Description
Simone Martini depicts the Archangel Gabriel kneeling, his great wings still raised and his hands crossed over his chest. His respectful gesture belongs to the Annunciation, although the Virgin does not appear on this small panel: she occupies another panel of the same ensemble. A slender white lily, a symbol associated with Mary’s purity, stands out against the gold ground. The rich decoration of the borders, the delicacy of the face, and the careful drawing of the feathers make the heavenly messenger an extraordinarily elegant figure.
The painting belonged to the Orsini Polyptych, a small private devotional altarpiece now dispersed among several European museums. It is preserved in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp as inventory 257. The museum dates it to 1320–1330 and records dimensions of 23 × 14 centimeters. It was executed in tempera and gold leaf on wood. Originally the Annunciation was part of the reverse of an altarpiece devoted to the Passion of Christ.
