The work depicts a golden cloud from which emerges in an elegant composition the archangel Gabriel, with lilies in his hand, a traditional symbol of the purity of the Virgin Mary.

The triangular composition, which makes the angel and the Virgin converge towards the dove of the Holy Spirit, communicates, immediately, the saving intervention of God, who will assumes human nature in the form of the upcoming Messiah.

The luminous and dense clouds that surround Gabriel take the furnishings of the room out of sight and enhance the celestial brilliance of his appearance.

The archangel Gabriel carries lilies in bloom, a Catholic symbol of purity, and, pointing to the white dove, which dominates the scene, underlines the divine will of the Annunciation, which is being received with sweetness by the Virgin Mary, as a model of faith for the believers.

[2] The Virgin faces the angel, while her gesture of the right hand can be interpreted as a sign of trouble (conturbatio), since she would be "surprised by the haughty and magnificent greeting of the Angel", according to Michaël Baxandall, who recalls the five successive states of the Virgin during the Annunciation, as described by the preacher Fra Roberto, reflection (cogitato), trouble (conturbatio), questioning (interrogatio), submission (humiliatio), merit (meritato).