Carracci Workshop, 17th Century, Annunciation

Carracci Workshop, 17th Century Annunciation Oil on copper, 42 x 34 cm This small Annunciation painted on copper should be compared to the production of the 17th-century Emilian school. In fact, there are many examples of great Emilian artists who used this object and rendered it through similar stylistic features, often translated starting from the painting of the Carracci brothers. The students of their Accademia degli Incamminati were numerous and achieved prestigious results both inside and outside regional borders: among these, the most important are Domenichino, Guido Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco, Francesco Albani, and Guercino, who, although not going through the Academy, studied alongside a member of the Carracci family. In this Annunciation, we find clear references to Annibale's painting, such as the little angels and putti in the upper right, which are identical to those in the work with the same subject now kept at the Louvre. The rest of the composition takes up the poses and general layout of the figures, although the tones are more ashen concerning the complexions, and the background does not open onto the external landscape; however, the predominance of gray clouds allows us to better highlight the luminous contrasts of the draperies that stand out, especially if we observe the blue and red of the Virgin's garments, for the bright and vivid colors. The same approach can be found in the paintings of the same subject made by members of the Academy, who then developed particular stylistic features of their own but that can be easily traced back to a common classicist vein, the daughter of the teachings of the three brothers.