This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Visit the Royal Collection

Life and Legend of the Virgin Mary

Life and Legend of the Virgin Mary

AFTER RAPHAEL (1483-1520)

The Annunciation

c.1860-76

Carbon print | 28.1 x 41.9 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 851371

A photograph of a cartoon by Raphael now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no.3860). The cartoon was made for the Annunciation, the left scene of the predella of the so-called Oddi Altarpiece (or Pala Oddi) which was painted by Raphael in c.1502-03 and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City (inv. no.335). Photographs of the central panel of the altarpiece at RCINs 851349, 851350, 851351.

  • Creator(s)

    After Raphael (1483-1520) (artist)

    Subject(s)

    Archangel Gabriel
    Blessed Virgin Mary

  • 28.1 x 41.9 cm (sheet of paper)

  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1860-76)

  • Subject(s)
    • Religion & Theology
      • Religions and faiths
        • Christianity
          • Life of the Virgin Mary
            • Annunciation
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    Joannides 1983 : Joannides, P., 1983. The Drawings of Raphael, with a complete catalogue, Oxford p.145, no.51

    Knab/Mitsch/Oberhuber 1983 : Raffaello. I disegni 1983 : I disegni. (Catalogo dei Disegni a cura di Oberhuber, Ferino Pagden, Huber), Florence 1983 p.586, no.53

    Cordellier/Py 1992 : Raphael : son atelier, ses copistes, 1992 / par Dominique Cordellier et Bernadette Py, Paris (Inventaire general des dessins Italiens ; V / sous la direction de Francoise Viatte) pp.24-8, no.18

    Other number(s)

    Ruland p.104 A.I.23

Policy links
Royal Collection TrustIn Partnership with

Royal Collection Trust is a charity caring for the Royal Collection and welcoming visitors to the royal palaces. We bring our shared history to life through world-class experiences that involve and inspire people, wherever they are. Income from tickets and retail sales helps us to conserve the Collection so that it can be enjoyed by everyone for generations to come.