The Prado Museum houses Fra Angelico’s Annunciation Altarpiece, one of three he painted for the San Domenico monastery in Fiesole near Florence. Created in the mid-1420s, this masterpiece is a landmark of the Florentine Renaissance. It is the first Florentine altarpiece to use linear perspective to organize space, moving beyond the Gothic style with its orthogonal architectural setting inspired by Brunelleschi.
The altarpiece underwent restoration at the Prado, revealing Fra Angelico’s delicate brushwork and vibrant use of precious pigments like lapis lazuli and malachite. You can find this masterpiece in Room 56B on the museum’s ground floor.
Pro Tip: The Thyssen-Bornemisza, another museum in Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art, features another key work by Fra Angelico—The Virgin of Humility. If you want to see it in the flesh, you should consider buying the Paseo del Arte 3 Museum Pass (it gets you access to the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Reina Sofia Museums). Doesn’t that sound like an artistic paradise?
