Exhibition of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's painting 'The Annunciation'

About exhibition

The exhibition will be the central event of the 'Hermitage Days in Kaluga – 2025', which will take place from October 9 to 12. A cultural and exhibition center 'Hermitage-Kaluga' will be opened in the near future. But already the State Hermitage annually displays masterpieces from its collections in Kaluga. This year the painting 'The Annunciation' by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo is presented. Religious painting occupied the central place in Murillo's work. He treated subjects of Christian history close to everyday life; the images of saints in his works are brought close to ordinary people. The artist also created excellent portraits and magnificent genre scenes, which were very rare in contemporary Spanish painting. Murillo's 'The Annunciation' was executed in 1655–1665 and belongs to the mature period of the master's career. It is painted on one of the most popular themes in Christian iconography. It depicts the Gospel event when the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she is expecting a child — the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The iconography of the 'Annunciation' is a complex system of symbols and images reflecting the meaning of the religious subject.