Gerhard Richter was first acquainted with Titian’s ‘Annunciation’ (1540) in 1972, when he exhibited his series ‘48 Portraits’ (1971-98) at the Venice Biennale. Titian’s painting, held at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, so fascinated the painter that he bought a postcard of the masterpiece and began making copies once back in his studio in Germany.