Annunziata

Today, this is my favourite portrait in any Palermo museum, and you can see it at Palazzo Abatellis. The painting has an interesting story — and so does Antonello da Messina himself.

The Annunziata is a portrait of the Virgin Mary. But whenever I look at her, I simply see a young woman, not a piece of religious art. She feels different to me. It was painted in the 15th century by the Sicilian artist Antonello da Messina — literally, Antonello from Messina. For around 400 years, there was no official record of the painting. Then it appeared in a private collection under the name of another artist.

In the 19th century, one historian saw it and started comparing it with another Annunziata in a museum in Venice, which at the time was attributed to Antonello.

A few years later, it was officially recognised that the Venetian painting was actually a copy made by one of Antonello’s followers. That was when the Sicilian Annunziata got Antonello da Messina’s name back.

I also had my own little connection with the artist this year. On Ferragosto, the Italian summer holiday, I decided to go to Messina. The museum there has two famous works — one by Caravaggio and one by Antonello. Palermo’s Caravaggio was stolen, so of course I wanted to see his work in Messina. But Ferragosto means almost everything is closed, so I decided to leave it for another time. The next day, I read the news about a robbery at the museum in Messina and, I admit, my first thought was: “Caravaggio again?!” But no. This time it was Antonello. And I’m genuinely sorry I didn’t get to see the work before it disappeared.

Antonello left relatively few works behind, but today you can find them in the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and other major museums around the world. And yes, it is genuinely sad that one of his works has now left his own hometown.