The ''Annunziata Polyptych'' is a painting cycle started by

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (probably 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. He also worked in Rome for a ...

and finished by

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famou ...

, whose central panel is now divided between the

Galleria dell'Accademia The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze () is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo's sculpture ''David''. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine a ...

(''Deposition from the Cross'') and the Basilica dell'Annunziata, both in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy. The polyptych had other six panels, which are housed in the

Lindenau-Museum The Lindenau-Museum is an art museum in Altenburg, Thuringia, Germany. It originated as the house-museum of baron and collector Bernhard August von Lindenau. The building was completed in 1876. The museum's main attraction is its collection of ...

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two s ...

in Rome and in a private collection in South Africa. Pietro Perugino cat74f

History

The work was originally commissioned to Filippino Lippi for the high altar of the Annunziata Basilica in Florence. Lippi had already ceded the same commission to

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, who had executed a cartoon with ''St. Anne, the Virgin and the Child'', before abandoning the work when he followed

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

(1502). The work was thus reassigned to Lippi, who changed completely the theme. At his death in 1504 the painting, already completed in the central part, was assigned to

, who completed it, including the secondary panels, in 1507. Once finished, the painting was sharply criticized by the Florentines, due to the alleged lack of originality of the composition. At the time, Perugino was often re-using the same cartoons, due to big number of commissions. The ''Annunciation''

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

was thus Perugino's last work in Florence.

Description

The work was originally painted on two sides: the ''Assumption of the Virgin'' facing the faithful, and the ''Deposition from the Cross'' facing the choir. After the panel was split in two, the latter was moved in the

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

's collections, and then to the Gallerie dell'Accademia; the ''Assumption'' remained in the church, and was later moved to the Rabatta Chapel. The polyptych had a frame designed by

Baccio d'Agnolo Baccio d'Agnolo (19 May 14626 March 1543), born Bartolomeo Baglioni, was an Italian woodcarver, sculptor, and architect from Florence. Biography "Baccio" is an abbreviation of Bartolomeo, and "d'Agnolo" refers to Angelo, his father's name. He ...

. The ''Deposition'' shows the moment in which Jesus Christ is taken down from the cross after his death. Four men are carrying out the task by using ladders. On the ground, at the left, is the Virgin, fainting in the

Swoon of the Virgin The Swoon of the Virgin, in Italian Lo Spasimo della Vergine, or Fainting Virgin Mary was an idea developed in the late Middle Ages, that the Virgin Mary had fainted during the Passion of Christ, most often placed while she watched the Crucifi ...

, and supported by the other Pious Women. The person praying at the foot of the cross is

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

, regarding reverently the feet that she had so recently washed and anointed. On the right, caught in a surprised posture, is St. John the Apostle; in front of him, on the ground, are the nails of the crucifixion. It could also be that he is advising the men to be careful with their task, to handle the body of the Lord with ultimate care. According to

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

, Lippi executed the upper part of the painting. Jesus, left unfinished, was completed by Perugino concerning the face. The latter also painted the lower part of the work, characterized by his typical serene faces and the distant landscape. Perugino's assistants painted a great number of details, especially in the side panels. The polyptych was completed by a predella, now divided between several American museums. It included: *''Nativity'', 26.7x42.6 cm,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

br>
*''Baptism of Christ'', 26.7x42.6 cm, Art Institute of Chicag

*''The Samaritan Girl at the Pit'', 26,7x42.6 cm, Art Institute of Chicag

*''Noli me tangere'', 26.7x42.6 cm, Art Institute of Chicag

*''Resurrection of Christ'', 27x45.7 cm, New York,

br>

Predella of the ''Annunziata Polyptych''

Sources

* *

External links

Page at Florence's Museums website
{{Pietro Perugino 1507 paintings Paintings by Filippino Lippi Paintings by Pietro Perugino Paintings in the Galleria dell'Accademia Paintings of Jesus Paintings of the Virgin Mary Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Musical instruments in art Altarpieces Paintings of Mary Magdalene