Fra Angelico, Annunciation (panel)

Description

The architecture is more than ever set to simple Renaissance elegance, with the vanishing point inside the portico itself and with the columns more massive than usual. The setting is bare and essential, like the small room that opens behind the virgin. The only decorative note is given by the capitals, rendered with a strong emphasis on light, and are both Ionic and Corinthian: a reference to the architectural orders treated by Leon Battista Alberti in his works. An element of innovation is the arrangement of the protagonists along a diagonal, thus participating more effectively in the space. The words of the Annunciation are painted at the bottom, near the base of the central column, more or less at the viewer's eye level.