Martini, Simone (c.1284-1344)
L’Angelo dell’Annunciazione (The Angel of the Annunciation)
c.1330
Tempera on poplar panel, 29.5 x 20.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
This small, rich panel was originally the left side of a diptych, which, along with a right-hand panel depicting the Virgin Mary (now in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg), depicts one image of the Annunciation—the moment when the archangel Gabriel brings Mary the news that she will give birth to the Son of God. The picture in the collection of the National Gallery of Art is marked by Simone’s characteristic refinement and elegance in the elongated, delicate figure of the angel, and the sumptuously decorated and patterned surfaces throughout. The curve of Gabriel’s wing frames his kneeling figure and echoes the curves in his halo and palm branch. Simone devised new ways to recreate the look of luxurious brocaded fabrics. After covering the panel with a layer of red clay, he gilded the entire surface (except for the hands and face). He next painted the angel’s robe in delicate pinks, shadowed with darker tones to define folds and the body. Following the brocade pattern, he scraped away areas of paint to reveal the gilding below, which was then textured with tiny punches. This sgrafitto (“scratched”) technique may have been inspired by Islamic ceramics decorated in a similar fashion and widely popular in Italy. A few years later, Simone brought both figures together again in an Annunciation that is the subject of a single splendid altarpiece originally for the Siena cathedral (now in the Uffizi, Florence). Details of execution link the two works: the same punches were used to decorate the gold and the same technique was applied to Gabriel’s robe. The Annunciation had been represented on large altarpieces by small busts of Mary and the angel set in the background (see, for example, The Assumption of the Virgin with Busts of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation), but Simone seems to have been the first to make it the primary focus of a major work. A winged, blond angel kneels facing our right in profile wearing a gold garment, and is shown against a gold background in this vertical painting. The textured robe the angel wears is a similar color to the background, and with the golden hair and wings, the painting is almost entirely gold. The angel’s pale skin has a greenish cast but the cheeks are rosy. Blond hair curls around the face and falls over the shoulders. The angel looks to our right with slitted eyes over a long, straight nose, and pale pink lips are closed. The hand farther from us is drawn across the chest and tucked under the arm closer to us, with which the angel holds a tall leafy palm frond. The inside surface of the wing facing us deepens from butter yellow to tangerine orange, and the other side of the wings are lapiz blue. The robe is textured with gold swirls against slate blue for the shadows and rose pink on the sleeves. A gold halo encircles the angel’s head and the gold background is textured with an ornate decorative border along the inner of edges of the top and both sides. The floor beneath the angel is ruby red. The gilding has worn away in some areas, especially in the background, so the red layer beneath is visible through cracks. (NGA)
Right wing:
Martini, Simone (c.1284-1344)
Madonna dell’Annunciazione
1340–1344
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg