polity republic of siena
Annunciation with Saints Ansanus and Maxima
Triptych panel painting (1333 CE), tempera and gold on panel, by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, made for Siena Cathedral. The central panel (the Annunciation proper) is the masterpiece of International Gothic painting: Gabriel and the Virgin face each other across a gold ground with extraordinary calligraphic elegance. Currently at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Notes
- ·Signed and dated in the lower border: 'SYMON MARTINI ET LIPPUS MEMMI DE SENIS ME PINXERUNT ANNO DOMINI MCCCXXXIII' (Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi of Siena painted me in the year of the Lord 1333).
- ·The central Annunciation panel is one of the most calligraphically refined images in European art: Gabriel's robe trails behind him in spiral curves; the Virgin recoils with an expression of troubled astonishment (a unique feature — most Annunciations show the Virgin serene or accepting).
- ·The gold ground is tooled with intricate foliate patterns; the words of the angelic greeting ('AVE GRATIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM') are inscribed in raised gold letters ascending from Gabriel's mouth toward the Virgin.
- ·The vase of lilies (centre) is the Marian purity symbol, the earliest known example in a major Italian painting.
- ·Simone Martini left for Avignon in 1339; this is his last great Sienese commission.
- ·The Uffizi transferred the painting from Siena in 1799; the flanking saints panels arrived separately.