The Annunciation 1625

Giulio Cesare Procaccini painted The Annunciation using oil on canvas. Here, the artist used traditional fine art materials, like ground pigments, to create a scene with rich visual depth and emotion. The oil paint allows Procaccini to slowly build up layers of color and shading. Look closely and you’ll notice the smoothness of the paint surface, which contrasts dramatically with the folds of Mary’s robe. In this period, mixing paint was laborious; each pigment ground and combined with oil by hand, by workshop assistants. The brushstrokes are so refined and deliberate, you can see the immense amount of work that has gone into it. The artist creates a sumptuous surface that evokes the divine event, elevating it from the everyday world. By focusing on the material, the skill, and labor of this painting, we move beyond the image itself, and towards a richer understanding of the artistic practices of the time.