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Pesellino (Francesco di Stefano), The Annunciation, ca. 1445
Tempera and gold leaf on wood panel, 10 x 13 1/16 in. (25.4 x 33.2 cm). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of The de Young Museum Society, 54.3.
The subject of the Annunciation is among the most frequently depicted Christian subjects. It marks the moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that God has chosen her to bear his son, Jesus, who will atone for the sins of mankind. Here the weighty significance of the event is heightened by the stark and unembellished stage that the artist has constructed, which is stripped of almost all the anecdotal details found in many depictions of the Annunciation. Here, by contrast, the viewer is left to contemplate the serene beauty and dignity of the Virgin, as she acquiesces to God’s will. The diminutive size of this work was surely dictated by its original use as a predella panel for an unidentified altarpiece. The painting demonstrates the interests and contradictions of Florentine painting in the mid-fifteenth century. While clinging to decorative Gothicizing details and figural proportions, the artist attempts to create a convincing and measurable space for his figures. The calm balance and harmony established by the architectural setting are reinforced by the delicate color scheme.
- Adapted from a text by Lynn Federle Orr, Masterworks of European Painting in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1999)
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