\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Italian painter.\par
Antonello da Messina received his initial training in Naples around 1450, in the workshop of Colantonio and aga
inst the background of a culture open to Flemish, Spanish, and Provenτal influences. His early works, such as the \i Salting Madonna\i0 (London, National Gallery) and the \i Crucifixion\i0 (Bucharest, Museum), have a spatial solidity that stems from hi
s interest in the art of Central Italy. This resulted in a synthesis between Italian spatiality and Flemish keenness of vision that places AntonelloÆs work at the height of Piero della Francesca and Jean Fouquet. These efforts were materialized in the 14
60s with such works as the \i Portrait of a Man\i0 in Cefal∙ and two small panels in the Museo di Reggio Calabria. \i Our Lady of the Annunciation\i0 in Munich dates from shortly afterward. Apart from a number of other journeys that have been suggested
by art historians, we are certain that he stayed in Venice from 1474 to 1476. Here the Sicilian artist painted several masterpieces such as the \i San Cassiano Altarpiece\i0 , the \i Saint Sebastian\i0 in Dresden, and the \i Saint Jerome in his Study
\i0 (London, National Gallery), in which the luminous splendor of the color is enriched with a mellowness derived from Giovanni Bellini.
