The Annunciation

Antonio Gionima

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lawrence Turcic first recognized the hand of Antonio Gionima in this drawing in 1982, and his attribution has met with wide acceptance. The Museum's drawing is comparable in style and technique to numerous studies by the artist. As pointed out by Jacob Bean, among these, an important piece of evidence is found in the case of the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's workshop, drawn in red chalk (Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art 58.157, Providence), which bears on the verso a signed letter by the artist and dated 1731.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art