Van Dyck in Sicily: Painting and the Plague, 1624-25

A highlight of the Dulwich Picture Gallery's 2012 programme, Van Dyck in Sicily: Painting and the Plague shows works by the painter Anthony Van Dyck created during his year-long stay in Palermo, shortly before the plague struck the Sicilian town and killed most of the population. This is the first time that all 16 works believed to have been painted during the year he spent in Palermo are being shown together. The exhibition reveals his expertly executed religious pictures and portraits including several images of the city's patron saint, Rosalia. In 1624, the year Van Dyck arrived in Palermo, the bones of Saint Rosalia were discovered in a cave on the Monte Pellegrino where she was said to have died as a hermit in the Middle Ages. A portrait of the Viceroy of Sicily from Dulwich's own collection is shown next to the suit of armour worn by the viceroy in the portrait, on loan from the Royal Armouries of Madrid, on display for the first time in the UK.