The painting represents one of the most significant testimonies to Artemisia's full artistic maturity, in which the painter succeeded in synthesising the diverse influences she absorbed during her stays in Rome, Florence, Venice and, finally, Naples.
An extraordinary figure in the panorama of seventeenth-century painting, Artemisia succeeded in winning fame, prestige and wide recognition, in an environment dominated almost exclusively by men, thanks to her exceptional talent.
Dated 1630 on the cartouche at the bottom right and executed in oil on canvas, the Annunciation is the first known work painted by the artist in Naples, a city she reached around 1629, after leaving Venice. The original destination of the painting remains uncertain, although its format and dimensions (257 x 179 cm) could suggest an altarpiece. It is not excluded, however, that the canvas adorned a private chapel. Its entry into the collections of the then Real Museo Borbonico dates back to 1815.