Picture History

This altarpiece was painted for the monastery of Saint Dominic, in Fiesole, near Florence, Italy. The central panel shows the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary under a portico. On the left, Adam and Eve are being expelled from Paradise. These two images show the contrast between the Original Sin, or the damnation of humanity, and the Annunciation of the Birth of Christ, or the salvation of humanity. The small shelf, called a predella, below the image of the Annuncation, has scenes from the life of the Virgin, including Mary’s birth, Mary’s visit to her cousin Saint Elizabeth, the Nativity or the Birth of Christ, Mary´s wedding to Saint Joseph, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the Assumption of the Virgin with Christ receiving her soul.

Fra Angelico, also known as Blessed Angelico, dedicated his work exclusively to religious subjects, as he understood art to be an aspect of religious devotion. He was particularly meticulous in the details and qualities of nature, as well as those of the objects and persons depicted. Fra Angelico´s style merged the late Gothic Italian style with the new language of the Renaissance. An example of this is the spatial depth depicted in the architecture of this painting. While in keeping with Brunelleschi’s recommendation that the subject occupy the center of a square and unadorned stage, it nevertheless shows some of the errors present in Angelico’s early works.

American Friends of the Prado Museum and Friends of Florence contributed to the restoration of The Annunciation in 2018.

Masterpieces

Other pictures

Las Meninas, or The Family of King Philip IV, Velázquez

The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The exectutions”, Goya

Descent from the Cross, Van der Weyden

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch

The Annunciation, Fra Angelico

Carlos V at the Battle of Mühlburg, Titian

Three Graces, Rubens

Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest, El Greco

The Drinkers, or The Triumph of Bacchus, Velázquez

The Naked Maja, Goya

The Cardinal, Raphael

The Foot Washing, Tintoretto

Adam and Eve, Dürer

The Triumph of Death, Brueghel the elder

Venus and Adonis, Veronese

Agnus Dei, Zurbarán

The Bacchanal of the Andrians, Titian