Enfilade

From the National Gallery:

François Lemoyne, The Annuncation, 1727

François Lemoyne, The Annuncation, 1727
National Gallery, London

On Loan from Winchester College

According to Saint Luke’s Gospel, the archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin that she will give birth to Jesus. This depiction of the subject is signed and dated 1727, the year the artist was awarded a prize for history painting by Louis XV. It may have been commissioned by the then headmaster of Winchester College where it was installed in 1729. Its painted arched top suggests an arched frame was originally intended.