Circle of JUAN LUIS ZAMBRANO (Cordoba, 1598 - 1639)."Annunciation".Oil on canvas. Relined.Measurements: 103 x 161 cm; 122 x 186 cm (frame).In this canvas the episode of the Annunciation is represented, with a composition of long tradition that organizes the space symmetrically, with the figures of Mary and the archangel Gabriel facing each other, in half profile, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove on top. The scene is set in a dark interior setting, typical of Spanish naturalistic Baroque, immersed in an expressive and nuanced half-light, against which the figures stand out, vividly illuminated. The classical compositional rigour acquires dynamism through the zigzagging, dynamic and distinctly Baroque rhythm, which begins at Mary's head, passes through the face and hand of the angel and culminates in the breaking of the upper Glory, where the Holy Spirit appears.The Annunciation is one of the most frequently depicted themes in Christian art because it marks the Incarnation of Christ as man and as God, with Mary maintaining her purity and virginal state, points of great theological importance. Thus, throughout the evolution of the different styles in European art, there is a great variety of models and different details according to style, school and period. The present work is related to Baroque works in terms of the palette chosen, the iconography (with details retained from earlier traditions), the contrasts of light, etc., and in particular it belongs to the circle of Juan Luis Zambrano.It is known that Zambrano was born in Córdoba in 1598, as he was baptised in the parish church of El Sagrario on 13 February of that year, and that his parents were Álvaro Sánchez and Juana Gómez. Little is known about the painter's childhood, and even less about his training and apprenticeship; Palomino, Ceán Bermúdez and González de Guevara describe him as a disciple of Pablo de Céspedes, an opinion that is not accepted today as Zambrano was barely ten years old at the time of the illustrious racionero's death in 1608, which rules out a direct relationship of apprenticeship. It is more plausible to suspect that, when Céspedes died and the city lacked great masters, he went to Seville in search of new channels and wider possibilities than those offered in his native city, and that there he came into contact with the most prestigious artists who at that time - in the early decades of the 17th century - were outstanding in the field of painting, such as Francisco Pacheco, Juan de las Roelas and Francisco de Herrera El Viejo. It is precisely the traces that can be seen in Zambrano's work - from the style of both Roelas and Herrera - that lead us to affirm the reality of certain contacts established with the Sevillian School, without being able to specify whether they were direct or through knowledge of their pictorial productions. Whatever the case, it seems reasonable to think that Juan Luis Zambrano, eager to learn new things and attracted by the fame and splendour of the city of Seville, went to that city as Mohedano had done and Antonio del Castillo would later do. It is impossible to say exactly what relationship the painter had with Seville or what years of his youth he spent there; what is known today is that he died in the city and is even attributed to a production that was previously considered Zurbaránesque.