Fra Angelico (1438 to 45). Annunciation [fresco]. North Corridor, Monastery of San Marco, Florence.

When this work is compared to Buoninsegna’s Virgin and Child in Majesty (as a for instance), it is clear that the corner has been turned toward temporal, reality-based expression. Formatting vestiges of the Byzantine and Middle Age styles are still present, but they are slipping into subtlety. This would be the case even if not for the fully developed use of linear perspective, which is even more impressive because of the seamless integration of roman and pointed arcades. Angelico has placed the event relatively close to his own time, within a monastery as austere as the figures are humble. The stability of the composition and its organization emphasize the interaction between the angel and the Virgin.

Value and texture together develop a majority of this work. There is some blending present, but the rather abrupt changes in key across the canvas develop its illusion effectively. When parchment-like texturing is applied across the canvas, pictorial union is achieved. In this way, the architecture is textured in a manner relatively true to reality. The background foliage is itself used as a texture, as opposed to being formatted by one. Lastly, the Virgin’s development seems to cause her upper body to meld with the background, an interesting choice on Angelico’s part.

Of course, the remaining dimensions of color and shape have their compositional impacts. The development of clothing folds and interior space rely heavily on value-based color adjustments; calibration of chroma tends to define areas and shapes more than integrate into this work’s modelling style. Single-point is the most efficient measure used to develop this composition’s depth.

Angelico’s interplay of curved and vertical forms on a horizontally-oriented canvas is an unmistakable strength. His reliance on linear perspective to organize his forms and formatting choices is equally strong. There is perhaps an overly-sensitive (that is, incised) presentation of architecturally geometric forms set in opposition to a combination of natural and figurative shapes. The lightest tones are favored and used to define and span space; dense tones enrich the sense of space built on the higher keys, develop the far-background and establish the forms of the subjects, especially in the case of the Virgin.

Angelico’s rich architectural and spatial development vie for attention with the interaction between the angel and the Virgin. The rendering of their skin and faces carry some of the slight formatting of figurative development from centuries past, and the form of Mary seems to diminish due to it’s formatting. However, the development of both figure’s robes contradicts this, even if Mary’s rendering is flattened. In the end, the architectural bracketing and implied communication between the figures do most to center attention on their interaction.

This work is located in the monastery of San Marco, Florence. It is placed so that as the day closes and the individual monks go to their cells for the night, they are greeted by the optically-based scene of Gabriel notifying Mary of her destiny so they can pray with this event in their hearts and minds. Angelico has taken on and succeeded in one of the greatest challenges of visual expression: To bring elemental choices that bind into seamless balance with those that create conflict. The content-first beauty of his composition crystallizes his success.