The Annunciation
Fra Carnevale·c. 1445/1450
Historical Context
Fra Carnevale was an architect and painter active in Urbino in the mid-fifteenth century, associated with the sophisticated court culture that also produced Piero della Francesca's masterworks. This Annunciation from around 1445-50 demonstrates the mathematical precision and architectural clarity that characterized painting at the court of Federico da Montefeltro, where perspective and classical architecture were central artistic concerns.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on panel demonstrates the Urbino school's characteristic emphasis on architectural perspective and spatial clarity. The mathematical precision of the architectural setting and the clear, luminous light reflect the intellectual culture of the Montefeltro court.
Provenance
Prince Ferdinando Lorenzo Strozzi [1821-1878], Florence, by 1857/1858.[1] Louis-Charles Timbal [1821-1880], Paris;[2] sold 1872 with his collection to Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his heirs; sold 1930 with the entire Dreyfus collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[3] sold May 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1939 to NGA. [1] The painting was seen there by Cavalcaselle probably during his stay in Florence in 1857-1858 (see Joseph Archer Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, _A New History of Painting in Italy, from the II to the XVI Century_, 3 vols., London, 1864-1866: 1(1864):348; and Donata Levi, _Cavalcaselle. Il pioniere della conservazione dell'arte italiana_, Turin, 1988: 122-132). Otto Mündler saw the painting at the Palazzo Strozzi in April 1858; see _The Travel Diaries of Otto Mündler 1855-1858_, ed. Carol Togneri Dowd, _Walpole Society_ 51 (1985): 220, 291. Facing economic difficulties in the late 1870s, the family sold the most valuable pieces in the gallery after the death of Prince Ferdinando Lorenzo (see Beatric Paolozzi Strozzi, "Ferdinando Strozzi. Appunti di storia ottocentesca," in _Palazzo Strozzi, metà millennio: 1489-1989_, Atti del convegno di studi, Firenze, 3-6 luglio 1989, Rome, 1991: 59, and Wilhelm von Bode, _Mein Leben_, ed. Thomas W. Gaehtgens and Barbara Paul, 2 vols., Berlin, 1997 [original ed. 1930]: 1:131); NGA 1939.1.218, however, must have been sold during his lifetime. Unfortunately, as Dr. Cristina Gelli informed Miklòs Boskovits, the inventory of the Strozzi collection compiled in 1815 by the notary Domenico Del Podestà and deposited at the Archivio di Stato in Florence is now lost. [2] The painter and collector Timbal must have acquired the painting sometime before 1872 when, during the siege of Paris, he decided to sell his entire collection to Gustave Dreyfus; see _Musées Nationaux. Catalogue de la Collection Timbal_, Paris, 1882: 5, and Edward Fowles, _Memories of Duveen Brothers_, London, 1976: 187. [3] See Fowles 1976: 187, and Dora Landau, "Notes from Abroad," _International Studio_ 96 (August 1930): 65. [4] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of thirteen paintings and one sculpture, including "an oil painting representing 'The Annunciation' by Francesco Pesellino...Attributed by Mr. Bernhard Berenson to 'The Carrand Master'," is dated 18 May 1936; the provenance is given as "Dreyfus Colln." (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474 Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2060.
