Gallipoli, four precious 18th century statues seeking supporters for restoration

In Gallipoli, four precious wooden statues from the 18th century, carved from a single olive tree trunk, are looking for benefactors willing to support their necessary restoration: in fact, the Confraternity of Santa Maria degli Angeli of Gallipoli has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Love Italy platform to seek donations and guarantee rewards for those whose generosity will support the work.

The four statues, representing Saints John the Baptist, Joseph and Isidore Agricola, and Our Lady of the Angels, are kept in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli and are in a critical state of preservation: restoration is necessary to prevent them from deteriorating further. “The current state of the statues is very bad, with the presence of sedimentary deposits, splintering, disconnections and thick repainting,” the confraternity points out. The restoration work is necessary to restore them to their original splendor and to enhance the artistic beauty of the city of Gallipoli by making them available to residents and the many visitors and tourists."

These are important statues for the church and its community: the statue of Our Lady of the Angels is in fact dedicated to the titular saint of the church, St. John the Baptist is the saint of the ancient church on whose site the present temple dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels was built between 1663 and 1665, while Isidore Agricola and Joseph are the patron saints of farmers and artisans, respectively, to emphasize the vocation to work in these lands. “The depictions of the three saints are authentic works of art carved from a single tree trunk, carved in three-quarter lengths because of their placement in the niches of the church,” the confraternity explains. “It is a baroque modeling, typically seen in Neapolitan statuary and very much in keeping with the manner that, between 1600 and 1700, popularized with his works in Salento the sculptor Gaetano Patalano. In contrast, the Madonna of the Angels is the oldest statue of the Confraternity.” The church is rich in works of art: in addition to the wooden sculptures there are the majolica panel of Our Lady of the Assumption made in 1942 by the firm Raffaele Vaccarella, the 18th-century paintings by Diego Oronzio Bianchi, the organ also from the 18th century by Giuseppe Corrado, the stucco work by Luigi Schiavone, the 17th-century altarpiece of Our Lady of the Angels from the workshop of Gian Domenico Catalano, and then the 19th-century papier-mâché works by Achille De Lucrezi.

Seven types of donations are planned: the €10 donation, which entitles the donor to a digital certificate and a thank you on the campaign page; €25: the same as for the €10 donors with the addition of a thank you on the confraternity’s Faceboopk page; €50: an acknowledgement is added on the restoration e-book; €100: a thank you is added on the final restoration video; €500: a two-hour guided tour of Gallipoli’s historic center is added; 1,000 euros: a lunch or dinner in a Gallipoli restaurant is added; 2,000 euros: an overnight stay for two nights for two people in Gallipoli, the name on a plaque in the sacristy, and the possibility of celebrating a Mass according to the donor’s intentions are added.

The campaign has currently reached 27 percent of the goal, set at 13,745 euros (3,685 euros have been raised). For all information and to donate you can go to the campaign page on the Love Italy platform.

Gallipoli, four precious 18th century statues seeking supporters for restoration

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