1472
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Angel of the Annunciation is a 1472 by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see an angel with long curls, wings spread wide, and a scroll unfurling from its hand. The scene shows the moment Gabriel tells Mary she will have a child. Schongauer carved this image into metal so it could be printed again and again. The lines are so fine they make hair look soft and feathers look real. People could buy just this half of the story or pair it with the matching print of Mary. Look up *sfumato* to see how later artists softened edges like these even more.
This engraving is half of a two-print scene depicting the Annunciation to the Virgin, when the angel Gabriel told Mary she would miraculously give birth to the Son of God. Presumably buyers could purchase the prints separately, although Schongauer probably hoped people would want to collect them both. His engraved lines masterfully emulate different natural qualities and textures, for example the spiraling locks of hair and the angel’s wings.
The sculptor Riemenschneider traveled to Strasbourg and became acquainted with the works of the engraver Martin Schongauer.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
See the richer artist page
