Statue of E. Navarro della Miraglia
His house: the intellectual salon of Sambuca
The construction of the theater, near the ancient Porta di Santa Maria on Via Grande (now Corso Umberto I), began in 1848 under the direction of the Sambucese master craftsman Girolamo Salvato and lasted three years, until 1851. The result was a jewel of 19th-century local craftsmanship, with architectural lines, structure, and style mirroring those of the major Sicilian theaters such as the Massimo and Politeama in Palermo, the Bellini in Catania, the Pirandello in Agrigento, and the Regina Margherita in Racalmuto, all built during that historical period. The “L’Idea” Theater features the traditional horseshoe-shaped layout typical of the era, with a flattened dome ceiling, a large stage, three tiers of boxes, and a stalls area with a total capacity of 251 seats. The ceiling of the stalls area and the proscenium arch were the work of master craftsman Maestro Girolamo Salvato, while Placido Carini, a Palermo artist and set designer, created the curtain and stage scenery, initially comprising a gallery, a palace, a living room, a room with a central door, a dungeon, and a forest.
Emmanuele Navarro della Miraglia. Bronze sculpture
We are in the mid-19th century in Sambuca di Sicilia, where the local ruling class, during this historical phase, has a keen interest in literature. A group of liberal local bourgeoisie, open to artistic, literary, and patriotic influences and lovers of art, decided to invest their economic resources to create a place dedicated to art: the town theater. Domenico Giacone, Salvatore Merlini, Salvatore Ciaccio, Giuseppe Giacone, Antonino Oddo, and Gioacchino La Genca were six private citizens of Sambuca at the time, representing the progressive and enlightened ruling class of the era. They were passionate about theatrical and operatic performances, but their interest extended beyond that. Their commitment to the intellectual development and social progress of the town led them to spearhead multiple promotional initiatives on their own, one of which was the establishment of the "L’Idea" Theater.
A life worthy of a novel
Many anecdotes surround the life of Navarro della Miraglia: in 1860, he, along with his father and other liberal Sambucese, facilitated the entry of a contingent of Garibaldi's troops, led by Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, who, having been repelled by the inhabitants of Giuliana, aimed for Sambuca; due to his close relationship with Francesco Crispi, he held prominent positions in the State Secretariat for Public Security; he collaborated with important periodicals of the time, including the Neapolitan "L’Indipendente," directed by Alexandre Dumas père (a master of historical novels and Romantic theater, renowned French author of masterpieces such as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and the Musketeers trilogy); he traveled extensively, both in Italy and abroad, also living in Paris where he frequented literary salons of the time with Victor Hugo (the most famous of French writers, author of "Notre-Dame de Paris" and "Les Misérables"), and numerous intellectuals and cultural figures from across the Channel: among them, the French writer George Sand, renowned muse of Chopin and a rebellious spirit, with whom he possibly had a liaison.
An intellectual whom art and memory will make immortal
The "Count della Miraglia," as Emanuele signed himself with a pseudonym, died on November 13, 1919, in Sambuca, where he was born. He will remain immortal through his works. To celebrate and preserve the memory of this esteemed Sicilian writer, the Navarriani Study Library was established at Sicilbanca, which houses manuscripts and original documents of the writer. Additionally, there is a cultural circle named after him, the Emanuele Navarro Prize, and his inclusion in the "Road of Writers": State Road 640, which traverses Sicily from east to west, passing through the literary memory sites of Sicilian writers such as Sciascia (Racalmuto), Camilleri (Porto Empedocle), Pirandello (Agrigento), Tomasi di Lampedusa (Santa Margherita di Belìce), Antonio Russello (Favara), Rosso di San Secondo (Caltanissetta), and, of course, Navarro (Sambuca di Sicilia).
The terracotta mold of the sculpture and its creator: Martin Emschermann’s work within the work
At the Sicilbanca headquarters, the original terracotta model of the bronze statue by the German artist Martin Emschermann is also on display. This statue, placed by the municipal administration near the birthplace of the writer, was created by Martin Emschermann, born in 1969 in Freiburg, Germany. Since 1990, Emschermann has lived and worked in Italy, where he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara with a focus on Sculpture. Initially experimenting with terracotta, bronze, and stone to explore the theme of "horse and rider," Emschermann later turned his attention to graffiti in urban environments, children's drawings with psychiatric patients, and other marginalized existences. Since 1997, he has pursued his career as a sculptor and founder in Palermo, working on themes closely related to his new surroundings. He has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Norway, as well as various symposia in Italy, Portugal, and Japan. Many of his works have been commissioned by the curia and are present in both public and private collections. He has created liturgical furnishings for several churches in Sicily, including the new church of the Transfiguration in Mussomeli and the new church of St. Luke in Caltanissetta. Notably, he is also the creator of the monumental portrait of Pope John Paul II in majolica terracotta for the Caltanissetta Cathedral. In Sambuca di Sicilia, his contributions include the bronze statue and the terracotta mold of the great Emmanuele Navarro della Miraglia.
Protagonist of intellectual and political life in the late 19th century
Emmanuele was involved in music, journalism, poetry, and theater, being a key figure in the flourishing literary season of the mid-19th century, as well as in some crucial moments of Sicilian history. After supporting the Risorgimento cause, and no longer identifying with its ideals, he moved to France, at least until 1872. There, influenced by the ideas and reflections of Émile Zola (the French writer and father of Naturalism, who believed that the novel should apply scientific methods to the analysis of reality), he channeled these insights into his work as a journalist and writer. He portrayed the Sicily of the downtrodden: the rural world burdened by the harshness of labor and empty promises; the era of banditry and social inequalities; the makeshift politics and widespread poverty.
La Nana: the work of his consecration
His most famous novel, published in 1879 (the same year as Capuana’s "Giacinta" and just a few years after Verga’s "Nedda"), features "La Nana," Rosaria Passalacqua, the daughter of a dwarf. Seduced and abandoned by a "gentleman" and then loved and taken in by an "honest young man," she finds herself battling social conventions and the constraints of the female condition, dramatically and inexorably at the mercy of the fickle whims of men. The novel, enthusiastically reviewed by Luigi Capuana and reissued by Leonardo Sciascia, established Navarro della Miraglia as a writer of "human documents": a fine investigator of the human psyche and its hidden recesses.
