The Angel of the Annunciation

Formerly known as the Master of the Bargello Judgement of Paris, this artist was initially named after a desco da parto of the same subject in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (fig. 1). The survival of a second birth tray, depicting Susannah and the Elders (last recorded with Carlo Orsi, Milan) and dated to the 1440s on the basis of the Aldobrandini and Alberti coats of arms, led to his recent identification by Carl Strehlke as Giuliano d’Arrigo, called Pesello (Carl Brandon Strehlke, private communication with the present owner, 2020).

Working in the International Gothic style, Guiliano d’Arrigo was a prominent figure in Florence. His early career was spent in the orbit of Agnolo Gaddi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, but he later absorbed the influence of Lorenzo Monaco, Gherardo Starnina and Fra Angelico. He entered the Florentine painters’ guild in June of 1385, and by 1416 was running a successful workshop, producing flags and processional banners, decorated armor and painted leather objects. He was consulted on the construction of Florence’s iconic cathedral dome in the 1420s, and was nominated to take Brunelleschi’s place in the event of his absence or resignation. While almost all of d’Arrigo’s securely attributed works are small-scale paintings, the discovery of the present panel indicates that he must also have executed paintings on a large scale. As Strehlke notes, this tondo l ikely formed part of a folding triptych or altarpiece. If the former, its gold background suggests it would have formed one of the precious, inner panels, with a Madonna and Child at the center and saints in the wings. If, however, it formed part of a larger complex, it would have likely functioned as a pinnacle, surmounting a left-hand panel and facing inward toward a Virgin Annunciate on the opposite side.