French school of the 18th century

French school of the XVIII century
"Annunciation".
Oil on panel.
Presents woodworm.
Measurements: 28 x 20 cm; 36,5 x 20 cm (frame).

We are before a typically baroque representation of the theme of the "Annunciation". The scene unfolds with a calculated theatricality, immersing us in the epiphanic instant in which the divine bursts into the earthly.

At the center of this epiphany, the Virgin kneels with deep devotion before the table on which rests an open book, symbol of her piety and study of the Scriptures. Her hands, joined and brought delicately to her heart, and her gaze, raised in ecstatic rapture, reveal the interior commotion, the overwhelming acceptance of the mystery of the Incarnation. Her clothing, resplendent in the symbolic dichotomy of the blue mantle (emblem of her immaculate purity and her connection with the celestial) and the red tunic (presage of the Passion of her Son and of divine charity) carries a profound theological meaning. In front of her, in an ethereal irruption, the Archangel Gabriel descends from the celestial sphere. His figure floats weightless, his drapery fluttering with dynamism, creating a visual counterpoint to Mary's serene receptivity. From her head radiates a halo of light that, far from being a rigid outline, dissolves in the environment, conferring to her presence an immaterial and supernatural quality. The composition is framed and enhanced by sumptuous draperies, whose fall and arrangement accentuate the grandeur of the event, adding a scenographic element that is distinctive of the French baroque and its evolution towards the elegance of the 18th century.