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Antonello da Messina painted this Virgin of the Annunciation in 1477.
Born in Sicily, Messina was an atypical painter for his time. Some art historians have pointed to the possible influence of Jan van Eyck in Messina’s work and have even suggested that Messina might have been a pupil of the Flemish master.
His most important work, Cristo muerto sostenido por los ángeles, hangs in the Prado in Madrid, although it is his Flemish-style portraits that have won him the most critical acclaim.
Among them is the Annunciation, remarkable above all for its treatment of the effects of light and perspective. Light irradiates from the face of the Virgin and, after falling gently over her dark mantle, is focussed on her hand.
The picture is part of the collection of the Galleria Nazionale della Sicilia in Palermo (Italy). |
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