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8377 
Strozzi, Bernardo (1581-1644) 
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"Annunciation" 

Oil on canvas: 38-1/4 x 49"

ca. 1631 (end of Genovese or early Venetian period) 

Excellent state of preservation 

The Virgin Mary at her "prie-dieux" is startled by the appearance of the Angel Gabriel.  The Angel, at left, wears an olive-green robe with a rose sash which is tied about the waist and draped over the shoulder, fluttering out behing.  He has large white feathered wings and carries a staff of lilies, symbol of purity, in his left hand.  The white dove of the Holy Ghost hovers above, against a golden sky. 
 
The Virgin, a quiet, contemplative figure in contrast to the Angel, wears a red dress edged at the neck and cuffs in white, and covered by an ample dark shawl.  A deep green curtain is pulled back behind her, and a vase of small flowers in front of the curtain.  She holds a prayer book in her right hand, and her left is raised palm upward in a gesture of profound surprise, reflected in her face. 

Behind the two figures are thick banks of bursting, fulgurant clouds which part in the center in a large V, giving the scene an aspect of other-worldliness. 

Collections: Italico Brass (?)
Count Acqua di Osimo 

Bibliography: Thieme-Becker ("I. Brass, Verkundigung") 
Certificate of Professor R. Longhi 
Certificate of Professor G. Fiocco 

Bernardo Strozzi, called "Il Capucino Genovese", or the Genovese priest, was in his youth a pupil of Pietro Sorri in Genoa.  He shortly entered a Franciscan order, but left the monastery because of the needs of his mother and sister.  It was then that he began to paint in earnest.  Upon the death of his mother and marriage of his sister, he was asked to re-enter the cloister, and when he refused, was condemned to prison for three years. To avoid this he fled in 1631 to Venice, where he spent the rest of his life as a secular priest. 

A portrait painter of great talent, he did not show less superiority in his large compositions Important among his works are: 
"Le Paradis" fresco in Church of San Domenico, Genoa
"Portrait d'un Eveque", Palazzo Durazzo, Genoa
"St. John the Baptist", Church of San Benedetto, Venice
"St. Sebastien", Venice, Adademia 
The Budapest Museum has two paintings by Strozzi of the Annunciation, of different compositions, but both have the pictorial force and rich impasto characteristic of Strozzi

Transcription Notes:
There needs to be a period (".") between "large compositions" and "Important". ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-11-20 12:33:26