Annunciation. The Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation is a painting by the Italian Gothic painter Lorenzo Monaco, completed just before his death and housed in the Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel of the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy.
The panel follows the same stylistic and narrative pattern as the other frescoes in the chapel, also by Lorenzo Monaco. It shows the Annunciation and, in the predella, other episodes of the Life of the Virgin which do not feature in the frescoes.
In 1998, a restoration performed by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure showed that for the Virgin's mantle a simpler technique was used, indicating that the work was perhaps completed by one Monaco's pupils after his death. The panel is intermediate between a medieval polyptych and a Renaissance altarpiece.
It is generally described as the first work in which the subject has a direct relationship with the surrounding architecture. Another innovation is the small side pillars with saints, later used also by Masaccio and Fra Angelico.
The central panel depicts the Annunciation in a single painted surface whose rounded top arches recall however the shape of a triptych. Above the three arches are medallions with prophets, of whom only the middle one has been identified, thanks to the cartouche saying Ecce Virgo. Below, the scene is completed by a predella with four scenes: Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Flig
The panel follows the same stylistic and narrative pattern as the other frescoes in the chapel, also by Lorenzo Monaco. It shows the Annunciation and, in the predella, other episodes of the Life of the Virgin which do not feature in the frescoes.
In 1998, a restoration performed by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure showed that for the Virgin's mantle a simpler technique was used, indicating that the work was perhaps completed by one Monaco's pupils after his death. The panel is intermediate between a medieval polyptych and a Renaissance altarpiece.
It is generally described as the first work in which the subject has a direct relationship with the surrounding architecture. Another innovation is the small side pillars with saints, later used also by Masaccio and Fra Angelico.
The central panel depicts the Annunciation in a single painted surface whose rounded top arches recall however the shape of a triptych. Above the three arches are medallions with prophets, of whom only the middle one has been identified, thanks to the cartouche saying Ecce Virgo. Below, the scene is completed by a predella with four scenes: Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Flig
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