Altar Rail depicting the Annunciation
Unknown Italian, Italian
16th century
Carved walnut
Overall: 33 1/8 × 137 × 29 in. (84.1 × 348 × 73.7 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Winfield Smith, Class of 1918
F.975.4
Geography
Place Made: Italy, Europe
Period
1400-1600
Object Name
Furniture
Research Area
Decorative Arts
On view
Label
During the medieval period and throughout the 16th century, church interiors had strictly defined spaces. This rail would have divided the space of the public (the laity) from the space around the altar of a chapel that was only accessible to religious members (the clergy). At the center of the rail, the archangel Gabriel comes to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will give birth to Jesus, the son of God. The swinging open of the door toward the altar would resonate with the opening of the Virgin’s womb in the depicted narrative.
From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley Offill, Curator of Collections
Exhibition History
Acquistions 1974-1978, Jaffe-Friede, Strauss and Barrows Galleries, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 8, 1978-January 21, 1979.
College Collection in the European room of Carpenter Galleries, Carpenter Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 1975-1979.
Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.
Provenance
Bonnie Dora Jones Smith (1899-1990) and Ray Winfield Smith (1897-1982, Class of 1918), Oak Hill, Dublin, New Hampshire; given to present collection, 1975.
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