IFA Excavations at Selinunte

In Memoriam

RAFFAELE FRANCO (1984 – 2025)

The Archaeological Mission in Selinunte and the broader archaeological and artistic communities of Palermo have come together in mourning to mark the sudden passing of Raffaele Franco, the photographer for our project since the very beginning, one of our core team members, and dearest friend.

A professional photographer in addition to his work for his family’s businesses, Raffaele collaborated with several institutions, including the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum to mark the 2018 Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the Youth Center for Children and Teens at-risk Casa della Speranza in Palermo. His most famous photos include, those documenting performers like Elio e Le Storie Tese and Premiata Forneria Marconi, as well as astronomical and meteorological events occurring in Palermo (some of them published in his “Ride the Lightning” series). His photography appeared regularly in the local Sicilian and national Italian press.

At Selinunte, Raffaele’s photography of architectural fragments and archaeological finds appear in past, present, and future publications of the Project, the exhibitions and promotional materials of the local Baglio Florio Museum, and the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, where he was in charge of the documentation of the Architectural Terracottas in the storerooms, and the ones restored and selected for the new display. Over the years he trained scores of American and Italian graduate students in the conventions of archaeological photography, always imparting his flair for beauty that is often lacking from the genre. Twenty-first century archaeology at Selinunte, and Sicily more broadly, is indebted to the tireless work Raffaele offered before his passing this year.

LUCA RESTELLI (1992 – 2022)

The Archaeological Mission in Selinunte of the Institute of Fine Arts–NYU and of the University of Milan mourns the tragic passing away of Luca Restelli, a long-standing member of our project, and a friend and mentor to many within the Institute community. Our Mission wishes to express its continued condolences to Luca’s family and its sincerest sympathy to his friends and colleagues.

A recent graduate from the Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici at the University of Milan, where he also earned his B.A. in Archaeology, Luca joined the Selinunte mission in 2018, and quickly distinguished himself through his expertise in archaeology, his quick smile, and his gentle soul. Born in 1992, Luca, a member of the SAP (Società Archeologica Padana), was an archaeologist of great promise, with extensive fieldwork experience in Lombardy (including Calvatone, the Roman villa at Palazzo Pignano, and countless emergency archaeological excavations at various sites), Nora (Sardinia), Pompeii and Rome. Luca was recently appointed Assessore alla Cultura at Palazzo Pignano (Cremona).

The field of Archaeology is worse for his passing, yet we are all fortunate for having had the opportunity to spend as much time with him as we did. Luca, with his contagious enthusiasm and all the things he taught us, will always be in the hearts and memories of the Selinunte Team.