Description
The Regional Gallery of Sicily is Palermo's great picture gallery: it gathers the island's art from the 12th to the 17th century, with masterpieces by Antonello da Messina, sculptors such as Laurana and the Gagini, and artists from elsewhere, from the Flemish to Van Dyck. It is housed in the 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis, in the Kalsa district.
Death arrives on a skeletal horse, bursts into a garden and shoots arrows among young men and ladies. Popes and emperors already lie at its feet. Only the wretched who call on it are spared, almost as a mockery. This is the Triumph of Death, a large fresco by an unknown artist, from around 1445, and it hangs in the former chapel, lit from above.
On the first floor you pass through the Hall of the Crosses, with its large painted crosses, and the Last Supper by the Catalan Jaume Serra.
Yet the Triumph is not the most important work: that distinction belongs to the Annunciata by Antonello da Messina, in the room dedicated to him. The Virgin is caught in the instant of the announcement: the angel stands before her, but remains invisible. What remains is the gesture of her hand, the mantle and a magnetic gaze. It is considered an icon of the Italian Renaissance.
On the ground floor is the bust of Eleonora of Aragon, sculpted by Francesco Laurana in the 15th century, with pure forms and full volume. Around it are 12th-century wood carvings, sculptures by the Gagini, including Domenico's Madonna of the Milk, and lusterware majolica. In the Flemish rooms the Malvagna Triptych by Jan Gossaert shines, as meticulous as a miniature.
The last part takes you to the 17th century. By Anthony van Dyck there are the Saint Rosalia Crowned by Angels and the Madonna of the Rosary. Van Dyck was in Palermo during the terrible days of the 1624 plague and proposed a new image of the saint, which influenced the artists who came after him, such as Pietro Novelli.
Nearby are Mattia Preti, Luca Giordano, Ribera and the Frenchman Simon Vouet. The green rooms end with the Golden Sphere, a great 17th-century monstrance in gold, gilded silver, enamels and diamonds, which came from the Philippine fathers at Olivella.
Many works come from two sources. One is the university's picture gallery, later passed to the archaeological museum; the other is the property of churches and convents suppressed in 1866. Since 1954 they have been in Palazzo Abatellis, with a display by Carlo Scarpa that is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century museum design.
Don't miss
• The Triumph of Death.
• Antonello da Messina's Annunciata.
• The bust of Eleonora of Aragon.
• The Malvagna Triptych.
• The Golden Sphere.
Did you know?
• The Triumph of Death comes from Palazzo Sclafani.
• After the Second World War the palace, bombed in 1943, was rebuilt precisely to house the gallery.
Death arrives on a skeletal horse, bursts into a garden and shoots arrows among young men and ladies. Popes and emperors already lie at its feet. Only the wretched who call on it are spared, almost as a mockery. This is the Triumph of Death, a large fresco by an unknown artist, from around 1445, and it hangs in the former chapel, lit from above.
On the first floor you pass through the Hall of the Crosses, with its large painted crosses, and the Last Supper by the Catalan Jaume Serra.
Yet the Triumph is not the most important work: that distinction belongs to the Annunciata by Antonello da Messina, in the room dedicated to him. The Virgin is caught in the instant of the announcement: the angel stands before her, but remains invisible. What remains is the gesture of her hand, the mantle and a magnetic gaze. It is considered an icon of the Italian Renaissance.
On the ground floor is the bust of Eleonora of Aragon, sculpted by Francesco Laurana in the 15th century, with pure forms and full volume. Around it are 12th-century wood carvings, sculptures by the Gagini, including Domenico's Madonna of the Milk, and lusterware majolica. In the Flemish rooms the Malvagna Triptych by Jan Gossaert shines, as meticulous as a miniature.
The last part takes you to the 17th century. By Anthony van Dyck there are the Saint Rosalia Crowned by Angels and the Madonna of the Rosary. Van Dyck was in Palermo during the terrible days of the 1624 plague and proposed a new image of the saint, which influenced the artists who came after him, such as Pietro Novelli.
Nearby are Mattia Preti, Luca Giordano, Ribera and the Frenchman Simon Vouet. The green rooms end with the Golden Sphere, a great 17th-century monstrance in gold, gilded silver, enamels and diamonds, which came from the Philippine fathers at Olivella.
Many works come from two sources. One is the university's picture gallery, later passed to the archaeological museum; the other is the property of churches and convents suppressed in 1866. Since 1954 they have been in Palazzo Abatellis, with a display by Carlo Scarpa that is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century museum design.
Don't miss
• The Triumph of Death.
• Antonello da Messina's Annunciata.
• The bust of Eleonora of Aragon.
• The Malvagna Triptych.
• The Golden Sphere.
Did you know?
• The Triumph of Death comes from Palazzo Sclafani.
• After the Second World War the palace, bombed in 1943, was rebuilt precisely to house the gallery.