Flemish school, pps.s.XVI.Annunciation.Oil on panel.Restorations and faults.Twentieth century

Flemish school, pps.s.XVI.
"Annunciation".
Oil on panel.
Restorations and faults.
Twentieth century frame, following sixteenth century models.
Faults and xylophages in the frame.
Measurements: 74.5 x 61 cm; 88.5 x 74 cm (frame).
In this painting, of excellent workmanship, we can appreciate a style rooted in the Flemish tradition, to which the Italian influence is added. The best of the two traditions converged in the painting of Pieter Coecke, whose models the present painter closely followed, being a contemporary of his. See the compositional and formal similarity between this Annunciation and Coecke's Annunciation (dated around 1525, Escalona Altarpiece, Toledo). The archangel Saint Gabriel appears to the Virgin, who was immersed in reading, as can be seen from the closed book on the table and her gesture of surprise. The distribution of the space, as well as the silent dramaturgy with which the two characters communicate, is similar to that of Coecke. The canopied bed is on the right, behind the Virgin, and the Holy Spirit is inscribed in a golden oval. Separating the supernatural element from the domestic interior allows the painter to describe every detail of the room without interruption: the delicacy of the furnishings, the fabrics, cushions and velvets. The sensuality of the draped robes of the two figures and the stylisation of their canons also stand out. The bronze lamp hanging from the ceiling, the golden rod carried by the angel, wrapped in a phylactery, are all expressed with the subtle language characteristic of the Flemish school, while at the same time combining Italian solutions, for example in the perspective traced through the floor tiles that take us into the sacred privacy of the room.