The Annunciation by Leonardo Da Vinci
This is one of Leonardo da Vinci's first works and is now preserved in the Uffizi.
After the 2000 restoration, this work regained a soft and natural brightness.
the scene is divided into two parts by the low wall that divides the garden (on the left) and the one that divides a seascape (on the right).
in the foreground we have the angel still with his wings outstretched who is making the miraculous annunciation.
on the right, the Virgin, who holds out her right hand with an imperturbable look of amazement, while with the other hand she is holding open the pages of the book she was reading.
the green carpet in front of the Virgin testifies to Leonardo's interest in botany from the very beginning. Behind there are various essences: elms, firs and cypress, which makes the foreground more intimate.
On the right, the gaze flows freely between two cypress trees, where the vanishing point is, you can see a large mountain with its top covered by clouds and its base obscured by mist, the presence of the peak covered by clouds symbolizes the immense size of the rocky massif.
Leonardo brings late fifteenth-century references, just look at the lectern in front of the Virgin. Marble lectern decorated with small spiral volutes at the corners, shells and leaves covering the edges, all supported by the so-called lion's paws.
The red cloak of the angel and the blue one of the virgin are a testimony to how Leonardo was able to portray differently draped drapes.
Finally, this painting also has some indecisions, such as the Virgin's right arm, which reaches towards the lectern, is represented in an ambiguous position, while still the length of the legs placed below the knees.
Leonardo's choice to confuse the colour of the cypress on the right with the colour of the building may be due to the fact that he wanted to cover the incomplete architectural structure of the corner of the building.
Speaking from a macroscopic point of view, these imperfections are seen as more than optical corrections.












