The Angel of the Annunciation (c. 1470–75): Art, History and Details

The Angel of the Annunciation (c. 1470–75) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This engraving is half of a two-print scene depicting the Annunciation to the Virgin, when the angel Gabriel told Mary she would miraculously give birth to the Son of God. Presumably buyers could purchase the prints separately, although Schongauer probably hoped people would want to collect them both. His engraved lines masterfully emulate different natural qualities and textures, for example the spiraling locks of hair and the angel’s wings.

Object facts

• Title: The Angel of the Annunciation
• Date: c. 1470–75
• Creator attribution: Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1958.173

A detail from the museum

The sculptor Riemenschneider traveled to Strasbourg and became acquainted with the works of the engraver Martin Schongauer.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lutz, Gerhard. “Tilman Riemenschneider’s Early Work and Alabaster Sculpture.“ In Riemenschneider and Late Medieval Alabaster, edited by Aumaine Rose Smith, 78-88. Cleveland, Lewes: The Cleveland Museum of Art; D Giles Limited, 2023.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.