Circle of Marten de Vos, 16th century

Circle of MARTEN DE VOS (1532 - 1603), XVI century.
"Annunciation".
Oil on panel. Cradled.
Measurements: 108 x 78 cm; 130,5 x 98,5 cm (frame).

The scene takes place in a domestic interior, treated with a certain Renaissance monumentality. On the left side, Mary is seated or kneeling next to a table covered with a cloth and an open book, symbol of her devotion and spiritual wisdom. She wears a deep red mantle, the color of charity and sacrifice, and a golden tunic, which alludes to her purity and dignity. Her gesture, with her hand on her chest and her face slightly inclined towards the angel, expresses surprise and humility before the divine message.

On the right, the archangel Gabriel enters with a dynamic, markedly theatrical movement, raising one arm towards heaven while the other holds a staff or bouquet of lilies, an emblem of purity. His figure is robust, almost sculptural, wrapped in vaporous fabrics of yellow, white and pink tones, which contrast with the dark background. Her intensely colored wings add a touch of drama and luminosity to the composition.

In the upper part, a white dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, descends wrapped in a celestial light among clouds, while in the background an altar with two tablets recalling the Commandments can be distinguished, suggesting the connection between the Old and the New Covenant.

The style of the work reveals the mannerist influence characteristic of the circle of Marten de Vos (active in Antwerp during the second half of the 16th century): elongated figures, elegant and somewhat contrived poses, broad and brilliant folds, and an intense use of color that emphasizes the contrast between the human and the divine.

Overall, the painting combines Flemish narrative grace with Italian dramatism, achieving a scene of solemn spirituality yet full of movement and emotion.

Marten de Vos was, along with the brothers Ambrosius Francken I and Frans Francken I, one of the leading history painters of the Spanish Netherlands.De Vos was a prolific draughtsman and produced numerous designs for Antwerp printers. These circulated widely in Europe and the Spanish colonies and contributed to his international reputation and influence. His designs were also used as models for tapestries and stained glass. In the 1580s he produced multiple designs for engravings and book illustrations. From Mannerism, his style evolved to become clear and descriptive, in perfect correspondence with the ideas of the Counter-Reformation.His brother Pieter de Vos was also a painter and some works previously attributed to Maerten de Vos have been tentatively re-attributed to this brother or the so-called pseudo-de Vos. The so-called Marten de Vos Sketchbook (c. 1560; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) containing copies of earlier drawings of classical works of art has now been attributed to the circle of Frans Floris. Following the iconoclastic depredations of the Beeldenstorm, which reached its climax in 1566 and resulted in the destruction of much of the art in the churches of Flanders, de Vos became one of the artists charged with redecorating the plundered churches with new altarpieces. Many of these, such as St. Luke Painting the Virgin (1602), painted for the altar of the Guild of St. Luke in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp (now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp) to replace one on the same subject painted by Quinten Metsys and destroyed more than 20 years earlier, and the Wedding at Cana (1597), painted for the guild of wine merchants, were commissioned by leading Antwerp organizations.