The catalogue of the great anthological exhibition held in Florence from June to July 2013 displays about 30 drawings and 120 sculptures by a master of 900 s figurative art: a huge selection which embraces the artist s youth as well as late years. Messina s story, says the art historian Elena Princi, is primarily that of a precocious talent, the ability to feel a material the different materials he has used almost empathetically. Plaster, marble, wax, terra-cotta, wood and above all bronze, which he literally dominated, transforming itwith subtle patinas, still working on it even after the casting, leaving traces of new life in the metal. Texts by Luigi Marsiglia ed Eliana Princi.