LIPPI, Fra Filippo
(b. 1406, Firenze, d. 1469, Spoleto)

Annunciation (detail)

1448-50
Egg tempera on wood
National Gallery, London

In this Annunciation scene the painter graphically depicted the miraculous penetration of the Virgin's sacred body and the ensuing fecundity of the body implicit in the Annunciation. The dove of the Holy Spirit is shown in serial images progressing down toward the Virgin's swollen belly where there is a small opening in her dress emitting golden rays.