Lecture delivered by Almudena Sánchez, conservator at the Museo Nacional del Prado, on Saturday, 15 June 2019.

The restoration carried out on Fra Angelico’s "The Annunciation" had as its principal aim the recovery of the painting’s rich and brilliant colour range, as well as the intense white light that envelops the scene—hallmark features of the work—which had been obscured over time by accumulated layers of dirt and atmospheric pollution on the surface.

The main challenges of the restoration were, on the one hand, the removal of the grey layer of grime that darkened the painting’s surface, and on the other, the elimination of oil overpainting from earlier interventions. In the past, the work had suffered structural problems when the second and third panels separated at the level of the figure of the angel, leaving it divided in two. The overpainting applied along the entire crack concealed complete elements of the composition, most notably the angel’s front wing, which hid its original form and radically altered it, creating a clear asymmetry with the other wing. Recovering the original curve of the wing of the Archangel Gabriel was one of the most significant moments of the entire restoration process, given the prominence of this figure within the scene and the central position of this recovered element in the composition.

This video includes simultaneous interpretation in Spanish Sign Language (LSE).