Antonio Ruffo
Antonio Ruffo 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.
His collections included coins, silverware, paintings by Anthony van Dyck, Paul Bril, Jacob Jordaens, Abraham Casembroot and others, several Rembrandt etchings and tapestries of The Life of Achilles to designs by Rubens. He commissioned three paintings from Rembrandt and corresponded with Artemisia Gentileschi, Cornelis de Wael and Abraham Brueghel.
