Information
The format of Hughes''Annunciation,' like that of its companion 'The Nativity,' is based on early Renaissance models, with the Angel Gabriel to the left of the composition and the Virgin Mary, separated from him by a wooden pillar, on the right-hand side. The 'gothic' shape of the frame and the Virgin's pseudo-medieval dress make even more specific allusion to the art of the middle ages. Lilies, a symbol of the Virgin's purity, are present in abundance; the trailing vine is a symbol of the Christian faith; and the distaff and wool which the Virgin holds in her hand refers to the legend of her upbringing in the Temple at Jerusalem, where she supposedly spun and weaved the priest's vestments. In Christianity, the Annunciation is the revelation to Mary, mother of Jesus, by the Archangel Gabriel, that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God. The picture shows Mary being visited by the Archangel Gabriel. The lilies are a symbol of purity and Mary's virginity, the iris' were considered a sign of warning or danger. The Victorian audience looking at this picture would have understood the symbolism of these images.
- Purchased from James Leathart in 1891.
- © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Makers
Association |
Artist |
Organisation |
Artist |
Arthur Hughes |
- |
Inscriptions
Type |
Position(s) |
Method |
Date(s) |
Notes |
Arthur Hughes |
Signature |
bottom right |
Painted |
- |
Red oil paint. |
|
The Annunciation / And in the sixth month the Angel / Gabriel was sent from God to the city / of Galilee, named Nazareth. / To a virgin espoused to a man whose name / was Joseph, of the house of David; and / the Vigin's name was Mary. Luke 1-26.27 / Arthur [Hug]hes / Buckland Terrace |
Label |
- |
- |
- |
On detached label in the gallery files (previously on the stretcher) and in the artist's hand. |
|
Exhibitions
Catalogue No. |
Venue |
Date(s) |
Special Loan Collection of Modern Pictures |
168 |
City of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery |
1891-10-02 - 1892-01 |
|
Special Loan Exhibition of Pictures of the British School |
1, Gallery D |
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery |
1896-11 - 1896-11 |
|
Loan Exhibition of Works by Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelites |
257 |
City of Manchester Art Gallery |
1911-09-14 - 1911-11-30 |
|
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Committee of the Birmingham Corporation |
19 |
National Gallery of British Art, London (now Tate Britain, London) |
1911-12 - 1912-03 |
|
Inaugural Exhibition |
117 |
Leamington Art Gallery |
1928 - 1929 |
|
Exposition Rétrospective de Peinture Anglaise (XVIIe et XVIXe) |
89 |
Musée Moderne, Brussels |
1929-10-12 - 1929-12-01 |
|
Christian Arts Festival |
no cat. |
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield |
1955-10 - 1955-11 |
|
Paintings and Drawings from the Leathart Collection |
43 |
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne |
1968-10-07 - 1968-11-18 |
|
Death, Heaven and the Victorians |
16 |
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery |
1970-05-06 - 1970-08-03 |
|
Arthur Hughes: The Pre-Raphaelite Painter |
- |
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff |
1971-10-05 - 1971-10-24 |
- |
Leighton House, London |
1971-12-03 - 1971-12-23 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
23 |
Hong Kong Museum of Art |
1984-10-20 - 1984-12-02 |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
46 |
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle |
1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07 |
46 |
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16 |
46 |
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington |
1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15 |
46 |
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas |
1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02 |
46 |
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia |
1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10 |
46 |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
1996-05-25 - 1996-09-29 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
38 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
2009-02-26 - 2009-05-24 |
|
Literature
Author(s) |
Date(s) |
Publisher |
Pages |
Athenaeum |
|
15 March 1862 |
- |
p. 368 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
13 September 1873 |
- |
p. 344 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
20 September 1873 |
- |
p. 374 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
30 September 1882 |
- |
p. 438 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
10 October 1891 |
- |
p. 491 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
2 January 1892 |
- |
p. 30 |
|
Magazine of Art |
|
1892 |
- |
p. 214; repr. 215 |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement |
Esther Wood |
1894 |
Sampson Low Marston, London |
p. 205 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
7 March 1896 |
- |
p. 319 |
|
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Committee of the Birmingham Corporation |
|
1911 |
National Gallery of British Art |
p. 7 |
|
'Mr A Hughes: Last of the Pre-Raphaelites'-obituary |
Anonymous |
23 December 1915 |
The Times |
p. 6 |
|
'April Love' -A Note and 'Monthly Chronicle' |
Robert Ross |
February 1916 |
Burlington Magazine |
p. 204 |
|
'The Last of the Pre-Raphaelites: Reflections on a Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the late Arthur Hughes' |
Anonymous |
November 1916 |
Vogue |
p. 55 |
|
The Dictionary of National Biography |
Malcolm Bell |
1927 |
Oxford University Press, Oxford |
pp. 275-276 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Painters |
John Gere, Robin Ironside |
1948 |
Phaidon, London |
p. 43 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
Timothy Hilton |
1970 |
Thames and Hudson, London |
p. 115; repr. pl. 175 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
Mr Richard Lockett |
1984 |
Urban Council, Hong Kong |
p. 68; repr. p. 69 |
|
Pre-Raphaelitism and Medievalism in the Arts |
Liana Cheney |
1992 |
E. Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York, USA and Lampeter, UK |
257; repr. fig. 3 |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
Stephen Wildman |
1995 |
Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia |
p. 171; repr. p. 172 |
|
Arthur Hughes: His Life and Works |
Leonard Roberts |
1997 |
Antique Collectors' Club |
Cat. 36, p. 142; repr. pl. 22 |
|
Flora Symbolica: Flowers in Pre-Raphaelite Art |
Debra Mancoff |
2003 |
Prestel, London and Munich |
p. 34; repr. p. 35 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
|
2009 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
cat.38, p.168 |
Provenance
Thomas Edward Plint; Plint sale, Christie's, 8 March 1862 (254), bought-in at 25 gns. by Smith (Plint's executors); bought from them c. 1862 by James Leathart; bought from him by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 1891. |
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