Artist: Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987)
Title: Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472)
Year: 1984
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Dimensions: 81.3 × 111.8 cm (32 × 44 in.), unframed
Edition: 60, plus 15 artist’s proofs
Signature: Signed and numbered in pencil
Publisher: Editions Schellmann & Klüser, Munich and New York
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Catalogue Raisonné: Feldman & Schellmann II.322
Condition: Available upon request
Price: on request
About the Artwork
In Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), Andy Warhol brings one of the defining masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance into the visual language of twentieth-century Pop Art.
Created in 1984, this striking screenprint belongs to Warhol’s celebrated Details of Renaissance Paintings series, in which the artist revisited iconic compositions by Old Masters, transforming centuries-old religious imagery through unexpected color combinations, bold graphic outlines, and his signature screenprinting techniques.
The composition draws upon Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, isolating the landscape and architectural elements between the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. Warhol replaces the Renaissance painting’s subtle naturalism with saturated greens, pale blues, golden yellows, and vibrant red accents. The resulting image is at once familiar and thoroughly contemporary.
Warhol’s fascination with art history was an important extension of his lifelong exploration of reproduction, celebrity, and cultural recognition. Just as he transformed Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor into enduring Pop icons, his Renaissance series reconsidered the familiar imagery of Western art history through the lens of modern mass media.
Particularly compelling is the dialogue between Leonardo’s meticulous observation of nature and Warhol’s intentionally mechanical aesthetic. The composition retains the atmospheric beauty of the original landscape while introducing a distinctly modern visual rhythm.
Published in a relatively small edition of 60, this work represents an engaging intersection of Renaissance tradition and contemporary artistic innovation. Its generous horizontal format and distinctive palette give it considerable visual presence, making it especially appealing to collectors seeking a Warhol beyond the artist’s more familiar celebrity portraits.
