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Virgin Annunciate
Antonello da Messina · Renaissance & Mannerism
- Artist
- Antonello da Messina (c. 1430–1479)
- Date
- c. 1476
- Dimensions
- 45 x 34.5 cm
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Location
- Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo, Italy
The Virgin Annunciate shows the Virgin Mary alone, in a simple blue veil, behind a reading stand with an open book, at the very moment the angel Gabriel announces to her that she will be the mother of God. The angel himself is not shown.
A closer look
By leaving the angel out, Antonello places the viewer in his position: Mary seems to look past us, raising her right hand in a gesture that might be a greeting, surprise or a gentle request to pause. With her left hand she draws her mantle closed. Her face, perfectly oval and lit by a soft light, is calm and inward. The open pages of the book, painted at an angle, project towards us, and the pure triangular form of the veil gives the figure a sculptural stillness. It is one of the most intimate religious images of the Renaissance.
More by Antonello da Messina
In this gallery
Famous works elsewhere
- San Cassiano Altarpiece 1475
- Saint Sebastian 1478
- Calvary 1475
- Christ at the Column 1477
- The Dead Christ Supported by an Angel 1475
- Ecce Homo 1475