Bolognese school, 18th centur, Annunciation

Bolognese school, 18th century
Annunciation
(2) Terracotta, 32 x 15 cm
The pair of terracotta figures, referable to the Bolognese school of the 18th century, depicts the famous sacred episode of the Annunciation, or the moment of the announcement of the virginal conception of Jesus to Mary by the archangel Gabriel, narrated both in the Gospel of Matthew and in the one of Luke. 
Of remarkable artistic value, the two characters stand gracefully from vaporous clouds, in a meeting of extreme sweetness: note the elegant and refined lines of the bodies, the expressiveness of the faces, the lightness of the draperies, as well as the careful attention paid to the descriptive details. 
Particular importance is assumed by the extreme gestures of the hands, which seem to seek mutual contact, making the two terracotta sculptures a combination of absolute harmony and complicity. 
Bologna was also called "the red" because of the material with which the buildings and churches were made and decorated: terracotta. Even the sculptures (especially devotional), starting from the 16th century, began to be made of terracotta.
The production of terracotta works was documented with continuity right from the 16th century - especially in the religious field - and it is only from the 17th century and especially from the 18th century that they began to find ample evidence even in secular collections. 
Most of the terracotta works have come to us anonymously and without signatures, due to the practice of considering clay sculpture a little more than artisanal production, even if the artist had trained at the institute in Via delle Belle Arti. Some of these, however, managed to gain access to a prestigious career or the possibility of teaching: the versatility of these workshops-schools allowed sculptors to adapt quickly to changes in the taste of society.