by El Greco, 1600
El Greco completed this Annunciation around 1600, showing the angel Gabriel descending to the Virgin Mary. The figures elongate impossibly, their robes billowing in supernatural wind. Above, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove surrounded by cherubs, the composition rising in a spiral of ecstatic movement.
El Greco's distinctive style reached its full development in works like this. The proportions follow no earthly anatomy. Colors shift from deep blue to flame-like reds and yellows. The supernatural event demands supernatural treatment, and El Greco delivers spiritual intensity through visual distortion.
The Prado holds several versions of El Greco's Annunciation. This large altarpiece demonstrates why his work, once dismissed as "incorrect," later inspired Expressionism.
Other masterpieces from the Renaissance movement

Raphael, 1510
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Sandro Botticelli, 1482
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Florence

Titian, 1555
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Raphael, 1511
Vatican Museums, Vatican City

Raphael, 1512
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Dresden

Sandro Botticelli, 1485
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Florence

Titian, 1538
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Florence

Sandro Botticelli, 1476
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Florence
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