The Annunciation
1484/1519
Medium
Wool, silk, and gilt- and silvered-metal-strip-wrapped silk, slit, dovetailed and interlocking tapestry weave
Dimensions
179.4 × 113.7 cm (70 5/8 × 44 3/4 in.)
Classification
weaving - tapestry
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111307
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
One of the very few Italian tapestries to survive from before the 1540s, The Annunciation depicts the archangel Gabriel announcing to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the son of God. This is one of the most sacred events in the Christian faith, as it is the very beginning of Christ’s life and the Incarnation of the Word. The scene is charged with symbolism: the moment of conception is represented by the dove—standing for the Holy Spirit—in the sky between Gabriel and Mary; the archangel holds ...
About the Artist
Circle of Andrea Mantegna · 1431–1506
**Circle of Andrea Mantegna** represents the workshop, followers, and close imitators active around the great Paduan-Mantuan master Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431–1506). These artists operated within Mantegna’s orbit in northern Italy, producing paintings, drawings, and decorative works that closely echo his distinctive style during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Mantegna himself tra...