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

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famou ...

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

Fano Fano () is a city 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 pop ...

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

Fano Altarpiece The ''Fano Altarpiece'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed in 1497, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Fano, central Italy. It also includes a lunette with a ''Pietà'' and several predella panel ...

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 The ''Albani Torlonia Altarpiece'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino, executed in 1491 and housed in the Torlonia Collection, Rome. It was commissioned by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future pope Julius II. ...

and the ''

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

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

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

, 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 of the Annunciation Paintings in Fano Books in art Doves in art Oil on panel paintings