Artwork
Virgin Annunciate
Virgin Annunciate is an oil painting by the Early Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina. It dates from 1473 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Created in 1473, this oil painting on a wooden panel measures roughly 45 by 35 centimeters.
About this work
This painting shows Mary at the moment the angel tells her she’ll give birth to Jesus.
This painting shows Mary at the moment the angel tells her she’ll give birth to Jesus. Antonello da Messina made it in 1473 with oil on wood. The scene freezes Mary mid-reading, caught by surprise.
It’s one of two known versions done by the same artist. Both show the same quiet drama and careful light. The wood panel was cut small, just 45 by 35 centimeters.
Look next at the artist Antonello da Messina.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the Virgin Mary at the moment of the Annunciation, the biblical episode in which the Archangel Gabriel announces to her that she will conceive and bear Jesus. The work shows Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation, a compositional choice that emphasizes her quiet absorption in scripture before being startled by the divine message.
The subject belongs to the long tradition of Annunciation imagery in Christian art, in which Mary's reaction to Gabriel's greeting is used to convey both her humility and her acceptance of her role. Antonello da Messina treated the same theme in a companion version now in Palermo, and the Munich panel shares that devotional focus on Mary's interior response to the angelic visitation.
Technique & Style
The Virgin Annunciate is an oil painting executed on a lime wood panel, a support characteristic of Antonello da Messina's practice. The work measures 42.5 cm in height by 32.8 cm in width, giving it an intimate, small-scale format suited to private devotion. Painted in 1473, it depicts the Virgin Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation, a compositional formula Antonello also employed in his Palermo version of the same subject.
The use of oil on a rigid wooden support allowed for the fine, controlled handling associated with the artist's technique, while the religious subject is rendered with the restrained, contemplative mood typical of his Italian Renaissance style.
History & Provenance
The Virgin Annunciate is an oil-on-lime panel painting created by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina in 1473. This work depicts the Virgin Mary interrupted during her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation, a composition similar to the artist's more renowned version of the same subject held in Palermo. The painting is currently part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
While the specific commission details and earlier ownership chain are not detailed in the provided records, the work's creation is firmly dated to 1473.
The Virgin Annunciate by Antonello da Messina, dated 1473, is held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich. The work is specifically located within the Alte Pinakothek museum. It is executed in oil on a lime panel and depicts the Annunciation.
The provided sources do not contain specific inventory or accession numbers for the painting, nor do they list any exhibition history.
Legacy
Antonello da Messina's Virgin Annunciate exerted quiet influence across Renaissance art through its compositional clarity and narrative immediacy. Though less celebrated than the Palermo version, it informed later depictions of the Annunciation through its restrained spatial treatment and precise rendering of figures. The work remained in Munich's Alte Pinakothek, where it shaped regional interpretations of devotional imagery.
Its legacy lies in modeling a restrained, psychologically nuanced approach to sacred narrative that resonated in Central European religious painting.
Overview
Created in 1473, this oil painting on a wooden panel measures roughly 45 by 35 centimeters. It is one of two surviving depictions by the Sicilian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina that treat the Annunciation, the moment the Angel Gabriel informs the Virgin Mary of her future role.
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