Chiesa e Ospedale di

Santa Maria Annunziata

(14th century)

Number 153-7 Corso Garibaldi
Now a gymnasium
Possible site of the church and hospice of
Santa Maria Annunziata

This church and hospice, which were first documented in 1361, belonged to the Collegio dei Notai.  The hospice became known as the Cappuccinelli from 1539, when Bernardino Ochino established a seminary here for 20 male orphans and other poor boys aged from 8 to 20, who were cared for and educated at the expense of the Collegio dei Notai. The orphanage was merged with that of Santa Anna (see Santa Maria degli Angeli) in 1813. 

The complex was in what is now Corso Garibaldi, possibly in the medieval building illustrated above, which is now the unlikely home of a modern gymnasium.

Works Removed from the Church

Annunciation with St Luke (1450s)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli and generally dated to the 1450s, was probably commissioned for the Collegio dei Notai.  However, it was first recorded in Santa Maria Annunziata in 1592.  It was probably moved here in 1588, when the guild moved to the Sala dei Notai, Palazzo dei Priori.  It seems to have returned to its original location in the early 19th century, and entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 14) in 1863.  The predella still survived in 1822 but was subsequently lost.

Annunciation (1525-8) 

The procurators of the hospice commissioned this altarpiece, which is signed by Sinibaldo Ibi and dated 1528, along with a frame from Giovanni Battista di Cecco (il Bastone).  It changed places with the Annunciation with St Luke (see above), probably in 1588, and seems to have returned to its original location in the early 19th century.  It entered the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now in the deposit there.

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