Annunciation of Fano

{{Short description|Painting by Pietro Perugino}}

{{Infobox Artwork

| image_file=Pietro Perugino cat23.jpg

| title= Annunciation of Fano

| artist=Pietro Perugino

| year=c. 1488–1490

| medium=Oil on panel

| height_metric=212

| width_metric=172

| metric_unit=cm

| imperial_unit=in

| city=Fano

| museum=Church of Santa Maria Nuova

}}

Annunciation of Fano is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed around 1488–1490, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Fano, Italy.

The work was successful, and a few years later he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the same church, the Fano Altarpiece.

Description

The painting is set within a four bay portico, a common element in Perugino's paintings from the 1480s (as, for example, in the Albani-Torlonia Polyptych and the Pietà). Behind it is a background with hills featuring light trees.

In the foreground is the Annunciation, lit from the left. The angel, holding a white lily (symbol of purity), announces that she will bear Jesus; Mary, who was previously reading a book on a classical altar in front of her, has a surprised face. Behind them, in the upper center, is God in an oval with cherubim and seraphim, sending the Holy Spirit (portrayed as a dove) to her.

Sources

  • {{cite book|first=Vittoria|last=Garibaldi|language=Italian|title=Pittori del Rinascimento|publisher=Scala|chapter=Perugino|location=Florence|year=2004}}

{{Pietro Perugino}}

Category:Paintings by Pietro Perugino

Category:1480s paintings

Category:Paintings of the Annunciation

Category:Paintings in Fano

Category:Books in art

Category:Doves in art

Category:Oil on panel paintings