SIMONE MARTINI
(b. 1280/85, Siena, d. 1344, Avignon)

Annunciation and Two Saints (detail)

1333
Tempera on wood
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

On the gold background the figures of Angel Gabriel and the Virgin enhances Gothic line, without narrative details: just the central pot with lilies, symbolizing Mary's purity, and the olive branch. The golden relief inscription starting from the Angel's mouth contains beginning words of the Annunciation.