Blue Mary and Stone Eleanor : A misadventure in Palermo

Asalam,

That’s how Jo says hello and she’s lived here in Tunisia for 7 years so it works for me. Tomorrow we’re off in our rental car to see some of Tunisia. We have a map, some vague plans and too little time, so we’ll see how it goes. Ramadan starts next Tuesday which does effect some shops and restaurants, but as non-Muslims we’re not expected to observe it at all, but we are expected to be considerate of those fasting and not be so obvious with ours. (In Turkey it was pretty impossible to tell it was Ramadan and our favorite place Aciktim was always open.)

I’ve only taken a few photos so far here in Tunisia as the marina area could be anywhere. I am sure I’ll take billions on our travels.

I still have lots of photos from Palermo and this email is about my quest to see the “Blue Mary.” You are lovers should enjoy this.

Blue Mary and Stone Eleanor : A misadventure.

As I’ve written in past emails, I’ve developed an interest in “Mary” from reading authors who see her more as a woman than as a religious icon. While flipping through Sicily Art History Culture and Folklore I came across the painting “The Madonna of the Annunciation” by Antonello da Messina. The book implied that the painting (and bust of Eleanor of Aragon by Frencesco Laurana) were in the Cappella Palatina. In reality they are both housed in the Regional Gallery of Palazzo Abatellis so our last morning in Palermo we all went off to the Gallery. There was a No Photo sign but in the past that’s not always meant NO PHOTOS. I did sneak one photo of Eleanor, but these No photos signs really meant NO, so no more photos after that. My reaction to the Mary painting in real life was disappointment. There was just too little light on it so the painting looked dull. And small. I’ve read somewhere that in its original setting by a window northern light shone on it and I’m sure that would have made a difference.

Photo taken in the gift shop of the Cappella Palatina

The small shop where I bought my “blue Mary” print which you can see in the doorway below the red print.

The Madonna of the Annunciation visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC……..

“Although not as well known or documented as some of his Northern Italian contemporaries, like Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca, the Sicilian artist Antonello da Messina (about 1430-1479) is regarded as the greatest painter to emerge from Southern Italy in the 15th century. He could do almost anything, including monumental, multipart altarpieces, but his particular genius was for the single portrait, depicted in three-quarter view, in which the intensely human play of expression on his subjects’ faces makes a connection with the viewer that few artists before or after him have managed to achieve.

The show’s centerpiece, (Metropolitan Museum of Art.) however, is not a secular but a religious painting, "The Virgin Annunciate" (about 1475-76), regarded as Antonello’s signature work. It is a widely recognized masterpiece, with an air of mystery that often evokes comparison to the "Mona Lisa," whose genius lies in the way in which a traditional icon has been imbued with the life force of a flesh-and-blood human being. The Virgin is depicted as a young Sicilian girl, wearing a bright blue cloak that covers her head, at the moment of the Annunciation, when she is told by the angel Gabriel that she will bear Jesus.

Facing the viewer – but looking slightly down and sideways – with a book on a lectern in front of her, she extends her right hand in a gesture of salutation to the unseen angel (or is she asking him to wait before formally delivering this portentous news?). The foreshortened hand, palm down, seems to reach toward the viewer in what might be a gesture of blessing. A whole speculative dissertation could, in fact, be written about this hand, which seems to have been done by Antonello with a grid of strings known as a velo, through which an object could be observed and transcribed onto a squared piece of paper. The Virgin’s face wears an expression of great serenity with just a touch of the apprehension that a teenage girl might feel who was chosen to carry out such an important commission.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/arts/design/06anto.html?_r=0

Eleanor of Aragon (1450-1493) was the daughter of king Ferrante I of Aragon (Ferdinand I of Naples) and Isabella of Taranto. In 1473 she married Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara and became the first Duchess of Ferrara.

This work is considered to be the epitome of Renaissance-era Sicilian sculpture.

http://www.wga.hu/

http://www.croatia.org/ give some interesting info about Francesco Laurana

On our way to the Galleria

Giant banyan tree near the Galeria

So we got to the Galleria and there was one of those “No Photo” signs that we decided to ignore but were told right away, NO PHOTOS. How disappointing. Most of the paintings/art work were church related. The giant painting illustrating a visit from death was quite a thing to behold. But honestly, other than Mary and Eleanor, I could have skipped the place. Randal too I’m sure. Linda and Frank seemed to enjoy it which was good as I’d sort of dragged us all there.

Restoration work

In an alcove just inside the entrance these women were working with tools resembling tweezers.

Hebrew letters on a stone slab

I’ve turned the photo so you can see it better. The slab was on the floor in the alcove. The ladies didn’t know anything about it but seemed curious about my saying it looked like Hebrew. They really didn’t speak English so I couldn’t ask them about their work or the slab with the letters.

There was another museum or piece of the Galleria around back so we went to look there. We asked if we could take photos and were told yes but later no…..