Jacopo di Paolo (documented in Bologna from 1378 to 1426)
Annunciation, 1385/1395
tempera on panel; inv. P 76
provenance: Palazzo Re Enzo, Camera degli Atti (Municipal Archives), Bologna
Jacopo di Matteo Bianchetti, the man who commissioned this work, is portrayed in the lower left hand corner of the painting. Bianchetti was the archivist of the "Camera degli Atti"(located in the building known today as Palazzo Re Enzo), where the Annunciation was intended to hang.
The iconography of this painting recalls a similar work, venerated in Florence, in the Church of the Santissima Annunziata. Jacopo di Paolo’s signature is clearly legible on the lower section of the panel, next to the name of the patron, which can barely be seen today.
Di Paolo was an extremely significant figure in the Bolognese art world of the late 14th century because of his civic duties.
He worked as a designer, architect, and painter in the Church of San Petronio, and he also completed the construction of the bell tower of Bologna’s Cathedral of San Pietro in 1426.
In this work, the artist adhered to the rather stiff tendencies of neo-Gothic painting, creating strong, three-dimensional figures that look more carved than painted.
