Virgin Annunciate (Antonello da Messina, Palermo)

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Virgin Annunciate

Antonello da Messina, c. 1476

Oil on wood

45 × 34.5 cm

Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo

The Palermo version of the Virgin Annunciate is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina. Probably painted in Sicily in 1476, it shows Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation.

It can be said that this painting revolutionized the way artists went about creating artwork during the time period which this painting was created; the way Messina painted the hand, giving it a sort of three-dimensional shape, changed the way artists painted, making their works even more realistic.

Antonello da messina mixed Flemish with Venetian art. He was from Sicily where many art forms passed by, so he had a wide variety in his work. He was born c. 1430 and died at the age of 49 around 1479, right after writing his will. He used a sicilian girl as his model called Gabrielle. This was one of his last works before he died. TO draw her hands, he used a technique called velo, which uses a grid and allowed him to make the expression of her hands really precise.