Catalogue Roberti Fine Art, TEFAF Maastricht 2026 (1) compressed - Flipbook - Page 48
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JACQUES STELLA
Lyon 1596–1657 Paris
The Annunciation
oil on onyx
25 x 30 cm.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Spain;
Where acquired.
Jacques Stella’s artistic training took place during a prolonged Italian sojourn. Arriving in Italy
around 1616, he spent more than a decade principally in Rome and Florence, moving within
cultured artistic circles that included the Medici court. There he absorbed the clarity of design and
balanced classicism associated with artists such as Guido Reni, while remaining resistant to the
theatricality of Caravaggism. Stella’s style is marked instead by compositional harmony, linear
precision, and an intimate devotional sensibility.
This refined Annunciation, painted on onyx, exemplifies this synthesis. The composition is
articulated with exemplary lucidity: the Archangel Gabriel descends from the left on a light bank of
clouds, while the Virgin, seated to the right beside a modest table and prie-dieu, inclines her head
in quiet assent. The spatial interval between the figures is carefully calibrated with Gabriel’s gentle
diagonal movement counterbalanced by the Virgin’s stillness.
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