The Angel of the Annunciation

c. 1330

Simone Martini

Artist, Sienese, active from 1315; died 1344

A winged, blond angel kneels facing our right in profile wearing a gold garment, and is shown against a gold background in this vertical painting. The textured robe the angel wears is a similar color to the background, and with the golden hair and wings, the painting is almost entirely gold. The angel’s pale skin has a greenish cast but the cheeks are rosy. Blond hair curls around the face and falls over the shoulders. The angel looks to our right with slitted eyes over a long, straight nose, and pale pink lips are closed. The hand farther from us is drawn across the chest and tucked under the arm closer to us, with which the angel holds a tall leafy palm frond. The inside surface of the wing facing us deepens from butter yellow to tangerine orange, and the other side of the wings are lapiz blue. The robe is textured with gold swirls against slate blue for the shadows and rose pink on the sleeves. A gold halo encircles the angel’s head and the gold background is textured with an ornate decorative border along the inner of edges of the top and both sides. The floor beneath the angel is ruby red. The gilding has worn away in some areas, especially in the background, so the red layer beneath is visible through cracks.

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This small, rich panel was originally the left side of a diptych, which, along with a right-hand panel depicting the Virgin Mary (now in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg), depicts one image of the Annunciation—the moment when the archangel Gabriel brings Mary the news that she will give birth to the Son of God.

The picture in the collection of the National Gallery of Art is marked by Simone’s characteristic refinement and elegance in the elongated, delicate figure of the angel, and the sumptuously decorated and patterned surfaces throughout. The curve of Gabriel’s wing frames his kneeling figure and echoes the curves in his halo and palm branch. Simone devised new ways to recreate the look of luxurious brocaded fabrics. After covering the panel with a layer of red clay, he gilded the entire surface (except for the hands and face). He next painted the angel's robe in delicate pinks, shadowed with darker tones to define folds and the body. Following the brocade pattern, he scraped away areas of paint to reveal the gilding below, which was then textured with tiny punches. This sgrafitto ("scratched") technique may have been inspired by Islamic ceramics decorated in a similar fashion and widely popular in Italy.

A few years later, Simone brought both figures together again in an Annunciation that is the subject of a single splendid altarpiece originally for the Siena cathedral (now in the Uffizi, Florence). Details of execution link the two works: the same punches were used to decorate the gold and the same technique was applied to Gabriel’s robe. The Annunciation had been represented on large altarpieces by small busts of Mary and the angel set in the background (see, for example, link), but Simone seems to have been the first to make it the primary focus of a major work.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 3

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface (on recto): 29.5 x 20.5 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/16 in.)
    overall: 31 x 21.5 cm (12 3/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
    painted surface (gesso ground on verso): 21 x 30.2 cm (8 1/4 x 11 7/8 in.)
    framed: 54.6 x 32.9 x 4.1 cm (21 1/2 x 12 15/16 x 1 5/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1939.1.216

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: The Angel of the Annunciation, c. 1330

This horizontal painting is made up of three parts: in the center square panel, a woman reclines under a wooden shelter set into a rocky cave, which is surrounded by angels, and narrower wings to either side are each occupied by a standing man. All the people have pale skin, which is tinged with faint green. The three panels are joined with a gold frame, and the gold background behind the central scene and the men in the side panels are covered with a noticeable network of cracks. In the central panel, a cobalt-blue robe nearly envelopes the reclining woman’s body; this is Mary. It covers her head and falls open where she crosses her wrists over her chest to show a pink garment underneath. A flat gold halo encircles her head ,and her body is surrounded by a field of crimson red, almost like an aura. She rests under a wooden structure with a pitched roof, which is surrounded by craggy, barren rock. A swaddled infant lies in a rectangular, tray-like manger. The infant’s head is also surrounded by a gold halo. Fine gold rays emanate down into the structure from a star just above the peak of the roof. A bull and a donkey look down at the baby from the far side of the manger. The interior of the structure behind them is black. In a smaller scale, two women wash a haloed infant in a tub in front of the rocky cave near the lower left corner of this panel. A man with a white beard and hair sits to our left of Mary, holding a pink cloak at his throat and looking toward the infant. Above and around the rocks, seven winged and haloed angels cluster on each side. One angel to the right presents a scroll with black writing to two men accompanied by a dog and several sheep in the lower right. The man in the panel to the left, Isaiah, has a gray beard and long, wavy hair, and he wears a lilac-purple cloak draped over a coral-orange robe. In his right hand, on our left, he holds an unfurled scroll with large black lettering. His other hand is raised with one finger pointing upward. He looks to our left, away from the central scene. On the right, Ezekiel, echoes Isaiah's pose. Ezekiel holds an open scroll with his left hand, on our right, and his other hand is raised. He also wears a coral-colored robe, but his is overlaid with a blue cloak. His receding hair is short and brown, as is his beard. Like Isaiah, he takes up most of the height of the panel and gazes to our left, toward the central panel.

Scholarly Series:  Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Charles John Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning and later 1st Earl Canning [1812-1862]; by bequest to his sister, Harriet Canning de Burgh [1804-1876], Marchioness of Clanricarde; by inheritance to her daughter, Margaret Anne de Burgh Beaumont [1831-1888]; probably by inheritance to her son, Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale [1860-1923];[1] said to have been in the collection of Henry George Charles Lascelles, 6th earl of Harewood [1882-1947], Harewood House, Leeds, Yorkshire;[2] Lionello Venturi [1895-1961], New York;[3] sold 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] The back of the painting bears a paper label printed with a coat of arms with three Moors’ heads in profile and the coronet of a viscount above. Underneath is painted the name CANNING. As Ellis Waterhouse’s note of 1980 (in NGA curatorial files) informed the Gallery, this can only refer to Charles John Canning; on Canning see also Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, 24th ed., London, 1862: 171.
The paper label also is inscribed with the handwritten name of Lady Margaret Beaumont and the number 32. According to Waterhouse’s note, this can only be Margaret Anne de Burgh, daughter of Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, and of Harriet Canning, sister and heir of Charles John Canning. Margaret Anne married Wentworth Blackett Beaumont (1829-1907) in 1856. The painting probably was inherited by their son, Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont.

[2] Lascelles is named in Lionello Venturi’s February 1936 letter to the restorer Stephen Pichetto (copy in NGA curatorial files) as the person from whom “about two years ago,” i.e., in c. 1934, the painting was acquired by the unnamed person (Venturi) who owned it in February 1936. Lascelles was a grandson of Lady Elizabeth Joanna de Burgh (a sister of Margaret Anne de Burgh Beaumont), who had married Henry Thynne Lascelles, 4th earl Harewood, who became the heir of Elizabeth’s and Margaret’s unmarried brother, Herbert George de Burgh-Canning, 2nd (and last) marquess of Clanricarde. However, according to Ellis Waterhouse (see note 1) the Washington panel “didn’t belong ever to the Earl of Harewood (it was one of the few Clanricarde pictures which didn’t).” Indeed, the panel is not included in Tancred Borenius’ catalogue of the Harewood collection; the introduction indicates that the 2nd marquess of Clanricarde bequeathed to Lascelles mainly pictures by English eighteenth-century masters; see Tancred Borenius, Catalogue of the pictures and drawings at Harewood House and elswhere in the collection of the Earl of Harewood, Oxford, 1936: vii.
[3] Fern Rusk Shapley (Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:431) states that Venturi sold the panel to Samuel H. Kress in 1936.
[4] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2058.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1940

  • Suida, Wilhelm. "Die Sammlung Kress: New York." Pantheon 26 (1940): 274.

1941

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 184-185, no. 327.

  • National Gallery of Art. Book of Illustrations. Washington, 1941: 186 (repro.), 240.

  • Richter, George Martin. "The New National Gallery in Washington." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 78 (June 1941): 177.

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. "On the Italian Renaissance Painters in the National Gallery." Art News 40 (15-31 March 1941): repro. 16.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 246, repro. 189.

1955

  • Paccagnini, Giovanni. Simone Martini. Milan, 1955: 168 (repro.), 169.

  • Volpe, Carlo. "Un libro su Simone Martini, Review of Simone Martini by Giovanni Paccagnini." Paragone 6, no. 63 (1955): 52.

1956

  • Laclotte, Michel. De Giotto à Bellini: les primitifs italiens dans les musées de France. Exh. cat. Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1956: 28.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 30, repro.

1960

  • Laclotte, Michel. L’École d’Avignon: la peinture en Provence aux XIVe et XVe siècles. Paris, 1960: 32.

  • Becchis, Michela. "Martini, Simone." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 82+ vols. Rome, 1960+: 71(2008):259.

1962

  • Castelnuovo, Enrico. Un pittore italiano alla corte di Avignone. Matteo Giovannetti e la pittura in Provenza nel secolo XIV. Turin, 1962: 85-96.

1963

  • Enaud, François. "Les fresques de Simone Martini à Avignon." Les monuments historiques de la France 9 (1963): 163, 177 n. 161.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 122.

1966

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 48, fig. 121.

1967

  • Kermer, Wolfgang. "Studien zum Diptych in der sakralen Malerei von den Anfängen bis zur Mitte des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Eberhardt-Karls-Universität, Tübingen, 1967: 1:173; 2:fig. 29.

  • Klesse, Brigitte. Seidenstoffe in der italienischen Malerei des 14. Jahrhunderts. Bern, 1967: 244.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 110, repro.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 2:405.

1969

  • Os, Hendrik W. van. Marias Demut und Verherrlichung in der sienesischen Malerei: 1300-1450. The Hague, 1969: 47 n. 39.

1970

  • Contini, Gianfranco, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli. L’opera completa di Simone Martini. Milan, 1970: 106, repro.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 122, 303, 645, 661.

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  • Os, Hendrik W. van, and Marjan Rinkleff-Reinders. "De reconstructie van Simone Martini’s zgn. Polyptiek van de Passie." Nederlands kunsthistorisch jaarboek 23 (1972): 9.

1973

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 79.

1974

  • Boskovits, Miklós. "A Dismembered Polyptych, Lippo Vanni and Simone Martini." The Burlington Magazine 116 (1974): 367 n. 9.

  • De Benedictis, Cristina. "Naddo Ceccarelli." Commentari 25 (1974): 140.

1975

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1976

  • De Benedictis, Cristina. "Il Polittico della Passione di Simone Martini e una proposta per Donato." Antichità viva 15, no. 6 (1976): 5 fig. 3, 11 n. 20.

  • Levinson-Lessing, Vladimir F., Elena Kozhina, and Musée de l’Ermitage Leningrad, eds. _Zapadnoevropejskaja żivopis’: katalog. Vol. 1 (of 2), Italija, Ispanija, Francija, Svejcarija (Peinture de l’Europe Occidentale: catalogue. Vol. 1 (of 2), Italie, Espagne, France, Suisse). Leningrad, 1976: 112.

1977

  • Caleca, Antonio. "Tre polittici di Lippo Memmi, un’ipotesi sul Barna e la bottega di Simone e Lippo, 2." Critica d’arte 42 (1977): 73.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:430-431; 2:pl. 309, 309A.

  • De Benedictis, Cristina. La pittura senese 1330-1370. Florence, 1979: 29, fig. 47.

1981

  • Carli, Enzo. La pittura senese del Trecento. 1st ed. Milan, 1981: 125.

  • Gordon, Dillian. "A Sienese verre eglomisé and Its Setting." The Burlington Magazine 123 (1981): 150.

1982

  • Vsevoložskaja, Svetlana Nikolaevna. Ermitage: italienische Malerei, 13. bis 18. Jahrhundert. Translated by N. Gerassimowa. Leningrad, 1982: 264.

1983

  • Frinta, Mojmir Svatopluk. "Unsettling Evidence in Some Panel Paintings of Simone Martini." In La pittura nel XIV e XV secolo, il contributo dell’analisi tecnica alla storia dell’arte. Edited by Hendrik W. van Os and J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer. Bologna, 1983: 216, 236, fig. 27.

  • Laclotte, Michel. "Les peintres siennois à Avignon." in L’Art gothique siennois: enluminure, peinture, orfèvrerie, sculpture. Exh. cat. Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon. Florence, 1983: 99.

  • Laclotte, Michel, and Dominique Thiébaut. L’École d’Avignon. Paris, 1983: 118 n. 10.

1984

  • Piotrovsky, Boris, and Irene Linnik. Western European Painting in the Hermitage. Leningrad, 1984: n.p., no. 1.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 373, repro.

1988

  • Martindale, Andrew. Simone Martini. Oxford, 1988: 60-61, 214-215, figs. 126, 127.

  • Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. "Problemi martiniani avignonesi: il ‘Maestro degli Angeli Ribelli,’ i due Ceccarelli ed altro." In Simone Martini: atti del convegno; Siena, March 27-29, 1985. Edited by Luciano Bellosi. Florence, 1988: 225, 226 fig. 2.

  • Polzer, Joseph. "Symon Martini et Lippus Memmi me pinxerunt." In Simone Martini: atti del convegno; Siena, March 27-29, 1985. Edited by Luciano Bellosi. Florence, 1988: 170.

1989

  • Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. Simone Martini: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1989: 130, repro. 131.

  • Kustodieva, Tatiana K., ed. Ital’janskaja živopis’ XIII-XV vekov: katalog vystavki. Leningrad, 1989: 122.

  • "Martini, Simone." In Dizionario della pittura e dei pittori. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo and Bruno Toscano. 6 vols. Turin, 1989-1994: 3(1992):526.

1991

  • Eisler, Colin T. I dipinti dell’Ermitage. Udine, 1991: 163.

  • Torriti, Piero. Simone Martini. Florence, 1991: 47.

  • Pierini, Marco. "Martini, Simone." In Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 8(1997):250.

1994

  • Kustodieva, Tatiana K. Italian Painting: Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. Catalogue of Western European Painting / The Hermitage. Florence, 1994: 265.

1996

  • Martindale, Andrew. "Martini, Simone." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 20:509.

1997

  • Neri, Grazia. "Maestro della Madonna Straus." in Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 8(1997):101.

1998

  • Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 118, 247, 261, 298, 324, 333, 355, 377, 388, 446, 464.

2000

  • Pierini, Marco. Simone Martini. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2000: 206 (repro.), 207, 208 (repro.), 242 nn. 30, 32.

2002

  • Kustodieva, Tatiana K., ed. Sny gotiki i Renessansa: sienskai︠a︡ zhivopisʹ XIV-pervoĭ poloviny XVI veka, katalog vystavki. Exh. cat. Gosudarstvennyĭ Ėrmitazh, Saint Petersburg, 2002: 18.

2003

  • Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. Simone Martini. Milan, 2003: 304, 330-331 (repro.), 332-333, 340 n. 60, 341 n. 62, 365.

  • Castelnuovo, Enrico. Simone Martini: l’Annunciazione. Milan, 2003: 60-61.

  • "Martini, Simone, Peintre italien." In Dictionnaire de la peinture. Edited by Michel Laclotte and Jean Pierre Cuzin. Paris, 2003: 623.

2007

  • Bellosi, Luciano, and Giovanna Ragionieri. Giotto e la sua eredità: Filippo Rusuti, Pietro Cavallini, Duccio, Giovanni da Rimini, Neri da Rimini, Pietro da Rimini, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Matteo Giovannetti, Masso di Banco, Puccio Capanna, Taddeo Gaddi, Giovanni da Milano, Giottino, Giusto de’Menabuoi, Altichiero, Jacopo Avanzi, Jean Pucelle, i Fratelli Limbourg. Florence, 2007: 206.

2008

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and Johannes Tripps, eds. Maestri senesi e toscani nel Lindenau-Museum di Altenburg. Exh. cat. Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, 2008: 48, 49.

  • Labriola, Ada. Simone Martini e la pittura gotica a Siena: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Memmo di Filippuccio, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ugolino di Nerio, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Lippo Memmi, Matteo Giovanetti, Naddo Ceccarelli, Bartolomeo Bulgarini, Niccolò di Ser Sozzo. I Grandi Maestri dell'arte 19. Florence, 2008: 82.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 370-377, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20173074

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