Annunciation

The painting is executed in oil on wooden panel, measuring 136 by 107 centimeters, and was created in 1495. It depicts the moment of the Annunciation with the Virgin Mary receptive to the angelic message, rendered in a balanced composition that emphasizes luminous color and precise detail characteristic of late 15th‑century Venetian practice. The work was originally commissioned by the Silk Weavers’ Guild for their chapel at Santa Maria dei Crociferi in Venice, later relocated to the Hermitage Museum in Saint‑Petersburg, where it remains on display.

The Annunciation was commissioned by the Silk Weavers' Guild for their chapel in the Church of Santa Maria dei Crociferi in Venice, and executed in 1495. Originally painted on wood panel, it was later transferred to canvas. The work entered the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, where it remains on display. Its dimensions are 136 cm in height and 107 cm in width, and it depicts the Virgin Mary receiving the Angel Gabriel in a religious composition. The attribution to Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano is supported by archival records and stylistic analysis.

The painting was later transferred to canvas and acquired by the Hermitage Museum, where it has been part of the collection since its acquisition.

The painting is held in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as part of the museum's collection. It was originally commissioned by the Arte dei Tessitori di Seta (the Silk Weavers' Guild) for their chapel in the Church of Santa Maria dei Crociferi in Venice, later rebuilt as the Church of Santa Maria Assunta of the Jesuit order. A cartellino on the work records both the date of execution and the names of the guild's officials for that year. The panel was subsequently transferred from its original wooden support to canvas. No specific accession number or detailed exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.

The Annunciation by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, painted in 1495 for the Scuola dei Tessitori di Seta in Venice, was later acquired by the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Originally created as a wooden panel (136 × 107 cm) for a chapel altarpiece, it was transferred to canvas and remains a significant example of late 15th-century Venetian religious art. The work has been studied in scholarship on Renaissance patronage, particularly regarding guild-sponsored commissions, and is discussed in relation to broader trends in devotional painting of the period. Its iconography, including a symbolic depiction of the Devil as a fly near the Virgin’s lectern, has attracted attention in art historical discourse.

The painting is frequently referenced in encyclopedic and academic sources as a key work by Cima da Conegliano within the context of Renaissance Venice and Venetian guild patronage.

The painting holds a distinct place in visual culture, having been featured as the design for a 1988 postage stamp in Madagascar. Additionally, the work is noted for a curious symbolic detail: a representation of the Devil in the form of a fly resting on the cartellino next to the Virgin's lectern.