Artwork
The Annunciation
The Annunciation is a tempera painting by the Early Renaissance artist Filippino Lippi. It dates from 1498 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Overview
The composition centers on a seated woman in a deep blue garment, attended by a kneeling angel whose wings are rendered with meticulous featherwork.
Filippino Lippi’s The Annunciation, executed in tempera in 1498, portrays the biblical moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear the Christ child. The composition centers on a seated woman in a deep blue garment, attended by a kneeling angel whose wings are rendered with meticulous featherwork. A modest interior setting, complete with a table, books, and a candle, frames the encounter.
Subject & Meaning
The work visualizes the theological narrative of the Incarnation, emphasizing Mary’s humility and receptivity. Her calm posture and folded hands suggest contemplation, while the angel’s gentle gaze and offering of a red cloth symbolize divine communication. The inclusion of scholarly objects such as books hints at Mary’s piety and the intellectual context of late‑15th‑century devotional art.
Technique & Style
Lippi employs egg‑tempera, mixing pigment with yolk to achieve a luminous, matte surface characteristic of early Renaissance painting. The medium allows for fine detailing, evident in the delicate rendering of the angel’s feathers and the subtle folds of the blue robe. The spatial arrangement combines a shallow interior with a glimpse of architecture beyond a curtained window, reflecting the period’s interest in perspective and naturalistic light.
History & Provenance
Created near the end of Lippi’s Florentine career, the painting entered the collection of the Hermitage Museum, where it remains on display. Its attribution to Lippi aligns with his known practice of tempera and fresco works on religious subjects, and the date situates it among his later productions, when his style had fully absorbed the influences of contemporaries such as Botticelli and Perugino.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Filippino Lippi (probably 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance.
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