Room 17 of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's second-floor European Paintings galleries is presently housing a focus exhibition devoted to a small selection of rare paintings and drawings by Italian Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina (ca. 1430-1479) and his contemporaries.
On view through Sunday, March 5, 2006, Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master explores the rich and varied career of the Sicilian painter who worked in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the cultural crossroads of the southern Italian peninsula. Antonello's Virgin Annunciate (ca. 1475), looking up from her book of private devotions to acknowledge the implied presence of the angel Gabriel, demonstrates his Italian Renaissance roots while revealing his absorption of early Netherlandish ideas in painting.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82 Street, New York, NY 10028-1098 (Telephone: 212-535-7710; Website: www.metmuseum.org). The museum is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM and Friday and Saturday from 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Suggested admission is $15.00 for adults. Paid parking is available in The Museum Garage.
