Description of the attraction
Palazzo Riso, located on the ancient street of Palermo Corso Vittorio Emanuele, today occupies the Museum of Contemporary Art of Sicily. The building itself, designed by the architect Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia at the end of the 18th century for Prince Belmonte Giuseppe Emmanuele Ventimiglia, was built at the end of the reign of the Sicilian Baroque style, and was later rebuilt in the neoclassical style. The construction of the Palazzo was completed in 1784, and in the 19th century it became the property of Baron Riso. In honor of this event, the sculptor Ignazio Marabitti carved the marble family coats of arms of Riso on the entrance portal of the palace. He also worked on neoclassical sculptures installed on the main balcony. During the Second World War, the building was seriously damaged during air raids on Palermo - as a result of a bomb hit, part of the palace collapsed, destroying the ancient frescoes by Antonio Manno in the large ballroom. Then the building stood abandoned for many years. Only in the mid-1990s, at the initiative of the government of the Autonomous Region of Sicily, large-scale restoration work began, and since 2008 the Museum of Contemporary Art has been housed in Palazzo Riso.
Today it is one of the most significant exhibition areas in the region. First of all, here you can get acquainted with the works of local artists - Andrea Di Marco, Alessandro Bazan, Giovanni Anselmo, Domenico Mangano, Carl Accardi, Croce Taravella, Paola Pivi, Salvo and many others. The museum also has a library and a cafeteria, and in the future it is planned to increase the exhibition area by restoring the premises of a nearby factory destroyed during the war.
