5. Spadaro Palace

Spadaro Palace is in Via Mormino Penna and belonged to the Spadaro family. The building represents the opulence of wealthy families in the 18th century (Fig. a).
The late Baroque façade develops lengthwise, following the curvilinear course the street takes in this stretch (Fig. b). The façade, in the lower order, has eight openings. A small flight of steps leads to the entrance of the building, bordered by two columns, above which is a curvilinear cornice on which corbels support the balcony (Fig. c).
The eight French windows on the upper level are richly framed with rococo mouldings with geometric and floral motifs and give access to the balconies, which are supported by sculpted corbels with iron railings in the shape of a goose chest. Pilasters of giant order alternate with the openings and delimit them.
The rear of Spadaro Palace, overlooking the street of the same name, is much more sober and was probably used as a secondary entrance.
An imperial staircase (Fig. d) leads up to the “piano nobile” from the main door, where “a row of rooms” and eight communicating rooms overlook Via Mormino Penna. In the opposite wing, there are hallway areas, probably used as smoking and tea rooms.
The vaulted ceiling of the central hall, originally used as a ballroom, stands out for the polychromy of the stuccoes and decorative apparatus on the theme of Apollo and the Muses (Fig. e). The small chamber of the baron’s bedroom is the only room preserved in its original workmanship. Intact is the flooring in Caltagirone ceramic, the colours of which echoed the walls and vaults frescoed and decorated with fine stucco work.
The building, now owned by the Municipality of Scicli, houses the Municipal Art Gallery in some of its rooms, where works by artists of the famous Scicli Group such as Piero Guccione, Franco Sarnari, Franco Polizzi and others can be admired (Fig. f).