Francesco Messina was born in Linguaglossa (Catania) in 1900. After moving to Genoa, he attended the Accademia Ligustica and then completed his education in Paris. A fundamental theme in his work is the representation of the human figure, a motive which he developed during all of his life. With his artistic language, he returned to the Tuscan tradition of the Fifteenth Century (Donatello and Verrocchio) and to the quality of the “trade”: Francesco Messina recuperates therefore classical models and elements of Realism and Nineteenth Century Realism in a modern frame of mind. In the 1950s he created various works which differed from the previous production thanks to a more Expressionist style. Francesco Messina died in Milan in 1995.