Annunciation

The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, from around 1434–1436. The panel is housed in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C. It was originally on panel but has been transferred to canvas. It is thought that it was the left (inner) wing of a triptych; there has been no sighting of the other wings since before 1817. The annunciation is a highly complex work, whose iconography is still debated by art historians. The picture depicts the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the son of God (Luke 1:26-38). The inscription shows his words: AVE GRÃ. PLENA or "Hail, full of grace...". She modestly draws back and responds, ECCE ANCILLA DÑI or "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord". The words appear upside down because they are directed to God and are therefore inscribed with a God's-eye view. The Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit descend to her on seven rays of light from the upper window to the left, with the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit following the same path; "This is the moment God's plan for salvation is set in motion. Through Christ's human incarnation the old era of the Law is transformed into a new era of Grace". It has been suggested that Mary has been given the features of Isabella of Portugal, wife of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, who may well have commissioned the painting from van Eyck, his (part-time) court painter. Mary wears a robe in her usual blue, which is trimmed in ermine, reserved for royalty, which would suit this theory, although the Middle Ages placed great emphasis on Mary's royal descent in any case. As is usual, especially in the North, Mary's features are less attractive than those of Gabriel; being a sexless angel there was considered to be no possibility of his beauty causing inappropriate thoughts in the onlooker. Neither figure has a halo; these were being dispensed with in Early Netherlandish art in the interests of realism – eventually the Italians would follow. Mary's posture is ambiguous; it is not clear if she is standing, kneeling or sitting. Many writers call the figures over-large compared to the architecture. This is certainly a feature of some of van Eyck's depictions of Mary in a Church setting, with a particular theological meaning. In Madonna in the Church in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin where this theme is most developed: the figure of Mary is some sixty feet high, filling much of the height of a tall Gothic church. It is not so clear that any effect of this type is intended here; there are no architectural fittings to give a clear scale to the building. If, for example, the setting were a first floor room, or one giving on to a courtyard, the windows might be lower than is normal in a medieval church. The size of the plain glass roundels does not seem disproportionate with the figures.