Piermatteo d'Amelia (Amelia, about 1450 - 1508)
The Annunciation, about 1487
Tempera on panel , 102.4 x 114.8 cm (40 5/16 x 45 3/16 in.)
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This horizontal tempera on panel depicts an angel speaking to the Virgin Mary inside a temple. The light-skinned angel is in profile, and kneeling with one foot on the floor, the other tucked behind her. Her light brown hair is very curly and rests at the back of her neck, and she has a halo above her head. She is wearing a long-sleeve tunic that is white and blue, and a pink skirt. The wings between her shoulder blades are large and dark blue with a couple of red and yellow shades throughout. She is holding a large stem of white flowers in her left hand. She is pointing up with her right index finger. The light-skinned Virgin Mary is kneeling, looking down at the small, open red book in her left hand. She is wearing a blue and green robe over a pink dress, with a white veil over her head. On top of her head is a gold halo. Above them is a white dove, almost translucent, flying in the temple. There is a streak of gold dots underneath the bird. The temple has many white-painted arches, with marble Corinthian columns with gold-colored capital. Behind the two central figures, there is a hallway that leads outside to a green courtyard, separated by a red brick wall. We can see the blue sky in the courtyard. Beyond the courtyard, past the brick wall, we can see trees and mountains in the distance. The floor is a repeating pattern of thick white lines alternating with a gray and black diamond within a square pattern.
Raphael Room
Commentary
The subject of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary to say she will bear the son of God was often depicted in dramatic and innovative architectural settings, both in Italy and in the Netherlands during the Renaissance. Here, the sweeping recession to the central doorway is the unifying element of the composition. The perspective lines on the floor divide the figures and focus attention on the hilly landscape beyond.
Like many Italian Renaissance painters, Piermatteo d’Amelia was concerned with the principles of optical perspective. However, the painting is neither formulaic nor rigidly symmetrical. The architecture varies significantly from left to right, the open courtyard giving way to an arcade, as if to embody the Virgin’s motherly embrace. In the center, a spray of lilies and the dove connect the archangel with the Virgin.
The painting was made for the main altar of the Franciscan church in Amelia, a small town in Umbria near Spoleto. Since 1900, the painting has borne many different attributions, and was long known simply as the work of the Master of the Gardner Annunciation, but documents now indicate that the artist is Piermatteo d’Amelia, a pupil and assistant of Filippo Lippi.
Source: Alan Chong, "The Annunciation," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 63.
Like many Italian Renaissance painters, Piermatteo d’Amelia was concerned with the principles of optical perspective. However, the painting is neither formulaic nor rigidly symmetrical. The architecture varies significantly from left to right, the open courtyard giving way to an arcade, as if to embody the Virgin’s motherly embrace. In the center, a spray of lilies and the dove connect the archangel with the Virgin.
The painting was made for the main altar of the Franciscan church in Amelia, a small town in Umbria near Spoleto. Since 1900, the painting has borne many different attributions, and was long known simply as the work of the Master of the Gardner Annunciation, but documents now indicate that the artist is Piermatteo d’Amelia, a pupil and assistant of Filippo Lippi.
Source: Alan Chong, "The Annunciation," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 63.