Skip to main content
Collections Menu

The Annunciation

 (Italian, ca. 1406−1469)
Dateca. 1440
MediumTempera on poplar panel
DimensionsLeft Panel: 25 1/8 x 9 7/8 in. (63.8 x 25.1 cm) Right Panel: 25 1/8 x 10 in. (63.8 x 25.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchased by The Frick Collection, 1924
Accession number1924.1.85
Commentary

The two panels that compose the Frick painting, now framed together, probably originally formed the wings of a small altarpiece of which the central panel has been lost. Around the middle of the fifteenth century, the subject of the Annunciation had become exceedingly popular in the art of Florence. Fra Filippo, who often depicted the scene, usually placed the figures in elegant and complicated architectural settings, made festive with birds, flowering plants, and sunny landscapes seen in the distant background. The setting of the Frick Annunciation is instead bare and simple, painted in muted terracotta, violet, and gray, with nothing to distract the viewer from the gentle drama being enacted. The lily carried by the angel Gabriel symbolizes the Virgin’s purity, while the dove represents the angel's words to her: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.”

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Collection History

From the seventeenth century, Calcagno family, Palermo. Bought from a member of that family by Langton Douglas in 1924. Frick, 1924.

Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: French, Italian and Spanish. Volume II. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.

Not On View
oil painting of Doge Giovanni Mocenigo wearing a gold ducal hat and an ermine cape
Gentile Bellini
1478−85
tempera painting of the resurrection of Christ surrounded by four people in a landscape
Attributed to Francesco Botticini
ca. 1465−70
tempera painting of the adoraton of the magi
Lazzaro Bastiani
1470s
tempera painting of Christ, followed by two angels, extending his right arm towards Satan and s…
Duccio di Buoninsegna
1308−11
tempera or mixed technique painting of the body of Christ resting on the lap of the Virgin Mary…
French, Probably South of France
15th century
Tempera painting of an Augustinian friar against a gold background
Piero della Francesca
1454−69
Tempera painting of St. John the Evangelist wearing a crimson mantle and blue-green robe
Piero della Francesca
1454−69
Tempera painting of the crucifixion of Jesus with the Virgin Mary and other biblical figures ag…
Piero della Francesca
1454–69
tempera painting of Christ placing a crown on the head of the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels …
Paolo Veneziano
1358
tempera and oil painting of the body of Christ resting on the lap of the Virgin Mary and surrou…
Circle of Konrad Witz
ca. 1440
Tempera painting of nun in a black habit holding a scroll
Piero della Francesca
1454–69
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
FacebookYoutubeInstagramTwitterGoogle Arts and Culturemenusearch2xX