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Annunciation

A work made of pen and brown ink, heightened with brush and brown wash, white gouache, and gold paint on blue-toned tan laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of pen and brown ink, heightened with brush and brown wash, white gouache, and gold paint on blue-toned tan laid paper.

Date:

probably 19th century, in the style of early 16th century

Artist:

Unknown forger
Probably 19th century

About this artwork

This drawing is not what it appears to be. It shows a typical Renaissance subject—the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the son of God—and is executed in a technique common in Germany in the early 16th century. However, recent analysis has proven that this work is a forgery. An unknown draftsperson drew the composition on a sheet of old German paper datable to around 1500 but employed a blue pigment that was invented only in 1709. Created with the intent to deceive, the drawing passed through the art market and several private collections as an authentic 16th-century work.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Unknown artist

Title

Annunciation

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1700–1900

Medium

Pen and brown ink, heightened with brush and brown wash, white gouache, and gold paint on blue-toned tan laid paper

Dimensions

20.2 × 14.4 cm (8 × 5 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Reference Number

1998.105

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/149028/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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