PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
(b. 1416, Borgo San Sepolcro, d. 1492, Borgo San Sepolcro)

10. Annunciation (detail)

1452-66
Fresco
San Francesco, Arezzo

The light from the window highlights the pure white marble column that divides the scene in two parts and supports the entablature of the porch where Mary stands. Unlike many other Virgins of the Annunciation, especially by fourteenth-century artists, who receive the announcement humbly and almost fearfully, Piero's Virgin stands, and is rather taller than life-sized. She is regal, with a very beautiful expression, serious, but untroubled. In the background to the right, there is a small glimpse of the nuptial chamber, with the rear wall decorated with a perspective cubes motif.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.