The Annunciation
1603. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
It belongs to the main altarpiece of the church of the School of Agustinos Calzados of Madrigal together with The Adoration of the Shepherds (P2471), The Apparition of Saint Leocadia to Saint Ildephonsus (P5412) and Saint Ildephonsus receiving the Chasuble (P5424). Recorded by Ceán (1800): MADRIGAL / SCHOOL OF AGUSTINOS CALZADOS / Six paintings on the main altar with life-size figures, signed in 1603. They represent the Incarnation, the Birth, the Resurrection and the Ascension of the Son of God; St. Ildefonso receiving the chasuble from the Virgin; and the same saint cutting the sendal to St. Leocadia.
The paintings of The Resurrection and The Ascension of Christ are not recorded in any of the known inventories. They were probably stolen or fraudulently sold as worthless at an auction. In any case, their whereabouts are unknown. The four paintings recorded in the general inventory of the Holy Trinity Paintings, chosen and stored by the Academy Commission, were exhibited in the large room of the Main Gallery of the Museo de la Trinidad (Inventory of the paintings and statues presented at the inauguration of the Museo Nacional de la Trinidad on the 24th of June 1838.)
This painting of The Annunciation was mistakenly recorded by Cruzada Villaamil (1865) as coming from the chapel of the Hospital de la Misericordia in Madrid, and since then that origin has been taken for granted. It is very likely that Cruzada´s mistake was a result of his assumption that this work was one of those recorded there by Ceán (1800): THE MERCY/ The Annunciation of the Virgin, the Resurrection and the Transfiguration of the Lord on the altarpiece of the Chapel. According to Ponz (1776), the three works that made up the altarpiece of the Hospital represented the Assumption [not the Annunciation], the Resurrection and the Transfiguration.
Álvarez Lopera, José, El museo de la Trinidad: historia, obras y documentos (1838-1872), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2009, p.103-104
