Antonello da Messina was born c.1430 and died February 19, 1479. Not much was known about his early life, but sometime during 1445 – 1455 apprenticed in Naples under Niccolo Colantonio, a painter who had mastered the technique of oil. Painting was considered an adept imitator of sophisticated Netherlands work. The “Christ Crowned with Thorns” painting is on displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in New york, NY. The artist of this magnificent piece was Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio). Antonello used oil, which was made by grinding pigments with a drying oil. Antonello used the oil-based paint over Tempera. Tempera is a water-thinned paint that becomes water resistant as it dries. . “Egg tempera is an aqueous emulsion paint with an egg yolk or whole egg binder that originated in medieval Europe. These paints dry to a semi-matte appearance by the evaporation of water and the coagulation of the egg protein. After about 1400 CE, variations of tempera were made with egg/oil, gum/oil, glue/oil and other emulsions as artists began to experiment with drying oils. As linseed oil paints became popular at the end of the 16th century, tempera died out. The measurement of this painting is 16 3/4 x 12 inches. This is part of the Friedsam Collection. …show more content…
“The Christ Crowned With Thorns" is very different from the way Antonello, painted his other paintings. According the New York Times, “this painting differs greatly from the milder, prettier portraits of the thorn-crowned Jesus seen in many Renaissance paintings (including an earlier Antonello shown here from the 1450's or early 1460's, a small, double-sided painting whose front panel shows a calm, meditative Jesus with a noose around his neck and whose reverse portrays a Madonna and Child with a donor).”