Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, after (1683 – 1754), Teodoro Viero - L'Annunciazione (Ecce Ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum)

Highly refined and important eighteenth-century print depicting the Annunciation, faithfully engraved from a famous subject invented by the master of Venetian Baroque Giambattista Piazzetta.
The composition stands out for the extraordinary lighting design: the Archangel Gabriel towers on the left on a wispy cloud, pointing upward, while the Virgin Mary receives the announcement with her hands raised in a sign of deep humility and submission to the divine will. In the center, the Dove of the Holy Spirit emits intense beams of light surrounded by cherubs.

Presence on the body of the paper of the rare and prestigious Venetian watermark with the three crescent moons decreasing ("Three Moons") [Ufu9vu]. This detail is the utmost possible authenticity: it proves that the sheet of handmade paper dates exactly to the second half of the eighteenth century, excluding any kind of modern reproduction or forgery.