This early masterpiece by Fra Angelico became the model that was followed by many other artists of the Early Renaissance, referring to the subject of the Annunciation. The panel depicts the most important episode of the New Testament – Archangel Gabriel is to the Virgin Mary to inform her that she is chosen to become the mother of the Son of God. Beautiful and pious, the Virgin Mary, sitting in the vaulted loggia, reads the Bible. As if voicing the picture, the artist wrote in gold letters the words of the messenger of heaven appearing to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Struck by the appearance of the archangel, the Virgin Mary answers, humbly folding her hands on her bosom: “Behold the servant of the Lord: let it be unto me according to your word.” With this dialogue there is the Holy Spirit, traditionally depicted as a dove.
It was from the Holy Spirit that the conception of God the Son took place, according to the Scriptures. In the background, Fra Angelico depicted the scene of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, as if extending a logical chain – from the moment of the fall of man to the moment when the world is God, in order to atone for the sins of people with his sufferings. An early masterpiece by Fra Angelico demonstrates his mastery both as an artist and as a draftsman. The picture, according to the then-traditional tradition, is written with an egg tempera on a wooden panel. On the technique of writing with egg tempera, we can learn from the “Instructions to the painter” Cennino Chennini, who saw the light around 1400.
The sequence of actions of the artist working in this technique is as follows. First he had to put on the board several layers of gypsum mixed with glue, which was then painted over with white paint and carefully ground. After that, the master designated the contours of the future picture on the created basis, more often squeezing them out with a pointed wooden stick – a style. Those places of the picture, where the nimbuses were to be depicted, were covered in several layers with red clay, and on top with a thin gold leaf, pasted onto egg white, followed by polishing. The rest of the details were written with powdered colored pigments, diluted in egg yolk, that is tempera. Temperatures dries quickly; This prompted the impetuosity of the work – the artist was required at the same time not to admit a single mistake and finish each piece of the picture before the paint dries.
Fra Angelico loved the plot of the Annunciation and wrote it more than once – each time in a new way nuancing it. In fact, if you build his “Annunciation” in one chronological series, then this series will be a good mirror of the evolution of the creative manner of the master. With this masterpiece of Fra Angelico, mysterious riddles are connected. In particular, it is known that about the same time the artist worked on another “Annunciation” – for the Church of San Alessandro in Brescia. Some researchers claim that the finished picture was delivered to customers, but later died. At the same time, nothing is known about the fact that this allegedly lost “Annunciation” was ever decorated with a church in Brescia. It is known just another – ten years later the same church commissioned a new “Annunciation” – this time to the artist Jacopo Bellini, who fulfilled the order. His work to this day is in Brescia.
The question arises: is the painting created by Fra Angelico for the church of San Alessandro really disappeared without a trace? Or is it the masterpiece presented in this section? It is certainly impossible to answer these questions, but – if you follow the logic – there is a high probability that this “Annunciation” of Fra Angelico for some reason was rejected by the original customer and later found in Cortona. We can even assume that this was the reason. Too much in this work looked for those times “overly” innovative, out-of-the-century tradition, too emotional, uncanonical. Created by Fra Angelico for the Church of San Alessandro, disappeared without a trace? Or is it the masterpiece presented in this section? It is certainly impossible to answer these questions, but – if you follow the logic – there is a high probability that this “Annunciation” of Fra Angelico for some reason was rejected by the original customer and later found in Cortona. We can even assume that this was the reason. Too much in this work looked for those times “overly” innovative, out-of-the-century tradition, too emotional, uncanonical. Created by Fra Angelico for the Church of San Alessandro, disappeared without a trace? Or is it the masterpiece presented in this section? It is certainly impossible to answer these questions, but – if you follow the logic – there is a high probability that this “Annunciation” of Fra Angelico for some reason was rejected by the original customer and later found in Cortona. We can even assume that this was the reason. Too much in this work looked for those times “overly” innovative, out-of-the-century tradition, too emotional, uncanonical.
Caused many disputes and graceful limits Cortona’s “Annunciation” Fra Angelico. It consists of five compositions dedicated to the life of the Virgin, and two – dedicated to the life of St. Dominic. A special grace is the composition “The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth”. The female figure, placed against the backdrop of the majestic landscape on the left side of this fragment, is written so plastically powerful that for a long time it was attributed to the brush of Piero della Francesca. Now it can be considered proven that he performed all these works with his own hands
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