The Making of a Masterpiece: Nosadella’s Annunciation
A masterpiece of color, movement, and intense physical presence, Nosadella's Annunciation provides a rare opportunity to study the work of this little known painter. He was active only briefly, first documented in 1558 and dying in 1571. Technical analysis of the Annunciation reveals the artist's struggle to resolve the design from preliminary sketches to final touches of oil paint on panel. Few paintings from this period demonstrate the constant changes and refinements Nosadella made throughout the execution of this work. A picture emerges of an artist whose creative ideas were constantly evolving, and whose paintings were essentially works in progress.
The Annunciation also demonstrates Nosadella's knowledge of contemporary trends in visual art. The composition is typical of central Italian Mannerism in its crowding of the figures into a shallow space, and in the contrasting bright shades of yellow and pink in the draperies. The Virgin Mary, who turns to look over her shoulder at the muscular Archangel Gabriel, echoes the colors and forms found in Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The graceful putti recall the sweet style of Correggio and Parmigianino in Parma, while the Virgin's sewing basket epitomizes the predilection of artists from Nosadella's own Bologna for strikingly realistic detail. Yet, innovations in the design look forward to the Baroque, suggesting this artist contributed to the reform of painting in Bologna after 1575, under the dynamic leadership of the Carracci family.
The exhibition is based in part on an essay by Jennifer Schubert in the Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 2000. We thank Herschel and Peggy Post, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Richard L. Feigen Gallery for lending their works to the exhibition.
