13. Cosentini Palace

It was built around the 1770s by the Cosentini family. It is part of a Baroque complex (Fig. a) that, together with the Church of Idria and the Palace of the Chancellery, characterise the Quartiere “degli Archi” (district of arches), named after an arched aqueduct that brought water to the ancient city.
It is situated at the confluence of two major communication arteries: the one that goes towards S. Rocco and the valley, and the second which leads to Ragusa Superiore (Fig. b).
As if to protect passers-by, a statue of Saint Francis of Paola, protector of travellers, is placed in the angle (Fig. c).
The two-storey building is characterised by corbels carved with grotesque faces.
The balcony on the stairs, known as the balcony of ‘slanderer’ framed between two high pilasters topped by capitals (Fig. d), is supported by five carved stone corbels each depicting a sarcastic interpretation of life. The face of the second corbel depicts a blindfolded man with a large nose, whose mouth reveals a scorpion, the slanderer. . The faces of the five corbels support as many female figures, each with its own allegorical meaning, such as a woman holding a child as a symbol of fertility (Fig. e).
The balconies on the side façade, Corso Mazzini, also feature railings in the shape of a goose chest and carved corbels with allegorical figures of life.
A number of interior floorings are of interest: a “pietra pece” and white stone interlaced floor of considerable importance and a “pietra pece” and white stone inlaid floor, with rosettes and squares made of “pietra pece” blocks (Fig. f).