Annunciation (Artemisia Gentileschi)

Last updated
Annunciation
Verkundigung an maria.jpg
Artist Artemisia Gentileschi
Yearc.1630
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions257 cm× 179 cm(101 in× 70 in)
Location Museo di Capodimonte, Naples

Annunciation is a painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is signed and dated 1630. [1]

Contents

Description

Two brightly-illuminated figures are portrayed in a dark room. The women on the right is standing, bowing slightly with her right hand to her heart. The angelic figure on the left, clad in sumptuous saffron robes, kneels with a lily held in the right hand, while pointing upwards with the left. Light pours from a shaft above the figure, with winged cherubic heads circling. A small piece of paper on the ground to the extreme right of the painting shows the artist's signature and date. The image portrays the moment in the Gospels when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is to be the mother of God.

Provenance

The picture was completed early in the artist's time in Naples. [2] It has been identified as an altarpiece, but the church for which it was commissioned has not been identified. [3] It was first documented in the collection of Cavaliere Francesco Saverio di Rovette, who sold it to the present owners in 1815. [4]

Condition

The painting has been described as having severe abrasion and a loss of much of the half-tones and a deepening of the dark-tones, leading to exaggerated contrast. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemisia Gentileschi</span> Italian painter (1593 – c. 1656)

Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.

<i>Judith Slaying Holofernes</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Naples) 1612–13 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting by the Italian early Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, completed in 1612-13 and now at the Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. The picture is considered one of her iconic works. The canvas shows Judith beheading Holofernes. The subject takes an episode from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. The painting shows the moment when Judith, helped by her maidservant Abra, beheads the general after he has fallen asleep in a drunken stupor. She painted a second version now in the Uffizi, Florence, somewhere between 1613 and 1621.

<i>Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, also known as Autoritratto in veste di Pittura or simply La Pittura, was painted by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 98.6 by 75.2 centimetres and was probably produced during Gentileschi's stay in England between 1638 and 1639. It was in the collection of Charles I and was returned to the Royal Collection at the Restoration (1660) and remains there. In 2015 it was put on display in the "Cumberland Gallery" in Hampton Court Palace.

<i>Susanna and the Elders</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Pommersfelden) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (Pommersfelden)

Susanna and the Elders is a 1610 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi and is her earliest-known signed and dated work. It was one of Gentileschi's signature works. She painted several variations of the scene in her career. It currently hangs at Schloss Weißenstein in Pommersfelden, Germany. The work shows a frightened Susanna with two men lurking above her while she is in the bath. The subject matter comes from the deuterocanonical Book of Susanna in the Additions to Daniel. This was a popular scene to paint during the Baroque period.

<i>Saint Apollonia</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Saint Apollonia is a painting attributed to the Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi executed between 1642 and 1644. It is part of the collection of the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, Mexico.

<i>Esther Before Ahasuerus</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Esther Before Ahasuerus is a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It shows the biblical heroine Esther going before Ahasuerus to beg him to spare her people. The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been donated to the museum by Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll in 1969. It is one of Gentileschi's lesser known works, but her use of lighting, characterization, and style help in successfully portraying Esther as a biblical heroine as well as the main protagonist of the work.

<i>Judith and her Maidservant</i> (Gentileschi, Florence) c. 1615 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and her Maidservant is a c. 1615 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The painting depicts Judith and her maidservant leaving the scene where they have just beheaded general Holofernes, whose head is in the basket carried by the maidservant. It hangs in the Pitti Palace, Florence.

This is an ongoing bibliography of work related to the Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.

<i>Self-Portrait as a Lute Player</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Self-Portrait as a Lute Player is one of many self-portrait paintings made by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It was created between 1615 and 1617 for the Medici family in Florence. Today, it hangs in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, US. It shows the artist posing as a lute player looking directly at the audience. The painting has symbolism in the headscarf and outfit that portray Gentileschi in a costume that resembles a Romani woman. Self-Portrait as a Lute Player has been interpreted as Gentileschi portraying herself as a knowledgeable musician, a self portrayal as a prostitute, and as a fictive expression of one aspect of her identity.

<i>Danaë</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Danaë is a 1612 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Saint Louis Art Museum, United States.

<i>Jael and Sisera</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Jael and Sisera is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, executed around 1620.

<i>Madonna and Child</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Madonna and Child is an early painting by the baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. It was painted around 1613, when Artemisia was around 20 years old. It currently hangs in the Galleria Spada in Rome.

<i>Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr, is also known as the Self-Portrait as a Martyr Saint. This painting was created by the Italian female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. This self-portrait was made around 1615 depicting the artist herself as a martyr. It is one of two paintings by Gentileschi painted with oil on a wood panel. This self-portrait is currently in a private collection in the United States.

<i>Saint Catherine of Alexandria</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Saint Catherine of Alexandra is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is in the collection of the Uffizi, Florence. Gentileschi likely used the same cartoon or preparatory drawing to create both this painting and the Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1615–1617), now in the National Gallery, London.

<i>Portrait of a Gonfaloniere</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

The Portrait of a Gonfaloniere is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Palazzo d'Accursio, Bologna. It is a portrait of an unknown gonfaloniere standing in full regalia and was painted in 1622. Mary D. Garrard has speculated that the man may be Pietro Gentile of Genoa.

<i>Corisca and the Satyr</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Corisca and the Satyr was painted in the 1630s by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It currently hangs in a private collection.

<i>Susanna and the Elders</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Brno) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (Brno)

Susanna and the Elders is one of several paintings on this theme executed by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. This version, painted in 1649, hangs in the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Czech Republic. It is signed with Gentileschi's signature and the date on the balustrade on the right.

<i>Lucretia</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Milan) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Lucretia is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It depicts Lucretia, the wife of Roman consul and general Collatinus, at the moment of her suicide. The decision to take her own life was made after she was blackmailed and raped by Sextus Tarquinius, a fellow soldier of Collatinus. It is one of a number of paintings of Gentileschi that focus on virtuous women ill-treated by men.

<i>Self-Portrait</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting generally accepted as being by Artemisia Gentileschi

The Self Portrait of Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi was painted in the early 1630s. It currently hangs in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome. It is one of many paintings where Gentileschi depicts herself. Beyond self-portraits, her allegorical and religious paintings often featured herself in different guises.

<i>Saint Januarius in the Amphitheatre at Pozzuoli</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Saint Januarius in the Amphitheatre at Pozzuoli is a 1635-1637 oil on canvas painting by Artemisia Gentileschi. The work shows the moment that the Christian martyr Januarius and his followers are thrown to a group of wild animals in the amphitheatre in Pozzuoli - however, they lick the saint's feet rather than attacking him and Januarius is unharmed.

References

  1. Bissell, R. Ward (1968). "Artemisia Gentileschi-A New Documented Chronology". The Art Bulletin. pp. 157–162. doi:10.2307/3048529 . Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. Treves, Letizia (2020). Artemisia. London: The National Gallery Company Ltd. ISBN   1857096568.
  3. Bissell, R. Ward (1968). "Artemisia Gentileschi : a new documented chronology". The Art Bulletin. 50: 153–168.
  4. "Immunity From Seizure: Artemisia" (PDF). The National Gallery, London. The National Gallery, London.
  5. Christiansen, Keith (2004). "Becoming Artemisia: Afterthoughts on the Gentileschi Exhibition". Metropolitan Museum Journal. pp. 120–121. Retrieved 4 July 2021.