2012: Van Dyck in Sicily

15 February 2012 - 27 May 2012

"It’s rare nowadays that a show looks at an artist in such detail and depth" - Richard Dorment for the Telegraph

"A small but fascinating exhibition" - Four stars, Andrew Graham Dixon

In the spring of 1624 the painter Anthony Van Dyck (1599 -1641) moved from Genoa to Palermo in Sicily. Soon after Van Dyck’s arrival, plague struck Palermo and most of the population died. In the same year, the bones of Saint Rosalia were discovered in a cave on the Monte Pellegrino where she was said to have died as a hermit in the Middle Ages.

This will be the first exhibition to focus on Van Dyck’s work during this period. The exhibition takes Dulwich’s own Portrait of Emanuele Filiberto as a starting point and expands into an examination of Van Dyck’s activity in that year. It will also be the first time in the UK that Van Dyck’s portrait of the Viceroy of Sicily from Dulwich’s own collection will be seen next to the spectacular suit of armour worn by the viceroy in the portrait – still surviving in the Royal Armouries of Madrid.

This exhibition is part of The Melosi Series: Rediscovering Old Masters, generously supported by Arturo and Holly Melosi

Van Dyck in Sicily was part of Dulwich Picture Gallery's touring exhibition programme:

Palazzo Sant’Elia, Palermo: 7 July – 18 November 2012