Paintings Collection

follower of Fra Angelico (c.1395/1400 - 1455)

The Annunciation

A78; tempera and gilding on panel; 23.2 x 19.6 cm

Presented by William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways , later 4th Earl of Ilchester, 1850; WA1850.25

Lloyd 1977, pp. 6-8

The Angel Gabriel announces to the Virgin that she will bear the son of God (Luke 1: 26-8); the walled garden and closed gate are symbols of Mary's purity. The inspiration for this composition was Fra Angelico's small Annunciationof c.1450-52 (Museo di San Marco, Florence), one of a series of scenes decorating the doors of the silver reliquary chest in SS Annunziata. A78 has clear affinities with the work of Zanobi Strozzi (1412-1468).

Information derived from the The Ashmolean Museum index.php/complete Illustrated Catalogue of Paintings.