The Annunciation (Fra Angelico)
c. 1425–1426 · Tempera on panel · Museo del Prado, Madrid
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About this work
- Artist
- Fra Angelico (c. 1400–1455)
- Year
- c. 1425–1426
- Medium
- Tempera on panel
- Original size
- 162.3 × 191.5 cm
- Collection
- Museo del Prado, Madrid
- Movement
- Renaissance
Under a vaulted loggia with a ceiling of gold stars on blue, the angel Gabriel in a pink and gold robe bows to the Virgin, who sits with arms crossed on her breast in a blue mantle; a ray of golden light carrying the dove crosses from the upper left, where Adam and Eve are expelled from a flowering garden by an angel, so that the Fall and the Annunciation are seen together. A predella beneath shows five scenes from the Virgin's life. Fra Angelico painted it in about 1425–1426 for a side altar of the church of San Domenico at Fiesole, the Dominican convent where he was a friar. It is one of three Annunciation altarpieces by him, with those at Cortona and San Giovanni Valdarno, and is usually thought to be the earliest. The garden, painted plant by plant, stands for the enclosed garden of Mary's virginity. The altarpiece remained at San Domenico until 1611, when it was sold and taken to Spain, where it entered the royal collection. It is in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A kneeling angel in pink and gold and the Virgin in deep blue beneath a starry blue vault beside a flowering garden, for a living room, hallway or bedroom at 24×36 in natural wood. A cream, soft gold or pale blue wall; it pairs with The Sistine Madonna.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (c. 1425–1426)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, bedroom, hallway or entryway, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Annunciation in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Annunciation painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
