Description
Palazzo Abatellis is a late Gothic palace from 1495, in the Kalsa, Palermo's historic quarter, along Via Alloro. It is a splendid example of Gothic-Catalan architecture, and since 1954 it has housed the Regional Gallery of Sicily. Even if you are not interested in art, you can come for the building and for the display that goes with it.
The façade is sober and imposing, between two crenellated towers. The portal has a stone frame with the coats of arms of the Patella-Abatellis family, and on the main floor light triple-arched windows open. The whole looks like a small urban castle. It is considered one of the best-preserved late medieval palaces in southern Italy, never remodeled in Baroque forms.
Inside, the courtyard is the loveliest moment: a two-tiered loggia, with segmental arches below and round arches above, and two open staircases facing each other. The palace was designed by Matteo Carnilivari, the architect who in those years was also working on Palazzo Ajutamicristo.
The rooms were arranged by Carlo Scarpa, the architect called in 1953 to oversee the display and furnishings. His work is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century museum design. It is a museum to look at twice: for what hangs on the walls and for how it is hung.
Among the works, in the former chapel is the Triumph of Death, a 15th-century fresco lit from above. On the first floor is the Annunciata by Antonello da Messina, the gallery's most famous work.
The palace has had an unusual history. Francesco Abatellis, of Lucchese origin, master portulan of the kingdom, was praetor of Palermo and had his house built in 1495. He had no heirs from two wives and decreed that after the death of the second it would become a Benedictine convent.
It did not go that way: in 1526 the Dominican nuns arrived. To create cells and corridors the wings were divided up and the windows lost their small columns. In 1553 it became the monastery of the Portolano.
Then came the war: on the night between 16 and 17 April 1943 a bombing brought down a wing and part of a tower. After restoration the palace was turned into a gallery and opened on 23 June 1954.
Don't miss
• The courtyard with its loggia.
• The Triumph of Death.
• Antonello da Messina's Annunciata.
• Scarpa's display.
Did you know?
• The name Abatellis is a corruption of Patella, the surname of Francesco's family.
• The museum grew out of works from the university's picture gallery and the collections of the archaeological museum.
The façade is sober and imposing, between two crenellated towers. The portal has a stone frame with the coats of arms of the Patella-Abatellis family, and on the main floor light triple-arched windows open. The whole looks like a small urban castle. It is considered one of the best-preserved late medieval palaces in southern Italy, never remodeled in Baroque forms.
Inside, the courtyard is the loveliest moment: a two-tiered loggia, with segmental arches below and round arches above, and two open staircases facing each other. The palace was designed by Matteo Carnilivari, the architect who in those years was also working on Palazzo Ajutamicristo.
The rooms were arranged by Carlo Scarpa, the architect called in 1953 to oversee the display and furnishings. His work is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century museum design. It is a museum to look at twice: for what hangs on the walls and for how it is hung.
Among the works, in the former chapel is the Triumph of Death, a 15th-century fresco lit from above. On the first floor is the Annunciata by Antonello da Messina, the gallery's most famous work.
The palace has had an unusual history. Francesco Abatellis, of Lucchese origin, master portulan of the kingdom, was praetor of Palermo and had his house built in 1495. He had no heirs from two wives and decreed that after the death of the second it would become a Benedictine convent.
It did not go that way: in 1526 the Dominican nuns arrived. To create cells and corridors the wings were divided up and the windows lost their small columns. In 1553 it became the monastery of the Portolano.
Then came the war: on the night between 16 and 17 April 1943 a bombing brought down a wing and part of a tower. After restoration the palace was turned into a gallery and opened on 23 June 1954.
Don't miss
• The courtyard with its loggia.
• The Triumph of Death.
• Antonello da Messina's Annunciata.
• Scarpa's display.
Did you know?
• The name Abatellis is a corruption of Patella, the surname of Francesco's family.
• The museum grew out of works from the university's picture gallery and the collections of the archaeological museum.