of Baroque Rome was crucial in overcoming Late Renaissance notions still present in Sicilian architecture from the first half of the century.
Studies undertaken by young clerics in the rich Roman libraries and, above all, the interest that arose in Rome, the observation of the architectural characteristics of the Counter-Reformation, gave rise to a synthesis of figurative elements which set Sicilian Baroque in motion.
In Sicily, Roman artistic influences replaced Spanish cultural dependence.
By the hand of specialised workers, the new spirit of the era was inaugurated, not only in religious architecture but also in civic buildings, too.
Sicilian Baroque translated the positive synthesis between the technical knowledge of local culture and the monumental dynamics of continental Baroque.
