KANTER: One of the most precious objects in the Lehman Collection is this small annunciation by Sandro Botticelli, probably painted in the mid-1480s. It shows the Virgin at the moment of receiving the angelic message, kneeling in an attitude of humility, inside her bedchamber—you see a view back towards her bed and the cabinets and cupboards behind, with the linen curtain in front of her just drawn back to allow you to see her reading, probably from a book of hours, saying her devotions. The angel flies in from the left, just beginning to kneel, delivering his message of grace. And behind him is a view—an imaginary view we presume—of a classical ideal Italian architectural setting of the fifteenth century. I don't expect any patrician house ever looked quite as remarkable as this, but I expect every patrician wished they had a house that looked quite as remarkable as this.