Luigi DAlesio

In the works of Simone Martini and Carlo Crivellis painting of the Annunciation, each painting tells the story of the Virgin Mary gracefully being told that she will conceive the child of

Christ. The Annunciation painting by Martini is located in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy, while the Annunciation by Crivelli is located in the National Gallery in London. These two pieces of art
are created centuries apart, but they both have similar and different traits.

The Annunciation painting that Simone has created shows that angel Gabriel has just swooped into the Virgin Marys presence and startling her with the greeting, Ava gratia plena Dominus tecum, (Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee). This is the moment when the angel Gabriel has come to announce to Mary that she will conceive the Christ child. It is an elegant and beautiful painting. There is decorative pattern and suttle color. Gabriels drapes are whipped around as if the angel has just landed. He holds an olive tree branch in his hand, a traditional symbol of peace. In the middle of the painting, we see a vase with lilies which are symbols of Marys virginity. We also see in the triangular space of the painting between Gabriel and Mary, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove surrounded by angels. From that dove, there are rays of golden light from that piece and the light pointed towards Mary. Marys body language and face expression is somewhat pulling away from the pointed light from being the center of attention. Mary sitting on a throne is portrayed in the moment in which she stops reading and has an unwilling posture, while looking humbly at Gabriel. Carlo Crivelli created a similar painting like Martinis. It has the same story behind it with angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will give birth to the son of God. Crivelli is gorgeously distracted by the setting, an ideal version of Ascoli in Italy, where he painted this in 1486. He includes the figure of Ascolis patron saint Emidius holding a model of the town. This

painting shows why the popularity of the Nativity grew in the Middle Ages. This was because people loved to imagine it all happening in their own towns and villages; thus Crivellis potted plants, peacock and fruits. In the painting, the window is barred and the door is wide open. God is directly overhead. There is a gold stain in the plain sky. There is also a ray of light shining from
the upper left to just above Marys forehead which indicates the presence of God just like Martinis

painting. The two art works are very beautiful and rich. The complementary colors in the two pieces truly define the art works. The real gold in Martinis painting really brings out the other colors in his masterpiece. The colors in Crivellis painting are very omnipresent. His picture is very detailed renaissance style, compared to Martinis flat painting. Crivellis painting seems to have no end to what this picture is talking about. In all this beauty the mind can find no rest. Martinis painting is in of the closed form, and Crivellis is open. Each painting has a different. In both paintings, Mary is most likely the focal point; just because of loneliness and attire. The
medium of Martinis painting is fresco and the size is 184 cm x 210 cm. the medium of Crivellis painting is egg and oil on canvas and the size of the painting is 207 x 146,5 cm. These two paintings

of European history have been known for centuries. The story, the action, the color, every detail has a meaning to its symbol is very important and because of that, these paintings will be known for more centuries to come.