References Vincenzo Auria. Notitia della vita ed opere d'Antonio Gagino scultore . . . Palermo, 1653, p. 17 [see Ref. Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1871], mentions an Ecce Homo in the collection of Giulio Agliata, Palermo, and reads the inscription as "Antonellus de Messina me fecit 1470".Il Gagino redivivo . Palermo, 1698, p. 17 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1973], describes the Ecce Homo in the collection of Don Giulio Alliata in Palermo and reads the inscription on the cartellino as "ANTONELLUS DE MESSINA ME FECIT 1470".Memorie de' pittori messinesi degli esteri che in Messina fiorirono dal secolo XII sino al secolo XIX . Messina, 1821, p. 16, mentions the picture noted by Auria [see Ref. 1698].Manuscript . [ca. 1858] [Biblioteca Marciana, Venice], as in the collection of Don Dionisio Lazzari, Naples; notes that it was earlier in the collections of the principe di Tarsia and the duca di Grasso; reads the inscription on the cartellino as "147. / Antonellus Messanus / me"; comments on Antonello's technique, noting that with the "fused, enameled color, you do not see traces of brush" and that the artist employs a "system of velature [a technique in which oil paint is superimposed over a preparation in tempera]—in full use, I believe, for the last time".Letter to Ralph Nicholson Wornum . September 20, 1861, having just seen the picture in Naples, calls the subject "repulsively treated and the head ill drawn" and wonders if the inscription was forged; does not doubt the picture is by Antonello.Les anciens peintres flamands . 1, Brussels, 1862, p. 227, mention the Alliata picture among the lost works of Antonello.Histoire de la peinture flamande depuis ses débuts jusqu'en 1864 . 2, 2nd ed. Paris, 1866, p. 398, as formerly at Palermo with the Alliata family, "presently" known as the princes of Villafranca.A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century . London, 1871, vol. 2, p. 85, identify our picture, then in the Zir collection, with the one described by Auria [Ref. 1698] and read the inscription on the cartellino as "1.7.ntonellus messa . . ."; note that "few extant panels have been injured by time and restored more completely than this: but we can still see an early form of the master's art".Italian Masters in German Galleries . London, 1883, p. 382.Kunstkritische Studien über italienische Malerei . 2, Leipzig, 1891, pp. 245–46, dates it in the artist's early Flemish period, 1465–70.La pittura in Palermo nel Rinascimento: storia e documenti . Palermo, 1899, p. 197, identifies our picture, then lost, with the one described by Auria [Ref. 1898].Archivio storico messinese 3 (1903), pp. 176–77 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1973], quotes the description given by Auria in 1898.Di Antonello da Messina e dei suoi congiunti . Palermo, 1903, pp. 41–42, mistrusts Auria's reading of the inscription.Archivio storico messinese 4 (1903), pp. 362 ff. [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1973], discusses the origin of the picture.Archivio storico messinese 5 (1904), pp. 95, 125–26, mentions this painting as said to be in the Zir collection, Naples.Le origini della pittura veneziana, 1300–1500 . Venice, 1907, p. 224, refers to our picture as lost, and places it in Antonello's first period.in Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler . 1, Leipzig, 1907, p. 569.L'arte 11 (1908), pp. 443–44, ill. (the painting and Calvalcaselle's drawing after it [fig. 1]), identifies a picture then in the Schickler collection with the Ecce Homo from which Cavalcaselle made a sketch ca. 1858 when it was in the Lazzari collection; is only able to read "Antonellus messanen" on the cartellino, but considers this picture the earliest of Antonello's Ecce Homos.A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century . 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1871]. London, 1912, vol. 2, pp. 418–19 n. 1.Storia dell'arte italiana . part 4, 7, Milan, 1915, pp. 54–56, fig. 30, identifies our picture with the one described by Auria but finds its style inconsistent with a date of 1470.Venetian Painting in America: The Fifteenth Century . New York, 1916, p. 33, as in Baron Schickler's collection.Letter to Mr. Kleinberger . May 2, 1925, admires the picture, noting that although it is not "attractive" it has "a tremendous existence and overwhelming persuasiveness"; describes it as signed and dated.Burlington Magazine 51 (December 1927), p. 298, pl. IIA, as in the Friedsam collection; calls it one of "the later and more Italianized versions" of this subject by Antonello.Mein Leben . Berlin, 1930, vol. 1, p. 80, mentions seeing this painting in 1872 or 1873 in the Zir collection in Naples, and later in the Schickler collection, Paris.Pitture italiane in America . Milan, 1931, unpaginated, pl. 282, notes that in the seventeenth century the date 1470 was still visible.Italian Pictures of the Renaissance . Oxford, 1932, p. 25.Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27, section 2 (November 1932), p. 34, no. 56.Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien , n.s., 7 (1933), pp. 33, 68–69, ill., identifies it with the picture mentioned by Auria and considers it Antonello's earliest extant version of the theme.Italian Paintings in America . 2, New York, 1933, unpaginated, pl. 377.The Connoisseur 94 (December 1934), p. 394.The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting . 15, The Hague, 1934, pp. 476, 496–97, ill., refers to it as a work of 1470, but notes that we cannot put entire confidence in the date recorded by Auria [see Refs. 1653 and 1698].Art Digest (September 1, 1935), p. 20.Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 14 (January 1935), pp. 43–44.Pitture italiane del rinascimento . Milan, 1936, p. 21.Critica d'arte 2 (1937), p. 106.Antonello da Messina . Milan, [1939], pp. 132–33, 144, pl. 24.Antonello da Messina . Vienna, 1940, pp. 15, 35, no. 15, pl. 15, accepts the 1470 date.The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings . New York, 1940, pp. 175–76, ill., provides bibliography and provenance; mentions Antonello's other versions of the subject.Tutta la pittura di Antonello da Messina . Milan, 1952, pp. 11, 22, pl. 18.Bollettino d'arte , 4th ser., 37 (1952), p. 303, as formerly bearing a date of 1470.Antonello . Milan, 1953, pp. 22, 89–90, pl. 60 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1973].Paragone 4, no. 47 (November 1953), p. 28.Antonello da Messina . Greenwich, Conn., 1955, pp. 13, 16.Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School . London, 1957, vol. 1, p. 6, pl. 275.All the Paintings of Antonello da Messina . New York, 1963, p. 24, pl. 14.Antonello da Messina . Milan, 1964, unpaginated.L'opera completa di Antonello da Messina . Milan, 1967, p. 91, no. 31, colorpl. 12, notes that there is no consensus as to the reading of the signature on the picture and suggests that Auria's reference may in fact refer to the Ecce Homo in Piacenza.Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections . Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. 10, 356, 607.Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte 8 (1972), pp. 69–71, figs. 1–5, identifies the brand on the reverse as the mark of the collection of the Marquis of Carpio and publishes the reference to it in the Carpio inventory of 1687; identifies other owners and notes that it was exhibited in Naples in 1877.G. B. Cavalcaselle: disegni da antichi maestri . Exh. cat., Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice. [Vicenza], 1973, pp. 81–82, under no. 47, reproduces Cavalcaselle's drawing and notes; gives the date that Cavalcaselle saw this painting in Naples as 1860, and states that at that time it belonged to the heirs of Gaetano Zir [sic, for Giacomo Lazzari?] who were offering it for sale for 800 ducati.Italian Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Venetian School . New York, 1973, p. 2, pl. 2, call this picture almost certainly the Ecce Homo that was in the collection of Giulio Alliata of Palermo in the seventeenth century, when the date 1470 (now almost illegible) was said to be visible on the cartellino; note that this would make the MMA picture the earliest of the four known versions of this subject by Antonello [see Notes; the version in a private collection was not yet attributed to Antonello].Connoisseur 190 (October 1975), p. 129, believes that our picture is probably the work mentioned by Auria.Connoisseur 188 (March 1975), p. 189, dates it "probably no later than 1473" and comments that it displays "Antonello's new interest in Italian modelling".Storia della Sicilia . 5, Naples, 1979, pp. 23, 58 n. 88, discusses the inscription.The Metropolitan Museum of Art . New York, 1980, pp. 241, 245, fig. 431.Storia dell'arte no. 38 (1980), pp. 4–5, grapples with the evolution of Antonello's technique and concludes that the use of velature (a technique of oil over tempera) [see also Ref. Cavalcaselle 1858] did not suddenly appear in 1470 with the creation of this picture, but was evident in Antonello's work beginning about 1465.Prospettiva no. 20 (January 1980), p. 34 n. 12, dates the MMA and Piacenza versions after the one in Genoa; relates the series to Antonello's Saint Sebastian (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden).in Antonello da Messina . Exh. cat., Museo Regionale, Messina. Rome, 1981, pp. 130–32, no. 24, ill. (overall and infrared detail), discusses the provenance.Antonello e la sua città . Palermo, 1981, pp. 77, 95 n. 93, p. 99.Italia e Fiandra nella pittura del quattrocento . Milan, 1983, pp. 87–88, states that it was inspired by Flemish examples like that of the Petrus Christus "Head of Christ" (MMA 60.71.1); adds that the series displays a perfect fusion between Flemish and Italian art.Antonello e l'Europa . Milan, 1986, pp. 100–101, 158, no. 14, comments that the novel iconography of Antonello's Ecce Homo panels and of his portraits suggest a consistent base of foreign patrons; compares the three extant versions of the Ecce Homo by Antonello and suggests that the version in Genoa [Palazzo Spinola], signed but not dated, was executed slightly before the present picture, which shows a greater awareness of the plastic possibilities of light.Andrea Solario . Milan, 1987, p. 65 n. 110.Antonello da Messina . Messina, 1987, p. 37, suggests that Antonello's composition derives from Petrus Christus's painting of Christ in Majesty (location unknown), which was for a time in the Sannazzaro collection in Naples.Antonello da Messina und die Niederlande . Frankfurt am Main, 1990, pp. 26, 124, 135, 137–39, 181–82, 198, 202, fig. 72, considers it Antonello's earliest version of the composition and also sees it as one of his earliest portraits; comments that the questioning, helpless expression of Christ in our version is unique among Antonello's variants.in Andrea Mantegna . Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. New York, 1992, p. 245.Antonello da Messina: catalogo completo dei dipinti . Florence, 1993, pp. 11, 44–45, no. 14, ill. (color).Le Christ à la colonne d'Antonello de Messine . Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 1993, pp. 44, 78–80, 82, fig. 66, sees the poor state of preservation of many of Antonello's paintings—which cannot be explained as simply a result of excessive cleaning—as evidence that his technique was not altogether comparable to that of the Flemish painters; notes that Christ's head is less distorted and his gaze more fixed than in the other extant versions and comments that the variation in facial expression contributes to their portrait-like effect; points out that the sides of our panel have been cut down.Petrus Christus: Renaissance Master of Bruges . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1994, p. 65 n. 79.in The Dictionary of Art . 2, New York, 1996, p. 179, believes that Antonello's Ecce Homo variants can be seen as a development of the Netherlandish Christ Blessing prototype.Antonello da Messina . Milan, 1998, pp. 23, 44, 46 ill. (color), notes that at the end of the 1460s Antonello must have travelled to Northern Italy, where he came in contact with the school of Squarcione; calls the cartellino on our painting Squarcionesque, although he finds our panel otherwise closer to Flemish taste than the other versions.Antonello da Messina . Palermo, 1998, pp. 12, 45 n. 82, 50, 75, 81–82, no. 10, ill., believes the placement of Christ's features is part of a "very calculated dynamic geometry," for which he provides a diagram.Ecce Homo, Antonello da Messina; Genova e Messina: due versioni a confronto . Exh. cat., Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola. Genoa, 2000, pp. 11–12, 15, 21–22, 34, 36, 44–46, 74–75, ill. (color), view this work as irrefutable evidence that Antonello was exposed to Piero della Francesca's experiments with perspective; find the Christ in our picture possesses a greater monumentality than in the other extant versions.Antonello fuori dai luoghi comuni . Milan, 2001, pp. 104, 111, ill.in Antonello a Napoli . Exh. cat., Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte. Naples, 2001, p. 12.Antonello da Messina: Ecce Homo . Exh. cat., Museo Diocesano. Milan, 2002, pp. 28, 30, ill.in Antonello agli Uffizi: un acquisto dello Stato per il riscatto dell'eredità Bardini . Exh. cat., Sala delle Reali Poste. Florence, 2002, p. 52.in Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2005, pp. 22–23, 26, calls it "Antonello's first independent version of the 'Ecce Homo'" and dates it about 1470; notes the influence of Netherlandish painting on Antonello's art of this period.in Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2005, pp. 37, 42–43, no. 4, ill. (color), finds a date of 1470 plausible; calls a version in a private collection (cat. no. 2) Antonello's earliest treatment of the subject.in Antonello da Messina: l'opera completa . Exh. cat., Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2006, pp. 140, 154, 156, 166–69, 240, no. 16, ill. (color, overall and detail).Cultural Exchange Between the Low Countries and Italy (1400–1600) . Turnhout, Belgium, 2007, pp. 68–69, 76–77, 79–80, 83 n. 54, p. 84 nn. 76, 80, figs. 1, 2 (infrared digital photographs, overall and detail), 20 (x-radiograph), states that the fluid medium used by Antonello for underdrawing in this picture is not detected by infrared reflectography, but is revealed through infrared digital photography, adding that this discovery indicates that assumptions about the lack of underdrawing on Antonello's panels may sometimes be untrue; notes that the flat lead white underpaint revealed by x-radiography is typical of earlier works by Antonello and for this reason tentatively dates the Genoa version of the composition, with a more modulated layer of underpaint, several years after the MMA work; hypothesizes that Antonello used a template for the series of Ecce Homo pictures, a practice also followed by Memling, and sees close similarities between Antonello's and Petrus Christus's underdrawing, but does not believe either of these things proves contact between Antonello and the two Netherlandish painters.
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