Annunciation

The painted image of the Annunciation, an Italian work from the second half of the 14th century, traditionally attributed to the Florentine painter Giovanni del Biondo (active from 1356 to 1398), brings an end to the narrative embodied by the various objects gathered together in this section of "Liturgy and Worship in the Late Middle Ages".
Considering that painting only became a widespread practice in Portugal during the course of the 15th century, and even so with only a few fragmentary examples remaining, it is not surprising that this Italian painting, which was in fact only bequeathed to the museum in 1975, is an isolated example in this collection.
If, because of its theme, this painting can be included in the spread of spirituality that we have been invoking, precisely in the increasing worship of the Virgin Mary, because of its representational features we have no doubt in considering it to be emblematic of the Gothic style, but already dating from towards the end of this period. This image timidly objectifies the transition from a predominantly symbolic figuration to a more mimetic level of representation. Whereas the angel is still placed against a conventional gold background, the Virgin is set in a schematic scenario that suggests space in depth. In the treatment of the figures, especially through the tonal gradation of the clothing, the painter achieves an essential idea of volume and is diverging from linearity and flatness, from the naïve schematicism that represented the quintessential definition of Gothic tastes. The punching work, particularly visible in the shaping of the angel’s gold background, reveals a traditional conception, an enhancement of the painting as a materially precious object.
All these considerations should however also take into account the material reality of the work, since it is an image that has been manipulated a posteriori. In other words, it is an image that was "built" by joining together two paintings from originally autonomous supports. In fact, by joining together two panels with semi-circular shapes at the top, through the use of a wedge that compensates for this shape and by repainting this in order to hide the join, one single painting was formed. The relatively higher position of the Virgin in relation to the angel and the differences between the respective scenographic backgrounds are the result of this manipulation