At the center of interest and debate, not only nationally, by the scientific community, the art market and the many admirers of Antonello da Messina, are currently two paintings by the master: the “Ecce homo” dated around 1465, purchased by the Italian State from New York and assigned to the National Museum of Abruzzo in L’Aquila, and “Face of a young saint” dating back to between 1476 and 1477, which will be auctioned next June 16th at the Drouot hotel in Paris, together with an early painting by Rubens.
The second painting was attributed to Antonello by the art historian Mario Lucco of the University of Bologna, one of the greatest scholars of fifteenth-century painting and of Antonello in particular.
The “Antonello da Messina” Association, based in Rome and Messina, chaired by the journalist Milena Romeo, took to the field by convening a press conference at Palazzo dei Leoni, to urge the Sicilian Region to purchase the second work and to raise public awareness to «feel Antonello’s legacy and every fragment that sheds new light on it as their own and precious». These are the words of Milena Romeo who underlined the association’s commitment in over fifty years of activity in enhancing Sicilian culture and art and the figure and work of Antonello, «the greatest son of this city and genius of fifteenth-century European art». With the “Messina city of Antonello” project, on the anniversary of the great exhibition of 1953, in fact, with valuable initiatives, the aim was to highlight the artist’s relationship with the city.
«We feel the moral imperative – said Romeo again, supported by the board – to talk about this humus and to understand the artistic value of the two works at the center of current interest». He then reported the message from councilor Francesco Scarpinato, when asked on the subject: «The Sicilian Region is looking with great interest at the acquisition of the painting “Face of a young saint” attributed to Antonello da Messina, a work which represents a piece of extraordinary relevance for the Sicilian identity and, more generally, for the cultural heritage of the island. There is a desire on the part of the department to start a process aimed at purchasing the work, a process that will necessarily have to be divided into several phases. In this direction, the first and most urgent step is represented by the replenishment of the budget chapter dedicated to the acquisition of works of art, an essential condition for being able to proceed concretely. Subsequently, once the financial availability has been strengthened, the opportunity of starting discussions with the Parisian auction house will be assessed, formally expressing the Sicilian Region’s interest in acquiring the painting and allocating it for public use in Sicily”.
The former councilor Enzo Caruso, the art historians Grazia Musolino, Caterina Di Giacomo, Caterina Ciolino, together with Dr. Franco Chillemi and the architect Mirella Vinci, regional inspector of historical-artistic, archaeological and archival heritage, who assured her commitment. Everyone agrees on the opportunity to deepen the study, also through expert reports, on the valuable painting, once acquired, to clarify what are currently only hypotheses, namely that it was part of a polyptych or a banner. I also agree on the inappropriate choice of L’Aquila as the venue for “Ecce homo”.
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