Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù
The Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù exhibits numerous art objects that Baron Enrico Pirajno di Mandralisca collected over time, keeping them in his home. It is an interdisciplinary museum which includes a picture gallery, an archaeological collection, a monetary and one of the Europe's richest malacological collections, furniture and objects belonging to the Mandralisca family.
The Mandralisca Museum is known throughout the world for hosting the second most famous smile in the world, after the one della Gioconda: the Portrait of the Unknown Sailor by Antonello da Messina. In the center of the painting, on a dark background, there is a man, taken in three quarters, wearing clothes and a hat that refer to a sailor. In that face, the somewhat sarcastic, somewhat enigmatic expression between the mocker and the accomplice stands out, which has aroused, over time, different reactions in those who met him. The painting has been the subject of controversial studies and opinions about the identity of the portrayed subject and legends and debates have arisen about it.
