This capezzalle1 embodies the most celebrated characteristics ofcoral workmanship from Trapani, particularly of those produced inthe first half of the 17th century. Its structure, technical executionand ornamentation correspond closely to the traditions describedthroughout the literature on Sicilian coral art.On a smooth gilt copper background, The Assumption ofthe Virgen is the central composition. The crowned Virgin, shownwith crossed arms, is draped in a curvilinear mantle. Above her,the Eternal Father bestows his blessing while holding the Orb, andwinged cherubs surround the scene. This subject was a widespreaddevotional theme during the Catholic Counter-Reformation andin the region’s coral workshops.2 The absence of perspectival modellingin the relief suggests a relatively early date within the 17thcentury, before more developed spatial effects became standard.This devotion plaque features a slightly elongated octagonalinner-frame divided into trapezoidal sectors, each treated as aself-contained decorative field. The dense carpet-like ornamentationis composed of coral curls, commas, pods, drops and centrerosettes. These elements, typical of Trapani production of the 1sthalf of the 17th century, express the baroque ‘horror vacui’ thatscholars have remarked upon,3 a practice linked to Arab-Islamicornamental traditions of Mesopotamian origin that persisted inSicilian visual culture well into the 17th century.4 These frames werewidely used in medallions, holy water vessels and mirror framesbeing repeatedly reproduced with few variations, reflecting a consolidatedtradition rooted in client expectations. The persistent use of the octagon also carried symbolic meaning: the number eight,according to Kabbalistic interpretations, expressed the mysticalunion of the imperfect and the perfect, the male and the female.5This piece displays extensive use of retroincastro ornamentation.This technique, central to Trapani coral work from the late 16th centuryonward, was first coined by Corrado Maltese and Maria ConcettaDi Natale on the exhibition The Art of Coral in Sicily, held at the PepoliMuseum in Trapani in 1986, as a process that consists in insertingsmall smooth coral pieces on the reverse of pre-drilled gilt copperand securing them with black pitch and wax, sealed with cloth, laterfinishing the back with another gilt-copper plate.6 This technique ischaracteristic of works dated between the late 16th and early 17thcentury and often accompanied by white or polychrome enamels.7The external frame, characterised by geometric herringbonemotifs in white enamel, develops into a rich openwork lace-likecomposition in gilt copper and decorated in white champlevé enamel.The frame alternates coral cherub heads and rosettes with whiteenamel crown, wings and scrolls, all part of a typically baroquelanguage.8 The pervasive use of white enamel applied over copperhelps generate a luminous contrast with the deep orange of theMediterranean coral. The fixation system, using small metal rodsor pins reflects a refined technical language. The upper portion ofthe frame is dominated by scroll-like openwork in white enamel,enclosing a slightly larger cherub head and coral-enamel rosettes.This scheme recurs in comparable pieces from the first half of the17th century.9
1 In Sicily, the term capezzale indicates a type of devotional plaque which was usually hung next to the bed’s headboard. Having an apotropaic function, it protects the sleeper against thenocturnal raids of the Evil One (Campione, Francesco, ‘Capezzale con San Michele Arcangelo’, in Li Vigni, Valeria, Di Natale, M.C. and Abbate, Vincenzo (eds.), I Grandi Capolavori delCorallo, p. 81).
2 See Intorre, Sergio ‘Coralli trapanesi tra XVI e XX secolo nella collezione di Manolo March’, in Coralli trapanesi nella collezione March, pp. 31–32; For example, see Li Vigni, Valeria, DiNatale, M.C. and Abbate, Vincenzo (eds.), I Grandi Capolavori del Corallo, p. 71, 76 and 95. Di Natale, M.C., ‘Oro, argento e corallo tra commitenza ecclesiastica e devozione laica’, in DiNatale, M.C. (ed.), Splendori di Sicilia, p. 33.
3 See Di Natale, M.C., Mirabilia Coralii, p. 126–130; Intorre, Sergio ‘Coralli trapanesi tra XVI e XX secolo nella collezione di Manolo March’, in Coralli trapanesi nella collezione March, p. 35.
4 See Di Natale, M.C, ‘Ars corallariorum et sculptorum coralli a Trapani’, in Balme, Clelia Arnaldi di, Castronovo, Simonetta (eds.), Rosso Corallo, p. 21.
5 See Di Natale, M.C., Mirabilia Coralii, pp. 122–130.
6 See Intorre, Sergio, ‘Coralli trapanesi tra XVI e XX secolo nella collezione di Manolo March’, in Coralli trapanesi nella collezione March, p. 31–32.
7 See Di Natale, M.C., ‘Una Collezione per il Corallo nel XXI Secolo’, in Ghio, Dario (ed.), Da Trapani a Napoli, Coralli trapanesi e napolitani dal XVII al XIX secolo, p. 4.
8 See Di Natale, M.C., Mirabilia Coralii, p. 120.
9 For example, see Li Vigni, Valeria, Di Natale, M.C. and Abbate, Vincenzo (eds.), I Grandi Capolavori del Corallo, pp. 75–95.