The Annunciation

Although the author of this stunning panel has yet to be identified, its quality is unmistakable. In the center of the composition, the Virgin Mary kneels before a lectern, folding her hands and reading an open book in an act of piety. The softness of her facial features and the masterful rendering of the three-quarter profile – which suggests that the artist was aware of Leonardo da Vinci’s profile studies of the 1470s and 1480s – lend an air of grace and elegance to the Virgin, who dominates the compact, indoor setting. In addition to the beautiful details of the nearly-drained hourglass, open cupboard, and painstakingly described book in which individual lines of text are visible, the scene is decorated with an elegantly decorated pilaster, coffered ceiling, and a view past a drawn curtain into a darkened room beyond. At left, a small glimpse of a treetop and blue sky appear above the stone wall outside the Virgin’s room: rays of sunlight to stream in and bathe the scene, creating cast shadows along the back wall and behind the open cupboard door.
 
Compositional and stylistic evidence suggests this panel is the work of a highly skilled artist working in the last decade of the 15th century. While an identification has not yet been possible, it seems likely that the painter belonged to the rich artistic milieu around Ferrara at the turn of the 15th century. There are, for example, certain similarities to the works of Niccolò Pisano, Gian Francesco Maineri, and Lorenzo Costa, all of whom were active in Ferrara and Bologna in this period and share with the present work a connection to the innovations of their predecessor Ercole de’Roberti. However, the sweetness of the Virgin’s face and the sweeping folds of the drapery suggest the present artist’s awareness also of Tuscan models and, as mentioned above, of the innovations of Leonardo Da Vinci.