The Annunciation; the archangel Gabriel at left approaching the Virgin kneeling in prayer at right, God the Father in the upper left

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The Annunciation; the archangel Gabriel at left approaching the Virgin kneeling in prayer at right, God the Father in the upper left

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Summary

Attributed to Marco Dente (Italian, Ravenna, active by 1515–died 1527 Rome)

The Annunciation is a biblical event in which the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to announce that she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. The event is recorded in the New Testament in the Gospels of Luke and is a central moment in the story of the Nativity of Jesus. The scene typically depicts Mary and Gabriel, who is usually shown holding a lily, a symbol of purity, and announcing the news of the birth of Jesus to Mary.

Printmaking in woodcut and engraving came to Northern Italy within a few decades of their invention north of the Alps. Engraving probably came first to Florence in the 1440s, the goldsmith Maso Finiguerra (1426–64) used the technique. Italian engraving caught the very early Renaissance, 1460–1490. Print copying was a widely accepted practice, as well as copying of paintings viewed as images in their own right.

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Date

1500 - 1600
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Source

Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Copyright info

Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

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