Fra Filippo Lippi's 'The Annunciation'
Picture of the month December 2023
Curatorial Fellow Nicholas Flory takes a look at the details in Lippi's painting of the Archangel Gabriel with Mary – the painting voted your picture of the month
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About
Lippi's beautiful peacock feather winged Gabriel delivers his message to Mary in her home. He tells her that she's going to have a son, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost.
The unusual curved shape of the picture means that it probably hung above a door in the Medici palace in Florence - a place where people would have met, just like the unexpected meeting taking place in the painting.
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More in the series
Bermejo's 'Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil'
Picture of the month November 2023
Curator Daniel Sobrino Ralston tells us why Bermejo's late Gothic-demon was the stuff of nightmares in its day
Rubens's 'Roman Triumph'
Picture of the month October 2023
Student and Articulation alumna Catherine Ahura gives her personal response to Rubens’s 'Roman Triumph'
Ferdinand Hodler's 'Kien Valley with the Bluemlisalp Massif'
Picture of the month September 2023
Curator Christopher Riopelle takes a closer look at Hodler's vibrant Swiss landscape – the painting voted your picture of the month
Paula Rego's 'Crivelli's Garden'
Picture of the month August 2023
Former National Gallery Educator Ailsa Bhattacharya, and Lecturer Lizzie Perrotte tell us what it was like sitting for Paula Rego's mural 'Crivelli's Garden'
Jazz musician Arun Ghosh on Zurbarán's Saint Francis
Picture of the month July 2023
Award-winning clarinettist and composer Arun Ghosh reveals how he's taken peace and inspiration from Saint Francis, with curator Joost Joustra
'For Philip II, King of Spain': A new poem by Maz Hedgehog
Picture of the month June 2023
Maz Hedgehog performs a new poem responding to Titian's 'Diana and Callisto', and discusses the complex relationship between artists and their patrons, with Fiona Alderton
A mindful look at the Ugly Duchess
Picture of the month May 2023
Take a slow look at the 'Ugly Duchess', with kindness and curiosity, guided by mindfulness practitioner Lucia van der Drift
Pissarro's 'Boulevard Montmartre at Night'
Picture of the month April 2023
As chosen by you, Belle Smith explores Pissarro's one-of-a-kind luminous night scene
Bridget Riley's 'Messengers'
Picture of the month March 2023
For Women's History Month, Fiona Alderton looks at a surprising painting by one of our most celebrated female artists
Guardi's 'Venice'
Picture of the month February 2023
Cultural historian and Italian teacher Rachel Haworth pictures life in Guardi’s Venetian scene
Lucian Freud and Corot's 'Italian Woman'
Picture of the month January 2023
Art historian Isaac Nugent explores Lucian Freud’s connection to Corot’s ‘Italian Woman’
Lippi's 'Annunciation'
Picture of the month December 2022
Anna Murray and Harriet O’Neill explore the theme of light in Lippi’s ‘Annunciation’ – as voted for by you
Poet Yomi Ṣode on Caravaggio
Picture of the month November 2022
Award-winning poet Yomi Ṣode responds to Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus', for November’s picture of the month
Picture of the month
October 2022: Noli me Tangere
Discover the painting that started our 'Picture of the month' tradition during the Second World War
Vernet's 'Shipwreck in Stormy Seas'
Picture of the month September 2022
Storyteller Fiona Alderton sets the scene of Vernet's dramatic seascape
Moroni's 'La Dama in Rosso'
Picture of the month August 2022
Curatorial Trainees Emma Meehan and Chloe Church examine Moroni's mysterious ‘La Dama in Rosso’ – the painting voted for by you
Murillo's 'Infant Saint John with the Lamb'
Picture of the month July 2022
Sixth form student and Articulation alumna Nicole Conteh explores Murillo’s tender portrayal of a young Saint John