Full title | The Annunciation: The Virgin Mary |
---|---|
Artist | Gaudenzio Ferrari |
Artist dates | active 1508; died 1546 |
Group | Panels from an Altarpiece: The Annunciation |
Date made | 1508-9 |
Medium and support | Oil and tempera on poplar |
Dimensions | 58.4 x 58.4 cm |
Acquisition credit | Layard Bequest, 1916 |
Inventory number | NG3068.2 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
Interrupted from her reading, the Virgin Mary raises one hand in surprise at the Angel Gabriel’s announcement that she will bear the son of God (Luke 1: 26-8). Rays of golden light beam down upon her as she conceives Christ by the word of God. Her lectern and folding chair, of the so-called ‘Savonarola’ type, reflect contemporary domestic furnishings. The door of the lower cupboard of the lectern is open, revealing the Virgin’s woven work basket containing her ball of wool and her shears.
This scene and its companion The Angel Gabriel, also in the National Gallery’s collection, are related to a set of four other panels by Gaudenzio Ferrari which are now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin. The panels came from an altarpiece painted between 1508–9 for the church of Sant’ Anna in Vercelli. It was commissioned by the local confraternity dedicated to Saint Anne (the Virgin’s mother) for the altar of their oratory.
The Virgin Mary has been interrupted from her reading. She raises one hand in surprise at the Angel Gabriel’s announcement that she will bear the son of God (Luke 1: 26-8). Her other hand reaches for her book as she looks down in modest confusion. Rays of golden light beam down upon her as she conceives Christ by the word of God. Her lectern and folding chair, of the so-called ‘Savonarola’ type, reflect contemporary domestic furnishings. The door of the lower cupboard of the lectern is open, revealing the Virgin’s woven work basket containing her ball of wool and her shears.
This scene and its companion The Angel Gabriel are related to a set of four other panels by Gaudenzio Ferrari which are now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin. The panels came from a multi-panelled altarpiece (known as a polyptych) painted between 1508–9 for the church of Sant’ Anna in Vercelli. It was commissioned by the local confraternity dedicated to Saint Anne for the altar of their oratory. The panels depict scenes from the life of the Virgin’s parents, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, culminating in the Annunciation to the Virgin and the birth of Christ, who appears as an infant with his mother, grandmother and angels in the central panel.
The altarpiece was arranged as follows; main tier, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Angels (Turin) flanked by the Meeting of Joachim and Anne and the Expulsion of Joachim (both Turin); upper tier, God the Father (Turin) centrally placed above the Virgin and Child, flanked by the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary.
The stone parapet behind the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel continues across both pictures, as does the cloudy sky. The tops of the trees are just visible above the parapet suggesting that the Annunciation is taking place in an upstairs room. The low vanishing point certainly suggests that this panel was intended to be placed very high up.
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The Annunciation: The Virgin Mary
Panels from an Altarpiece: The Annunciation
These are two panels from an altarpiece painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari between 1508–9 for the church of Sant’ Anna in Vercelli. It was commissioned by the local confraternity dedicated to Saint Anne for the altar of their oratory.
The panels of the altarpiece were arranged in two horizontal rows of three and contained in a large and elaborate gilded frame. The National Gallery’s pictures depicting the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary were originally on the upper row, either side of a panel of God the Father blessing from the heavens. The lower paintings, now in Turin, contained scenes from the story of the Virgin’s parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, who were unable to have a child until they miraculously conceived the Virgin in their old age. They show Joachim chased from the Temple; the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and two members of the Confraternity of Saint Anne; and Joachim and Anne meeting at the Golden Gate.
These are two panels from a multi-panelled altarpiece (known as a polyptych) painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari between 1508–9 for the church of Sant’ Anna in Vercelli. It was commissioned by the local confraternity dedicated to Saint Anne for the altar of their oratory. The document recording the commission says that Gaudenzio was to follow the example of the altarpiece commissioned by Sebastiano Ferrero for the church of Sant’Agostino della Misericordia in Vercelli.
The panels of the altarpiece were arranged in two horizontal rows of three. The National Gallery’s pictures depicting the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary were originally on the upper row, either side of a panel of God the Father blessing from the heavens. All the panels would have been contained in a large and elaborate gilded frame.
The lower row comprised three paintings: Saint Joachim chased from the Temple; The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Two Members of the Confraternity of Sant’ Anna (the central panel); and The meeting of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim at the Golden Gate. Saint Anne and Saint Joachim were the Virgin Mary’s parents. They were unable to have a child until they miraculously conceived the Virgin Mary in their old age – the panels of the altarpiece depict this story, which culminates in the Annunciation to the Virgin and the birth of Christ, who appears in the central panel with his mother and grandmother.
The lower scenes are set in classical architecture and against a landscape that continues between the panels. The leafy tops of the trees that are growing in the scenes below can be seen peeping above the parapets in the upper scenes depicting the Annunciation. In this work, Gaudenzio successfully integrates a variety of influences. The figure of the Virgin bending to gather up the infant Christ in the central scene of the lower row recalls Leonardo’s Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Louvre, Paris), and the influence of Perugino, Filippino Lippi, Bramante and Bramantino is also evident.
No one knows exactly when the panels left the church of Sant’ Anna. By 1864 the two panels representing the Annunciation were owned by Sir Austen Henry Layard. They were given to the National Gallery in 1819 as part of the Layard Bequest. In 1865, the four other panels were bought by the Regia Pinacoteca, today the Galleria Sabauda, in Turin, where they remain.


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