Capuchin Church in Militello in Val di Catania
The Church and convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli of the Capuchin Friars in Militello in Val di Catania is an important religious complex in the village.
The convent of the Capuchin Friars was built in 1575 at the behest of the Marquises of Militello. The building was erected next to the pre-existing church of the Madonna degli Infermi, which collapsed in 1582 and was rebuilt and completed in 1612. The earthquake of 1693 destroyed the entire complex; the convent was rebuilt in 1709, the church was completed and consecrated in 1750 and was dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The church has a simple gabled façade delimited by two corner pilasters, with a high base enclosing them, which connect to the crowning. In the center is the central portal, flanked by pilasters, and surmounted by a large entablature interspersed with triglyphs and in the center surmounted by a stone plaque. Above is a rectangular window with a border band and final moldings. The façade ends with a pediment interrupted by a small bell gable.
The interior, with a single nave, has six minor altars, delineated by round arches with a decorated keystone.
Of particular value is the wooden apparatus located on the front wall, a valuable work of the Capuchin cabinet-making art of the 18th century. The large apparatus frames the seven canvases of the polyptych: in the center is the painting depicting Santa Maria degli Angeli and saints from 1612, the work of the Mannerist painter Filippo Paladini; on the sides, two smaller canvases, depicting Saint Michael the Archangel, on the left and Saint Raphael or Guardian Angel, on the right; in the appendix are placed the small paintings depicting Saint Peter and Saint Paul; in the upper part, above the central canvas, is placed the painting depicting God the Father; all the canvases are works by unknown artists of the 18th century.
Several valuable works are kept in the church: a wooden reliquary, dating back to 1777, placed behind the canvas by Paladini, containing 440 relics of saints; the canvases of the minor altars, depicting the Madonna of the Sick with Saint Francis and Saint Anthony of Padua, the work of the painter Vincenzo Provenzani; the wooden crucifix with, on the sides, the paintings of the Addolorata and San Giovanni; some frescoes attributed to the Capuchin Bernardo da Palermo present in the convent; an Annunciation kept in the former refectory.Today, eight original painted and gilded leather frontals of considerable artistic value are kept at the Museo dei Cappuccini di Caltagirone.
The convent library is also of considerable importance.
