Perspective, architecture and grace · 15th - 16th centuries

From Piero della Francesca to Pinturicchio, Filippo Lippi and Correggio, the Annunciation becomes a laboratory of perspective, light and human presence.

The Annunciation offers Renaissance painters an ideal scene to unite sacred narrative and visual innovation. Two figures are enough: the archangel Gabriel brings his message and Mary interrupts her reading or prayer. Around them, the architecture measures space, the enclosed garden evokes purity and light makes divine action visible. Piero della Francesca constructs a calm encounter in a geometric order where columns, floor and intervals are as important as gestures. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo della Francesca constructs a calm encounter in geometric order where columns, floor and intervals are as important as gestures. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings the figures together and gives the faces a more intimate softness. Filippo Lippi brings movement, clouds and light announce a more dynamic sensitivity. From one work to another, the same episode shows how the Renaissance moves from architectural clarity to an increasingly mobile emotion. The "Annunciations of the Renaissance" selection notably compares The Annunciation - Pinturicchio and The Annunciation - Piero della Francesca. Its reading favors the material.

The resurgent Annunciation transforms the distance between Gabriel and Mary into a space of painting: perspective, light and gesture make the miracle visible.