The Virgin Annunciate

Pisan 14th Century

National Gallery of Art

This wooden, painted, free-standing sculpture is of a young woman standing and holding an open book with one hand and holding the other to her chest. The woman’s skin, gown, and long mantle are painted cream white. The mantle covers the back of her head and has a denim-blue lining visible in the folds around her shoulders, waist, and inside the hanging sleeves. It falls just below her knees and wraps around her long gown. The skirt below her knees has traces of brick red but much of the pigment there is lost. In this photograh, her body is angled to our right but she turns her head to look down in front of us with pale brown eyes. Wavy, brown hair is parted down the middle to frame her face. Her right hand, on our left, is raised to touch her chest while her other hand holds an open book at her waist, its pages facing outward. She stands on an octagonal wooden base painted gold. The surface of the sculpture is cracked, flaking, and worn in some areas, allowing the underlying wood to show through.