Gabriel at a grated window. Carlo Crivelli’s London Annunciation of 1486

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2024-01-06 — Aggiornato il 2024-08-26

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Sezione 5. Aspetti iconografici e tipologici

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3494

Autori

  • Bram de Klerck Radboud University, Nijmegen

Abstract

Although Carlo Crivelli’s Annunciation of 1468 (now in the National Gallery, London) has been thoroughly studied within the iconographical tradition of Annunciation imagery in Italian art, it presents a few peculiarities. First, there is the presence of a third figure next to the Virgin and the angel. He has convincingly been identified as bishop Saint Emidio, but the iconographical tradition preceding Crivelli’s painting has been overlooked up to now. Second, there is the conspicuous arrangement that places the Archangel Gabriel outside the Virgin’s room, separated from it by a stone wall and a grated window; this, too, has not yet been sufficiently treated in art-historical literature. Finally, the placement of the figures in the painting is in sharp contrast to that of the beholder before it. The latter turns out to occupy a privileged position over those inside the painting. Using the anthropological methodology of “liminality”, this contribution aims to offer new insights into Crivelli’s painting.

 

L’Annunciazione di Carlo Crivelli del 1468, ora nella National Gallery di Londra, pur essendo stata studiata a fondo nell’ambito della tradizione iconografica del tema nell’arte italiana, presenta alcune peculiarità. In primo luogo, vi è la presenza nella composizione di una terza figura accanto alla Vergine e all’angelo. Essendo stato identificato in modo convincente come il vescovo Sant’Emidio, la tradizione iconografica precedente, però, è finora stata trascurata. In secondo luogo, la vistosa disposizione dell’arcangelo Gabriele all’esterno della stanza della Vergine, separata da un muro e da una finestra a griglia, non è stata ancora sufficientemente trattata nella letteratura storica dell’arte. Infine, c’è il netto contrasto tra la posizione delle figure collocate nel dipinto e lo spettatore davanti allo stesso. Quest’ultimo risulta occupare una posizione privilegiata rispetto a chi si trova all’interno del dipinto. Utilizzando la metodologia antropologica di liminality, il presente articolo intende offrire alcuni nuovi spunti di riflessione sul quadro del Crivelli.

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Biografia autore

Bram de Klerck, Radboud University, Nijmegen

Associate Professor in Art History, Department of History, Art History and Classics

Come citare

de Klerck, B. (2024). Gabriel at a grated window. Carlo Crivelli’s London Annunciation of 1486. Il Capitale Culturale. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, 655–672. https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3494 (Original work published 6 gennaio 2024)