Marble Theater - Palermo

The Marble Theater was built in 1662 on the square in front of the Royal Palace.

 At first , only the bronze statue of Philip IV of Habsburg, King of Spain and Sicily, was placed on a pedestal. Around 1660 the statue was rebuilt, but in larger proportions, and a marble theater was installed for the occasion. During the revolution of 1848, the bronze statue of Philip IV was demolished and by decision of the Sicilian parliament it was used for the casting of new cannons.

The monumental group of statues was created to celebrate the glory of Philip IV of Habsburg, King of Spain and Sicily, known as Philip the Great and nicknamed the Planet King , because his possessions extended over all the then known continents of the world .

The pyramid-shaped monument - with a vaguely octagonal base - consists of statues arranged in a harmonious composition together with balustrades.

On the steps are pairs of statues as an allegory of the dominated and governed states. The pair corresponding to the front on the Cassaro in the north shows respectively the Kingdom of Sicily and Castile and León , in the east Lombardy and Portugal , in the south Sardinia and America , in the west opposite the Palace of the Normans, the Kingdom of Naples and Catalonia.

Surrounding the square pedestal are the images of the four parts of the earth that were explored and civilized at the time ( Europe, Asia, Africa and America ), over which the King of Spain ruled.

Above it are the images of four monarchs in the guise of slaves . The figures kneeling in an act of submission represent: the Sultan of Granada , Moamad Babdelin (Abu 'Abd Allāh Muhammad) known as Cicchito, the king of Tremisen of Mauritania Cesariense, the general Capoulicano supreme cacique of Chile, and the tyrant of Corralat of Mindanao.

Willem Vandenameele