Museo Mandralisca

The Mandralisca Museum is located in the heart of the historic center of Cefalù where the noble palace stands which was once the home of the Mandralisca barons family. The Mandralisca Cultural Foundation today manages the baron's assets: in particular, the paintings, art objects and antique furniture that belonged to him during his lifetime continue to be kept in his home, which has now become a museum. Palazzo Mandralisca is therefore an example of an ancient residence of a Sicilian noble family, full of charm and atmosphere. There is, among other things, an important library, containing around 3,700 volumes on humanistic, historical and philosophical subjects, ancient manuscripts by local authors, rare incunabula and sixteenth-century works. In the main hall, where the Baron used to receive his distinguished guests, there is the Art Gallery where it is possible to admire paintings dating back to different eras and of various subjects. The so-called Sala dell'Antonello takes its name from the most important oil painting on wood in the Mandralisca collection, the famous Portrait of an Unknown Man by Antonello da Messina, the most talented painter of 1400s Europe. In the Museum there is also an important archaeological collection, the result of the research activity to which the baron dedicated much of his life.