Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Getty Images/Gallo Images

Galleria Regionale della Sicilia

Top choice in Palermo


Housed in the stately 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis, this art museum – widely regarded as Palermo's best – showcases works by Sicilian artists dating from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. One of its greatest treasures is Trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death), a magnificent fresco (artist unknown) 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.

The gallery is full of countless other treasures, which collectively offer great insight into the evolution of Sicilian art. Among these is Antonello da Messina's enigmatic 15th-century masterpiece L'Annunciata (Virgin Annunciate), with its refined balance of Italian and Flemish influences.

The exhibition space itself was designed to fill this gorgeous Catalan Gothic palazzo in 1957 by Carlo Scarpa, one of Italy's leading architects.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Palermo attractions

1. Oratorio dei Bianchi

0.08 MILES

The 16th-century 'Oratory of the Whites' obtained its nickname from the white ceremonial gowns worn by its religious guild, whose members comforted…

2. Museo dell'Inquisizione

0.11 MILES

Housed in the lower floors and basements of 14th-century Palazzo Chiaromonte Steri, this fascinating museum explores the legacy of the Inquisition in…

3. Pangrel Murals

0.13 MILES

What was once a row of dull apartment blocks is now a veritable open-air gallery, its trio of outstanding murals part of the Pangrel urban-renewal…

4. Museo Internazionale delle Marionette

0.13 MILES

This whimsical museum houses around 4000 marionettes, puppets, glove puppets and shadow figures from Sicily and Naples, as well as from further-flung…

5. Giardino Garibaldi

0.15 MILES

Surrounded on all sides by elegant palazzi, gentrified Piazza Marina is Palermo's quietest piazza, and its small Giardino Garibaldi encloses Palermo's…

6. Palazzo Mirto

0.18 MILES

Just off Piazza Marina, this palazzo is one of the few in Palermo open to the public. Dating back to the 17th century, the building served as the Palermo…

7. Falcone & Borsellino Mural

0.22 MILES

Sicilian street artists Rosk e Loste (Maurizio Giulio ‘Rosk’ Gebbia and Mirko ‘Loste’ Cavalletto) executed this striking mural of Sicilian anti-mafia…

8. Orto Botanico

0.27 MILES

Laid out by Léon Dufourny and Venanzio Marvuglia, this raffish, subtropical paradise shelters massive fig trees, tall palms and dazzling hibiscus bushes,…