‘…Most powerful of all is the whispered conversation between two women, just off-centre. The wall text identifies them as the Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, newly pregnant, but the painting presents a vignette of solidarity, one woman confiding in the other, perhaps even offering a warning. It is a dramatically qualified Annunciation. Crivelli’s Garden is a lasting testimony to Rego’s mind and art, destined to return to a permanent spot in the Sainsbury Wing when it reopens in 2024 following refurbishment.’
Image: Paula Rego, Crivelli's Garden IV, 1990‑1
Acrylic on canvas, 190 × 260.7 × 2 cm
The National Gallery, London. Presented by English Estates, 1991
© Ostrich Arts Ltd.
Photo: The National Gallery, London
July 30 2023
