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The San Gallo Annunciation is an oil on panel painting by
The San Gallo Annunciation is an oil on panel painting by Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altar-pieces, ...
, executed ''c.'' 1513–1514, now in the Palatine Gallery
The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...
in Florence.
It was the middle of three works the artist produced for the Augustinian monastery the Church of San Gallo
Church of San Gallo was a 15th-century church designed by architect Giuliano da Sangallo. The church was built outside of the city walls and it was destroyed during the Siege of Florence (1529–30).
Background
Lorenzo de' Medici commissione ...
in Florence, between '' Noli me tangere'' and ''The Disputation on the Trinity
''The Disputation on the Trinity'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto, created ''c.'' 1517, now in the Galleria Palatina in Florence.
At the top of the painting is a vision of the Holy Trinity. Seat ...
'', as recorded in the Anonimo Magliabechiano manuscript and in Vasari's ''Lives of the Artists
''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...
''. When Florence was besieged, that monastery's goods were moved to San Jacopo tra i Fossi within the city walls and its buildings razed in 1531 by Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
's troops. The monastery rebuilt all its chapels at its new site in their former form. About a third of the painting was submerged in the 1557 flood, probably leading to the loss of the predella
In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...
, though in 1986 (Serena?) Padovani theorised that that predella wholly or partly survived and is now divided up between the National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...
and Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
.
Stylistically its monumental figures show the influence of Fra Bartolomeo
Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di S. Marco, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects. ...
and the , both major influences on Andrea del Sarto's early career, whilst the colouring is heavily influenced by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and the compositional liberty by Piero di Cosimo
Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
He is most famous for the mythological and allegorical subjects he painted in the late Quattrocento; he is said to ...
. In 1985 Petrioli Tofani argued the figures standing on the balcony in the background to be Susannah and the Elders, with Conti arguing instead in 1968 that they are David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and Bathsheba
Bathsheba ( or ; he, בַּת־שֶׁבַע, ''Baṯ-šeḇaʿ'', Bat-Sheva or Batsheva, "daughter of Sheba" or "daughter of the oath") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of ...
and Natali in 1989 that they are Adam and Eve, in reference to Augustinian exegesis. Marco Chiarini, ''Galleria palatina e Appartamenti Reali'', Sillabe, Livorno 1998.
References