The Annunciation
by El Greco, 1600
Details
- Year
- 1600
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 315 cm × 174 cm (124 × 68.5 in)
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.
