The Annunciation by F. Lippi (M 038) Notebook

“℣. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, ℟. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, begins the Angelus the Church’s thrice-daily prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) that commemorates the Incarnation at the Annunciation. + The Annunciation was an immensely popular subject in the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. As a two-person composition, the subject lent itself to use on the outer leaves of triptychs: the angel on one leaf; Mary, on the other. A triptych is an artwork—most often a panel painting—that is comprised of three parts hinged together in such a way that it can be displayed open or folded shut. + Here, Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) has painted the Annunciation in tempera on wood in warm pinks, salmons, and reds and in both brilliant and dark blues. Both figures stand in their narrow respective spaces, the Archangel Gabriel bowing slightly to the gentle and sweetly featured Maiden Mary. + Saints_Aplenty likes a dark brown background for this image. A dark brown background gives viewers the impression that they are onlookers observing the scene through a window. But, as per usual, we have provided a Color Palette postcard for other suggested hues. + Feast of the Annunciation: March 25; Feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel: September 29 + Image Credit (M 038): Antique image of The Annunciation by Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) from a late 19th-early 20th-century postcard in chromolithography, originally published by E. Sborgi, Florence, Italy, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. The original panels from a polyptych of unknown origin are in the Filippo and Filippino Room of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The Annunciation forms the upper halves of the two leaves while SS. Anthony Abbott and John the Baptist appear on the lower left and lower right, respectively.