We were stopped for a while by the Museum staff so they could convey part of the line of people waiting to get into the Van Gogh drawings, but it was worth the wait. Though there are only a handful of Antonello's works in this exhibition, I was very impressed. The expressions on the men in his portraits were wonderful--not the very serious-looking way people usually want themselves to be seen. 
His Virgin Annunciate showed a real young woman, not the idealized figure so often seen. Antonello's drawing of her hands was amazing, way ahead of his time (ca. 1430-1479)--but I do have to wonder if the women of biblical times were actually able to read.Eventually we made our way downstairs, stopping to let our friends get a quick view of the Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche. Then it was on to the Fra Angelico. Him I had heard of, though that was about it--I really didn't know any of his work in particular.
He preceded Antonello only by a bit: he was born sometime between 1390 and 1395, and lived until 1450. He entered the Dominican order in about 1420, and most of his commissions were for altarpieces for his own monastery and other Dominican houses.
Thus most of his work is too large to transport for an exhibition like this--though some of what was on view had been cut from altarpieces back in the nineteenth century. Most, however, were small scale works. Even though some were only a few inches square, he was able to portray faces rather realistically. Some of his faces just stared off into space, but others seemed very engaged in the scenes being portrayed--I was very drawn to one of John the Baptist almost leering.
I don't think I'll ever like painters like Antonello da Messina and Fra Angelico as much as Van Gogh or Matisse, but I can enjoy exhibitions of their works. It was not a wasted two hours by any means.
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