Authorship under Confinement : Wall Writing, Carceral Iconography and Inquisitorial Power in Early Modern Palermo

Prison wall writing in early modern Palermo emerged within inquisitorial confinement as a meaningful, if constrained, form of authorship. The graffiti preserved in cell no. 2 of the Palazzo Steri show how writing and image took shape under a regime marked by prolonged investigation and suspended judgement. Read alongside inquisitorial records, the layered surfaces of the cell reveal a shared visual field shaped by accumulation, imitation, and dialogue among inmates. At its centre stand the poetic inscriptions of Michele Remigio Moraschino, whose verses negotiate identity, belief, and reputation under institutional constraint. Approached as a stratified visual archive, the prison wall sheds light on how visual and textual practices mediated forms of agency within the temporal economy of inquisitorial power.