Annunciation

Luca Signorelli signed this Annunciation in 1491, creating a hieratic composition where Gabriel kneels before the Virgin in an architectural setting. The angel holds a lily while Mary gestures in acceptance, both figures rendered with the muscular clarity that would define Signorelli's later work in Orvieto Cathedral.

The painting uses tempera on panel and now resides in the Pinacoteca e Museo Civico in Volterra, not Arezzo as sometimes listed. Signorelli had worked in Arezzo earlier in his career, contributing to the Basilica of San Francesco there, but this altarpiece was made for Volterra's town hall.

Signorelli trained under Piero della Francesca and influenced Michelangelo with his anatomical studies. His Annunciation shows the transition between the calm geometries of his teacher and the dynamic figures of his own mature period. The composition balances symmetry with subtle asymmetries that give the scene life.