Artwork Page for The Annunciation

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The Annunciation

c. 1480
(Netherlandish, 1451/55–1549)
Measurements
Framed: 75.2 x 69 x 8.5 cm (29 5/8 x 27 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.); Unframed: 50.2 x 41.5 cm (19 3/4 x 16 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

Netherlandish artists are known for their attention to lifelike detail: notice the sliver of landscape through the window at the left of this composition.

Description

The scene of the Annunciation to Mary that she will give birth to Christ is depicted here as a contemporary scene that may have been familiar to any viewer at the end of the 1400s. Mary is portrayed as an ordinary but wealthy woman who is interrupted by the Archangel Gabriel as she reads a book of hours. This type of book was enormously popular in the late Middle Ages as a prayer and devotional book, particularly among the wealthy, literate nobility, and city aristocracy.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts the Virgin Mary standing next to an angel, both with light skin tone and blond curly hair, in a white-walled interior, a window with brown shutters and an ornate arch behind them. Mary wears rich blue robes subtly fringed in gold, her right hand is lifted while her left hand rests on the pages of an open book as she turns and looks down. The angel wears an ornate red and gold jewel-studded cloak over plain white robes, his right hand holding a clear shaft topped with gold.

The Annunciation

c. 1480

Albert Bouts

(Netherlandish, 1451/55–1549)
Netherlands, Leuven, 15th century

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