ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, Sicilian painter : b. Messina about 1430; d. 15 Feb. 1479. But few artists of Antonello's im portance have left such slight dews for the biographer, and it is only in recent years that the diligent investigations of archwologists have brought to light a certain amount of sure ma terial as to the painter and dispelled the errors previously believed. We now know from con temporary documents that he was the son of Giovanni, a sculptor, whose family name was D'Antonio. The painter's history is covered by the few dites we have concerning him. In 1457 he received a commission for a banner for a church at Reggio, Sicily. In 1460 he was in Calabria and in the next years at Messina again. In 1475 he was at Venice, where in March 1476 The received an invitation to enter the service of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. An tonello accepted the invitation; but by the fol lowing month of September he was back at Messina?' He continued to live there until his death. Vasari's well-known story that An tonello journeyed to Flanders and learned the secret of oil painting from Jan van Eyck by introducing himself in disguise into the studio of that painter has been doubted in recent years because Vasari's account of the great Sicilian is inaccurate in many respects. Yet certain facts remain which keep open the possibility that our best guide in the history of old Italians may prove to be right again. One of these facts is that Antonello had mastered the tech nique of oils at a time when no countryman of his knew how to employ them, whereas the Flemings were already proficient in their use. Besides, there are evidences in Antonello's work that he knew Flemish architecture, and if it be allowed that he could have learned oil-painting from seeing Flemish pictures of which there were numbers in southern Italy, it seems ex tremely improbable that he could have intro duced into his work the representation of places that he had not seen. Two examples in point are the 'Head of a Ma& at Bergamo and Mr. H. C. Frick's 'Deposition from the Cross' in New York. Again the old claim that he
taught oil-painting to the Venetians may easily be substantiated yet, if it is discovered that he was in Venice prior to the journey of 1475 which is the only one of which we have a sure record. We know of no Venetian painting in oil previous to 1473, and we are certain that Antonello's stay in Venetia had a marked in fluence on the northern painters. The discovery of oils certainly changed Venetian painting most radically. Leaving aside historical con siderations which are too apt to absorb atten tion when writing of Antonello, we see him as one of the very great artists of the Renaissance. The Flemish precision which was the staff on which he leaned in early years was quickly transmuted by him into a greater thing — his Italian feeling for the rhythm of line giving a new meaning to the draughtsmanship he in herited. We have but to consult the 'Saint Jerome' of the National Gallery, London, or the 'Saint Sebastian' in Dresden to confirm this idea. To find his peers in the handling contour one must go to the supreme men, like Leonardo. His startling insight into the psy chology of his portrait-sitters is to be observed in such works as the 'Condottiere' of the Louvre or the 'Portrait of a Man' at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. One feels the tre mendous originality of the artist before a com position like the 'Crucifixion' of the Antwerp Gallery, supported by his impeccable mastery of form and his beautiful color. Other import ant works by him are the 'Salvator Mundi,) , probably an early picture, in the National Gal lery, London, which also possesses a 'Portrait of a the 'Dealt Christ' at the Vienna Museum, and the very fine 'Man's Portrait' in the Berlin Museum. The last named is con sidered by many the best example of his work. Antonello was the only great painter of the Renaissance in south Italy. His reputation was as great among his contemporaries as in mod ern times. Consult the monographs by Di Marzo (Palermo 1903), and D'Amico (Messina 1904), and L. Venturi, 'Le origine della pittura veneziana' (Venice 1907).