In Bagheria, the splendid baroque residence Villa Cattolica houses the masterpieces donated by Renato Guttuso, who lived nearby, and his monumental tomb, a sculpture in rare Brazilian marble Azul Macaubas that blends into the blue of the sea on the horizon.

Bagheria is a municipality in the province of Palermo, also known as “the City of Villas” for the numerous and wonderful baroque residences that can be visited, among which, one of the most scenic, is Villa Cattolica. Since 1973, following the legacy of his most significant works, the building has hosted the masterpieces of Renato Guttuso donated by the master to his hometown.

Aldo Renato Guttuso, born in Bagheria in 1911, and among the most important artists of the 20th century, as a young man lived in a house near the villas Valguarnera and Palagonia, by which he was also influenced in his works, portraying their details in later paintings.

Painting is my profession. I would like to achieve total freedom in art, a freedom which, as in life, consists in truth. (Renato Guttuso, 1957)

Villa Cattolica became the property, in 1736, of the Prince of Cattolica Eraclea Francesco Bonanno to make it a summer residence and was restored in Baroque style in a quadrangular shape with two parallel exedras, a double-flight Baroque staircase and a large panoramic terrace with a loggia below.

In 1948 it was purchased by the Scaduto family and used as a residence and headquarters of a factory for the production of food preserves, a business interrupted during the Second World War, which was followed by oblivion and later by the donation of the master Renato Guttuso who transformed Villa Cattolica into the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of Bagheria.

Here are preserved the greatest masterpieces of Renato Guttuso, from the works with Sicilian motifs, such as the lush lemon groves, the Saracen olive tree, the Palinuro, between myth and island solitude, to the female figures, such as the series of paintings in which he portrayed Marta Marzotto, his muse and favorite model for many years.

In addition to Guttuso’s production, the Museum also houses works by 20th-century artists such as, among others, Mario Bardi, Mario Schifano, Cagli, Onofrio Tomaselli, Silvestre Cuffaro, Domenico Quattrociocchi, Pina Calì, Vincenzo Gennaro and Giuseppe Pellitteri, Mimmo Pintacuda, Giuseppe Tornatore, Arrigo Musti and Domenico Pellegrino.

Villa Cattolica also has an ethnographic section in which several finely carved and decorated Sicilian carts are exhibited, and a rich section dedicated to film posters, a donation from Filippo Lo Medico, a historic cinema owner in Bagheria and a passionate collector.

As per Guttuso’s wish, his monumental tomb was entrusted to the artist, sculptor and friend Giacomo Manzù, who chose a rare marble from Brazil, the Azul Macaubas with vibrant shades of blue, with which he created a large parallelepiped sarcophagus on which four gilded bronze doves rest in flight, which stands out against the blue sea of ​​Aspra. A wonderful view from the windows of the Villa on the first floor.

The works of Renato Guttuso exhibited are covered by copyright, to see them you can consult his Official Archive.

The Secret

From the second half of the nineteenth century, the monumental complex was used as a shelter during a cholera epidemic and, subsequently, as barracks for the Bourbon troops stationed in Bagheria.

Useful Info

Villa Cattolica – Museo Guttuso
Via Ramacca 9 (SS 113)
90011 Bagheria, Palermo
Tel. +39 366 8035918

Entrance: ticket 6 euro