The Virgin Annunciate

Giovanni del Biondo, a prolific Florentine painter of the late Trecento, created this Virgin Annunciate panel around 1387 as part of an Annunciation diptych. The subject shows Mary at the moment of the angel Gabriel's salutation, a scene that held particular significance in Florence where the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) marked the beginning of the civic calendar. Giovanni del Biondo's workshop was among the busiest in Florence, producing altarpieces and devotional panels for churches throughout Tuscany.

Rendered in egg tempera on gold-ground panel, the work features Giovanni del Biondo's characteristic crisp, linear style with precise drapery folds and a somewhat hieratic facial type. The elaborate tooled gold background with incised rays suggests the divine light of the Annunciation moment.