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Show . Famous Messina Madonna. One of the most beautiful works of art in the Cathedral of Messina was the magnificent "Madonna of the Rosary," by Antonello. When the cathedral fell in ruins several months ago as the result re-sult of the earthquake that decimated Sicily, the handsome painting was counted as lost. The clouds of smoke and dust had scarcely cleared away from trembling Messina when Professor Salinas, curator cura-tor of the art museum at Palermo, hurried to the spot to try to recover such fragments of art as the earth-quage earth-quage might have spared. This famous Antonello was what he hoped for most earnestly. It was difficult to find what had. been the museum, and was still more difficult to pentrate that vast heap of stone and plaster which had covered the site. But Professor Salinas and his assistants went carefully to work with pickaxes and spades, and at last, through a crevice between in-n fallen walls, they caught sight of the spot where the masterpiece had nun-;. A mass of fallen walls covered it. B Jitney Ji-tney dug. on until they had penetrated the gallery itself, and there, to their immense joy, they found that a wall in falling toward the Antonelol had struck the wall above It and had remained re-mained intact, thus forming a great protective screen, behind which huirg the treasure undamaged. It required carefuf work to remow this screen of shaking masonry, but the task was accomplished, and th picture was taken down, packed and shipped to a safer place. "The Madonna of the Rosary" is a triptych, and the panels on either side are occupied by the figures of St. Gregory Greg-ory and St. Benedict, and above these are two smaller panels, half figures of the Annunciation and an anglel. The central upper panel has been missing for many years. This painting of Antonello's is interesting inter-esting from a technical as well as from an artistic standpoint, for Antonello disputes with Van Eyek the honor of discovering the art of painting in oils, and this, is believed to have been th lost picture he painted In tempers that is, with liquid colors directly upon Piaster. The best belief of critics is that Antonello larned the art of oil paintinj from Van Eyck. |