ANTONELLO DA MESSINA (c. Italian painter, was probably born at Messina about the beginning of the 15th century. He spent some time in the Netherlands study ing the methods of the disciples of Jan Van Eyck; returned with his secret to Messina about 1465; probably visited Milan; removed to Venice in 1472, where he painted for the Council of Ten; and died there in the middle of Feb. 1479 (see Venturi's article in Thieme-Becker, Kiinstlerlexikon, 1907).
His style is remarkable for its union—not always successful— of Italian simplicity with Flemish love of detail. There are extant —besides a number more or less dubious-2o authentic produc tions, consisting of renderings of "Ecce Homo," Madonnas, saints, and half-length portraits, many of them painted on wood. The finest of all is said to be the nameless picture of a man in the Berlin museum. The National Gallery, London, has three works by him, including the "St. Jerome in his Study." Antonello exercised an important influence on Italian painting by the trans mission of Flemish tendencies.