Art Institute of Chicago

The Annunciation

Alessandro Vittoria (Italian, 1525–1608)

Date

c. 1583

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Venice

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Alessandro Vittoria translated into bronze the flickering light of Venetian Renaissance paintings. Working in wax (from which the finished bronze was then cast), he manipulated this relief’s form and edges to catch the light. The result is a highly animated surface in which figures, drapery, clouds, and sky seem to move with excitement, heightening the drama of the archangel Gabriel’s announcement that Mary will bear God’s son. Fully sculpted in the round, the archangel’s arm points to the scene’s smallest feature: a dove, representing the Holy Spirit. This sculpture was commissioned by Hans Fugger, a member of a prominent Augsburg banking family, to decorate an altarpiece for the chapel of his family’s castle.

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