The Annunciation

Description The archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the Christ Child, while God the Father and the Holy Ghost (in the form of a dove) appear above left. The white lilies Gabriel holds are symbolic of the Virgin's chastity. The painter has depicted the loggia of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata (Annunciate Mary) in Florence behind his own Annunciation scene, revealing his pride in being a Florentine artist. The elongated and graceful style and the decorously draped figures were characteristic of Florentine painting of the late 16th century. For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 227, pp. 343-344.

Exhibitions

• Baroque Painting in Italy, 1600-1750. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 1969.

Provenance Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 267, as Marcello Venusti]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902