Spain, restoration of Beato Angelico's Annunciation at Prado ends after one year

Ending, after a year of work, is the restoration of theAnnunciation by Beato Angelico (Giovanni da Fiesole, born Guido di Pietro; Vicchio, c. 1395 - Rome, 1455), the Tuscan painter’s masterpiece preserved in Madrid at the Prado Museum and painted roughly between 1425 and 1428. The end of the intervention was presented on Wednesday by Andrés Úbeda, assistant director of conservation at the Prado Museum, Simonetta Brandolini, president of the Friends of Florence foundation, Christina Simmons, executive director of the American Friends of the Prado Museum association (the Florentine and Madrid associations financially supported the intervention with the combined sum of 150.000 euros, divided equally), and Fernando García, president of the Iberdrola España foundation (also a supporter of the intervention) and a member of the Prado Museum’s restoration program.

The purpose of the restoration, carried out by Almudena Sánchez in the Prado’s laboratories, was to recover the bright, vivid colors and light that the scene exudes: these are distinctive features of this work by Beato Angelico, which had become dulled by the passage of time due to dirt and deposits. It was not an easy intervention since sedimentations were spread all over the painting to a greater extent than originally thought: however, the cleaning made it possible to recover the colors of the painting, and to better bring out the details of the work (for example, the carvings on the wings of the archangel Gabriel). The painting will now be displayed in an exhibition, entitled Fra Angelico y los inicios del Renacimiento en Florencia, curated by Carl Brandon Strehlke and scheduled at the Prado from May 28 to September 15.

The exhibition will also include works that have been specially restored in Italy, again thanks to the support of Friends of Florence and American Friends of the Prado Museum: among others, Michele da Firenze’s Madonna and Child from the Bargello Museum, Donatello ’s Madonna and Child Enthroned from the Palazzo Pretorio Museum in Prato, and Gherardo Starnina’s Trinity from the Chiaramonte Bordonaro Collection.

Pictured: Miguel Falomir (Prado director), Christina Simmons, Almudena Sánchez and Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda in front of the restoredAnnunciation. Photo © Museo Nacional del Prado

Spain, restoration of Beato Angelico's Annunciation at Prado ends after one year

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