Virgin of the Annunciation

A representation, in bust form, of the Virgin Mary during the moment of the Annunciation, shown here in a submissive attitude, with her hands folded across her chest and seemingly listening to the message from the Angel, as depicted in another panel from this collection. The bed, together with a canopy and a dove, all serve to reinforce the identification of the theme. The creative process of the painter Gaspar Vaz is visible in the shaping of the hands, with their long and stiff fingers, as well as in the modelling of the figures, based on the use of a nervous graphics, resulting from the successive discharges made from the paintbrush in order to accentuate the areas of light, which, in this panel, are particularly visible in the veil covering the Virgin’s head
Gaspar Vaz was the most direct collaborator of Vasco Fernandes (Grão Vasco)