'' Annunciation of Fano'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pup ...

, executed around 1488–1490, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova,

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

, central 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 The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form ...

''). Behind it, is a background with hills featuring light trees. In the foreground is the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

, 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

* {{Pietro Perugino Paintings by Pietro Perugino 1480s paintings Paintings depicting the Annunciation Paintings in Fano Books in art Birds in art