# The Annunciation

**Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi)** (Italian, 1444–1510)  
ca. 1490  
Tempera and gold on wood  
7 1/2 x 12 3/8 in. (19.1 x 31.4 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.74. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459016).

## About this work

Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi) painted this in about 1490, aged about 41. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Gold ground.** Gold leaf laid over a red clay and burnished to a mirror shine, often tooled with punches so it flickers in candlelight. Behind sacred figures it stands for heavenly light.
- **Tempera.** Pigment bound with egg yolk. It dries in minutes and can’t be blended wet, so painters built up form with fine, hatched strokes. It was Europe’s main panel technique before oil.

### [Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi)](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/botticelli-alessandro-di-mariano-filipepi)

Italian, 1444–1510; born in Florence; died in Florence

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 41
- Real size: about 7½ × 12 in (19 × 31 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 15th century
- Subjects: Bedrooms, Virgin Mary, Archangel Gabriel, Annunciation
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1249.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1249/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-annunciation-met-459016).