The Angel Gabriel

This panel of the Angel Gabriel by Giovanni del Biondo, dated to around 1387, forms the companion piece to The Virgin Annunciate, together constituting a complete Annunciation scene. The practice of painting the Annunciation across two separate panels was common in Gothic Florence, allowing the diptych to flank a central devotional object or be displayed on either side of an altar. Giovanni del Biondo trained under Bernardo Daddi's followers and became one of the most prolific painters in post-plague Florence.

Executed in egg tempera and gold leaf on panel, the angel is depicted in the traditional posture of greeting with one hand raised in blessing. Giovanni's linear precision and decorative sensibility are evident in the detailed rendering of the angel's wings and the elaborate tooled patterning of the gold ground.