Ecce Homo by Antonello da Messina

Recently acquired by the Italian government through the Directorate-General for Museums, Antonello da Messina’s Ecce Homo is being presented in a special world premiere in Rome before moving to its designated home, the recently reopened National Museum of Abruzzo in the 16th-century castle in L’Aquila, where it will be displayed alongside contemporary works from the Abruzzo region.

Dated around 1465 and likely intended for private devotion, the panel is small in size (approximately 20 x 14 cm) and painted on both sides (a so-called opisthograph). The front features Antonello da Messina’s first intense interpretation of the Ecce Homo, whilst the reverse depicts a penitent Saint Jerome in a landscape of Northern European style. It is the only example of this iconography remaining in private hands to this day. Rediscovered by Federico Zeri in 1981, it had belonged to the Wildenstein collection in New York and was probably kept in Spain in the early 20th century.

The painting is on display to the public for ten days, with free admission and no booking required, from Monday to Friday (10 am to 8 pm) in the Sala Capitolare of Palazzo della Minerva, home to the Library of the Senate of the Republic. Special opening hours (10 am to 6 pm) are scheduled over the Easter period, from 4 to 6 April.