NARRATOR:
This beautiful picture by the Italian Renaissance painter Francesco Bissolo depicts the Annunciation according to the apostle Luke:
LUKE [ACTOR]:
“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth … to a virgin [named] Mary. The angel went to her and said … ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. … ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you. … For nothing is impossible with God.’”
NARRATOR:
Here, the intimate conversation between Mary and Gabriel is set in an idealized, upper-class Italian home. Mary kneels piously at her prayer desk, as Gabriel delivers the divine message. He carries a spray of lilies to symbolize the Virgin’s purity. Above him, framed by the arched window, a dove representing the Holy Spirit flies down, radiating golden light. Mary’s haloed head is set off against the dark background, drawing us into the sublime mystery of the event.
Don’t miss the painter’s prominent signature on the side of the Virgin’s modest desk. It suggests the growing importance of artists, who not long before had remained for the most part completely anonymous. The elaborate frame of the painting, modeled after a Renaissance shrine, was added later, underscoring the picture’s use as the focus of private devotions.
The Annunciation
c.1500
Francesco Bissolo (Italian, 1470/72-1554)
On View
Bissolo was a student of Giovanni Bellini. From this master Bissolo learned to describe form with color and light, a much-celebrated technique of the Venetian School. This soft tonalism is evident in the rich colors of Mary's room, the warm light that bathes her chamber and the early morning landscape.
Bissolo has depicted the moment that the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will miraculously bear a son. By silhouetting their faces against darker forms, the artist encourages the viewer to meditate on the meaning of the mystery.
Details
- Artist Name: Francesco Bissolo (Italian, 1470/72-1554)
- Title: The Annunciation
- Date: c.1500
- Medium: Oil on panel, transferred to canvas
- Dimensions: 43-3/4 x 39-1/2 in. (111.1 x 100.3 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.2004.2.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Count Manfrin collection, Venice, in 1855, still in 1877.
Robert H. (1850-1929) and Evelyn Holford Benson, London; by 1894; sold 1 June 1927 to
[Duveen Bros., New York; stock no. 29351; 1938, stock no. 29838]
The Norton Simon Foundation (F.1965.1.5.P); sold 2004 to
Norton Simon Art Foundation
Robert H. (1850-1929) and Evelyn Holford Benson, London; by 1894; sold 1 June 1927 to
[Duveen Bros., New York; stock no. 29351; 1938, stock no. 29838]
The Norton Simon Foundation (F.1965.1.5.P); sold 2004 to
Norton Simon Art Foundation
[on loan]
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966-09-19 to
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- Seidlitz, W. von, Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft,
- Eastman, A., Great Masters of the Italian Renaissance 1400-1600,no. 27
- Borenius, Tancred, Catalogue of Italian Pictures . . . Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson,no. 79
- Berenson, Bernard, The Study and Criticism of Italian art, pp. 124-125
- Morris, J., Italian Renaissance paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and furnhishings,no. 70
- Sutton, Denys, Apollo,fig. 8 pp. 39-40
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