The Virgin Annunciate. Artist: Anonymous, Italian, Ferrarese, 15th century. Dimensions: 8 3/16 x 3 1/8in. (20.8 x 7.9cm). Date: 1470-80.Facing right with her eyes closed, ready to embrace the message of the Annunciation, the Virgin Mary here stands under an arch decorated with a classical frieze. She is wrapped in a long mantle defined through flat, broad, metallic folds that have a distinctly Ferrarese character, as do her square face and broad hand. The precise use of pen and ink on parchment makes this drawing nearly comparable in sharpness to a print. The author of the sheet is still unknown but might be identified as a painter-engraver active in the late fifteenth century between the Marches and the Valpadana--the area between the cities of Milan, Padua, and Ferrara. It is likely that the figure of the Archangel Gabriel making his announcement was originally included in the composition, before it was cut down on its left side by a previous collector.The drawing was first publish