The Annunciation

This unusually well-preserved and exquisitely painted altarpiece represents the moment that the archangel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God, while mary's gesture with her right hand signals her acceptance of her destiny. The dialogue between them is inscribed in their haloes. In the spandrel above, David, one of the ancestors of Christ, is painted in his role as the Old Testament prophet. The little garden behind Gabriel is a hortus conclusus (enclosed garden), symbolic of Mary's virginity.

The three predella panels (the painted base of an altarpiece) below this scene depict the birth of the Virgin, her presentation in the Temple, and her death. The less refined figure of David and the predella scenes differ in style from the Annunciation and must have been painted by Stefano di Antonio, who collaborated with Bicci di Lorenzo. The frame is original.

Inscription

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Stefano Bardini Collection, prior to 1890 [mode of acquisition unknown] [cited in Fiorenza Scalia, La citta degli Uffizi-Florence, 1982, p.46 with 1890 photo of Bardini Gallery showing this painting]; Lawrence W. Hodson, Wolverhampton, Compton Hall, England [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Christie's, London, June 25, 1906, no. 187 [as early Italian school]; C. Fairfax-Murray, London and Florence, 1907 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1913, by purchase [Bernard Berenson as agent]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.