Stefano Ittar

Ittar was born in Owrucz (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Ukraine), where his father, a member of one of Italy's aristocratic families the Guidone de Hittar, had fled following a disagreement with the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Eventually Ittar was employed to work on the great palazzo itself; he is believed to be responsible for much of the architecture in the inner courtyards and upper floors.

This was the beginning of a form of partnership with Battaglia, and together they worked on various ecclesiastical buildings and Catania's huge Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena, the largest in Europe.

In 1767, Ittar was sufficiently renowned to go into business alone; buildings he designed in this period include the church of San Martino dei Bianchi, his first concave façade.

Ittar later designed the Church of San Placido, which has a facade adorned by a central Sicilian bell tower surmounted by statuary.

Records of his death show him dying in communion with the church, and as having received the last rites, a sacrament which would not have been administered in the case of a suicide.