The national exhibition project entitled «The enigma of the smile, Antonello da Messina between Cefalù and Turin» is inaugurated in Cefalù. An event built around the direct comparison of two of the most famous and mysterious portraits of the European fifteenth century and which is part of the celebrations of the 160th anniversary of the birth of the Mandralisca Cultural Foundation.
The appointment – reports a note – also takes place in the year in which the fiftieth anniversary of the novel’s release occurs The smile of the unknown sailor of the Sicilian writer Vincenzo Consolo, who contributed to increasing the international fame of Antonelli’s masterpiece, kept in the Mandralisca Museum.
Two “Portrait of a Man” compared
The exhibition brings together the Portrait of a Man from the Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù and the Portrait of a Man from Palazzo Madama in Turin (also known as the Trivulzio Portrait), works considered to be the absolute pinnacle of Renaissance portraiture, both created by Antonello da Messina.
From Cefalù to Turin, the sense of comparison
Regarding the two stages, it is explained, Cefalù represents the Mediterranean context that generated Antonello’s luminous and psychological sensitivity, therefore the comparison allows us to reread Mandralisca’s masterpiece in the light of Venetian maturity, as a return to the origins. In Turin, in the place that holds one of the most accomplished results of the lagoon season, the dialogue is reversed: the Mediterranean face meets the universal form, reaching completion.
The dates and the two locations
The exhibition will be open to the public from tomorrow until November 4th at the Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù. From 12 November to 22 February 2027 it will be at the Civic Museum of Ancient Art in Turin.