Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART: Annunciation [Diptych]

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART
Preferred Title: 
Annunciation [Diptych]
Image View: 
Right panel, Virgin Mary, detail with dove of the Holy Spirit
Creator: 
Jan van Eyck (Netherlandish painter, ca.1390-1441)
Location: 
repository: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid, Madrid, Spain) Inv. no. 137.b (1933.11.2)
Location Note: 
Paseo del Prado, 8
GPS: 
+40.416111-3.695
Date: 
ca. 1433-1435 (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Flemish; Netherlandish
Style Period: 
Fifteenth century; Renaissance
Work Type 1: 
diptych
Work Type 2: 
panel painting
Classification: 
Paintings
Material: 
oil paint on wood panel
Technique: 
grisaille; oil painting (technique)
Measurements: 
39 cm (height, approx., each panel) x 24 cm (width, approx., each panel)
Subjects: 
New Testament; saints; Gabriel (Archangel); Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint; Northern Renaissance; trompe l’oeil
Description: 
This diptych is an outstanding example of grisaille painting. Here, van Eyck paints the figures in white on a black background to create the illusion of a sculptural group. The painting forms part of a series of small-format works probably intended for private devotion. The inscriptions on the frames refer to the subject: the first and last sentences of the dialogue between the Archangel ('Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee' [I-28]) and Mary ('Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word' [I-38]), taken from the Gospel of St Luke. The frames were painted by the artist using trompe l’oeil effects and playing with the exquisite set of mouldings that decorate the panel. (Source: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum [website]; https://www.museothyssen.org/en/)
Collection: 
Archivision Adjunct Module D: World Art
Identifier: 
7A1-EYCK-TBM-TAD-A05
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.