ROSA, ROSAE, ROSALIA
Domenico Pellegrino | Di luce e di memoria
Rosalia: A Woman Before She Became a Saint
Before becoming La Santuzza, the patron saint and symbol of Palermo, Rosalia was a young woman who chose to break away from the conventions of her time to pursue a path of spiritual freedom.
It is from this profoundly human dimension that Domenico Pellegrino's artistic narrative takes shape. For over twenty years, the artist has reinterpreted the figure of Saint Rosalia through sculptures, luminous installations, and artistic projects that intertwine popular devotion with contemporary artistic expression.
In the exhibition Of Light and Memory (Di luce e di memoria), Rosalia is not merely a sacred image, but a female presence that moves through the city's history and continues to evolve.
Her face, her symbols, and the roses associated with her iconography become a means of exploring universal themes such as freedom, hope, care, and rebirth.
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The Rose and the Face
A defining moment in Domenico Pellegrino's artistic exploration of La Santuzza came in 2014, when he created the statue of Saint Rosalia for the Triumphal Float of the 390th Festino di Santa Rosalia.
Over the years, that face became the foundation of a sculptural investigation spanning different materials, scales, and artistic languages.
From plaster to marble powder, from resin to ceramics, Rosalia takes on new forms and colours, gradually becoming a contemporary icon in which the sacred meets pop culture.
Alongside her face, the rose is the other central element of this narrative. Deeply rooted in the traditions and legends surrounding the Saint, it becomes, in Pellegrino's work, a symbol of life, protection, and rebirth.
In 2024, on the occasion of the 400th Festino di Santa Rosalia, the artist created Il Giardino di Rosalia (The Garden of Rosalia), the monumental illuminated float that travelled along Palermo's historic Cassaro as part of the artistic direction of Balich Wonder Studio.
An extraordinary garden of roses, lilies, and Sicilian citrus fruits, in which nature was transformed into a collective narrative of hope and renewal, celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Saint's relics.
The illuminated roses now exhibited at Palazzo Bonocore come directly from that very Garden of Rosalia.
After accompanying the Triumphal Float through the streets of Palermo, they return to engage in dialogue with the face of La Santuzza in a more intimate setting, preserving the memory of one of the city's most significant celebrations.
In Rosa, Rosae, Rosalia, the flower and the face come together once again, revealing a figure deeply rooted in collective memory, yet continually capable of inspiring new images and meanings.
Light, Words and Memory
In Pellegrino's artistic practice, the story of Saint Rosalia gradually moves beyond the boundaries of sculpture to embrace music, theatre, and the spoken word.
This exploration has given rise to projects such as Luce di Rosalia – Speranza sul Mare di Palermo (Rosalia's Light – Hope over the Sea of Palermo) and Viva Palermo – Luce Rosalia, multidisciplinary performances in which luminous installations interact with texts by Eleonora Lombardo, original music by Alberto Santamaria, and the voices of Valentina Migliore, Alessandra Salerno, and Alessandra Ponente, under the direction of Domenico Pellegrino.
The Saint becomes the central figure in a contemporary narrative that intertwines her story with that of Palermo, evoking the sea, the city, popular devotion, and the profound bond between a community and its patron saint.
In the exhibition space at Palazzo Bonocore, this narrative dimension accompanies the artworks through an individual listening experience.
Words and music introduce an additional layer of interpretation to the sculptures, giving Rosalia a voice and a presence that extend beyond her visual representation.
Rosalia and Palermo: An Ongoing Story
The relationship between Domenico Pellegrino and Saint Rosalia also tells the story of the artist's deep connection with Palermo.
From the first theatrical statue created in 2000 for Roberta Torre's film Sud Side Story, to the large-scale public installations and performances of recent years, Pellegrino has developed a visual universe in which La Santuzza is continuously reimagined without losing her symbolic and cultural identity.
The works dedicated to Rosalia inhabit sacred sites and contemporary spaces, the sea and public squares, historic palaces and the city's gardens.
Each artistic intervention adds another chapter to a collective narrative that continues to evolve.
In Of Light and Memory, Rosalia returns, above all, as a woman: a figure capable of making choices, resisting conventions, and transforming her own destiny.
Pellegrino's light does more than celebrate her image. It brings into the present the enduring power of a story that Palermo continues to recognise as its own.