I graffiti delle Carceri segrete del Santo Uffizio di Palermo

The Inventory of graffiti from the secret prisons of the Holy Office in Palermo is the latest and fundamental contribution to the knowledge, preservation and study of this priceless historical heritage. It is a document that will stand the test of time. It puts a point on the state of affairs and hands it over to the future, to anyone who wants to approach with the spirit of a scholar, or even only of a curious person, the world of a vanished generation that has left an indelible mark of suffering that remains as a warning for all future generations.

Prisons and their graffiti offer themselves to a multitude of visitors and have become a point of reference for many communities of scholars, artists and religious people who find in them elements of inspiration and, at times, prayer and, why not, comfort. The role of art as an element of hope emerges in every section of the cells, along with despair, but stronger than it.

Today, emerging from silence and plasterwork, the graffiti speaks to the world and to each of us and reminds us of the value of freedom and of the word, of the sign. This unique and extraordinary volume helps us, as never before, to study them and deliver them to the future, intact, in their strength.