Messina, a Madonna by Girolamo Alibrandi returns home after a public appeal

An important work by the Sicilian Renaissance painter Girolamo Alibrandi, also known as Raffaello da Messina (Messina, c. 1470 - c. 1524) has returned to Sicily after being auctioned in France: it was purchased by a Sicilian businessman who won the lot, which was sold last Nov. 25 by the Paris auction house Art Curial, for 102.000 euros (auction base 60-80,000 euros), which will increase to nearly 140,000 with auction fees. The work, a Madonna and Child with St. John, was believed to be a painting by Cesare da Sesto and Cesare Bernazzano when it was sold in Paris, by Drouot in 1983, for the sum of 200,000 francs: later, between 1987 and 1988, Francesca Campagna Cicala and Giovanni Previtali assigned the painting to Alibrandi, and since then the name of the Messina artist has not been questioned.

The media battage to clamor for the return to Sicily of the painting, which had long been in France, began in early November at the urging of Treviso-based art historian, but of Sicilian descent, Ranieri Melardi, who dedicated his master’s thesis to Girolamo Alibrandi in 2010-2011 and is one of the leading experts on the Sicilian painter (he also collaborated with Artcurial to compile the catalog entry). The painting, which was known only from black-and-white photographs, had long been lost track of when it was located again shortly before it ended up at auction by art historian Franco Moro, who had tracked it down in a private collection. The painting belonged to a French nobleman: it was the heirs, as often happens, who decided to put it up for sale.

Alibrandi’s work, Melardi declared to the Gazzetta del Sud when the auction sale was announced, “presents a high executive quality and can be included among his masterpieces.” Very similar to the Madonna dei Giardini, Alibrandi’s masterpiece preserved in the parish church of Santo Stefano Medio, the work sold by Artcurial is probably the central compartment of a triptych whose side panels featured Saints Peter and Paul, both of whom are now in the Regional Museum of Messina: “The acquisition of the painting,” the scholar continued, “would be of the utmost scientific value in order to verify this interesting hypothesis and in case it turns out to be true, it would allow the integral reconstruction of the complex.” In favor of the hypothesis was Francesca Campagna Cicala, while Teresa Pugliatti expressed opposition. “Even should the reconstructive hypothesis be disproved, however,” Melardi further explained, “I would consider the purchase opportune, because it would allow the significant recovery of a work by such a rare and little-known painter from Messina.” The work would otherwise run the risk of ending up in another private collection, thus returning inaccessible to the public.

Melardi had then spearheaded an appeal to the Sicilian Region that had collected nearly three hundred signatures of Sicilian cultural figures, all to ask the regional councillor for cultural heritage, Elvira Amata, to have the work purchased by the Region. However, it was finally taken care of by a well-known entrepreneur in Messina, Rocco Finocchiaro, who is active in the nautical sector (he is the founder of a company, Zancle 757 Yacht Village, which deals with the maintenance and repair of large yachts). Apparently, the buyer submitted his bid as early as a few days before the auction. “I have always loved history and the history of Messina in particular, in an identity key,” he told the Gazzetta del Sud. “This occasion seemed to me the right circumstance to take a step in that direction. I believe in the power of factual commitment and the investment of resources that can make dreams come true. Dreams come true if you believe in them and want to achieve them; money is a tool, without dreams money is no use, not enough. Moreover, I was pleased to share this acquisition with the city as a sign of fondness and civility.”

The work will now go on display (it will be presented to the citizens on December 12) and then, Finocchiaro said, “we will think about what to do to enhance this masterpiece in the city where it was created, a city with a great millennial history.” A story, that of Girolamo Alibrandi’s Madonna , closely resembles another almost miraculous episode, that of the return to Avenza di Carrara of the Ringli Triptych by the Master of St. Ivo in 2019: in that case, the work, formerly in the church of San Pietro in Avenza, had reappeared on the market, and the parish had managed to involve the entire community, thanks to donations from the faithful, citizens and local entrepreneurs, putting together the necessary sum, curiously very similar to that which was needed to purchase Alibrandi’s Madonna (then the amount paid was 160,000 euros).

Now the Sicilian Region, after learning of the purchase, has said it is willing to let it become part of the heritage of the Regional Museum of Messina. “In expressing satisfaction with the return of the work to Sicily,” said Councillor Amata, “I reconfirm the willingness of the Regional Department of Cultural Heritage to acquire it so that it may become part of the heritage of the Regional Museum of Messina where, for the benefit of the city and all of culture, it should be exhibited. I recall that precisely as a result of the appeal, and the terms for the Region’s direct participation in the auction being too short, I promptly took steps to identify the sums necessary to reimburse the potential buyer for the costs incurred. I remain, therefore, available to meet with the unknown buyer, along with the director of the Messina Museum and the general manager of Cultural Heritage, should it be his intention to make the painting the property of the entire community.”

Messina, a Madonna by Girolamo Alibrandi returns home after a public appeal

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