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| Artist | Botticelli, Sandro (Italian painter and draftsman, born 1444 or 1445, died 1510) Attributed to Botticelli, Sandro (Italian painter and draftsman, born 1444 or 1445, died 1510) and studio |
| Title | The Annunciation |
| Date earliest | probably 1490 |
| Date latest | 1506 |
| Material | tempera on panel (hardwood {probably walnut}) |
| Measurements | 49.5 x 61.9 cm |
| Description | The emphasis Sandro Botticelli, one of the best known Renaissance artists, placed on linear qualities, sound draughtsmanship and a subtle balance of light and shadow in this small picture representing the Annunciation is typical of the Florentine school of painting about 1500, but it should not be reduced to an example of perspective construction. Following Saint Luke, chap. 1, the future Mother of God is represented in her study. With a vehement movement the angel is entering into the architectural structure. At the same moment the Madonna has risen to receive the ray symbolising the Annunciation. |
| Subject | figure; religion (Annunciation); interior |
| Collection | Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums): Kelvingrove Museum |
| Current accession number | 174 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by Archibald McLellan 1855. |
| Provenance | Probably from the sacristy of the church of St Barnabas, Florence; purchased in Florence by Revd John Sanford, probably 1832, from Avvocato Rivani (Sandford's Account Book, in the Barber Institute, Birminghman); Rev. John Sanford sale, Christie's, 1839, lot 74, as from 'the church of St. Barnabas at Florence', bought by 'Davis' for £4:12:0.. |
| Principal exhibitions | Exhibition of Florentine Painting, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1919; Exhibition of Italian Art: 1200-1900, Royal Academy, London, 1930, cat. no. 118 [or 234?]; McLellan Centenary Exhibition, Corporation of the City of Glasgow, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1954, cat. no. 10. |
| Principal publications | Catalogue of Paintings purchased by the Revd. John Sandford during his Residence in Italy - 1830 and following Years, Corsham Court Ms. D.9, no. 38; The McLellan Gallery: Catalogue of Pictures Bequeathed to the People of Glasgow by the late Archibald McLellan, Glasgow, 1855, 'Centre Room: Italian and German Schools', no. 87, p. 11, as 'The Annunciation, an old Copy from a Picture in Florence', by 'Alessandro Botticello'; Waagen, G. F., Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain ... Forming a Supplemental Volume to the Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London, 1857, no. 87, p. 459, as Botticelli; Pinnington, E., The Art Collection of the Corporation of Glasgow: Illustrated with Twenty-five Annan Photogravures, Glasgow 1898, pp. 33, 70; Ulmann, H., Sandro Botticelli, Munich, 1893, pp. 136-37, 151, as Botticelli, 1490s; Venturi, A., Storia dell'arte Italiana, Milan, 1901-40, vol. 7, 1911, p. 642 n, as school-piece; Fry, R., in his review of the exhibition at Burlington Fine Arts Club, Burlington Magazine, vol. 25, 1919, pp. 4-11, pl. IV, as 'one of his [Botticelli's] finest works in Britain'; Bode, W. V., Sandro Botticelli, Berlin, 1921 (Engl. trans., 1925), pp. 142, 180, 201 as Botticelli, contemporary to the 1501 Nativity; Schmarsow, A., Sandro Botticelli, Dresden, 1923, p. 99, as a late work of Botticelli; Bode, W. V., Botticelli: Des Meisters Werke, Stuttgart, 1926 (Klassiker der Kunst), pp. 100 and 140, as Botticelli, about 1500; Van Marle, R., The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, The Hague, 1923-36, vol. 12, 1931, p. 150, as the latest of Botticelli's Annunciations; Gamba, C., Botticelli, Milan, 1936, p. 190, as Botticelli, about 1498-1500; Mesnil, J., Botticelli , Paris, 1938, p. 223, as designed, but not executed by Botticelli; Bettini, S., Botticelli, Bergamo, 1942, pp. 40, 50, as Botticelli, about 1500; Nicolson, B., 'The Sandford Collection', Burlington Magazine, 1955, pp. 207-14; Salvini, R., Tutta la pittura del Botticelli, Milan, 1958, vol. 2, p. 65, tav. 113, as a late work by Botticelli; Salvini, R., The Paintings of Botticelli, London 1965, vol. 4, p. 165, pl. 113, as an autograph of Botticelli; Catalogue of Italian Paintings: Illustrations, Glasgow Art Gallery and Museums, 1970, p. 36 (ill.), 'Sandro Botticelli [?]'; Kemp, M., 'Botticelli's Glasgow Annunciation: Patterns of Instability', Burlington Magazine, March 1977, pp. 181-84, as an autograph by Botticelli, late 1490s - early 1500s; Legoux, S., Botticelli, London, 1977, p. 78, colour pl. VII; Lightbrown, R., Sandro Botticelli: Complete Catalogue, London, 1978, vol. 1, p. 155, vol. 2., pp. 80-81, no. B71, thinks the figures to be by Botticelli, the rest by an assistant, about 1493; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum: The Building and the Collections: with an Introduction by Alasdair A. Auld, London and Glasgow, 1987, pp. 103-04, ill. 6; Zöllner, F., Sandro Boticelli, Munich, 2005, no. 79, pp. 262, 238, as Botticelli and studio. |
| Notes | Written inscription black paint on the back ur of the panel reads: 'Botticelli/ Della Galleria Riani/ ... della Chiesa/ San Barna ... [?]/ di Firenze'; further no. 'H 4 38'; wax seal (not photographed). Although the attribution to Botticelli has never seriously been discussed, the picture was not incuded in the monumental work on Botticelli by H. Horne (London 1898). The painting has been described as 'Extremely fragile due to the crumbling of the gess ground. The painting suffered from blistering and has been extensively filled and retouched, noteably the architectural setting. The figures alone are comparatively untouched', but in 1979-88 the picture underwent conservation treatment by Ian McClure and Helen Ak[?]royd. The panel has been extended at each end, top and bottom, for slightly less than 1 cm and painted to match; X-rays revealed major pentimenti in the construction of the architecture, which seems to indicate the authorship of a scholar in these parts of the painting. |
| Rights status | Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums) |
| Author | Dr Heiner Krellig |
