Antonello da Messina

Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) was a Sicilian painter active during the Italian Renaissance.

Related Topics:
1430 - 1479 - Sicilian - Painter - Italian Renaissance

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was probably born at Messina about the beginning of the 15th century, and laboured at his art for some time in his native country. He is believed to have been a pupil of Colantonio in Naples.

Related Topics:
Messina - 15th century - Colantonio - Naples

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Happening to see at Naples a painting in oil by Jan Van Eyck, belonging to Alphonso of Aragon, he was struck by the peculiarity and value of the new method, and set out for the Netherlands to acquire a knowledge of the process from Van Eyck's disciples, with its interest in light and cast shadows.

Related Topics:
Jan Van Eyck - Alphonso of Aragon - The Netherlands

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He spent some time there in the prosecution of his art; returned with his secret to Messina about 1465; probably visited Milan; removed to Venice in 1472, where he painted for the Council of Ten; and died there in the middle of February 1479 (see Venturi's article in Thieme-Becker, Kunstlerlexikon, 1907)

Related Topics:
1465 - Milan - Venice - 1472 - February 1479

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Antonello's style is remarkable for its union--not always successful--of Italian simplicity with Flemish love of 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. His influence can be seen in the works of Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini and other Venetian painters.

Related Topics:
Piero della Francesca - Giovanni Bellini - Venetian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His subjects are frequently single figures, upon the complete representation of which he bestows his utmost skill. There are extant--besides a number more or less dubious--twenty authentic productions, consisting of renderings of "Ecce Homo," Madonnas, saints, and half-length portraits, many of them painted on wood. His best known works include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Portrait of a Young Man (c.1470)
• The unidentified man called the Condottiere (illustration, right), dated 1475. It clearly shows the influence of Flemish painters, and perhaps of the camera lucida technique.
• Christ Crucified (1475)
• St. Jerome in his Study (c.1475)
• Portrait of a Man (c.1475) - oil on poplar
• Madonna with Saints Nicholas of Bari, Anastasia, Ursula and Dominic (San Cassiano Altarpiece) (c.1475-76)
• St Sebastian (1476-77)
• Christ Crowned with Thorns - oil on wood

Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Antonello da Messina in his Lives.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Antonello da Messina: References ►