Le dimore dei Chiaramonte: architettura e politica dell'immagine di una dinastia di condottieri nella Sicilia del XIV secolo

The Chiaramonte, the main components of Aristocrat Parliament of the Kingdom of Sicily, stand in the ranks of the many feudal lords of the island of the fourteenth century, even for a building activity that, in addition to the construction of churches and monasteries and massive fortifications and infrastructure over most of the region of Sicily, were on an extraordinary cycle of dwellings and the formulation of a "Chiaramontano style", programmatically inspired by the Sicilian-Norman and Sveva royal tradition.. Powerful family of noble warriors, wealthy owners of fiefs, great patrons and promoters of architectures, the Chiaramonte expressed a definite politica dell'immagine, even in competition with the recorded programs of the Aragonese dynasty of Sicily. In Palermo and Favara, in particular, they realize two buildings (a prismatic volumes with a square floor plan and central courtyards) which refer to models of towers and castles of Federico II, however applying the fortified vocation to a dimension of a residential courtliness next to the idea of "signoria".