Artwork
Díptico da Anunciação
Díptico da Anunciação is a paint painting by Alvaro Pirez d'Evora. It dates from 1410 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. The work is a two‑panel diptych painted in the early fifteenth century, attributed to Álvaro Pirez d’Âvora.
About this work
Overview
The work is a two‑panel diptych painted in the early fifteenth century, attributed to Álvaro Pirez d’Âvora. Both panels are united by a red ground edged with gold, and each presents a solitary figure in a kneeling posture. The left panel shows an angelic messenger, while the right panel portrays a woman receiving the message, together forming a visual narrative of the Annunciation.
Subject & Meaning
The composition illustrates the biblical moment when the angel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the Christ child. The angel, robed in pink with blue sleeves, kneels in reverent prayer, whereas Mary, clad in a blue garment trimmed in red, clasps her hands in devotion. The pairing emphasizes the reciprocal humility and divine encounter central to the Christian story.
Technique & Style
The figures are rendered with limited modeling, relying on flat color planes rather than chiaroscuro, reinforcing the formal, iconic quality of the scene.
Executed in tempera on panel, the diptych reflects a medieval aesthetic with stylized, linear figures and meticulous attention to costume detail. The use of a uniform red background highlighted by gold leaf creates a luminous field that isolates the subjects. The figures are rendered with limited modeling, relying on flat color planes rather than chiaroscuro, reinforcing the formal, iconic quality of the scene.
History & Provenance
Created around 1410, the painting is recorded as part of the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Its attribution to Álvaro Pirez d’Âvora links it to the Iberian artistic milieu of the early Renaissance, though the work retains strong Gothic visual conventions. The diptych has remained in the museum’s holdings since its acquisition in the twentieth century.
Artist & collection
Artist
Alvaro Pirez d'Évora, also recorded as Alvaro di Piero or Álvaro Pires, was born in Évora, Portugal, before 1411 and died after 1434.
Angel of the Annunciation
Mary of the Annunciation
angelo annnunciante e vergine annunciata
Annunciation
Six Angels
Untitled
madonna col bambino in trono
Mare de Déu amb Nen i àngels
Christ Salvator Mundi and Mary at Prayer
The Virgin Annunciate
Parts of a triptych: Annunciation and saints Jerome and Lawrence
Die Verkündigung an Maria und sechs Heilige