Antonello da Messina (c. 1430-1479) was a Sicilian painter active
during the Italian Renaissance.
He was born at Messina about the beginning of the 15th century, and
laboured at his art for some time in his native country. He is believed to
have been a pupil of Colantonio in Naples.
Happening to see at Naples an oil painting by Jan Van Eyck, belonging to
Alphonso of Aragon, he was struck by the peculiarity and value of the new
method, and set out for the Netherlands to acquire a knowledge of the
process from Van Eyck's disciples, with its interest in light and cast
shadows.
He spent some time there in the prosecution of his art; returned with his
secret to Messina about 1465; probably visited Milan; moved to Venice in
1472, where he painted for the Council of Ten; and died there in the
middle of February 1479 (see Venturi's article in Thieme-Becker,
Kunstlerlexikon, 1907)
Antonello's style is remarkable for its union--not always successful--of
Italian simplicity with Flemish love of detail. He exercised an important
influence on Italian painting, not only by the introduction of the Flemish
invention, but also by the transmission of Flemish tendencies. His
influence can be seen in the works of Piero della Francesca, Giovanni
Bellini and other Venetian painters.
Selected works
Antonello's subjects are frequently single figures, upon the complete
representation of which he bestows his utmost skill. There are
extant--besides a number more or less dubious--twenty authentic
productions, consisting of renderings of "Ecce Homo," Madonnas,
saints, and half-length portraits, many of them painted on wood. His best
known works include:
Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1470)
St. Sebastian
The unidentified man called the Condottiere (illustration, right), dated
1475. It clearly shows the influence of Flemish painters, and perhaps of
the camera lucida technique.
Christ Crucified (1475)
St. Jerome in his Study (c.1475)
Portrait of a Man (c.1475) - oil on poplar
Madonna with Saints Nicholas of Bari, Anastasia, Ursula and Dominic (San
Cassiano Altarpiece) (c.1475-76)
St Sebastian (1476-77)
Christ Crowned with Thorns - oil on wood
Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Antonello da Messina in his Lives.
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It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Italian Renaissance".