L’ANNUNCIAZIONE DI FEDERICO BAROCCI DEI MUSEI VATICANI: 13 GIUGNO–25 OTTOBRE 2026

The exhibition "The Annunciation by Federico Barocci from the Vatican Museums" opened on Saturday, June 13th at 6:00 PM at the Pontifical Museum of the Holy House in Loreto. Originally painted in oil on panel, the Annunciation by Federico Barocci (1533-1612) was executed by the Urbino-born painter between 1582 and 1584 for the Chapel of Francesco Maria II Della Rovere, later called the Chapel of the Dukes of Urbino, in the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto. With the arrival of Napoleon's troops in Loreto, it was transferred to Paris in 1797, from where it returned to the Vatican in 1815 to be placed in the Vatican Pinacoteca. After returning temporarily to Loreto for the first time in 2010, in what was then called the Museo Antico Tesoro (now the Pontifical Museum), and being exhibited in 2024 in the major exhibition in Urbino that introduced Barocci to the general public, thanks to the collaboration between the Pontifical Delegation of Loreto and the Vatican Museums, the large canvas can once again be admired in the context for which it was commissioned, in a specially designed room of the Pontifical Museum. The inauguration was attended by Archbishop Fabio Dal Cin, Pontifical Delegate of Loreto; Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums; and the two curators of the exhibition, Fabrizio Biferali, Curator of the Department of 15th-16th Century Art at the Vatican Museums; and Vito Punzi, Director of the Pontifical Museum of the Holy House in Loreto. The exhibition's partners, to whom the Pontifical Delegation extends its gratitude, are the Cassa di Risparmio di Loreto Foundation, the Lay Works of Loreto Foundation, and Casa Hermes. The exhibition will be open until Sunday, October 25th during the Pontifical Museum's opening hours: daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. www.museopontificiosantacasa.va