The Civic Art Gallery

The Civic Art Gallery houses a unique collection of artwork, mostly paintings, owned by the Municipality of Reggio Calabria. The older works (I group: 15th -19th century) originate from the collections of the former Civic Museum, founded in 1882 and closed in 1948. The more modern works (II group – 20th century) come from purchases and donations.

The most valuable pieces from the collections of the former museum are undoubtedly the two wooden tablets “San Girolamo penitente” (St. Jerome penitent) and “Tre Angeli in Visita ad Abramo” (Three Angels Visiting Abraham) painted by Antonello Da Messina around 1460 and purchased by the Municipality of Reggio Calabria in 1890 from Giovanbattista Rota, descendant of a noble family from Reggio. However, “Il ritorno del figliol prodigo” (Return of the Prodigal Son) by Mattia Preti and “La battaglia di Capua” (Battle of Capua) by Andrea Cefaly stand out as being of significant importance.

In the second group, there are many works by Calabrian artists including the nineteenth century landscapes by Ignazio Lavagna Fieschi and his pupil Giuseppe Benassai, sculptures by Francesco Jerace and twentieth century paintings by Rubens Santoro, Francesco Raffaele, Antonio Cannata, Enzo Benedetto and sculptures by Pasquale Panetta and Saverio Gatto. Other artists represented are Giovanni Omiccioli, Giampiero Restellini and Renato Guttuso. Guttuso’s ink drawing on paper “Pescatore di Scilla” (Fisherman of Scilla) was included in the Biennale Calabrese in 1949.