Sandro Botticelli, (Italian, 1444 – 1510), "Annunciation", ca. 1492, tempera on panel, 7 x 10 9…

Images(2)

Annunciation

Artist Sandro Botticelli Italian, 1444 - 1510

Dateca. 1492

Place of OriginFlorence, Italy

MediumTempera on panel

DimensionsPanel: 7 × 10 9/16 in. (17.8 × 26.8 cm)
Frame Dimensions: 11 1/2 × 15 1/4 in. (29.2 × 38.7 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineBequest of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde

Object number1971.10

On View

On view

Collections

European Paintings & Sculpture

DescriptionMary, aware of the angel Gabriel’s presence, gracefully turns from her reading lectern in a pose typical of Botticelli’s elegant style. According to Luke’s Gospel (1:26-38), Gabriel speaks "Hail Mary, full of grace" ("Ave Maria gratia plena") and informs her she will bear the son of God. Mary’s reply accepts her role in salvation: "Ecce ancilla Domini" ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord"). According to tradition, Mary was reading the Old Testament passage from Isaiah 7:14, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son," at Gabriel’s arrival. Gabriel holds a stem of white lilies while kneeling before the Virgin, a traditional flower at the Annunciation symbolizing Mary’s purity and chastity. A classicizing Renaissance architecture frames them, created using one-point perspective. Roman-style fluted pilasters support gilded groin vaults and lead to a view of a topiary garden. The central row of pilasters separating the figures suggests two realms, one divine and one human. No dove nor divine rays of light are apparent; likely the painting’s damaged condition explains their absence.

While it is possible this small painting served as a predella panel, designed for the base of a large altarpiece, more likely it functioned as a private devotional panel. For women wishing for children, gazing upon images of the Annunciation—the moment when Mary is impregnated by the word of God—was a widespread practice for encouraging the conception and successful delivery of a son. Especially in the centuries following the Black Death, this belief in sympathetic magic contributed to the proliferation of Annunciation imagery in cities like Florence, from large-scale frescoes and altarpieces in public churches, to intimate, privately owned works. Small devotional paintings of the Annunciation similar to this one by Botticelli enriched many domestic settings.

Scholars uniformly attribute this painting to Botticelli, though there is some disagreement regarding its date.

Text by Penny Howell Jolly, Professor Emerita of Art History, Skidmore College, February 2026Exhibition History"Objects of Devotion", Hoopes Gallery, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, Nov. 30, 2003- Feb, 29, 2004.

"Family Pride: The Italian Renaissance House and its Furnishing", The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, April 12-May 20,1984.

"Growing Up in a Renaissance Palazzo: Childhood in Italy 1400-1600," Charles R. Wood Gallery, The Hyde Collection, Oct. 5, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025.Provenanceuntil ca. 1924, Florence, Italy,
1924, Glens Falls, NY, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hyde
1963, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust (Bequest of Charlotte P. Hyde)