Museo d’arte sacra di Chiaramonte Gulfi

The museum is divided into four exhibition sections: the religious rite, the plastic arts, painting, furniture, and ceramic cladding.

The first section presents Vestments and Sacred Furnishings, almost entirely located in the large hall. One can admire gold and silk chasubles; various copes; a silver monstrance with a statuette of Saint Catherine at the base, silver chalices, a mother-of-pearl altar cross, very fine stoles, surplices, and capes.

In plastic arts, the museum displays terracotta sculptures by the master Giuseppe Criscione and his children Alberto and Paola; over thirty “figurines” of the Ethnographic Nativity Scene of the Iblei in Criscione’s classic style, known throughout Europe. The Nativity is reconstructed on a model depicting elements of the architectural and environmental heritage of Chiaramonte.

In the painting section, some canvases by S. Montanucci are exhibited, depicting the interiors of the Churches of San Giovanni Battista, SS. Salvatore, San Vito, and the Sanctuary of Gulfi.

A collection of Giacomo Alessi is also hosted, a well-known ceramic craftsman from Caltagirone, who turned ceramics into an art form, nationally and across Europe.