''Annunciation'' is a 1623 oil on canvas painting by

Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (; 1563 – 7 February 1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other ...

, now in the

Galleria Sabauda The Savoy Gallery () is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86. The museum, whose first directors were Robe ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. The work was produced during the artist's stay in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Its large red curtain quotes that in

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

's ''

Death of the Virgin The Death of the Virgin Mary is a common subject in Western Christian art, and is the equivalent of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Eastern Orthodox art. This depiction became less common as the doctrine of the Assumption gained support in t ...

'' (Louvre), which he had seen in Rome, but the painting as a whole uses a warmer daytime light in contrast to that work's nighttime setting. The painter sent the work to

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I (; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death almost 50 years later in 1630, he was the longest-reigning Savoyard monarch ...

in Turin in 1623 with a letter mentioning his other services to the House of Savoy, probably referring to his earlier ''

Assumption of the Virgin The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

'' (

Turin City Museum of Ancient Art The Museo Civico d'Arte Antica is an art museum located in the Palazzo Madama in Turin, Italy. It has a renowned collection of paintings from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. It reopened in 2006 after several years of restorations. ...

), originally intended for the church of Monte dei Cappuccini, Turin. The letter also explicitly mentioned the artist's ''Lot and His Daughters'', long in the Savoy collections. The accompanying letter and the choice of subject (Savoy had a

Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation () is a Catholic order of chivalry, originating in County of Savoy, Savoy. It eventually was the pinnacle of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Italy#The Kingdom of Italy, honours system in the ...

) show Gentileschi seeking a steady job as a court artist. The Duke accepted the gift but did not give Gentileschi an appointment, forcing him to move on to Paris and then London.

References

Gentileschi Paintings in the Galleria Sabauda 1623 paintings Paintings by Orazio Gentileschi {{1620s-painting-stub

See also

References