By Anne Leader
Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina died some time between 14 and 25 February in 1479 in the city that gave him his name. Widely recognized as the greatest Sicilian artist of the Renaissance, Antonello achieved international acclaim for his oil technique, and he is often cited as the artist who introduced the glazing technique associated with Netherlandish masters like Jan Van Eyck and Rogier Van der Weyden to Italy. Antonello was in Venice in 1475 and 1476, helping to popularize the technique there through local artists like Giovanni Bellini. Like Northern European painters, Antonello exploited the naturalistic effects of oil glazes to create lifelike portraits and engrossing religious pictures. His style and technique were continued in Sicily by his son Jacobello and his nephews Antonio and Pietro de Saliba.
Reference: Joanne Wright. “Antonello da Messina.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Christ at the Column, ca. 1476, oil on panel, Paris, Musée du Louvre
Virgin of the Annunciation, oil on panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Portrait of a Man, 1475, oil on canvas, Paris, Musée du Louvre
Portrait of a Man, c. 1475-6, oil on panel, London, National Gallery
Virgin and Child with SS Nicholas of Bari and Mary Magdalene, Ursula and Dominic, 1475-6, fragment of the S Cassiano Altarpiece, oil on panel, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
St. Jerome in his Study, c. 1460, London, National Gallery
Crucifixion, 1475, panel, London, National Gallery
Virgin Annunciate, c. 1476, oil on panel. Palermo, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia