
Fra Filippo Lippi's 'The Annunciation'
Picture of the month December 2023
Curatorial Fellow Nicholas Flory takes a look at the details in Lippi's painting of the Archangel Gabriel with Mary – the painting voted your picture of the month
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Why is this painting semi-circular? | Fra Filippo Lippi's 'Annunciation' | National Gallery
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About
Lippi's beautiful peacock feather winged Gabriel delivers his message to Mary in her home. He tells her that she's going to have a son, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost.
The unusual curved shape of the picture means that it probably hung above a door in the Medici palace in Florence - a place where people would have met, just like the unexpected meeting taking place in the painting.
Digital activity at the National Gallery is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator
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