Housed in the stately 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis, this fine museum features works by Sicilian artists from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Its greatest treasure is Triunfo della Morte (Triumph of Death), a magnificent fresco in which Death is represented as a demonic skeleton mounted on a wasted horse, brandishing a wicked-looking scythe while leaping over his hapless victims.
Represented at the heart of the painting, under Death's horse, are the vain and pampered aristocrats of Palermo, while the poor and hungry look on from the side. The huge image, carefully restored, has been given its own space on the ground level to maximise its visual impact.
Widely regarded as Palermo's best art museum, the gallery is full of countless other treasures, which collectively offer great insight into the evolution of Sicilian art. The exhibition space itself was designed to fill this gorgeous Catalan Gothic palazzo in 1957 by Carlo Scarpa, one of Italy's leading architects.
