Lorenzo Veneziano

Art historians have gradually abandoned the view that the artist should be identified with the painter who signed as 'Lorenzo pentor di S Marina' in 1379.

The altarpiece represents the Annunciation with a portrait of the donor Domenico Lion, the Christ in benediction, and figures of various Saints.

The scene of the Annunciation on the central table and the Prophets of the upper register manifest an increased modern sensibility as well as a receptiveness to new artistic directions already present in Piedmont.

These include the expressive intensity of the faces, the dynamic articulation of the drapes and the abandonment of the Byzantine manner of letting the dark base colors shine through the flesh of persons.

Lorenzo favored a chromatic quality with refined timbres and delicate nuances of the local tone.