The Virgin Mary’s quiet moment of devotional reading is interrupted by the startling revelation that she has been chosen to be the mother of Christ. Originally, a flanking panel depicted the Angel Gabriel announcing the message. Even in the absence of her counterpart, the Virgin’s carefully measured gesture and attentive, modest pose communicate her marvel. Her graceful form fills the panel, following the late-medieval tradition of placing the important figure close to the picture plane. Lorenzo delighted in depicting the brilliant blue of her drapery—highlighted with yellow, pink and green—and the rhythmic patterns created by its fall. The painter’s expertise as a book illuminator informs his attention to the decorative character of the details, from the embroidery of her garments to the punchwork in her halo.
Lorenzo’s spiritual calling as a Camaldolese monk certainly informed his work as an artist, and the serene, mystical quality of this Virgin Annunciate is in tenor with the panel’s religious and liturgical function. It likely belonged to an altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin that was commissioned for the church of San Benedetto fuori della Porta a Pinti in Florence. Major surviving portions are in the National Gallery, London.
Details
- Artist Name: Lorenzo Monaco (Italian, c.1370-1425)
- Title: Virgin Annunciate
- Date: c. 1410-15
- Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on panel
- Dimensions: 31-5/8 x 17-1/2 in. (80.3 x 44.5 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Mr. Norton Simon
- Accession Number: M.1973.5.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Presumably moved to the Alberti Chapel in Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence, ca. 1529, when S. Benedetto was destroyed and the monks moved to S. M. degli Angeli.
[Stefano Bardini, Florence, sold 1894 to];
The Prince of Liechtenstein, Mödling, Austria, still in collection 1948, sold to;.
[Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, stock no. 246, Knoedler's, stock no. A7056, & Pinakos, 1/3 ownership each; sold by Agnew on 12 December 1962 to];
Norton Simon, gift 1973 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fursten von Liechtenstein
- Lucerne, Kunstmuseum, 1948-06 to 1948-10
Italian Art and Britain
- London, Royal Academy, 1960-01-02 to 1960-03-06
- van Marle, R., The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, p. 160
- Berenson, Bernard, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, p. 301
- Pudelko, Georg, The Burlington Magazine, p. 247
- Levi D'Ancona, M., Commentari, p. 257
- Gordon, D., The Burlington Magazine, fig. 9 pp. 723-727
- Suida, W., Monatsheft für Kunstwissenschaft, 1908, p. 60
- Kronfeld, A., Führer durch die fürstlich Liechtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie in Wien, 1925, no. 872 (3rd ed.) pp. 40, 174
- Suida, E., Allegemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler, 1930, p. 392
- Davies, Martin, The Earlier Italian Schools, 1953, pp. 307-309
- Boskovits, Miklos, Pittura Fiorentina: alla vigilia del Rinascimento 1370-1400, 1975, p. 349
- Muller, Norman, Journal for the American Institute for Conservation, 1978, pp. 1, 12, 16-17
- Eisenberg, Marvin, Lorenzo Monaco, 1989, pp. 158, 138-140, 143-144
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 15
- Dunkerton, J. et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, 1991, pp. 240-241
- Boskovits, Miklos, Arte Cristiana, 1994, fig. 12 p. 359
- Fahy, Everett, L'Archivio Storico fotografico di Stefano Bardini. Dipinti-Disegni-Miniature-Stampe, 2000, p. 38f., cat 227, ill. p. 178
- Gordon, Dillian, The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, 2001, fig. 10 pp. 176-177
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 124 p. 260
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