Annunciation

Federico Barocci's Annunciation of c.1610 is a late work by the Urbino master who had transformed Mannerist tendencies into something warmer, more emotionally accessible, and spiritually direct — a style that became enormously influential on the subsequent Baroque. Barocci was known for his pastel-hued, luminous colour and his ability to convey the emotional truth of devotional subjects. His several Annunciation compositions — he returned to the theme across his career — are among the canonical images of late-sixteenth-century Counter-Reformation art. The late date of c.1610 falls in the last years before his death in 1612.

Barocci's characteristic soft light and pearly colour — pinks, pale blues, and creamy whites — define the palette. The angel and Virgin are set in a domestic interior, the diagonal of the angel's descent countered by Mary's startled but receptive posture. His sfumato-like transitions give the forms an almost luminous atmospheric quality.