Verkündigung von San Giovanni Valdarno

Under a starry portico, an angel in rose and gold bows to Mary, while far off on a hill Adam and Eve are driven from Paradise. Fra Angelico painted this Annunciation around 1430 to 1432, and it survived being looted in the Second World War.

The story behind the painting

This is one of three Annunciation panels Fra Angelico painted in the 1430s. The others are the Annunciation of Cortona and the Annunciation now in the Prado in Madrid. In 1432 he was working on an Annunciation for the church of Sant'Alessandro in Brescia, of which no trace remains. Years later the same church ordered another one from Jacopo Bellini, paid in 1443, which suggests Angelico's panel never reached Brescia. Some historians think the Cortona panel was meant for Sant'Alessandro, others this one. What is known is that this panel arrived around 1438 at the Convento di San Francesco a Montecarlo in San Giovanni Valdarno, and stayed there until the twentieth century.

What to look for

The composition follows the Cortona Annunciation with changes. It is divided in two rather than three, and the garden shrinks to a glimpse through the arches on the left. Light comes steadily from the left, from the garden, catching drapery and architecture. The vanishing point sits inside the house, focusing attention on the meeting. In a medallion between the arches a prophet looks at Mary, holding a paper that confirms his prophecy. The colours are rich: green garden, rose and gold for the angel, blue and red for Mary, a starry ceiling and delicate marble. On a hill at the top left, find the tiny scene of Adam and Eve leaving Paradise.

Meaning and intent

The enclosed garden alludes to Mary's virginity, and among its many plants the palm recalls the future martyrdom of Christ. Adam and Eve's expulsion, set far away in the corner, places the Annunciation as the answer to the Fall. The building is transitional, between the pointed forms of medieval polyptychs and the squared architecture of the Renaissance, and, as in Masolino's Annunciation, arches divide the space in two. Unlike many works from the Arezzo area of the time, the painting uses a wide range of rich colour.

Legacy

During the Second World War the painting was looted from Italy by the Germans. It came home through the work of Rodolfo Siviero, and is now in the Museo della Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Valdarno. Its predella shows five scenes from the life of Mary, attributed to Zanobi Strozzi, an assistant of Angelico. Wikidata records its size as 195 by 158 cm and its date as 1430, while the Wikipedia article gives c. 1430 to 1432.