Italy: Woodcut of the Annunciation from Bernard of Clairvaux (Venice: 1503)

Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist (1090 - August 20, 1153) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order. Missale Romanum. Venice: L.A. Giunta, November 20, 1501. LucAntonio Giunta's missal is illustrated with eighteen full-page woodcuts devoted to the life of Christ and numerous historiated initials and column cuts depicting Biblical scenes and the lives of the saints. This woodcut, "The Annunciation," recalls the image used in the editions of the Meditations printed in Rome by Stephan Plannck (nos. 9 and 25). The overall composition of the cut, its three architectural columns, the ornamental designs on the kneeler, and the floor pattern are similar in both woodcuts. However, in the 1501 design, the perspective, the complexity of the interior ornamentation, and the modeling of the figures is more highly developed than in the cut used by Plannck. The shading alone varies in the thickness and direction of the parallel lines, which give greater dimensionality to the physical forms and a better sense of perspective in the interior view. This detailed shading technique results in a sensitive rendering of the story of the Annunciation and reflects an important characteristic of Italian Renaissance style that emerged in the late 1490s