Full title | The Annunciation |
---|---|
Artist | Duccio |
Artist dates | active 1278; died 1319 |
Series | Maestà Predella Panels |
Date made | 1307/8-11 |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 44.5 x 45.8 cm |
Inscription summary | Inscribed |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1883 |
Inventory number | NG1139 |
Location | Room 52 |
Art route(s) | A |
Collection | Main Collection |
The Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will conceive the Son of God; she holds a Bible open at words from the prophet Isaiah which echo Gabriel’s: ‘Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son...’
The conception takes place at the moment she hears the words, which is why a tiny white dove, representing the Holy Ghost, flies towards her ear. Her fearful gesture is at the same time one of acceptance: her arm has drawn her cloak open to reveal her red dress beneath, highlighting her womb.
The panel was the first in a series of scenes of the infancy of Christ on the front of the predella (lowest part) of the Maestà. The Maestà was a five-tiered, double-sided altarpiece, and the focus of the devotion of the Virgin in Siena. It is the only known signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna.
A gilded background gives this scene an ethereal quality, but the delicate arrangement of pink and grey columns and arches tells us that we are in fact on earth – we‘re in the home of the Virgin Mary. Heaven has broken in: the Archangel Gabriel, his back heel lifted as he walks, strides in through a slightly pointed archway, his wings streaked through with gold. He blesses the Virgin with his right hand and in his left holds a white staff tipped with a fleur-de-lis, a stylised lily.
The Virgin, enclosed within an open arcade of soft grey stone, stands in front of an open door and draws her arm up across her breast in fear. The movement has created a sweeping fold in her blue cloak, revealing her red dress beneath and highlighting her belly. At the bottom edge of this curve of fabric is an open book; the Virgin has been interrupted while reading the Old Testament scriptures. The page is open at the words of the prophet Isaiah who foretold this moment: ’Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name [Emmanuel].'
This echoes the words Gabriel speaks to the Virgin in the biblical account, here, perhaps, standing in for them. Meanwhile the moment of conception occurs between the angel and the Virgin: the Holy Ghost in the form of a small dove descends to impregnate the Virgin by means of the words she hears; it is encircled in gold, between three rays emanating from an arc of blue – the heavens. The vase of lilies embellishing the plain pink wall at the centre of the image represents the Virgin’s purity.
Duccio has placed an extraordinary scene in an ordinary – and believable – setting. These religious figures aren’t oversized compared to the buildings, as they sometimes were in paintings made at this time; they fit perfectly into their surroundings. This, combined with the blue, pink, gold and soft lilacs, creates a sense of balance and harmony. The architecture’s simplicity makes it easy to see that the arches are pointed where the divine enters the scene (in the form of the angel, the dove of the Holy Ghost and the open door of the house). Pointed arches were the new style in Gothic architecture; Duccio’s selective use of this trend to accentuate the holy might mean he intended to express the Annunciation’s importance as the beginning of a new epoch, the beginning of the New Testament.
This painting comes from the far left edge of the front predella of a large double-sided altarpiece called the Maestà, made by Duccio for Siena Cathedral. It was the first in a series of images showing the infancy of Christ. Each scene was alternated with a full-length image of a prophet. Next to this scene is Isaiah holding a scroll with the same words as those in the Virgin’s open book.
Our collection also includes two paintings from the back predella, which showed images of Christ’s ministry: The Healing of the Man born Blind and The Transfiguration.
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Maestà Predella Panels
These three small panels come from the altarpiece known as the Maestà (‘Majesty’), made for Siena Cathedral. It is the only surviving signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna. These paintings formed part of the predella, the lowest part of the altarpiece.
The Maestà was painted on both sides: The Annunciation comes from the front predella, while the Healing of the Man born Blind and the Transfiguration were originally placed next to each other on the back of the predella. The predella itself was shaped like a rectangular box, with images on both sides, providing support for the large, double-sided picture.
When the picture was completed in 1311 it was carried in a festive procession across the streets of Siena to the cathedral, where it was placed above the high altar. There it became the focus of the Siena’s devotion to the Virgin Mary, who was considered the protector of the city.
These small square panels come from one of the largest and most ambitious altarpieces ever made. It is the only signed work by Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading artist of medieval Siena, who created it with the help of a workshop of assistants. The entire work measured five square metres, was painted on both sides and comprised five tiers of images including 54 minutely detailed narrative scenes.
The altarpiece is known as the Maestà (‘Majesty’) after its main image of the Virgin with the Christ Child seated on a marble throne, which was surrounded by rows of saints and angels, including – in the most prominent positions – the patron saints of Siena. The reverse of this image showed 26 scenes from Christ’s Passion – his trial, torture and death. The Crucifixion occupied a central position and was double the size of the other scenes.
The three panels in the National Gallery come from the predella, the lowest level of the altarpiece. The Annunciation is from the front and so would have been beneath the image of the Virgin, while The Healing of the Man born Blind and The Transfiguration come from the back, which showed scenes from Jesus’s ministry. It was probably what is known as a ‘box predella’: the images were painted on either side of a low rectangular box-shaped structure which provided some support for the immense double-sided altarpiece above it.
The Maestà was commissioned by the cathedral authorities, many of whom were members of the city’s council. It was an important statement of Siena’s civic pride as well as the focus of its religious devotion to the Virgin Mary, its protectress. Siena was known as the Civitas Virginis, the city of the Virgin. According to legend, in 1260 the keys to the city had been dedicated to her on the eve of a battle against the nearby city state of Florence, in return for her protection. The ceremony took place before the cathedral’s high altar which most probably bore an image of the Virgin, framed by two candles which burned day and night. The Maestà was commissioned to adorn a new high altar which was under construction from the late thirteenth century when the cathedral was being rebuilt. At around the same time, in 1287, Duccio designed a circular stained glass window showing the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin.
On 9 June 1311, this magnificent work was carried in procession through the streets of Siena from Duccio’s workshop to the cathedral, where it was installed above the high altar. Surviving documents record how the procession was headed by the city’s bishop, Ruggero da Casole, who was followed by the city’s clerics and officials. The ceremonial procession was accompanied by musicians and lit up with lamps and candles.
There are different ideas as to the location of this high altar and why the altarpiece was double sided, but it is likely that the congregation had access to both sides. By 1506 the Maestà had been removed from the high altar and in the late eighteenth century it was sawn in half, causing damage to the Virgin’s face. Some fragments were sold and are now scattered across international collections; a few are now missing. The majority of it remains to be seen in the Museo dell'opera del Duomo in Siena.



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