Palermo's Antonello da Messina Exhibition Opens at Palazzo Abatellis

Palermo concludes its 2018 as Italian Capital of Culture with a major exhibition dedicated to Antonello da Messina at the Galleria Regionale di Palazzo Abatellis. Curated by Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa and organized by the Regione Siciliana, MondoMostre, and the City of Palermo, the show faced internal controversies until hours before opening, with the Museo Regionale di Messina and Museo Bellomo di Siracusa initially opposing the loan of the Polittico di San Gregorio and Annunciation due to conservation concerns. The exhibition's centerpiece is the museum's Antonello room, designed by Carlo Scarpa, which houses the Annunciata, San Gregorio Magno, Sant'Agostino, and San Girolamo. Subsequent galleries feature other masterpieces: the Polittico di San Benedetto from the Uffizi, brought by director Eike Schmidt; the Crocifissione di Sibiu from Romania; and the Ritratto d'uomo di Cefalù, famous for inspiring Vincenzo Consolo's novel Il sorriso dell'ignoto marinaio. Two more works are still expected: San Girolamo Penitente and Visita dei tre angeli ad Abramo from the Museo Civico di Reggio Calabria.