Annunciation

The sequence in which the three works were painted is not certain, but the general art historical consensus places the Prado version first.

It is recorded as the work of Fra Angelico. Materials recorded for it are tempera and panel. Recorded constituent parts are Visitation. It is associated with Italy. The record gives 1425 as its date of establishment or first appearance. It is associated with Italian Renaissance. Recorded genres are religious art. The recorded subject matter is Annunciation.

• Title — Annunciation • Other Language 1 — it • Other Title 1 — Annunciazione • Artist — Fra Angelico • Year — c. 1426 • Medium — Tempera on panel • Height Metric — 391 • Width Metric — 493 • Height Imperial — 154 • Width Imperial — 194 • Museum — Museo del Prado • City — Madrid

The work was painted for a side altar in the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole, where Fra Angelico was a friar. For the same church he also contributed the main altarpiece, showing the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Dominican saints (c. 1425) and the Coronation of the Virgin, now in the Louvre (c. 1424–1435). The Annunciation remained at San Domenico until 1611 when it was sold to the King of Spain and taken to Madrid, where it became part of the royal collections of the Spanish monarchy before moving to Prado.

In the predella there are five scenes from Mary's life (Birth and Marriage, the Visitation, the Adoration of the Magi, Presentation at the temple and the dormition) where the master had worked freely on the composition, less subjected to the iconographic tradition of the main scene. The Sposalizio presents the background of a Renaissance church with portico, while the visitation shows a sidelong lodge, represented with ability. This scene does not reach the vivid expression of fatigue on the woman who is going to the chime as in the predella of the Annunciation of Cortona. The Adoration of the Magi instead is completely original and shows an innovative frontal iconography years before the revolution of Botticelli (Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi, 1475), enhanced by the complex perspective of the hut's ruins. Here can be noticed the distinct use of lights by Beato Angelico, who creates a pure and crystal illumination which models volumes, enhances the chromatic harmony and unifies the scenes. The following scene of the Presentation is more innovative, with the ambient placed inside a circular temple which seems projected through lens to the viewer, improving the scheme already used on the Presentation at the Temple by Gentile da Fabriano. The Dormition is the most traditional scene though the invention of the avvallamento between the background mountains can be considered innovative, because it creates a perspective channel to the holy way suspended by the Angels on the top. Predella of the Pala of the Prado's Annunciation