#messina

Santa Maria di Montalto

Four fifteenth-century paintings by Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Sicily, although two were abandoned during the thieves’ escape.

The Italian Peninsula seems continuous, linear, and compact.

Then, having reached the southern tip of Calabria, it breaks off.

On maps, the Strait of Messina separates Calabria and Sicily.

In reality, the opposite is also true: it holds them facing one another. From Reggio Calabria, the coast of Messina is sharply visible, and from Messina, Reggio appears with the same clarity.

It is a distance in which the opposite shore always remains present.

The sea separates two lands while keeping them united in each other’s sight.

Photos: @lemiestrade