Travels in Italy--Palermo (Part 2 of 4)

Our promenade through Palermo continues.

Chiesa della Martorana:  The Martorana is a beautifully decorated church from the middle ages.  Because Sicily is a crossroad, the church fuses three major cultures--Byzantine from the east, Islamic from the south and Norman from the north.  The mosaics are some of the most beautiful we have seen.

Palazzo Abatellis:  The Palazzo Abatellis is a former palace and monastery in the Gothic-Catalan style.  Today, it is home to an art museum, the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia.  Most of the collection is religious artwork from the 1100's-1500's.  We enjoyed viewing the collection and a few paintings especially caught our attention.

San Miniato of Florence.  You might remember the San Miniato legend--following his beheading, he picked up his head and walked back across the river to his refuge overlooking Florence. 

The Annunciation

The fresco pictured below was recently restored and on display the day we visited the museum (fortunate timing).  The fresco is large--about 20' x 20'.  Although some damage is permanent, the painting still conveys the message that death spares no one.  Death is the ghostly skeleton on the horse shooting lethal arrows.  Among the dead are people from various walks of life, including aristocrats, priests and poets. 

Trionfo della Morte (about 1446)

The most important painting in the collection, Antonello's Annuciata, was missing.  It was moved to Taormina for the G7 meeting (unfortunate timing).  We had to settle for a poster (below).

Street Art:  In addition to museum art, Palermo has an abundance of street art.
 

The works of art pictured below were created by artists active in Florence.  You might notice similarities to works featured in earlier posts title "Street Art:  Florence".

An angel in Palermo

Next Up:  Still more sights in Palermo.