How many things can be hidden in the folds of your toga? Treasure all the anecdotes, curiosities and insights collected in this column, carry them "in your pocket" and, if necessary, take them out to amaze everyone with your knowledge!

In the Folds of the Toga

No rules, just one truth: art is for everyone! 
Join our art club and satiate your hunger for culture, (but be careful, it could cause Independence)!

Art Without Rules

medium_Arte svelata - Disney (1).png

small_Arte svelata - Disney (1).png

thumbnail_Arte svelata - Disney (1).png

Arte svelata - Disney (1).png

Hidden artworks in Disney classics

Jealous guardian of the Strait and its travelers, Messina is a city with very ancient origins and a cultural heritage of great value. Founded with the name of Zancle, this city experienced a period of great splendor when, in the late Middle Ages, it came to contend for the role of capital of Sicily with Palermo. Today, this city has one of the busiest ports in Italy, a historic center full of Art Nouveau architecture, a kilometer-long coastline, and an incomparable culinary tradition. And there is also a lot of culture to enrich your trip, look here!


large_messina.jpg

medium_messina.jpg

small_messina.jpg

thumbnail_messina.jpg

messina.jpg

What to see in Messina

Messina

The MuMe houses works by the greatest masters of Italian art history, visit it with an expert guide!

Inside the MuMe, the exhibition route follows a chronological order signalled by colour codes. The first area is archaeological, presenting **prehistoric artefacts** and works from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The following rooms display paintings from the **Middle Ages onwards**: in addition to **Caravaggio**’s two masterpieces, one can admire works by great masters such as **Antonello da Messina** (Polyptych of St. Gregory and the Madonna and child giving a benediction and a Franciscan in adoration), **Annibale Carracci** (Santa Lucia), **Girolamo Alibrandi** (Last Judgement), **Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli** (the original statue of Neptune, in Michelangelo style, which was previously part of the sculptural complex of the fountain in Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia in Messina). 

Visit it accompanied by an expert guide to discover every detail of the magnificent artifacts preserved at the MuMe!

_DSC0059.jpg

Guided Tour Messina Regional Museum

Guided Tour

**The Adventures of Caravaggio: from Malta to Sicily**

Pursued by a papal death sentence, Caravaggio embarked from Naples for Malta, where he succeeded in becoming a Knight of the Order of the Maltese Cross - a rare privilege - and being imprisoned on the charge of wounding a knight of higher rank. All this in the space of just two years. 
Having escaped from prison in La Valletta, he took refuge in Sicily, where he sojourned and continued his artistic production between 1608 and 1609. In Messina, he painted the Raising of Lazarus (the painter is said to have portrayed himself in this work as the man with his hands clasped behind Christ's index finger) and the Adoration of the Shepherds (a “poor Nativity” set in a stable, with Mary lying on the ground holding the child in her lap). Both works, recently restored, are on display at the **Interdisciplinary Regional Museum of Messina.**

**The birth of the Interdisciplinary Museum**

Founded in 1806, the **Museo Civico Peloritano** founded its collection on an endowment of paintings from the 14th to the 18th century that had previously been the property of the Messina Senate. The terrible earthquake of 1908 destroyed its premises, which were located in the Messina notary archive and the construction of a new building was entrusted to architect Francesco Valenti, the future Superintendent of Sicilian Monuments. The project contains a very modern architectural rehabilitation concept involving the reuse of the former Basilian monastery of San Salvatore dei Greci and the conversion of the premises of the 19th-century Barbera-Mellinghof spinning mill. 
After complex bureaucratic and planning issues, the Museum was relocated again, and in 2017 it reopened to the public in a newly built complex on the same site.

**The MuMe: from the Hellenistic period to Italian Baroque masterpieces**

Inside the MuMe, the exhibition route follows a chronological order signalled by colour codes. The first area is archaeological, presenting prehistoric artefacts and works from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The following rooms display paintings from the Middle Ages onwards: in addition to Caravaggio’s two masterpieces, one can admire works by great masters such as Antonello da Messina (Polyptych of St. Gregory and the Madonna and child giving a benediction and a Franciscan in adoration), Annibale Carracci (Santa Lucia), Girolamo Alibrandi (Last Judgement), Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli (the original statue of Neptune, in Michelangelo style, which was previously part of the sculptural complex of the fountain in Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia in Messina). 

**The wonderful jewellery of Messina goldsmiths**

In addition to the Italian masters, jewellery made over the centuries by Messina goldsmiths is also on display at the MuMe. The collection consists mainly of devotional gold pieces from Messina Cathedral - including a magnificent Flowering Branch in gold, pearls, enamels and emeralds from the late 17th century.

**An Open-Air Museum**

The MuMe is (also) an open-air museum: outside, you can admire stonework from different eras, such as a Hellenistic 'chamber tomb', the original capitals of Messina Cathedral - from the Middle Ages - and the reconstruction of two of the four fountains in Via Cardines.
 


Discover the History of Messina with the MuMe online ticket

Messina Accascina Regional Museum 

CARAVAGGIO IN SICILY AND THE FIGURATIVE ART OF MESSINA FROM THE 12TH TO THE 18TH CENTURY



The MuMe houses works by the greatest masters of Italian art. In addition to the Raising of Lazarus, in which Caravaggio includes a self-portrait, there are paintings by Antonello da Messina and Annibale Carracci, and the original statue of the Neptune fountain by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli


What to see in Messina

Messina

Messina

BLOG

Privacy Statement