Regional Gallery of Palazzo Abatellis.
The Sicilian Regional Gallery is a beautiful architectural masterpiece that harmoniously combines two styles: Renaissance and Gothic. It is located in the 15th century Palazzo Abatellis, built between 1490 and 1495 by the architect Matteo Carnelivari. The advantage of this gallery is that it presents the most valuable collections of painting and sculpture from the XIV – XVI centuries.
It has sixteen halls with groups of exhibits:
Hall I presents wooden sculpture and painting from the XVI century.
Hall II is the palace’s chapel, which displays a huge fresco from the mid-15th century, as well as sculpture from the 14th and 15th centuries. Of particular interest to visitors is the sarcophagus of Caecilia Aprile, believed to be by Francesco Laurane.
Hall III is dedicated to various works of art, among which a Spanish-Arabic jug and a majolica vase from Malaga are of particular value. Both pieces on display date from the 13th to 14th centuries.
In Room V you can see marble statues by Antonello Gaggini, the Portrait of a Girl and a magnificent depiction of the Madonna and Child.
In Room VI you can see exhibits created by Lombard craftsmen of the late 15th century and by the Antonello Gaggini family.
Halls VII and VIII are occupied by paintings from different schools. The most interesting are works from the Tuscan, Venetian and Sicilian schools of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The rather large Room IX presents works by the famous painter Tommaso de Vigilia from Palermo, who was active in the second half of the fifteenth century.
Hall X is dedicated to a beautiful painting of the Madonna Annunziata (circa 1473) by a painter called Antonello de Messina. The author has well conveyed the face and the movement of the Virgin Mary’s hands, by combining light and space together.
Halls XI and XII exhibit works by some late 15th and early 16th century masters from Sicily. Among them, Riccardo Quartararo of Sciacca stands out.
Hall XIII is an exhibition of Netherlandish paintings. The Triptych by Malvagna Jan Gossart (1510) is very exquisite.
Halls XIV, XV and XVI are occupied by works by Italian masters (16th and 17th centuries) and Netherlandish artists, among them Jacopo Palma the Younger, Vincenzo da Pavia and Mattia Preti.
In addition to all of the above, the Sicilian regional gallery plans to include works of applied art as well as paintings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Open all days except Monday, 24 and 25 December, 1 January, 1 May
