(Vicchio c. 1395/1400–1455 Rome)
The Angel Annunciate,
tempera on gold ground panel, 64 x 44.5 cm, integral frame

The present painting most probably formed part of a diptych representing the Annunciation to the Virgin – a widely spread theme in Florentine painting between the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

The angel is depicted kneeling and raising his right hand while facing the Madonna, who must have appeared on a second panel where she was probably rendered in a seated or similar kneeling position. Due to the elegant drawing style and the delicate colours, the present painting is a significant example of Florentine painting at a time when Late Gothic imagery developed towards the style of Fra Angelico. The language of form employed here betrays not only direct influences deriving from Fra Angelico’s own works, but also affinities with those by Lorenzo Monaco, whose mature style is reflected in the rhythm of the drapery. The self-contained modelling is also related to the style of Masolino, such as to his Madonna Flanked by Two Angels (1424) in a lunette fresco in Santo Stefano in Empoli.

In terms of style, the present panel is particularly closely related to the manner of Fra Angelico, especially to works from the artist’s early period, such as the Annunciation formerly installed in San Domenico di Fiesole (today Prado, Madrid) and the Coronation of the Virgin dating from a somewhat later period and painted for the same church (today Louvre, Paris), as well as the four famous reliquaries for Santa Maria Novella (before 1434), now preserved in the Museo di San Marco, Florence, and in the Gardner Museum, Boston. The subtle and expressive facial features also show similarities to the miniatures by Battista di Biagio Sanguigni in the antiphonary for the abbey of San Gaggio in Florence (1432) and to the more archaic panels by the so-called ‘Maestro della Madonna di Buckingham Palace’, a follower of Fra Angelico who is now identified as the early Zanobi Strozzi.