As an architect, Giovanni Battista Vaccarini was anything but ordinary.  His tendency to blend and borrow various design elements, implementing all of them into one structure inspired some and garnered criticism from others.  There is no doubt however, that Vaccarini took his interpretation of the Baroque style and left a lasting impression throughout Sicily and the surrounding region.

Perhaps in an effort to lift the spirits of the Sicilian people after the ill-fated 1693 earthquake that devastated cultural monuments and common residences with equal fury, Sicilian Baroque architecture was born.  Vaccarini’s influence as City Architect of Catania was instrumental in the rebuilding process and he took great liberties much to the Catholic Church’s delight; elaborate cathedrals were his most notable achievement.  What was once considered dramatic and ebullient from a Baroque standpoint became flamboyant and nearly gaudy under this new paradigm.

Vaccarini’s contribution to the Sicilian Baroque period was influenced by Alessandro Specchi, whose Spanish steps in Rome were the inspiration for incorporating illustrious staircases as a central element of cathedral design.  While the majestic nature of the exterior double staircase was necessary to access the piano nobile located on the second level, they also allowed for an almost open-air entryway that took full advantage of Sicily’s Mediterranean climate.

Spanish Steps in Rome

The piano nobile often thought of as a purely decadent fixture included in Vaccarini’s cathedrals, eventually served a more practical purpose also attributable to the climate.  In areas where rainy weather created damp interior conditions, the wealthy adopted the grand exterior staircase and piano noble to elevate upper level bedrooms, keeping them protected from humid or damp conditions.

Another noteworthy feature of Vaccarini’s style was the inclusion of opulent balconies emphasizing the grandeur of a cathedrals’ façade.  This regal addition captures the essence of Sicilian Baroque in all its pomp and circumstance.  Wrought iron balustrades offered a decadent enhancement to an already ostentatious piazza.

Intricate façade and decorative fountains were the signature architectural features he acquired from contemporaries Francesco Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  Vaccarini generally thumbed his nose (if such a gesture existed) at conventional ideology in architectural content and the traditionally held beliefs regarding masculine strength and power.

Catania Duomo in Catania, Sicily, Italy

His respectful nod to Bernini’s fountains was constructed in Catania’s Cathedral Square, the Fontana dell’Elefante.  A black elephant and obelisk carved from petrified lava is an obvious symbol of power; however Vaccarini neglected to include the appropriate animal testes, which enraged and insulted the men of Catania.  These were later added to the fountain in an effort to make amends for this faux pas.  Mythology and lore have surrounded the elephant and hieroglyphic laden obelisk from the beginning and has since become Catania’s official symbol, known as Liotru.

Catania Duomo in Catania, Sicily, Italy

It was not uncommon for architect’s to emulate the preferred characteristics of existing structures.  Vaccarini imitated the formal composition of Carlo Rainaldi’s Roman churches as found in the Piazza del Popolo.  Further inspiration for his Convent Church of Sant’Agata resulted from Rainaldi’s work on the Piazza Navona.  Interestingly, it is said that Rainaldi drew elements from architects Borromini and Bernini, allowing the intertwined qualities that made up Sicilian Baroque to flourish and expand.  As one of the initial founders of the era, Vaccarini played an important role by daringly combining seemingly incongruous elements into the forward-thinking movement it became.

Several years before his death in 1768, Vaccarini worked closely with Luigi Vanvitelli, an Italian architect and engineer, on the Palace of Caserta.  It was through the building of this marble structure that Vaccarini had perfected the Baroque style to such an extent that the Palace was more recently recognized as one of the World Heritage Sites.  To be sure, Vaccarini could have hardly anticipated the use of one of his final projects to be filmed as the futuristic home of Queen Amidala, a character in the 1999 film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.