DOMENICO VENEZIANO
(b. ca. 1410, Venezia ?, d. 1461, Firenze ?)

Annunciation (predella 3)

c. 1445
Tempera on wood, 27 x 54 cm
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The Magnoli Altarpiece had five predella panels which are now in the museums of Washington, Cambridge and Berlin. They were probably originally arranged in the same order as the saints appear in the main panel, that is: The Stigmatization of St Francis, St John in the Wilderness (both in the National Gallery, Washington), Annunciation, St Zenobius Performs a Miracle (in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) and the Martyrdom of St Lucy (in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin).

The Annunciation is the most successful of Domenico's experiments in rendering outdoor light: the pale morning light fills and defines the space of the courtyard, and the cool light on the broad plane of white wall heightens the sense of moment and loneliness in the two figures.