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The Virgin Annunciate

Unknown

1500

paint

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Early Renaissance Renaissance Renaissance Religious

Dominant colour

The Virgin Annunciate is a 1500 paint by Unknown, a Early Renaissance work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1500 · Early Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

The painting shows the Virgin Mary kneeling with a book and a lily, and a dove above her head. This work is interesting because it's painted on cloth, which was a cheaper and lighter option than panel paintings. It's a fragment of a larger piece, and to learn more about similar techniques used in other artworks, look up the technique of sfumato.

The story of this work

Overview

A fragmentary painting on cloth from around 1500 depicts the Virgin Annunciate kneeling before an open book, holding a lily in the foreground while a dove representing the Holy Spirit appears above her head. The work was likely created in Valencia, Spain, and is based on Netherlandish models popular in the region at the time. Originally larger than 300 x 400 cm, the surviving portion was once part of a diptych with the Archangel Gabriel, now missing, and may have served as a Lenten cloth or organ shutter covering. The grisaille technique on fabric reflects a common but now rare practice in…

Read the full account in the museum source.