This thesis investigates the relationship between residential architecture, religious practices, and the domestic life of aristocratic families in Palermo (Italy), between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By contributing with the specificities of these four case studies to the burgeoning field of domestic devotion, this investigation tries to respond to recent calls for a redefinition of early-modern geography including the Mediterranean area.
However, this thesis resists both the generalization of the results and the search for exceptionality but investigates the specificities of the selected case studies in relation to the issues of devotion, rank, gender, and urbanism. Combining the direct exploration of architectural spaces, documentary data, comparative surveys, and critical theory, the thesis explores how architecture acted on the occupants of the house and how people, in turn, negotiated their role and space in the domestic environment and its surroundings.
The thesis investigates the families’ strategies of settlement in the city and the role of devotion in the creation of a supporting political network. Spatial arrangements of the dwellings are explored in order to examine the degree of accessibility and visibility of the interiors, the devotional role of the various rooms, and their relationship with the chapel. Additionally, the research draws attention to the complex dynamics of alliance and competition going on between women and men of the same household, by exploring how the fluid arrangement of the interior, including its decoration and furnishing, participated in the performance of gendered and sexual identities. Also, this thesis discusses the relationship between architecture and its decoration and the role of the ornament in the negotiation processes.
The thesis argues that the domestic chapel participated in the interactions between the house and its occupants and in the consequent construction of the social identities that was both implemented and sustained by aristocrats. In particular, the chapel stimulated the inhabitants for a spiritual journey towards salvation, whilst it also articulated issues of social and political distinction architecturally.
