Annunciazione (c.1307-1311)

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)

Annunciazione (The Annunciation)
c.13071311
Egg tempera on wood, 44.5 × 45.8 cm
National GalleryLondon

This panel was the first in a series of scenes of the infancy of Christ on the front of the predella (lowest part) of the Maestà altarpiece in the Cathedral of Siena.

The Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will conceive the Son of God; she holds a Bible open at words from the prophet Isaiah which echo Gabriel’s: ‘Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son…’

The conception takes place at the moment she hears the words, which is why a tiny white dove, representing the Holy Ghost, flies towards her ear. Her fearful gesture is at the same time one of acceptance: her arm has drawn her cloak open to reveal her red dress beneath, highlighting her womb.

The panel was the first in a series of scenes of the infancy of Christ on the front of the predella (lowest part) of the Maestà. The Maestà was a five-tiered, double-sided altarpiece, and the focus of the devotion of the Virgin in Siena. It is the only known signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna.

A gilded background gives this scene an ethereal quality, but the delicate arrangement of pink and grey columns and arches tells us that we are in fact on earth – we‘re in the home of the Virgin Mary. Heaven has broken in: the Archangel Gabriel, his back heel lifted as he walks, strides in through a slightly pointed archway, his wings streaked through with gold. He blesses the Virgin with his right hand and in his left holds a white staff tipped with a fleur-de-lis, a stylised lily.

The Virgin, enclosed within an open arcade of soft grey stone, stands in front of an open door and draws her arm up across her breast in fear. The movement has created a sweeping fold in her blue cloak, revealing her red dress beneath and highlighting her belly. At the bottom edge of this curve of fabric is an open book; the Virgin has been interrupted while reading the Old Testament scriptures. The page is open at the words of the prophet Isaiah who foretold this moment: ’Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name [Emmanuel].’

This echoes the words Gabriel speaks to the Virgin in the biblical account, here, perhaps, standing in for them. Meanwhile the moment of conception occurs between the angel and the Virgin: the Holy Ghost in the form of a small dove descends to impregnate the Virgin by means of the words she hears; it is encircled in gold, between three rays emanating from an arc of blue – the heavens. The vase of lilies embellishing the plain pink wall at the centre of the image represents the Virgin’s purity.

Duccio has placed an extraordinary scene in an ordinary – and believable – setting. These religious figures aren’t oversized compared to the buildings, as they sometimes were in paintings made at this time; they fit perfectly into their surroundings. This, combined with the blue, pink, gold and soft lilacs, creates a sense of balance and harmony. The architecture’s simplicity makes it easy to see that the arches are pointed where the divine enters the scene (in the form of the angel, the dove of the Holy Ghost and the open door of the house). Pointed arches were the new style in Gothic architecture; Duccio’s selective use of this trend to accentuate the holy might mean he intended to express the Annunciation’s importance as the beginning of a new epoch, the beginning of the New Testament.

This painting comes from the far left edge of the front predella of a large double-sided altarpiece called the Maestà, made by Duccio for Siena Cathedral. It was the first in a series of images showing the infancy of Christ. Each scene was alternated with a full-length image of a prophet. Next to this scene is Isaiah holding a scroll with the same words as those in the Virgin’s open book.

Our collection also includes two paintings from the back predella, which showed images of Christ’s ministry: The Healing of the Man born Blind and The Transfiguration. (NG)

Virtual reconstruction of the Maestà Altarpiece (1308-1311).

Virtual reconstruction of the Maestà Altarpiece (back).

Central panel:

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Maestà
13081311
Duomo di SienaSiena

 

 

Predella:

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Cristo e la Samaritana
13101311
Museo Thyssen-BornemiszaMadrid

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Guarigione del cieco nato
c.13071311
National GalleryLondon

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
La vocazione degli apostoli Pietro e Andrea
13081311
National Gallery of ArtWashington

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Natività con i profeti Isaia ed Ezechiele
13081311
National Gallery of ArtWashington

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Resurrezione di Lazzaro
13101311
Kimbell Art MuseumFort Worth

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Tentazione sul monte
13081311
Frick CollectionNew York

 

 

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-c.1319)
Trasfigurazione
c.13071311
National GalleryLondon