Antonello da Messina

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Antonello da Messina (1430–79) Sicilian artist. A pioneer of oil painting in Italy, he spent much of his working life in Milan, Naples, Venice, and Rome. He probably learned the oil technique in Naples, a centre for Dutch artists. His work married Netherlandish taste for detail with Italian clarity. Apart from religious paintings, such as Salvator Mundi (1465) and Ecce Homo (1470), he produced some remarkable male portraits. His knowledge of oil glazes had a great influence on Venetian painters, notably Giovanni Bellini.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/default.htm; http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm

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