The Annunciation

The Annunciation was not a natural subject for Caravaggist painters, since the encounter between Gabriel and Mary traditionally occurs in bright, heavenly light rather than the candlelit interiors Stom preferred. This unusual 1630 version in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum shows Stom adapting the subject to his nocturnal vocabulary, with the angel’s arrival providing a supernatural radiance that disrupts the domestic darkness. Stom's mastery of candlelight effects was among the most technically accomplished of all Caravaggist painters, surpassing many of his contemporaries in the subtlety of his graduated shadows and the warmth of his artificial illumination.

Divine light emanating from the angel creates a dramatic contrast with the shadowed interior, casting Mary’s startled figure in a warm glow. The spatial setting is more architecturally defined than in most of Stom’s compositions.