Recanati Annunciation

Painting by Lorenzo Lotto

Recanati Annunciation

Artist| Lorenzo Lotto
Year| c. 1534
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 166 cm × 114 cm (65 in × 45 in)
Location| Museo Civico Villa Colloredo Mels, Recanati

The Recanati Annunciation (Italian: Annunciazione di Recanati) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, executed around 1534 and housed in the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels, Recanati, Italy.

## History

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The work may date to the artist's sojourn in Venice, from where it would be shipped to the Marche around 1527. Otherwise, it may date to a later period when Looto moved there to execute other works. Today it is generally assigned to a date after the Crucifixion of Monte San Giusto (1533–1534).

The commissioners were perhaps the Brotherhood of the Recanati Traders, who moved to a new seat in 1533 and would therefore use the work for the latter's decoration.

The canvas is mentioned for the first time in 1601.

## Description

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The painting depicts a bedroom where an Annunciation takes place following an unusual scheme: the angel is on the right, holding a white lily, and has got in from a loggia which opens to a garden (the hortus conclusus). His right arm is pointing at the Father God who has shown in a cloud and is blessing Mary from inside the loggia. Mary is portrayed in the left foreground, looking at the spectator and raising her hands in a surprised gesture.

Stylistically, Lotto used expressive gestures and somewhat under-size heads. The number of carefully painted details show the influence of Northern European paintings: they include the baldachin bed, the small window with sealed glasses, the shelf with a small still life, the hatstand, the stool with an hourglass, the prie-dieu and a scared cat which is fleeing. The baldachin was inspired by a relief by Andrea Sansovino at Loreto.

* Detail of the Virgin

* Detail of the shelf and window

The Madonna who faces the viewer and the angel who tries to draw her attention are taken instead from Titian works. According to Italian art historian Giulio Carlo Argan:

> Titian's Virgin is a praying queen who nobly turns to receive the divine messenger in her palace. Lotto's Virgin is a good girl; the message takes her by surprise while praying in her room; she cannot even turn her head; her gesture, almost a defensive one, is that of somebody who is struck at the back by a sudden call[1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Recanati Annunciation.

## See also

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* Recanati Polyptych

## References

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1. ^ Argan, Giulio Carlo (2000). Storia dell'arte italiana 3. Florence: Sansoni. p. 152.

## Sources

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* Pirovano, Carlo (2002). Lotto. Milan: Electa.

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Lorenzo Lotto

Paintings|

| Religious|

* Madonna and Child with St Peter Martyr and a Donor (1503)
* Madonna and Child with Saints (c. 1505)
* Asolo Altarpiece (1506)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Paris) (c. 1506)
* Santa Cristina al Tiverone Altarpiece (c. 1504–1506)
* Adoration of the Christ Child (Kraków) (1508)
* Madonna with Child between Sts. Flavian and Onuphrius (1508)
* Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (1506–1508)
* Recanati Polyptych (1506–1508)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Rome) (c. 1509)
* Transfiguration (1510–1512)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Sibiu) (c. 1513–1514)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Allentown) (1515)
* The Entombment of Christ (1513–1516)
* Martinengo Altarpiece (1513–1516)
* Susanna and the Elders (1517)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian (c. 1518)
* Holy Trinity (c. 1519–1520)
* Christ Taking Leave of his Mother (1521)
* Santo Spirito Altarpiece (1521)
* Ponteranica Altarpiece (1522)
* Lament over the Dead Christ (c. 1522)
* Adoration of the Christ Child (Washington) (1523)
* Mystical Marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria with Niccoló Bonghi (1523)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (1523–1524)
* Mystical Marriage of St Catherine and Saints (1524)
* Life of the Virgin (1525)
* Christ Carrying the Cross (1526)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and Saint James (c. 1527)
* Saint Nicholas in Glory (1527–1529)
* Saint Lucy Before the Judge (1532)
* Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1533)
* Crucifixion with Pietà (c. 1529–1534)
* Holy Family with St Jerome and St Anne (1534)
* Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1534)
* Recanati Annunciation (c. 1534)
* Madonna and Child with Two Donors (c. 1533–1535)
* Holy Family with the Family of St John the Baptist (c. 1536)
* Madonna of the Rosary (1539)
* Altarpiece of the Halberd (c. 1539)
* St Antoninus Giving Alms (c. 1540–1542)
* Pietà (1538–1545)
* San Giacomo dell'Orio Altarpiece (1546)
* Presentation in the Temple (c. 1552–1556)

|

Secular|

* Allegory of Virtue and Vice (1505)
* Portrait of Bishop Bernardo de' Rossi (1505)
* Allegory of Chastity (c. 1505)
* Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1506)
* Portrait of a Young Man with a Lamp (c. 1506)
* Portrait of Giovanni Agostino della Torre and his son Niccolò (1515)
* Portrait of Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children (1515)
* Portrait of Lucina Brembati (c. 1518)
* Portrait of Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride Faustina (1523)
* Portrait of a Gentleman with a Lion Paw (c. 1524–1525)
* Portrait of a Young Man (Gemäldegalerie) (c. 1526)
* Portrait of a Young Man with a Book (c. 1526)
* Portrait of Andrea Odoni (1527)
* Portrait of a Young Man (Accademia) (c. 1530)
* Triumph of Chastity (c. 1530)
* Triple Portrait of a Goldsmith (c. 1530)
* Venus and Cupid (c. 1530)
* Portrait of a Woman Inspired by Lucretia (c. 1533)
* Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1535)
* Portrait of an Old Man with Gloves (c. 1543)
* Portrait of a Thirty-Seven-Year-Old Gentleman (c. 1543)
* Portrait of Febo da Brescia (1543–1544)
* Portrait of Laura da Pola (1543–1544)
* Portrait of a Man (c. 1545)
* Portrait of Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza (1547)

Chapels|

* Suardi Chapel (1524)

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