In 1984, Andy Warhol turned his focus away from his ubiquitous silkscreens of everyday, commercial objects and portraits of Hollywood’s elite to focus his attention on the history of art itself through his series Details of Renaissance Paintings.
Introduction
In doing so, not only did Warhol pay homage to the Renaissance masters, but he also placed himself as inheritor and predecessor of their revered lineage by incorporating excerpts of their acclaimed works and thus dramatically expanding the scope of his oeuvre.
“We were thinking of important Renaissance paintings or details of such…. Ultimately, we suggested four subjects to Andy. He looked at them and without listening to our wordy explanations simply asked ‘can’t you find more famous paintings?’”
—Jörg Schellmann
Details of Renaissance Paintings renders masterworks of Italian Renaissance artists like Paolo Uccello, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro Botticelli in the twentieth-century medium of screen printing. This particular image retains the Quattrocento master’s palette of peachy flesh and a blue background but cools off the tones. After Warhol saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in 1963, Warhol began his first experimentation with Renaissance masters. Two decades later, he returned to the subject with the eyes of a mature artist, making bolder compositional choices with cropping and overdrawing. In reproducing and reinventing these masterpieces, Warhol placed himself in the canon of greats.
Jörg Schellmann and Andy Warhol, Warhol Studio at Broadway/Union Square, New York, 1983. Image: © Schellmann Art
In 1983, the renowned German publisher Jörg Schellmann, together with his business partner Bernd Klüser, suggested to Warhol that he make a portfolio of prints based on Renaissance masterworks. After carefully considering which paintings would be most fitting, Schellmann and Klüser settled on Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (c. 1485), Leonardo da Vinci’s The Annunciation (1472), Paolo Uccello’s St. George and the Dragon (1472), and Piero della Francesca’s Madonna del Duca da Montedeltro (c.1474). Despite being created five centuries prior, these mighty paintings were pertinent subjects for Warhol due to their status as revered icons of art history. Warhol’s enduring fascination with mass reproduction, iconic imagery, and the allure of celebrity reverberated powerfully within these masterpieces. In transforming them into twentieth-century icons, Warhol amplified their historical significance as they tookcentre stage in his own Pop renaissance.
In Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), Warhol references da Vinci’s painterly interpretation of the moment the angel Gabriel appears in front of the Virgin Mary and announces that Mary will bear the son of God. In da Vinci’s image, Gabriel kneels before the Virgin, hand raised in greeting. Opposite, Mary’s finger rests on the book she was reading prior to the angel’s arrival. While da Vinci presents an expansive view of Gabriel and Mary situated in a hortus conclusus – an allegory of the Virgin’s purity – Warhol intensely crops the image. In doing so, he purposefully obscures the narrative scene, leaving only the two gestural hands as an indication of the Biblical interaction.
Leonardo da Vinci, Annunciation, 1472, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Image: Scala, Florence
Warhol flattens the composition drastically: the mountain that once served as the central vanishing point in da Vinci’s pioneering example of perspective, is brought to the fore and highlighted with the same democratizing red line that Warhol uses to silhouette the hands of Mary and angel Gabriel. Through the central positioning of the mountain, the landscape in the background becomes of equal, if not higher, importance than the Biblical encounter. By directly appropriating da Vinci’s imagery, Warhol challenges the concept of originality and satirically undermines the work’s religious significance. Through his reproduction, flattening and cropping of the famous painting, Warhol demonstrates that not even the works of the Old Masters are protected from the commercial aesthetic of Pop art.
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472
from Details of Renaissance Paintings
Portfolio of 4 screenprints on Arches Aquarelle
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle (Cold Pressed) paper
Year: 1984
Sheet: 32×44 inches (81.3 x 111.8 cm)
Edition: 60
Artist’s Proofs: 15 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Hors Commerce: 4 HC
Trial Proofs: 36 TP with unique color combination
(see Feldman & Schellmann IIB.320-323)
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Publisher: Editions Schellmann & Kluser, Munich, Germany/New-York
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann II.320-323
Signed and numbered in pencil lower left
1. The Annunciation (F&S II.320)
2. The Annunciation (F&S II.321)
3. The Annunciation (F&S II.322)
4. The Annunciation (F&S II.323)
2025 Auction Results
The Annunciation (F&S II.320), 1984
Doyle New-York: 23 October 2025
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 41,600
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
DETAILS OF RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS (LEONARDO DA VINCI, THE ANNUNCIATION, 1472), 1984 (FELDMAN/SCHELLMANN II.320)
Color screenprint on Arches Aquarelle Cold Pressed paper
Signed and numbered 54/60 in pencil
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Ketterer Kunst: 7 June 2025
Estimated: EUR 18,000
EUR 50,800 / USD 57,405
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
(Feldman, Schellmann, Defendi, no. II.321)
Silkscreen in colors on firm Arches wove board
Signed and numbered
From an edition of 60 copies
Sheet 2 of a portfolio comprising 4 color silkscreen prints
The Annunciation (F&S II.322), 1984
Lempertz: 31 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 15,000 – 20,000
EUR 32,760 / USD 37,185
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation 1472) (F&S II.322), 1984
Color screenprint on card
Signed and numbered
Copyright stamp “© ANDY WARHOL 1984” verso
Proof 30/60 (+15 A.P. +5 P.P. +4 H.C.)
Sheet 3 of the eponymous series
The Annunciation (F&S II.322), 1984
Stockholms Auktionverk: 22 May 2025
Estimated: SEK 150,000 – 200,000
SEK 240,000 (Hammer)
SEK 300,000 / USD 31,175
ANDY WARHOL
“Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472)”, 1984
(Feldman-Schellmann II.322)
Silkscreen in colors on Arches Aquarelle Cold Pressed Paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 22/60
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Christie’s New-York: 16 April 2025
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 50,400
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472 (Feldman and Schellmann II.321), 1984
From Details of Renaissance Paintings
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘PP 5⁄5’
A printer’s proof, the edition was 60 plus fifteen artist’s proofs
2024 Auction Results
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Estimated: SEK 250,000 – 300,000
Hammer: SEK 280,000
SEK 350,000 / USD 32,900
from Details of renaissance paintings
Screenprint in colors
Signed in pencil and numbered 36/60
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Bukowskis Stockholm: 11 June 2024
Estimated: SEK 200,000 – 300,000
SEK 250,000 (Hammer)
SEK 312,500 / USD 29,810
ANDY WARHOL (United States, 1928-1987)
“Leonardo da Vinci, The annunciation” (Feldman & Schellmann II 321), 1984
from “Details of renaissance paintings”
Color serigraph
Signed in pencil 20/60
The Annunciation (TP 29/36), 1984
Sotheby’s online: 20 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 40,000
GBP 38,100 / USD 48,387
TRIAL PROOF
ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Leonardo da Vinci (The Annunciation, 1472), from Details of Renaissance Paintings, 1984
Screenprint in a unique color combination on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, inscribed and numbered TP 29/36
One of 36 trial proofs printed in a unique colour combination aside from the numbered edition of 60
The Annunciation (TP 22/36), 1984
Phillips London: 17 January 2024
Estimated: GBP 25,000 – 35,000
GBP 53,340 / USD 67,374
TRIAL PROOF
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 22/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof, the edition was 60 and 15 artist’s proofs)
2023 Auction Results
The Annunciation (F&S II.322), 1984
imKimsky Vienna: 19 April 2023
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 24,000
EUR 31,680 / USD 34,770
ANDY WARHOL
Leonardo da Vinci “The Annunciation 1472”, 1984
Serigraph
Signed and numbered by the hand of the artist on the lower left: 16/60 Andy Warhol
Stamp verso: © Andy Warhol 1984 Editions Schellmann & Kluser New York – Munich
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Christie’s New-York: 13 February 2023
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 44,100
ANDY WARHOL
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472, from Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci)
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘AP 15/15’ (an artist’s proof, the edition was 60)
2022 Auction Results
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Christie’s New-York: 28 October 2022
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 40,320
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472, from Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci)
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘AP 4/15’
An artist’s proof, the edition was 60
The Annunciation (F&S II.320-323), 1984
Sotheby’s New-York: 27 October 2022
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 189,000
COMPLETE SET
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
The complete set of four screen-prints in colors
An artist’s proof set aside from the numbered edition of 60
Each signed in pencil and inscribed AP 12/15
The Annunciation (F&S II.321), 1984
Bukowskis Stockholm: 26 October 2022
Estimated: SEK 125,000 – 150,000
SEK 220,000 (Hammer)
SEK 275,000 / USD 25,055
ANDY WARHOL (United States, 1928-1987)
“Leonardo da Vinci, The annunciation” (Feldman & Schellmann II 321), 1984
from: “Details of renaissance paintings”
Screenprint in colors
Signed in pencil 22/60
The Annunciation (F&S II.322), 1984
Sotheby’s Cologne: 10 June 2022
Estimated: EUR 10,000 – 15,000
EUR 32,760 / USD 34,790
ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472) (F&S II.322), 1984
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 48/60 (total edition includes 15 artist’s proofs)
The Annunciation (TP 29/36), 1984
Phillips London: 15 June 2022
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 44,100 / USD 53,545
TRIAL PROOF
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors, on Arches Aquarelle Cold Press paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 29/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof, the edition was 60 and 15 artist’s proofs
The Annunciation (F&S II.320)
Doyle New-York: 23 October 2025
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 41,600
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
DETAILS OF RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS (LEONARDO DA VINCI, THE ANNUNCIATION, 1472), 1984 (FELDMAN/SCHELLMANN II.320)
Color screenprint on Arches Aquarelle Cold Pressed paper
Signed and numbered 54/60 in pencil
Bukowskis Stockholm: 3 June 2020
Estimated: SEK 100,000 – 125,000
SEK 300,000 (Hammer)
SEK 375,000 / USD 40,450
ANDY WARHOL (United States, 1928-1987)
“Leonardo da Vinci, The annunciation” (Feldman II.320), 1984
from: “Details of renaissance paintings”
Silkscreen in colors
Signed in pencil and numbered 48/60
The Annunciation (F&S II.321)
Ketterer Kunst: 7 June 2025
Estimated: EUR 18,000
EUR 50,800 / USD 57,405
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
(Feldman, Schellmann, Defendi, no. II.321)
Silkscreen in colors on firm Arches wove board
Signed and numbered
From an edition of 60 copies
Sheet 2 of a portfolio comprising 4 color silkscreen prints
Christie’s New-York: 16 April 2025
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 50,400
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472 (Feldman and Schellmann II.321), 1984
From Details of Renaissance Paintings
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘PP 5⁄5’
A printer’s proof, the edition was 60 plus fifteen artist’s proofs
Estimated: SEK 250,000 – 300,000
Hammer: SEK 280,000
SEK 350,000 / USD 32,900
from Details of renaissance paintings
Screenprint in colors
Signed in pencil and numbered 36/60
Bukowskis Stockholm: 11 June 2024
Estimated: SEK 200,000 – 300,000
SEK 250,000 (Hammer)
SEK 312,500 / USD 29,810
ANDY WARHOL (United States, 1928-1987)
“Leonardo da Vinci, The annunciation” (Feldman & Schellmann II 321), 1984
from “Details of renaissance paintings”
Color serigraph
Signed in pencil 20/60
Christie’s New-York: 13 February 2023
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 44,100
ANDY WARHOL
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472, from Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci)
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘AP 15/15’ (an artist’s proof, the edition was 60)
Christie’s New-York: 28 October 2022
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 40,320
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472, from Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci)
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered ‘AP 4/15’
An artist’s proof, the edition was 60
Bukowskis Stockholm: 26 October 2022
Estimated: SEK 125,000 – 150,000
SEK 220,000 (Hammer)
SEK 275,000 / USD 25,055
ANDY WARHOL (United States, 1928-1987)
“Leonardo da Vinci, The annunciation” (Feldman & Schellmann II 321), 1984
from: “Details of renaissance paintings”
Screenprint in colors
Signed in pencil 22/60
The Annunciation (F&S II.322)
Lempertz: 31 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 15,000 – 20,000
EUR 32,760 / USD 37,185
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation 1472) (F&S II.322), 1984
Color screenprint on card
Signed and numbered
Copyright stamp “© ANDY WARHOL 1984” verso
Proof 30/60 (+15 A.P. +5 P.P. +4 H.C.)
Sheet 3 of the eponymous series
Stockholms Auktionverk: 22 May 2025
Estimated: SEK 150,000 – 200,000
SEK 240,000 (Hammer)
SEK 300,000 / USD 31,175
ANDY WARHOL
“Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472)”, 1984
(Feldman-Schellmann II.322)
Silkscreen in colors on Arches Aquarelle Cold Pressed Paper
Signed in pencil and numbered 22/60
imKimsky Vienna: 19 April 2023
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 24,000
EUR 31,680 / USD 34,770
ANDY WARHOL
Leonardo da Vinci “The Annunciation 1472”, 1984
Serigraph
Signed and numbered by the hand of the artist on the lower left: 16/60 Andy Warhol
Stamp verso: © Andy Warhol 1984 Editions Schellmann & Kluser New York – Munich
Sotheby’s Cologne: 10 June 2022
Estimated: EUR 10,000 – 15,000
EUR 32,760 / USD 34,790
ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472) (F&S II.322), 1984
Screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, numbered 48/60 (total edition includes 15 artist’s proofs)
The Annunciation (F&S II.323)
Bonhams New-York: 2 November 2021
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 24,062
Screen-print in colors on Arches Aquarelle (Cold pressed) paper
A color proof aside from the edition of 60 (there were also 15 artist’s proofs)
With the Warhol Authentication Board inkstamp on verso
The Annunciation (Trial Proofs)
Sotheby’s online: 20 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 40,000
GBP 38,100 / USD 48,387
ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987)
Leonardo da Vinci (The Annunciation, 1472), from Details of Renaissance Paintings, 1984
Screenprint in a unique color combination on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed in pencil, inscribed and numbered TP 29/36
One of 36 trial proofs printed in a unique colour combination aside from the numbered edition of 60
Phillips London: 17 January 2024
Estimated: GBP 25,000 – 35,000
GBP 53,340 / USD 67,374
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 22/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof, the edition was 60 and 15 artist’s proofs)
Phillips London: 15 June 2022
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 44,100 / USD 53,545
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors, on Arches Aquarelle Cold Press paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 29/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof, the edition was 60 and 15 artist’s proofs
Bonhams London: 13 June 2019
Estimated: GBP 25,000 – 35,000
GBP 31,312 / USD 39,740
(Feldman & Schellmann IIB.320)
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and inscribed TP 11/36 in pencil
One of 36 unique color combination trial proofs
Phillips London: 6 June 2019
Estimated: GBP 10,000 – 15,000
GBP 32,500 / USD 41,345
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Unique screenprint in colors on Arches Aquarelle Cold Press paper
Signed and annotated ‘T.P.’ in pencil
An unnumbered trial proof
F&S calls for 36 numbered trial proofs in unique color combinations, before the edition of 60 and 15 artist’s proofs
Dorotheum Vienna: 17 May 2018
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 45,000 / USD 50,000
ANDY WARHOL
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
Color screenprint on Arches Aquarelle paper
Signed and numbered ‘TP 11/36’ in pencil
A unique color variant trial proof
Complete Sets
Sotheby’s New-York: 27 October 2022
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 189,000
COMPLETE SET
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
The complete set of four screen-prints in colors
An artist’s proof set aside from the numbered edition of 60
Each signed in pencil and inscribed AP 12/15
Christie’s London: 29 March 2017
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 56,250
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472), 1984
The set of four screenprints in colors on heavy Arches wove paper
Each signed in pencil, numbered 42/60