A stunning collection of work by the mysterious 15th-century Sicilian artist credited with bringing oil painting to Venice is to go on display in Rome.
Of the 45 surviving masterpieces attributed to Antonello da Messina, 39 of them will be on show in an exhibit opening in the Italian capital in March.
Curated by art historian Martin Lucco, this will be the first exhibition devoted entirely to Antonello in over 50 years.
It will also be the most important show ever staged on the Sicilian artist. The last solo event, in 1953, featured
fewer than half his extant works. Although much of Antonello's life (c. 1430-1479) remains shrouded in mystery, Giorgio Vasari's 16th-century Lives Of The Artists insists he introduced the "secret" of oil painting to Venice.
While later historians have greeted this claim with some degree of scepticism, it is generally accepted that his stint in Venice, from 1475-76, was extremely influential. As well as popularising little-known oil techniques, he
is also credited with bringing Flemish styles to the Lagoon City.
Antonello had himself been introduced to these techniques while studying in Naples, a thriving cultural centre at the time. He was apparently immediately captivated by Flemish work, in particular, that of Jan van Eyck.
His skill at blending Flemish techniques and realism with traditional Italian forms is already visible in his earliest known works, a Crucifixion (c. 1455) and St Jerome in His Study (c. 1460).
The latter, a part of the National Gallery's collection in London, will be on show in Rome alongside a series of his
Madonnas, crucifixions and portraits. Although the bulk of Antonello's work was drawn from religious commissions, producing altarpieces for churches and convents, his dazzling miniature portraits brought him renown across Italy.
After leaving Naples, he opened his own workshop in his native town of Messina, where he lived until 1474 before heading north. His reputation preceded him and he was in huge demand shortly after settling. During this period he was supported by the Venetian state and his techniques quickly spread among local artists.
It was while in Venice that he produced some of his best-known works, including perhaps his most famous piece of all, a St Sebastian (c. 1476). On loan from Dresden Museum for the exhibit, the large oil on canvas shows a near nude saint, blending Antonello's luminous use of colour with anatomical accuracy and clearly defined space.
The exhibit will open in the capital's Scuderie Quirinali on March 18, and will run until June 25.
