Annunciation
Artist
Benedetto Gennari II
(Italian, 1633-1715, active in Bologna, Paris and London)
Date1686
CultureItalian
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
ProvenancePainted for James II (1638–1702), King of England, Whitehall Palace, London. (Leger Galleries, London); sold by 1931 to John Ringling (1866–1936), Sarasota, Florida; bequest in 1936 to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN131
This monumental altarpiece is one of Gennari’s most important works. It was commissioned by King James II of England for his new Roman Catholic chapel in Whitehall Palace in London, which was completed in 1686. Like the king's reign, the chapel was short-lived: it was dismantled soon after James was deposed in 1688, its contents were dispersed, and the building was destroyed by fire in 1698.
Gennari spent fourteen years at the English court, working first for Charles II and then for his successor, James II. He had learned painting in Bologna from his uncle, the celebrated painter known as Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), whose work is well represented in The Ringling’s collections. Guercino’s depiction of the same subject is displayed on the south wall of this gallery.
On View
On viewLocation
DimensionsImage: 100 1/2 x 82 3/4 in. (255.3 x 210.2 cm)- Museum of Art, Gallery 08, Wall West
Frame (New Frame): 110 3/8 × 93 1/8 × 3 9/16 in. (280.4 × 236.5 × 9 cm)
Sienese
