Giorgio Vasari: The Annunciation of Szeged

The exhibition in the historic Palazzo Falconieri in via Giulia presents the Annunciation, a large wooden panel, created around 1570-71 and attributed to Giorgio Vasari, famous artist, architect and historian, as well as to the artists of his Roman workshop.The author of the painting represents the moment narrated in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1, 26-38) in which the messenger of God, the archangel Gabriel, manifests himself to Mary with a candid lily, symbol of chastity and purity, announcing the Divine Word.

The masterpiece of the Mannerist period, returned to Italy from the Móra Ferenc Museum of Szeged in Hungary, was part of a series of four tondos on the table destined for the Chapel of San Michele di Torre Pia in the Vatican, at that time considered a focal point of the Papal State. The tondo, which originally decorated the north-west corbel of the dome, together with three others placed in the vault, depicted the angelic virtues. Over time, the four roundels were dispersed, both due to the requisitions by Napoleon's troops - between 1789 and 1808 - and due to the renovation work on the papal apartments, which began in 1815. The former Vatican chapel, when at the beginning of the The 19th century ended its function, it was completely remodeled according to the new museum requirements: in 1837, in place of the detached Vasari tondi, new tondos were placed, this time painted in fresco. The painting arrived in Hungary after various vicissitudes, in a way that is still unknown today.

The exhibition is organized by the Móra Ferenc Museum in Szeged in collaboration with the Hungarian Academy in Rome.

Photo credits: courtesy of the Hungarian Academy official site