The Archangel Gabriel, with a lily (here symbol of the Virgin's purity), kneels before the Virgin & brings the Lord's salutation. New Testament (Luke 1:26-35). This may have been the upper part of an altarpiece. If the attribution is accepted, this would have to be a fairly early work by Giannicola while he was strongly influenced by Perugino. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Duccio’s The Annunciation from our collection. About this painting The Annunciation, 1307/8-11 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1883 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Zanobi Strozzi’s The Annunciation from our collection. About this painting The Annunciation, about 1440-5 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1894 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Carlo Crivelli’s The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius from our collection. About this painting The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius, 1486 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1864 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Gaudenzio Ferrari’s The Annunciation: The Angel Gabriel from our collection. About this painting The Annunciation: The Angel Gabriel, 1508-9 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1916 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

This altarpiece shows the Virgin on a high throne, with Saint John the Baptist on the left, & Saint Nicholas of Bari to the right. It is dated 1505 on the basis of the inscription on the Virgin's mantle. It is known as ' The Ansidei Madonna' because it was commissioned by Bernardino Ansidei for his family chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas in the church of San Fiorenzo, Perugia. Part of the predella, the lower section of the altarpiece, showing ' Saint John the Baptist preaching' is also in the Collection. The internal architecture is not in fact entirely logical. The throne has no arms, & the steps are too steep to be practicable. They do, however, beautifully reflect the arches above & give the sense of a humble approach to the throne., p> The Perugian patron probably wanted something in the tradition of the city's famous artist Perugino. On employing Raphael, influenced by Perugino, he got this & more. Raphael visited Florence in 1504. The influence of Donatello's sculpture is visible in the figure of Saint Nicholas. He would also have studied the sculptural approach of painters like Masaccio. ...

In the left panel the Virgin is shown in a pose of adoration. The central panel represents Christ of the Apocalypse as described in the New Testament (Revelation 1: 13). He has a golden girdle; his head & hair are 'as white as snow'; in his right hand he holds the seven stars & in his left the keys of death & hell. Originally he may have held a two-edged sword in his mouth. On the right, John the Baptist holds a scroll with an inscription from the Old Testament (Isaiah 7: 14) ' Ecce virgo co (n)cipiet' (Behold a Virgin shall conceive). The scroll originally read ' Ecce agnus dei' (Behold the Lamb of God), the words usually associated with the Baptist. ...

The Duke of Buckingham is carried upwards by Minerva & Mercury to a marble temple in front of which are Virtue & Abundance (?). The three Graces offer the Duke a crown of flowers, Envy seeks to pull him down & a lion challenges him. George Villiers (1592
- 1628) was created Duke of Buckingham in 1623. He was the powerful favourite of James I & Charles I. This picture is an allegory of his political aims & the forces that impeded him. It is a preparatory sketch for a ceiling painting by Rubens that hung in the Duke's London home, York House (destroyed by fire in 1949). It was probably commissioned from Rubens when Buckingham first met him in Paris in about 1625. The sketch demonstrates Rubens's brilliant foreshortenings & must have inspired the artist's later work for the Banqueting House of Whitehall Palace.
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On the wings, the donor & donatrix have unidentified coats of arms, partly rubbed out, with the letters W B associated with the donor. In the background of the wings: left, the Way to Calvary, right the Resurrection. ...

This altarpiece comes from a chapel in the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery near Milan. The central Virgin & Child are flanked by the Archangel Saint Michael on the left, standing on Satan. Raphael & the young Tobias are on the right. The Virgin's robe is ultramarine of exceptional quality. The church was consecrated in May 1497. In 1499 Ludovico il Moro, ruler of Milan & the Certosa's most important supporter, applied pressure to get it completed. The Certosa had a large number of chapels. The original altarpiece had an upper tier with God the Father flanked by the Virgin Annunciate & the Archangel Gabriel. The two top side-panels were supplied by another Florentine artist, Albertinelli, after Perugino had failed to paint them. Originally these three panels formed the lower tier of a six-panel altarpiece. They have been cut down at the bottom. Central panel 113.7 x 63.8 cm; Wings each approx. 113 x 56 cm. ...