that "the funeral of a Sicilian aristocrat was one of the great moments of his life, and the luxury he had enjoyed in this life was to lead him into the next". Funerals became tremendous shows of wealth; a result of this ostentation was that the stone memorial slabs covering the burial vaults today provide an accurate barometer of the development of Baroque and marble inlay techniques at any specific time. For instance, those from the first half of the 17th century are of simple white marble decorated with an incised armorial bearing, name, date, etc. From , small quantities of coloured marble inlay appear, forming patterns, and this can be seen developing until, by the end of the century, the coats of arms and calligraphy are entirely of inset coloured marble, with decorative patterned borders. Long after Baroque began to fall from fashion in the 1780s, Baroque decor was still deemed more suitable for Catholic ritual than the new, pagan-based neoclassicism. The Church of San Benedetto in Catania (Illustration 15) is a fine example of a Sicilian Baroque interior, decorated between 1726 and 1762, the period when Sicilian Baroque was at the height of its fashion and individuality. The ceilings were frescoed by the artist Giovanni Tuccari. The most spectacular part of the church's decoration is the nuns' choir (Illustration 15), created , which was designed in such a way that the nuns' voices could be heard during services, but the nuns themselves were still quite separate from and unseen by the less spiritual world outside. Palazzi interiors Frequently the interiors of the palazzi are less elaborate than those of Sicily's Baroque churches. Many were finished with little ornate interior decoration because they took so long to build: by the time they were completed, Baroque had passed from fashion; in these cases, the principal rooms were frequently decorated in a neoclassical style influenced by the late 18th century Sicilian Anglomania and particularly an admiration of Robert Adam and Wedgewood pottery. However, in true Sicilian style, even this more chaste style would often be embellished with Baroque trompe-l'œil figures and colourful Sicilian tiled floors, such as can be found at the Villa Spedalotto at Bagheria. Often a fusion of the two styles is found, as in the ballroom wing of the Palazzo Ajutamicristo in Palermo, built by Andrea Giganti in 1763, where the ballroom ceiling was frescoed by Giuseppe Crestadoro