The Italian Ambassador to Madrid, Riccardo Guariglia, presented – at the Cibeles Palace – the catalogue “El Madrid de Sabatini. La construcción de una capital europea (1760-1797)”, published on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the architect from Palermo who, under the reign of Charles III of Bourbon, transformed the capital of Spain.
During the ”’Sabatini Year”, with which Spain wished to celebrate the artist’s work, numerous initiatives were promoted. Today’s event was also attended by the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martinez-Almeida, and several other authorities from the world of politics and culture. For his part, Ambassador Guariglia, who signed the introduction to the catalogue, emphasised that “2021, the Sabatini Year, provides a new eloquent testimony of the close cultural relations between Spain and Italy”.
He added: “Francesco Sabatini, born in Palermo in 1721, is certainly an emblematic figure. A disciple of Luigi Vanvitelli, he became the most important architect of the Spanish Royal Household. From the time he moved to Madrid in 1760 until the year of his death in 1797, he reshaped the architecture of the city, making it a modern European capital. The Ambassador concluded by recalling that, during his recent State visit to Spain on November, 16-17, 2021, the Italian President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, born in Palermo like the great architect, publicly expressed his appreciation for the series of events organised in Madrid during the “Sabatini Year”.
