Annunciation

Painted around 1472, this is one of Leonardo da Vinci's earliest surviving works, made when he was barely into his twenties and still training under Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. The scene captures a well-known Christian moment: the angel Gabriel kneeling before the Virgin Mary to announce that she will give birth to Jesus. Gabriel holds a lily, a traditional symbol of Mary's purity, and his richly colored wings were said to be modeled on the wings of real birds the young painter studied up close. A soft, misty landscape of trees, distant mountains, and water fills the background, giving an early taste of the atmospheric skill Leonardo would later become famous for.

Signs of a beginner still working things out are scattered throughout. Mary's right arm, stretching toward her book, looks a bit too long and stiff, a small slip that reminds us this was a learning painter. Experts have argued for years about how much of the work is truly Leonardo's and how much belongs to his teacher's busy studio, where sharing tasks was completely normal. Still, the tender handling of light, the neatly painted folds of fabric, and the dreamlike distance all hint at the extraordinary talent about to bloom. The painting hangs today in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.