1812, who then imposed a British style constitution on the island. One legal innovation of this time of particular consequence for the aristocracy was that creditors, who had previously only been able to enforce repayments of the interest on a loan or mortgage, could now seize property. Property began to change hands in smaller parcels at auctions, and consequently a land-owning bourgeoisie immediately began to flourish. Revolts against the Bourbons in 1821 and 1848 divided the nobility, and liberalism was in the air. These factors, coupled with the social and political upheaval of the following Risorgimento in the 19th century, meant the Sicilian aristocracy was a doomed class, having to live off their capital. Immediately following the Risorgimento, Sicily's annexation to the new Italian state was economically disastrous for the island, in no small part due to the relaxation of foreign exchange, which was advantageous only to the more industrial north of the new kingdom, but forced the more agricultural south to compete in the North American commodity markets. Furthermore, because of their neglect and dereliction of noblesse oblige, an essential element of the feudal system, the countryside was often ruled by bandits outside the enclosed villages, and the once grand country villas were decaying. The dominance of the Sicilian upper class was over. As with the early days of Sicilian Baroque, the first buildings of the new neoclassical era were often copies or hybrids of the two styles. The Palazzo Ducezio (Illustration 19) was begun in 1746, and the ground floor with arcades creating play of light and shadow is pure Baroque. However, when a few years later the upper floor was added, despite the use of Baroque broken pediments above the windows, the neoclassical French influence is very pronounced, highlighted by the central curved bay. The Sicilian Baroque was gradually and slowly being superseded by French neoclassicism. Legacy Sicilian Baroque is today recognised as an architectural style, largely due to the work of Sacheverall Sitwell, whose Southern Baroque Art of 1924 was the first book to appreciate the style, followed by the more academic work of Anthony Blunt in 1968. Most of the Baroque palazzi continued in private ownership throughout the 19th century, as the old aristocracy either married middle-class money or fell further into debt. There were a few exceptions and some of these still retain their ancestral palazzi today. Thanks to the continuing religious devotion of