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The Annunciation

Jaume Ferrer II

1457

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Early Renaissance Renaissance Renaissance Religious Catalonia

Dominant colour

The Annunciation is a 1457 unspecified by Jaume Ferrer II, a Early Renaissance work, depicting Catalonia, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Jaume Ferrer II
When & what style?: 1457 · Early Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A young woman in a blue robe stands in a room with an angel nearby, both surrounded by glowing gold patterns. The scene shows the moment an angel tells Mary she will have a child. The gold background isn’t flat—it has raised details made from a mix of glue and ground-up shells or chalk, called *pastiglia*. This was common in 15th-century Spain and Catalonia, where artists loved rich, decorative surfaces. This panel once belonged to a six-part altarpiece, most of which is now lost. Look up The Cleveland Museum of Art to see how this piece is displayed today.

The story of this work

Overview

This and 1953.660.2 are believed to be the remaining components of a six-panel altarpiece. The large central panel is now preserved in Barcelona (Museu National d’Art de Catalunya). Ferrer collaborated with the painter Pere Garcia de Benavarri on this commission. Spanish works like these often feature elaborate treatment of the gold background, evident here in the exuberant raised decoration (called pastiglia ) in the skies and the haloes, as well as other details. Here the archangel Gabriel proclaims the Virgin’s destiny as the mother of Christ. The setting is an ordinary house, but simple…

Read the full account in the museum source.