About this artwork
Within Palma’s oeuvre, this drawing is unusually highly finished and precisely executed. The delicate pen-strokes and light washes used to build up the flowing draperies are reminiscent of the work he produced during his early period in Rome. Compositionally this drawing corresponds closely, but in reverse, to a large Annunciation that Palma painted between 1581-2 for the church of the Jesuit fathers in Venice (now destroyed). Here, Palma fused two different stages in the story. The Virgin Mary gestures with her right hand in a moment of hesitation as she questions the angel Gabriel as to how she shall bear the Son of God. Simultaneously, the dove of the Holy Spirit descends upon her, as Gabriel had answered that the Spirit would be the means of her divine conception.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Palma Giovane (Jacopo Palma Il Giovane) (about 1548 - 1628) Italian
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title:Study for The Annunciation
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date created:About 1580
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materials:Pen, brown ink and wash on paper
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measurements:17.40 x 24.60 cm
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object type:
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credit line:William Finlay Watson Bequest 1881
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accession number:D 2917
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Palma Giovane (Jacopo Palma Il Giovane)
Palma Giovane (Jacopo Palma Il Giovane)
Palma was born into a Venetian family of artists. His father Antonio ran a successful workshop, and his great uncle was the renowned painter Palma Vecchio. In spite of this, Palma Giovane was virtually self-taught. In 1567 he caught the eye of the Duke of Urbino, whose patronage allowed him to...