Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Annunciation
Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344) was a pupil of Duccio’s and may have assisted him in painting the Maestà altarpiece. Martini worked for the French kings in Naples and Sicily and, in his last years, produced paintings for the papal court at Avignon, where he came in contact with French painters. By adapting the elegant and luxuriant patterns of the Gothic style to Sienese art and, in turn, by acquainting painters north of the Alps with the Sienese style, Martini was instrumental in creating the so-called International Gothic style. This new style swept Europe during the late 14th and early 15th centuries because it appealed to the aristocratic taste for brilliant colors, lavish costumes, intricate ornamentation, and themes involving splendid processions.[1]
Simone’s Annunciation, begun in 1331, shows the International Gothic taste for elongated forms and delicate detail. The elegant S-shape of Mary’s pose, the angel Gabriel’s fluttering cloak, and the abundance of gold are typical of the courtly International Gothic style. Mary holds the traditional book, showing that Gabriel has interrupted her reading and she seems startled. The lilies symbolize Mary’s purity, while the palm branches carried by the saints on the wings signify death and allude to the Crucifixion of Jesus. Gabriel carries an olive branch. Note also that the prophets in the small tondos hold scrolls that refer to prophecies believed by Christians to have foretold the coming of a savior. A striking feature of Simone’s Annunciation, and one that also occurs in Northern art, is the raised lettering of the angel’s announcement – “Hail, Mary, full of grace, God is with you.” His words extend from his mouth to Mary’s ear, connoting her receptivity to God’s Word and illustrating the medieval tradition that she conceived Jesus by the words of God, transmitted by Gabriel. Jesus thus becomes “the Word . . . made flesh,” as written in the Gospel of John (1:14).[2]
