Efisio martire: un santo contra la peste barocca nella Cagliari del Seicento

The article analyzes the baroque construction of the cult of San Efisio, a figure of the Sardinian pantheon who has a rather insignificant presence until the outbreak of the plague that strucked Sardinia in the mid-seventeenth century. A saint to whom, still today in Cagliari, the most important and sumptuous celebration of the island is dedicated, being object of a great popular veneration by the faithful coming from all Sardinian provinces. Despite the lack of documentation that hinders a more precise reconstruction of the process of elaborating his devotion, and based on what has survived it is possible to (deduce) foresee the participation of the Society of Jesus and the ruling elites of Cagliari, who used his cult to reinforce the image of this city as the main center of the island. This case bears many similarities with that of Rosalia, saint of Palermo, inviting to a reflection comparing the different realities offered by the Monarchy of the Habsburgs.