The Annunciation and Expulsion from Paradise
Giovanni di Paolo·c. 1435
Historical Context
This remarkable painting combines two scenes — the Annunciation and the Expulsion from Paradise — in a single composition, linking the Fall of Man with the promise of Redemption through the Virgin. Painted around 1435, it demonstrates Giovanni di Paolo's ability to create complex theological programs in a visual format. The juxtaposition of Eden and the Annunciation chamber makes explicit the Christian typology connecting Eve's sin with Mary's obedience.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on panel combines an elaborate architectural setting for the Annunciation with a fantastical landscape for the Expulsion. Giovanni di Paolo's characteristic jewel-toned palette and precise linear drawing create a richly detailed surface, while the cosmic perspective showing Earth's sphere is remarkably inventive for its date.
Provenance
Sir William John Farrer, London, by 1866;[1] purchased in or before 1868 by Sir John Charles Robinson [1824-1913], London;[2] (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 19 April 1902, no. 73); purchased by (Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919], London and Florence) for Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex;[3] sold 1927 with the Benson collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[4] sold May 1936 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1939 to NGA. [1] The panel is cited under this location by 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: 3:80 n. 6. See also Tancred Borenius, _Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson_, London, 1914: 13. Farrer is recorded by Gustav Friedrich Waagen, _Treasures of Art in Great Britain_, 3 vols., London, 1854: 2:338, among other "picture dealers in London." Waagen does not, however, mention NGA 1939.1.223. [2] See J.C. Robinson, _Memoranda on Fifty Pictures_, London, 1868: 2. [3] See Fern Rusk Shapley, _Catalogue of the Italian Paintings_, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:224. It is known that Murray acted frequently as agent for Robert H. Benson; this must have been the case also at the Robinson sale. In fact, Benson's notes on the painting's history read: "Bought at Christie's after a contest with G. Salting" (transcript provided in 1976 by his grandson, Peter Wake, and in NGA curatorial files). "G. Salting" was George Salting, owner of another well-known collection of early Italian paintings in London. [4] See Robert Langton Douglas, "I dipinti senesi della collezione Benson passati da Londra in America." _Rassegna d'Arte Senese e del Costume_ 1/5, no. 3 (May-June 1927): 103, and also Edward Fowles, _Memories of Duveen Brothers_, London, 1976: 183. [5] The Duveen Brothers letter confirming the sale of thirteen paintings and one sculpture, including NGA 1939.1.223, is dated 18 May 1936; the provenance is given as "Benson Coll'n" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Box 474, Folder 5, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2064.
