Annunciation with Two Kneeling Donors

From the gesture of the gift, our eye is led out through the windowed arch to a serene natural woodland crowned by an azure sky that assures the concord between heaven and earth, and the blessing of God. The scene is segregated formally between the sacred and the banal. Gabriel and Mary occupy a region of immaculate purity, while the donors and the two women ascending the stairs in the right background are placed in the positions of pious, if uncomprehending, devotion to the mystery on the one hand, and dutiful concern on the other. 

The nexus of the picture is framed by the dove, the lilies and the head of Mary, all of whose white purity contrasts with the sallow, flesh-coloured countenances of the donors and the servant-women. The painting is coherent in perspective, with regular recession via the prayer benches, bed, columns and window towards the benevolent sky. This is a feat on the part of Lippi because studies in mathematical perspective were at an early stage in Italy at the time.

The Virgin Mary has been interrupted in her prayers and has risen to receive the visitation of the Archangel Gabriel who offers her a sheaf of lilies. The two unidentified men in contemporary dress kneel in the right foreground. The room is richly adorned and replete with architectural details such as arches and Corinthian columns. Mary is painted in her ultramarine robe and with her right hand keeps her place in her missal. She is shown at this moment to accept the lilies from Gabriel which implies that the latter has already delivered the news that she will bear the son of God. The lily in Christian theology symbolized (among other things) Easter and therefore Lippi here is conflating the birth and death of Jesus, as well as the resurrection after his crucifixion. To mark the moment, the holy spirit flies in from the left in the guise of a dove. 

This Tempera on panel is in the  Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome