Annunciation
- Artist: Master of Marradi
- Date: (circa) 1500
- Medium: tempera on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the “Annunciation” by Master of Marradi, a tempera on canvas created around the year 1500. The medium of tempera, with its quick drying time and luminous pigment layers, gives the work a crisp, almost matte quality that was favored before oil painting became widespread in Italy.
Master of Marradi’s technique shows a careful attention to detail and a restrained palette, typical of early Renaissance painters working in the North Italian regions. The canvas is relatively small, which suggests it was intended for a private devotion rather than a large altarpiece.
The composition follows the traditional Annunciation iconography: an angelic figure announcing the Incarnation to the Virgin, with subtle symbolic elements such as lilies or a dove that would have indicated purity and the Holy Spirit. Although the exact colors are not described here, the use of tempera would have allowed the artist to achieve delicate washes of light and shadow, creating a serene, contemplative mood.
Overall, the piece exemplifies the blend of spiritual symbolism and emerging naturalism that marked the transition from medieval to Renaissance art in the early sixteenth century.
See it in person
Annunciation hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
