Annunciation

Chaalis Abbey was founded in 1136 by Louis VI of France. The monastery was sold and demolished during the French Revolution but most of the buildings had been ruinous for years previously thanks to mismanagement on the part of the commendatory abbots. Among the ruins, a chapel with important frescos by Primaticcio survives intact. The former abbey is now the location of the Mus�e Jacquemart-Andr�. Like the museum of the same name in Paris it houses a part of the former collection of artworks of N�lie Jacquemart-Andr�.

The Annunciation scene is on the reverse side of the fa�ade of the Our Lady chapel at the Chaalis Abbey in France. The fresco was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, commendatory abbot of Chaalis, and painted in 1541 by Primaticcio and his workshop; the darker, lower part was restored by Paul Balze (1815-1884) in 1875-76. The whole fresco underwent a new restoration in 2006.