Description
This holy woman is depicted in a perfectly frontal position.
Her attitude is still marked by the hieratic style so typical of 13th-century works, yet the refined gesture of her left hand is suggesting movement.
Her delicately modeled oval face ends in a small round chin. Under her drawn-on eyebrows are her almond-shaped eyes. She has a long, straight nose and a mouth with small, slightly pursed lips. Golden locks, hidden under a veil, are framing her face.
She is wearing a long dress with vertical folds that run down to her feet. A cloak is covering her shoulders and cascades down her left side. Her fluidly draped clothes follow the lines of her body.
Her right hand is holding an open book, while her left hand is raised in surprise. This iconography is comparable to many Italian Madonna Annunciations up until the 14th century. This suggests that this work was once accompanied by another figure, the Angel of the Annunciation