MILAN – Love art
Then the new “ Antonello da Messina” exhibition is just the thing for you. If you live in Milan , take a few metro stops and you will be in Palazzo Reale , the venue of the exhibition that can be visited from 21 February to 2 June . If, on the other hand, you are a tourist looking for some artistic and cultural gem, then you will have a reason to visit the exhibition, thus making your trip even more unique and interesting. Famous, but at the same time rare and elusive
By Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), like other immense artists, unfortunately few extraordinary works remain, who survived tragic natural events such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and the neglect and ignorance of men; those that remain are dispersed in various collections and museums between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic, across the Channel, across the Atlantic; many have undergone heavy restorations on several occasions that have forever altered the original layout, others have come down to us intact. The exhibition – the result of the collaboration between the Sicilian Region and the Municipality of Milan-Culture with the production of Palazzo Reale and MondoMostre Skira, curated by Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa – is a unique and special opportunity to enter the world of an excellent and unmistakable , consideredthe greatest portraitist of the fifteenth century , author of an indelible trace in the history of Italian painting.
Antonello da Messina
Saint Jerome in the study, 1475 ca.
oil on lime wood panel, 45.7 x 36.2 cm
The National Gallery, London, Photo credits: © The National Gallery, London More than half of the works are
on display his autograph: starting with the Annunciata(C.1475), authentic icon, synthesis of Antonello’s art, with the gaze and gesture of the Virgin turned to the mysterious presence that has manifested itself, one of the highest masterpieces of the Italian fifteenth century able to arouse emotions and feelings in every spectator ; and the elegant figures of Sant’Agostino (1472-1473), San Girolamo (1472-1473) and San Gregorio Magno (1470-1475) perhaps belonging to the Polyptych of the Doctors of the Church; but also the famous Portrait of a man (1465-1476). But then among the other paintings coming even from overseas , there are exhibited: the Saint Jerome in the studio (1474 – 1475), the Crucifixion (about 1460), thePortrait of a Young Man (1474), the Enchanting Madonna and Child (c.1475), Triptych with the Madonna and Child , St. John the Baptist , St. Benedict , Portrait of a Man (1468-1470), Ecce Homo (Christ at the Column ) (1473-76), the Portrait of a man (Michele Vianello
) (1475-1476), the poetic Christ in pieta supported by three angels (about 1474-1476), Portrait of a man (also known as Trivulzio Portrait (1476) and the very sweet Madonna and Child (1480) A section of the exhibition is dedicated to the reconstruction of the events of theAltarpiece of San Cassiano , capital text for the history of Italian art.
Antonello da Messina
Madonna and Child (also known as the Benson Madonna), c. 1475
tempera and oil on panel transferred to plywood, 58.9 x 43.7 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington,
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington An exceptional guide
This great exhibition has an exceptional guide : Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle . And the great art historian, through his notebooks and drawings, to lead the visitor to the discovery of Antonello da Messina. So that everyone can, step by step, fully understand the merits of this exceptional figure, one of the fathers of Western art history, and together with him understand how Antonello and become such an important artist for the history of art. Thanks to the extraordinary collaboration activated over the years with the Marciana Library in Venice, 19 drawings are presented , including 7 notebooks and 12 sheetsby Cavalcaselle with its loving reconstruction of Antonello’s first catalog. A focus of the exhibition is also dedicated to the artist’s relationship with his hometown and to the few remaining records of his life, due to the numerous tragic natural events, in particular earthquakes, which largely caused their disappearance and destruction. , reports that allow us to know aspects of the life of the great Sicilian painter. A fascinating exhibition, therefore, where you can appreciate the fine psychological introspection of the faces of men and women painted by the great artist and the technical mastery made of mixtures and infinite drafts of colors that Antonello took from Flemish contemporaries and reworked, mixing it with Venetian influences, in his Mediterranean way, unmistakable and of absolute beauty.
Antonello da Messina
Portrait of a man (Michele Vianello
), c. 1475
tempera and oil on wood, 31 x 25.2 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome
Photo credits: © 2018. Photo Scala, Florence
