Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Annunciazione di Cestello (Cestello Annunciation)
1489–1490
Tempera on wood, 150 x 156 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze
Inscriptions:
SPIRITUS SANCTUS SUPERVENIET IN TE ET VIRTUS ALTISSIMI OBUMBRABIT TIBI (Luca 1, 35)
ECCE ANCILLA DOMINI FIAT MICHI SECUNDUM VERBUM TUUM (Luca, 1,38)
The panel was commissioned in 1489 from Sandro Botticelli by the Florentine money changer Benedetto di ser Francesco Guardi for the family chapel in the church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Borgo Pinti in Florence. The essentiality of the setting, where the furnishing elements are almost completely missing, the sobriety of the clothes of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin, characterized by a reduced use of chromatic tones and decorations, the accentuated and somewhat theatrical gestures of the characters reflect the search for simplicity and the religious fervor that asserted itself during the years of the preaching of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola. There are usual elements of Marian symbolism, such as the opening in the wall that alludes to Mary as the door to heaven and the fenced garden visible in the background, emblem of the virginity of the Madonna.
The painting has kept its original frame, painted at the bottom with the patron’s coats of arms and the figure of Christ in piety. There are also two inscriptions in Latin, taken from the Gospel of Luke, which allude to the incarnation of the son of God in Mary’s womb. (GU)
