On view
Annunciation,
late 13th century
Full of momentum, the archangel Gabriel alights in front of the Virgin Mary, who shrinks back in surprise as Gabriel announces that she will give birth to the son of God. The incarnation of the divine in the human form of Jesus Christ, a central tenet of Christianity, is symbolized by the dove of the Holy Spirit in the center of the composition.
This panel was once part of an altarpiece that was perhaps made for Siena Cathedral in Italy. Along with eleven other narrative scenes, it flanked a large central image of the Virgin and Child. At an unknown time, the altarpiece was cut into individual panels and dispersed.
More Context
Handbook Entry
This <em>Annunciation</em> is the only painting in the United States firmly attributed to Guido da Siena, an important Sienese artist active in the last quarter of the thirteenth century. It depicts the Archangel Gabriel alighting in front of the Virgin, who shrinks back in surprise. The dove of the Holy Ghost symbolizes the incarnation of Christ, which occurs at the same moment. This composition, repeated many times in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is the opening scene in the narrative of Christ’s life on earth. The Princeton example may be based on a nearly identical fresco that was recently discovered beneath the Cathedral of Siena. Both compositions rely on Byzantine conventions while suggesting characteristics of early Renaissance art. The panel was part of an altarpiece that may have stood on the high altar of Siena Cathedral. The work is executed in egg tempera on a support of several poplar planks, held together with glue and dowels and covered with a layer of gesso. Technical research on the Princeton panel and related panels has determined the original form of the altarpiece: a large, half-length Virgin and Child (Madonna del Voto, Siena Cathedral) that was flanked by narrative panels with scenes from the life of Christ, six on each side. The <em>Annunciation</em> occupied the upper left corner, and above was a gable with the <em>Coronation of the Virgin</em> (Courtauld Institute, London). At an unknown time, the twelve narrative scenes, central panel, and gable were cut apart and dispersed. The eleven other panels, with scenes of the Nativity and Passion of Christ, are in museums in Altenburg in Germany, Paris, Siena, and Utrecht in the Netherlands.
More About This Object
Information
late 13th century
Abbey of Badia Ardenga, near Murlo, Siena, possibly by 1575. [1]
Possibly the Verlati Family, Siena (?). [2]
Bishop Toti (?), Colle di Val d’Elsa. [3]
Unknown party, Italy; [4]
Arthur Lincoln Frothingham, Princeton, NJ;
Arthur Lincoln Frothingham Auction, October 29, 1924, American Art Association, Lot no. 105; [5]
Purchased in November 1924 by The Princeton University Art Museum through the Caroline G. Mather Fund. [6]
NOTES:
[1] James H. Stubblebine cites a description given by a Monsignor Bossio in 1575 on a visit to Siena of an altarpiece he saw in the Abbey of Badia Ardenga painted with scenes from the Passion: "...altare unicum in dicta ecclesia existens...iconam depictam in tabula cum Passione D. N. Iesu Xri decenter factam." See James H. Stubblebine, "An Altarpiece by Guido da Siena," Art Bulletin 41, no. 3 (Sept. 1959), 260-261, and Guido da Siena (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964), 44, who cites Francesco Bossio, "Visite pastorale di Mons, Francesco Bossio," Curia Arcivescoville, Siena, quoted in Cesare Brandi, "A proposito di una felice ricostruzione della celebre Madonna di Guido da Siena," Bullettino senese di storia patria, n.s. II (1931): 80. These are believed to be the twelve panels by Guido da Siena that include the Princeton painting. Stubblebine notes that although Peleus Bacci refutes that this description refers to the twelve panels based on the use of the word icona, which Bacci argues implies a central image, Brandi asserts that Bossio employs this term for every altarpiece that he encounters. See Peleus Bacci, "La pinacoteca di Siena," Bullettino senese di storia patria, n.s. IV (1933): 18, and Brandi, 12.
[2] See accession card, which features "Werlati, Siena - / Bishop Foti, Colle di Val d’Elsa" handwritten in pencil across two lines next to Frothingham’s name. See also conservation record in curatorial file, which includes just the "Bishop Foti, Colle di Val d’Elsa" portion. It is uncertain what this note indicates – if this is the party in Italy from whom Frothingham directly acquired the panel? An individual with the surname Werlati from Siena who disclosed this provenance information about Bishop Foti? Or perhaps two successive previous owners? A preliminary search for Werlati as a collector, author, dealer, or a surname of some other notable figure from Siena found nothing of interest, but there is an Italian aristocratic family with the surname Verlati. With no other context for the handwritten note on the accession card in the curatorial file, the "W" might be a transcription error. The note may then point to the painting being in the collection of someone in the Verlati family.
[3] A search for a Bishop Foti in the list of bishops for the town of Colle di Val d’Elsa was unsuccessful, but there is a bishop named Alessandro Toti whose life dates would be compatible with the period between when the Princeton painting left the Badia Ardenga and was acquired by Frothingham. Born in June 1834, Toti was ordained a priest in September 1857, appointed and ordained a bishop for Colle di Val d’Elsa in December 1891, and died in March 1903. See "Illustrazioni Cattoliche: Mons. Alessandro Toti, Nuovo Vescovo di Colle" in Gazzetta del clero, Anno XV, no. 43 (Roma: November 8, 1891): 337–338; R. Ritzler and P. Sefrin, eds., Hierarchia catholica, VIII: 1846-1903 (Padua: Basilicum Antoni, 1978), 215. Having "Foti" instead of "Toti" on the accession card may be another transcription error.
[4] Stubblebine writes that Frothingham purchased the Princeton panel earlier in Italy from an unnamed party. See Stubblebine, Guido da Siena, 44. Since it is unclear at the present time what the handwritten note next to Frothingham’s name on the accession card indicates, and if Bishop Toti is the individual from whom Frothingham acquired the painting, a line indicating "Unknown party, Italy," will be used to mark Stubblebine’s provenance statement in addition to a line for the Bishop Toti information.
[5] American Art Galleries, The Collection of the Late Professor A. L. Frothingham, Princeton University, October 29th-30th, 1924, New York: American Art Association, 1924, Lot no. 105.
[6] The accession card and TMS record refer to Mather check no. 24.
- Frank Jewett Mather Jr., "Painting", Art and archaeology 20, no. 3 (1925): p. 145-151., p. 145 (illus.)
- Curt H. Weigelt, "Guido da Siena's Great Ancona: a reconstruction", Burlington magazine 59, no. 340 (1931): p. 15-22., p. 15-22
- Millard Meiss, "A Dugento Altarpiece at Antwerp", Burlington magazine 71, no. 412 (1937): p. 14-25., p. 18; pl. 2, A
- Robert Oertel, "[Rezension von:] Italienische Malerei des Mittelalters bis zum Trecento", Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 7, no. 3 (1938): p. 263-267., p. 266
- E.B. Garrison, Italian Romanesque panel painting; an illustrated index, (Florence: L.S. Olschki, 1949)., p. 20, 62
- Gertude Coor, "Ducento-Gemälde aus der Sammlung Ramboux", Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 16 (1954): p. 77-86., p. 82-83
- "[Frank Jewett Mather, Jr. 1868-1953: In memoriam]", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 13, no. 1 (1954): p. 2-19., p. 7 (illus.)
- James H. Stubblebine, "An altarpiece by Guido da Siena", Art bulletin 41, no. 3 (Sept., 1959): p. 260-268., p. 260-68
- Robert Oertel, Frühe italienische Malerei in Altenburg: beschreibender Katalog der Gemälde des 13. bis 16. Jahrhunderts im Staatlichen Lindenau-Museum, (Berlin: Henschelverlag, 1961)., p. 61, fig. 4; fig. 5 (for reconstruction)
- Hellmut Hager, Die Anfänge des italienischen Altarbildes: Untersuchungen zur Entstehungsgeschichte des toskanischen Hochaltarretabels, (München: A. Schroll, 1962)., fig 109; p. 88, 131
- James H. Stubblebine, Guido da Siena, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964)., p. 63, 66 (illus.)
- John White, Art and architecture in Italy, 1250 to 1400, (Berlin: Pengiun, 1966)., p. 405-6
- Bernard Berenson, Italian pictures of the Renaissance: a list of the principal artists and their works with an index of places. Central Italian and North Italian schools, (London: Phaidon, 1968)., p. 205
- Hans-Joachim Ziemke, "Ramboux und die sienesische Kunst", Städel-Jahrbuch (1969): p. 255-300., p. 265
- B. B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of pre-nineteenth-century Italian paintings in North American collections, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972)., p. 99
- Program III: "Images of Mary", (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1975)., no. 54; p. 112-113
- Enzo Carli, La pittura senese del Trecento, (Milano: Electa, 1981)., p. 257, note 10
- H. W. van Os, Sienese altarpieces, 1215-1460: form, content, function, (Groningen: Bouma’s Boekhuis, 1984-1990)., p. 29, fig. 25
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 79 (illus.)
- Betsy Rosasco, "The teaching of art and the museum tradition: Joseph Henry to Allan Marquand," in "An art museum for Princeton: the early years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): p. 7-52., p. 11; fig. 5
- Barbara T. Ross, "The Mather years 1922-1946," in "An art museum for Princeton: the early years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): p. 53–76., p. 65, fig. 17
- Daniel Arasse, L’Annonciation italienne: une histoire de perspective, (Paris: Hazan, 1999)., p. 60, fig. 23
- Victor M. Schmidt and Norman Muller, "Nuove evidenze tecniche sull'"Annunciazione" di Guido da Siena a Princeton e un'ipotesi di ricostruzione del complesso di appartenenza", Prospettiva 103/104 (Jul. – Oct., 2001): p. 110-112., p. 110-112
- Barbara John, Holger Manzke, Jutta Penndorf, Claritas: das Hauptaltarbild im Dom zu Siena nach 1260: die Rekonstruktion, (Altenburg: Lindenau-Museum, 2001)., p. 35-45, 52, fig. 4; p. 69 (illus.)
- Hayden B.J. Maginnis, The World of the early Sienese painter, (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 2001)., fig. 85, n. pag.
- Robert Guerrini and Max Seidel, Sotto il Duomo di Siena: scoperte archeologiche, architettoniche e figurative, (Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana, 2003)., p. 108, fig. 1; p. 109, fig. 2-4; p. 110, fig. 5
- Norman E. Muller, "Guido da Siena's Annunciation in Context," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 63 (2004): 28–39., p. 29, fig. 1; pp. 30–31, figs. 3–4; pp. 35–37, figs. 8–10
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 265 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 317
