Amid a long lineage of blue Madonnas, “Virgin Annunciate” has a magnetism that compels contemplation.
Madonnas dressed in blue have been a foundational feature in Western art since the early 5th century. Historically, the finest blue pigment was exorbitantly expensive, more costly than gold, and its use for Mary the Mother of God was a means of honoring her. Perhaps the greatest painting of Mary that illuminates her connection with this color is the Italian Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina’s “
Virgin Annunciate.”
Magnificently painted in oil on wood around 1475 to 1476, the small devotional picture has been compared to the “Mona Lisa” due to its embodiment of magnetic, mysterious, and serene beauty.
The Innovative Sicilian
Antonello da Messina (circa 1430–1479) was a major Quattrocento artist (Italian Renaissance of the 1400s) and the greatest painter of his era to come from Sicily, Italy. Born Antonello di Giovanni d’Antonio in the small city of Messina, he has long been cited scholastically as the importer of the technique of oil painting to Italy. While this is now known to be an untrue assertion, Antonello was technically brilliant—nearly peerless—in the medium. Especially in realistic portraits, he used oil to depict minute details and subtle color. He brought his subjects to life: Sitters appear as if they are partaking in an unspoken dialogue conveyed by their facial expressions.
