Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Girolamo Bonini, called Anconitano (Ancona, circa 1600 - Bologna 1680)
Annunciation (or Madonna of the Beautiful Angel)
Oil on canvas (115 x 91 cm. - Framed 134 x 108 cm.)
Work accompanied by the expertise of Prof. Emilio Negro
The work, undoubtedly commissioned as an object of private devotion, shows the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, a Gospel episode here set on the two figures portrayed in the foreground, the Archangel Gabriel with outstretched wings, a portrait of supernatural beauty, and the Virgin;
We see her here absorbed in reading a prayer book with her eyes turned humbly downwards as a sign of devotion, while a small cherub hands her white lilies, a symbol of purity and chastity.
In the upper part of the composition is the austere image of God the Father, with the dove radiating with light, emblem of the Holy Spirit, surrounded by a flock of angels fluttering in the clouds charged with intense glow and play of light, in full Baroque style.
It should also be noted that the image of the Saviour's mother in a delicately pious attitude, with her yellow veil, her broad blue mantle and her usual modest red dress from which the edges of her white blouse protrude, is to be interpreted as a kind of tender allegory of sacred love.
The painting in question is an interesting replica with variants of the composition commissioned from Francesco Albani for the Fioravanti chapel in the ancient church...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Arthur Joseph Meadows Paintings
