All Topics  
Antonello da Messina

 
Antonello Da Messina

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Antonello da Messina
 
 
  Topics Antonello da Messina Topic Home

Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio (c. 1430 — February 1479) was a Sicilian
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
 painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
 active during the Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe....
. His work shows strong influences from Early Netherlandish painting
Early Netherlandish painting

Early Netherlandish painting is the work of those painting who were active in the Netherlands during the 15th and early 16th century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing cities of Bruges and Ghent....
 and, unusually for a painter from Southern Italy, he was influential on the art of North Italy, especially Venice
Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
.

nello was born at Messina around 1429-1431, to Giovanni de Antonio Mazonus and Garita (Margherita).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Antonello da Messina'
Start a new discussion about 'Antonello da Messina'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio (c. 1430 — February 1479) was a Sicilian
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
 painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
 active during the Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe....
. His work shows strong influences from Early Netherlandish painting
Early Netherlandish painting

Early Netherlandish painting is the work of those painting who were active in the Netherlands during the 15th and early 16th century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing cities of Bruges and Ghent....
 and, unusually for a painter from Southern Italy, he was influential on the art of North Italy, especially Venice
Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
.

Biography

Antonello was born at Messina around 1429-1431, to Giovanni de Antonio Mazonus and Garita (Margherita). He was probably apprenticed in his native city and in Palermo
Palermo

Palermo is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the autonomous region Sicily and the province of Palermo. The city is noted for its rich history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old....
.

Around the year 1450, according to a 1524 letter of the Neapolitan humanist
Renaissance humanism

Renaissance humanism was a European intellectual movement that was a crucial component of the Renaissance, beginning in Florence in the last years of the 14th century....
 Pietro Summonte
Pietro Summonte

Pietro Summonte was a Renaissance humanist of Naples, a member of the learned circle of friends in the Ciceronian manner that constituted Jovianus Pontanus's Accademia Pontaniana....
, he was a pupil of the painter Niccolò Colantonio
Niccolo Antonio Colantonio

Niccol? Antonio Colantonio was an Italy painting, known mainly for having been trainer to Antonello da Messina. Details of his life are obscure....
 at Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
, then one of the most active centres of Renaissance arts.

Around 1455 he painted the so-called Sibiu Crucifixion, which was inspired by the Flemish Calvaries and is housed in the Muzeul de Arta in Bucharest
Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the D?mbovita River....
. Of the same years is the Crucifixion
Crucifixion (Antonello da Messina)

The Crucifixion is the subject of three different paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina; the first two were completed around 1454/1455, the third in 1475....
 in the Royal Museum of Antwerp
Antwerp

||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions....
: his early works shows a marked Flemish influence, which it is now understood he derived from his master Colantonio and from works by Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck was an Early Netherlandish painting active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
 that belonged to Colantonio's patron, Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso V of Aragon

Alfonso the Magnanimous was the King of Aragon , King of Valencia , Kingdom of Majorca, Kingdom of Sardinia , and Kingdom of Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death....
; his biographer Vasari
Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari was an Italy Painting and architect, who is today famous for his biography of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art history writing....
 remarked that Antonello saw at Naples an oil painting
Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil ? especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil....
 by Jan Van Eyck
Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck was an Early Netherlandish painting active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
 (the "Lomellini Tryptych") belonging to King Alphonso of Aragon; Vasari's further narrative, that being struck by the new method, set out for The Netherlands to acquire a knowledge of the process from Van Eyck's disciples is discredited today. Another theory, supported only by vague documentary evidence, suggests that in 1456 Antonello visited Milan, where he might have met Van Eyck's most accomplished follower, Petrus Christus. Since Antonello was one of the first Italians to master Eyckian oil painting, and Christus was the first Netherlandish painter to learn Italian linear perspective, their meeting is a tempting answer to both questions. But in fact, neither artist is known for certain to have been in Milan at the time.

The following year, Antonello received his first commission as an independent artist, a banner for the Confraternità di San Michele dei Gerbini in Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city in southern Italy Italy, the Capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria as well as the largest and oldest city in the Calabria region....
. At this date, he was already married, and his son Jacobello had been born.

In 1460, his father is mentioned leasing a brigantine
Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.Originally the brigantine was a small ship carrying both oars and sails....
 to bring back Antonello and his family from Amaltea, a town in Calabria
Calabria

Calabria , is a Regions of Italy in Southern Italy Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea....
. In that year, Antonello painted the so-called Salting Madonna, in which standard iconography and Flemish style are backed by a greater attention in the volumetric proportions of the figures, probably coming from his knowledge of some works by Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca was an Italian artist of the Italian Renaissance. To contemporaries, he was known as a mathematician and geometer as well as an artist, though now he is chiefly appreciated for his art....
. Also from around 1460 are the two small panels depicting Abraham Served by the Angels and St. Jerome Penitent
St. Jerome and Abraham panels (Antonello da Messina)

St. Jerome Penitent and Abraham Served by the Angels are two paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They are housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria....
 now in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia
Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia

File:Reggio calabria museo nazionale bronzi di riace.jpgThe Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia , Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Reggio Calabria or Palazzo Piacentini is an Italian archaeological museum in Reggio Calabria with an archaeological collection from sites in Magna Grecia....
 in Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city in southern Italy Italy, the Capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria as well as the largest and oldest city in the Calabria region....
. In 1461 his younger brother Giordano entered Antonello's workshop, signing a three-years' contract. Of that year is a Madonna with Child for the Messinese nobleman Giovanni Mirulla, now lost.

Between 1465-1470, Antonello finished a Portrait of a Man now at Cefalù
Cefalù

Cefal? is a city and comune in the province of Palermo, located on the northern coast of Sicily, Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea about 75 km east from the provincial capital and 185 km west of Messina, Italy....
. His portraits are noteworthy for his characteristic use of the three-quarter view, typical of the Flemish School
Early Netherlandish painting

Early Netherlandish painting is the work of those painting who were active in the Netherlands during the 15th and early 16th century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing cities of Bruges and Ghent....
, whereas almost all Italian painters adopted the medal profile pose. Antonello travelled to Venice
Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
 around 1470, to see Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini

Giovanni Bellini was an Italy Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venice painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna....
's paintings.

Antonello Da Messina 035
In this year he executed his first signed and dated work, the Salvator Mundi. Back at Sicily, Antonello finished the St. Gregory's Polyptych.

In 1474, he painted the Annunciation, now in Syracuse, and the St. Jerome in His Study, one of his most famous paintings. The following year he began his regular sojourn in Venice
Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
, where he remained until the fall of 1476. His works of this period begin to show a greater attention to the human figure, regarding both anatomy and expressivity, according to the influence of Piero della Francesca and Bellini.

His most famous pictures dating from this period include the Condottiero (Louvre, illustration), the San Cassiano Altarpiece and the St. Sebastian (see selected works
Antonello da Messina

Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was a Sicily Painting active during the Italian Renaissance. His work shows strong influences from Early Netherlandish painting and, unusually for a painter from Southern Italy, he was influential on the art of North Italy, especially Venice....
 for details). The San Cassiano Altarpiece was especially influential on Venetian painters, as it was one of the first of the large compositions in the sacra conversazione
Sacra conversazione

In art, the sacra conversazione, which translates as Sacred or Holy Conversation in English, but is normally used in the Italian, refers to a depiction of the Madonna with infant Jesus amidst a group of saints....
 format which was perfected by Giovanni Bellini (Antonello's surviving work in Vienna is only a fragment of the much larger original).

Antonello returned briefly to Sicily in 1476, where he painted the famous Virgin Annunciate
Virgin Annunciate (Antonello da Messina, Palermo)

The Palermo version of the Virgin Annunciate is one of the most famous paintings by the Italy Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina. Probably painted in Sicily in 1476, it shows Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation....
, now in the Palazzo Abatellis at Palermo
Palermo

Palermo is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the autonomous region Sicily and the province of Palermo. The city is noted for its rich history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old....
.

He died at Messina in 1479: his testament dates from February of that year, and he is documented as no longer alive two months later. Some of his last works remained unfinished, but were completed by his son Jacobello.
Antonello Da Messina 031

Style and legacy

Antonello's style is remarkable for its union, not always successful, of Italian simplicity with Flemish
Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
 concern for detail. He exercised an important influence on Italian painting, not only by the introduction of the Flemish invention, but also by the transmission of Flemish tendencies. However, no school of painting formed after his death, with the exception of the Sicilian Marco Costanzo.

Selected works

  • Sibiu Crucifixion (1455) - Muzeul de Artà, Bucharest
    Bucharest

    Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the D?mbovita River....
  • Crucifixion
    Crucifixion (Antonello da Messina)

    The Crucifixion is the subject of three different paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina; the first two were completed around 1454/1455, the third in 1475....
     (1455) - Oil on panel 52.5 x 42.5 cm, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
    Antwerp

    ||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions....
  • Abraham Served by the Angels
    St. Jerome and Abraham panels (Antonello da Messina)

    St. Jerome Penitent and Abraham Served by the Angels are two paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They are housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria....
     - Museo della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria
    Reggio Calabria

    Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city in southern Italy Italy, the Capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria as well as the largest and oldest city in the Calabria region....
  • Ecce Homo
    Ecce Homo (Antonello da Messina)

    Ecce Homo is the title of a series of painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They date from 1470 to 1475.Antonello is known to have treated this subject four times; three are variations of the same design; a fourth differs....
     (c. 1470) - Tempera and oil on panel, 42.5 x 30.5 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Metropolitan Museum of Art

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile, New York City in New York City, USA....
    , New York City
    New York City

    The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
  • Ecce Homo
    Ecce Homo (Antonello da Messina)

    Ecce Homo is the title of a series of painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They date from 1470 to 1475.Antonello is known to have treated this subject four times; three are variations of the same design; a fourth differs....
     (1470) - Tempera and oil on panel, 40 x 33 cm, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genoa
    Genoa

    Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000....
  • St. Jerome Penitent
    St. Jerome and Abraham panels (Antonello da Messina)

    St. Jerome Penitent and Abraham Served by the Angels are two paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They are housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria....
     - Various techniques on wood, 40.2 x 30.2 cm, Museo della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria
    Reggio Calabria

    Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city in southern Italy Italy, the Capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria as well as the largest and oldest city in the Calabria region....
  • Ecce Homo
    Ecce Homo (Antonello da Messina)

    Ecce Homo is the title of a series of painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They date from 1470 to 1475.Antonello is known to have treated this subject four times; three are variations of the same design; a fourth differs....
     (c. 1473) - Tempera on panel, 19.5 x 14.3 cm, Private collection, New York City
    New York City

    The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
  • Portrait of a Man (1474) - Oil on wood, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
  • Madonna with Child (Salting Madonna)
    Salting Madonna (Antonello da Messina)

    The Madonna with Child is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. It is housed in the National Gallery, London. The name Salting derives from the collector who donated it to the gallery in 1910....
     - Oil on wood, 43.2 x 34.3 cm, National Gallery, London
  • Portrait of a Man (1474) - Oil on wood, 32 x 26 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
  • St Jerome in His Study (c. 1474) - Oil on wood, 46 x 36,5 cm, National Gallery, London
    National Gallery, London

    The National Gallery in London, founded in 1824, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900 in its home on Trafalgar Square....
  • Ecce Homo
    Ecce Homo (Antonello da Messina)

    Ecce Homo is the title of a series of painting by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They date from 1470 to 1475.Antonello is known to have treated this subject four times; three are variations of the same design; a fourth differs....
     (1475) - Oil on panel, 48.5 x 38 cm, Collegio Alberoni, Piacenza
    Piacenza

    Piacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza....
  • Portrait of a Man (Il Condottiere) (1475) - Oil on wood, 35 x 38 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
  • Crucifixion
    Crucifixion (Antonello da Messina)

    The Crucifixion is the subject of three different paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina; the first two were completed around 1454/1455, the third in 1475....
     (1475) - Wood, 42 x 25,5 cm, National Gallery, London
  • Portrait of a Man (c. 1475) - Oil on wood, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Portrait of a Man (c. 1475) - Oil on panel, 36 x 25 cm, National Gallery, London
  • Portrait of a Man (1475-1476) - Oil on panel, 28 x 21 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
  • San Cassiano Altarpiece (1475-76) - Oil on panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
  • The Dead Christ Supported by an Angel (1475-78) - Panel, 74 x 51 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid
  • Christ at the Column
    Christ at the Column (Antonello da Messina)

    Christ at the Column is a small painting by the Italy Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina, finished around 1475, showing the Flagellation of Christ....
     (c. 1475-1479) - Oil on wood, 25,8 x 21 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
  • Virgin of the Annunciation -Oil on panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
  • Portrait of a Man (1476) - Oil on panel, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Turin
  • Virgin Annunciate
    Virgin Annunciate (Antonello da Messina, Palermo)

    The Palermo version of the Virgin Annunciate is one of the most famous paintings by the Italy Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina. Probably painted in Sicily in 1476, it shows Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation....
     (c. 1476) - Oil on wood, 45 x 34,5 cm, Museo Nazionale, Palermo
  • St. Sebastian
    St. Sebastian (Antonello da Messina)

    St. Sebastian is a painting by the Italy Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina, finished in 1477-1479. It is currently housed in the Gem?ldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany....
     (1477-1479) - Oil on canvas transferred on table, 171 × 85 cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
  • Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1478) - Panel, 20.4 x 14.5 cm, Staatliche Museeun, Berlin
    Berlin

    Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....


External links