Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479) was a Sicilian painter active during the Italian Renaissance. He is believed to have been a pupil of Colantonio in Naples. His oil painting technique suggests that he spent time in Flanders, with its interest in light and cast shadows. His influence can be seen in the works of Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini and other Venetian painters.

His best known works include:

• Portrait of a Young Man (c.1470)
• 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.

External links

• Guardian article on "Portrait of a Man"
• Best of Sicily Magazine article on Antonello da Messina and the technique of egg tempera / oil media