Antonio Ruffo (1610 or 1611 - 16 June 1678) was an important Sicilian politician, nobleman, patron and collector from the Ruffo di Calabria family. He was probably born in Castle Bagnara or Messina and died in Messina. [1]
His collections included coins, silverware, paintings by Anthony van Dyck ( Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague–Stricken of Palermo), Paul Bril, Jacob Jordaens, Abraham Casembroot [2] and others, several Rembrandt etchings and tapestries of The Life of Achilles to designs by Rubens. He commissioned three paintings from Rembrandt ( Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, Alexander the Great and Homer Dictating his Verses) [3] and corresponded with Artemisia Gentileschi, Cornelis de Wael and Abraham Brueghel.
He was also the owner of Erminia and the Shepherd ( Guercino, 1649), The History of Pythagoras: Buying Fishes and The History of Pythagoras: Coming out of the Cave (Salvator Rosa). [3]
After the earthquake of 1783, his first-born son Giovanni Ruffo rescued 112 paintings and brought them to Scaletta. [3]