REFURBISHMENT COMPLETED, ACCORDING TO THE ORIGINAL DESIGN, OF THE CATHEDRAL GLASS WINDOWS ALONG THE WALLS OF THE CENTRAL NAVE AND THE TRANSEPT

In the days before Christmas, the leaded artistic windows of the 22 windows of the central nave and the transepts of the Cathedral were placed. Each window includes 4 windows for a total of 88. Of these, 53 were redone with an identical design to the existing ones and these too were subject to maintenance to replace the lead, which was already old after about 60 years from their construction. Over the years, these have broken as a result of the deterioration of the lead, due to the atmospheric agents and bad weather that have caused them to break, and have been replaced with glass, each of a different color from the other, unfortunately creating a “variety ” of shades, both of the color and of the very workmanship of the glass, detracting from the possibility of a peaceful reading.

Beyond the aesthetic factor, perfectly recovered, there was an urgent need to safeguard the safety of people from accidental breakage of the windows, and for this purpose the accident prevention glasses were placed, which were anchored to the windows to guarantee greater sturdiness and duration over time.

Furthermore, all the missing wrought iron latches and block stops have been restored, hand forged and shaped on the anvil with the same technique as the originals. The existing ones have been cleaned, adjusted and fine-tuned in order to guarantee correct functioning of the opening and closing of the windows.

The intervention was financially supported by the Cathedral.
We thank the company Lo Iacono bottega d’arte for the professionalism demonstrated in carrying out the work.

The next intervention, which will begin shortly after receiving the necessary authorizations from the Superintendency, will be the restoration of all the paintings, with attached frames, located inside the side chapels of the Cathedral. To these, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the discovery of the relics of Santa Rosalia, will be added, but not least, the restoration of the 18th century frontal. depicting Santa Rosalia, preserved in the Cathedral treasury, and the Valasco canvas of Santa Rosalia, a well-known image and object of devotion and worship, preserved in the Santuzza chapel.