Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation

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Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
ArtistLorenzo Monaco
Yearc. 1420–1424
MediumTempera on panel
LocationSanta Trinita, Florence

The Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation (Italian: Annunciazione Bartolini Salimbeni) is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian Gothic painter Lorenzo Monaco, completed just before his death (1420–1424). It is housed in the Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel of the church of Santa Trinita, Florence.

History

The panel follows the same stylistic and narrative pattern as the other frescoes in the chapel, also by Lorenzo Monaco. It shows the Annunciation and, in the predella, other episodes of the Life of the Virgin which do not feature in the frescoes.

In 1998, a restoration performed by the

Opificio delle Pietre Dure
showed that for the Virgin's mantle a simpler technique was used, indicating that the work was perhaps completed by one Monaco's pupils after his death.

Description

The panel is intermediate between a medieval polyptych and a Renaissance altarpiece. It is generally described as the first work in which the subject has a direct relationship with the surrounding architecture.[1] Another innovation is the small side pillars with saints, later used also by Masaccio and Fra Angelico.

The central panel depicts the

Strozzi Altarpiece. In the Flight, the palm is taken from the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
, which describes the tree that bent itself to allow the passage of the holy family.

Only four of the five side compartments of each pillar are painted: the 1990s restoration did not find trace of paint in the upper ones, so it is likely that they have been empty since the work's execution.

The Annunciation depicts a sitting Madonna, with an angel arriving from the left to stop her reading (a hint to the

Holy Ghost
.

Predella panels

References

Sources

  • Marcello Bellini (1998). Cappelle del Rinascimento a Firenze. Florence: Giusti.