Tomasso Napoli

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Villa Palagonia. "Dei Monstri" a series of sculpture of Grotesques which adorn the parapet of the villa

Tommaso Maria Napoli was an early 18th century Dominican order monk who published an architectural treatise on perspective. He twice visited Vienna, returning to Sicily with engravings of the Baroque building currently fashionable there. He imported this style, the Schonbrunn Palace is an example, to Sicily, but adapted it to suit the climate and traditions of the island. His works became early examples of Sicilian Baroque

Other than this almost nothing is known of him, apart from his design for two villas at Bagheria in Sicily which set him apart as an architect of great distinction. The villas are the Villa Valguarnera built between 1713 and 1737, and the Villa Palagonia begun in 1705 for Ferdinando Francesco Gravina, Prince of Palagonia.

Valguarnea the more simple of the two, built around a courtyard with farm building attached, much as the earlier villas of Palladio two centuries before. The three storeyed main facade of the villa has a concave bay at its centre, in which is set an external staircase leading to the piano nobile. The balustraded roof line is adorned by statuary. The piece de resistance of the villa however, is a large terrace and parterre, also designed by Napoli, overlooking the bay and Solunto, this is considered to be the finest view in Sicily.

The Villa Palagonia, the larger and more complex of the two, has curved facades of two storeys. The piano nobile is denoted by large arched windows. The rear facade is a great curve, flanked by two straight wings. The feature of the villa is the external staircase. Of even more complex design than the stairs in the concave at Valguarnea, a double staircase consisting of straight flights, which repeatedly change direction against the straight and curves of the villa's external walls. The interior of the villa was decorated with marble walls and mirrored ceilings.

Two other villas in the Bagheria area may be attributable to Napoli, they are the Villa Cattolica and the Villa Larderia, both are similar to Palagonia and Valguarnera with curved facades. however, they lack the ingenuity of the former two villas, and no documentary evidence exists to positively prove the identity of their architect.