The Region takes the first steps to bring the Ecce Homo purchased by the State in New York to Sicily. The regional councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, in fact, when interviewed by us, declared that he had “already started a discussion with the Ministry of Culture, expressing full willingness to collaborate to evaluate a possible allocation of the work in Sicily”. And this, continues Scarpinato, «is a choice consistent with history and with the profound bond between the Maestro and his region of origin. Our objective – he specified – is to work in a spirit of loyal institutional collaboration, so that every decision can best enhance the national cultural heritage and, at the same time, strengthen Sicily’s role as a natural place of custody and promotion of the work of Antonello da Messina”.
The councilor’s statement follows the many, many posts published on social media, which already following the news of the purchase of the work ask that the two-faced tablet depicting the Ecce Homo and San Girolamo be brought to the island and in particular to Messina, the artist’s hometown, to be placed in the “Accascina” regional museum, which houses other Antonellian masterpieces.
The mobilization follows rumors spread by some newspapers according to which the tablet has already been destined to enrich the collections of the National Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples, and the decision could be seen as a tribute to Colantonio, in whose workshop Antonello trained.
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