MEMMI, Lippo
(b. ca. 1285, Siena, d. ca. 1361, Siena)

Annunciation to the Virgin

c. 1340
Fresco
Collegiata Santa Maria Assunta, San Gimignano

The Annunciation scene is located in the lunette of the first bay in the north aisle of the Collegiata, San Gimignano. The scene takes place in a rectangular interior that offers a striking contrast to the pointed arch of the lunette. With bowed head and hands clasped at his chest, the angel kneels before the seated Virgin, who pulls back in surprise. Behind Mary a drawn curtain reveals her sleeping chamber. God the Father and an aureole of angels fill the sky visible above this starkly outlined interior. The right side shows an adjoining room in which a maid sits holding a distaff. This motif undoubtedly originated in Giotto's depiction of the Annunciation to St Anne in Padua.




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