National Gallery of Art

Overview

The Annunciation described by Saint Luke is interpreted in terms of actuality in this painting, which was probably once the left wing of a triptych. The forms—even that of the archangel—seem to have weight and volume. Light and shadow play over them in a natural way, and with amazing skill, Jan van Eyck has distinguished between the textures of materials ranging from hard, polished stone to the soft, fragile petals of flowers.

Yet religious symbolism speaks from every detail, expounding the significance of the Annunciation, and the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. The structure of the church can be interpreted symbolically; the dark upper story, with its single, stained–glass window of Jehovah, may refer to the former era of the Old Testament, while the lower part of the building, already illuminated by the "Light of the World" and dominated by transparent, triple windows symbolizing the Trinity, may refer to the Era of Grace of the New Testament. The idea of passing from old to new is further manifested in the transition from the Romanesque round–arched windows of the upper story to the early Gothic pointed arches of the lower zone, and also in the depictions on the floor tiles: David beheading Goliath and Samson destroying the Philistine temple are both Old Testament events in the salvation of the Jewish people which prefigure the salvation of humankind through the coming of Christ.

Inscription

top of back wall to the right of furthest left figure: MOYSES F[I]SCELLA; above second figure from left: FI...PHARAONIS; on banderole: O IN VS HEBREORVM HIC EST; on globe in window: ASIA; above third figure from left: Moyses; on banderole: NO ASSVMES NOM DI TVI I VAN[VM]; above fourth figure from left: DNS; middle of back wall on left roundel: ISAAC; on right roundel: JACOB; to the right of Gabriel: AVE GRA PLENA; to the left of Mary, upside down and backwards: ECCE ANCILLA DNI; lower left on floor: A DALIDA VXORE S; lower center: SAVL REX; DAVID; GOLIAS; second row center: SAMSSON MVLTAS GENTES INTERFECIT T 9VIVIO

Provenance

Possibly the Chartreuse de Champmol, near Dijon.[1] Sale, Paris, 1819. (Charles J. Nieuwenhuys, Brussels). William II, King of the Netherlands [d. 1849], in Brussels until 1841, thereafter The Hague;[2] (sale, The Hague, 12 August 1850, no. 1); bought by Bruni for Czar Nicholas I of Russia [1796-1855], Saint Petersburg; Imperial Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg;[3] purchased June 1930 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 5 June 1931 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1907

Exposition de la toison d'or et de l'art néerlandais sous les Ducs de Bourgogne, Bruges, 1907, no. 175.

1994

Jan Van Eyck's 'Annunciation', National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1994, brochure, color repro.

1997

Masterpieces from Museums Around the World: Van Eyck 'Annunciation' from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D. C.), The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 1997, no cat.

1997

Van Eyck's 'Annunciation': The Meeting of Heaven and Earth, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1997, brochure, color repro. on cover and fig. 2 (detail).

1998

Recognizing Van Eyck, The National Gallery, London; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1998, no. 3, repro.

2002

Jan van Eyck, de Vlaamse Primitieven en het Zuiden [Jan van Eyck, Early Netherlandish Painting and Southern Europe], Groeningemuseum, Bruges, 2002, no. 19, fig. 17, repro. (catalogue titled The Age of Van Eyck, 1430-1530: The Mediterranean World and Early Netherlandish Painting).

Bibliography

1833

Passavant, J. D. "Nachrichten über die alt-niederländische Malerschule." Kunst-Blatt no. 83 (1833): 320.

1843

Nieuwenhuys, C. J. Description de la Galerie des Tableaux de S. M. le Roi des Pays-Bas. Brussels, 1843: 1-2.

1845

Michiels, Alfred. Histoire de la peinture flamande et hollandaise. 4 vols. Paris, 1847: 2:127.

1850

Catalogue des Tableaux Anciens et Modernes, de Diverses Écoles; Dessins et Statues, Formant la Galerie de feu sa Majesté Guillaume II. Amsterdam, 1850: 1, no. 1.

1858

Hotho, H. G. Die Malerschule Hubert's van Eyck nebst Vorgängern und Zeitgenossen. Berlin, 1858: 2, 171.

1863

Köhne, Baron Bernhard de. Ermitage impérial, Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. Saint Petersburg, 1863: 95, no. 443.

1864

Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Die Gemäldesammlung in der kaiserlichen Ermitage zu St. Petersburg nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Kunstsammlungen. Munich, 1864: 115-116, no. 443.

1866

Michiels, Alfred. Histoire de la peinture flamande depuis ses débuts jusqu'en 1864. 6 vols. Paris, 1866: 2:317-318.

1870

Köhne, Baron Bernhard de. Ermitage Impérial: Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. 3 vols. 2nd ed. Saint Petersburg, 1870: 2:3-4, no. 443.

1872

Crowe, J. A., and G.B. Cavalcaselle. The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of Their Lives and Works. 2nd ed. London, 1872: 113-114.

1879

Ris, Comte Louis Clément de. "Musée Impérial de l'Ermitage à Saint-Pétersbourg (third of 4 articles)." Gazette des Beaux-Arts19 (June 1879): 573-574, repro. 577 (drawing by Goutzwiller).

1887

Conway, William. Early Flemish Artists and Their Predecessors of the Lower Rhine. London, 1887: 140-141.

1898

Kaemmerer, Ludwig. Hubert und Jan van Eyck. Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1898: 69-71, repro.

1899

Seeck, Otto. Die charakterischen Unterschiede der Brüder van Eyck. Berlin, 1899: 41, 70.

1900

Friedländer, Max J. Review of Die Werke des Jan van Eyck by Karl Voll. In Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1900): 474.

1900

Kaemmemer, Ludwig. "Die neueste Eycklitteratur." Kunstchronik 12 (8 November 1900): 67-68, 70.

1900

Voll, Karl. Die Werke des Jan van Eyck. Strasbourg, 1900: 62-65.

1901

Somov, Andrei Ivanovich. Ermitage Impérial. Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. 2 vols. 4th ed. Saint Petersburg, 1901: 2:110-111.

1901

Voll, Karl. "Jan van Eyck en France." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 25 (1901): 217-218.

1903

Dvorák, Max. "Das Rätsel der Kunst der Brüder van Eyck." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien) 24 (1903): 237, repro. 236 (printed in book form, Munich, 1925: 119).

1903

Weale, Frances. Hubert and Jan van Eyck. New York, 1903: 30.

1904

Kern, G. Joseph. Die Grundzüge der linear-perspektivischen Darstellung in der Kunst der Gebrüder van Eyck und ihrer Schule. Leipzig, 1904: 13-14, diagram pl. 7.

1906

Kleinclausz, Arthur Jean. "Les Peintres des Ducs de Bourgogne." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 20 (1906): 258, repro. 259.

1906

Voll, Karl. Die altniederländische Malerei von Jan van Eyck bis Memling. Leipzig, 1906: 36.

1906

Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederlandisches Kunstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Vienna, 1906-1911: 1(1906):514.

1907

"Correspondance de Belgique. L'exposition de la toison d'or à Bruges." La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité no. 26 (1907): 252.

1907

Friedländer, Max J. "Eyck, Jan van." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 11(1915):129-133.

1907

Girodie, André. "La Toison d'or et l'art néerlandais sous les ducs de Bourgogne." L'Art de les Artistes 5 (September, 1907): 289-290, repro.

1907

Hymans, Henri. Les Van Eyck. Paris, 1907: 111-112, repro. 109.

1907

Hymans, Henri. "L'Exposition de la toison d'or à Bruges." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 38 (1907): 203-204, repro. opp. 204.

1907

Les Chefs-d'oeuvre de l'art flamand à l'exposition de la toison d'or. Bruges, 1907: 16-17, repro.

1907

Mandach, C. de "L'Exposition de la toison d'or et de l'art néerlandais sous les ducs de Bourgogne." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 22 (1907): 155.

1907

Strange, Edward. "The Exhibition of the Golden Fleece at Bruges." The Connoisseur 19, no. 73 (1907): 32, repro.

1908

Les Chefs-d'oeuvre d'art ancien à l'exposition de la toison d'or à Bruges en 1907. Brussels, 1908: 78, pl. 361.

1908

Saintenoy, Paul. L'Église Saint-Jacques de Compostelle et le décor architectural de l'Annonciation de Jean van Eyck. Antwerp, 1908: 4-5, 8-10.

1908

Weale, W. H. James. Hubert and John van Eyck. Their Life and Work. London, 1908: 119-122, no. 16, repro. betw. 118 and 119.

1909

Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d’Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l’Ermitage Impérial à St. Pétersbourg. London, 1909: 11, repro. 62.

1910

Durand-Gréville, E. Hubert et Jean van Eyck. Brussels, 1910: 80-85, repro. opp. 80.

1910

"Extraits des procès-verbaux des séances. Séance de rentrée du 13 novembre 1907." Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences, arts et belle-lettres de Dijon 4e sér. 11 (1910): 70.

1912

Kern, G. Joseph. "Perspective und Bildarchitektur bei Jan van Eyck." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 35 (1912): 50-51.

1912

Réau, Louis. "La galerie de tableaux de l'Ermitage et la collection Semenov. 2: Ecoles de Nord." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 8 (December 1912): 471-472.

1912

Weale, W. H. James, and Maurice Brockwell. The Van Eycks and Their Art. London, 1912: 98-102, pl. 19.

1913

Durand-Gréville, E. Review of The Van Eycks and their Art by W. H. James Weale and Maurice Brockwell. In La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité no. 32 (1913): 254.

1919

Huizinga, Johan. Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen. Haarlem, 1919: 474-476.

1921

Brockwell, Maurice. "Exposition des Beaux-Arts de Burlington Club." La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité no. 2 (1921): 14.

1921

Conway, Martin. The Van Eycks and Their Followers. London, 1921: 64-65.

1922

Pfister, Kurt. Van Eyck. Munich, 1922: 62, pl. 14.

1924

Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols.,1924-1937. Berlin, 1924: 1:104-105, pl. 44. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1967: 1:63-64, pl. 57.)

1924

Schmarsow, August. Hubert und Jan van Eyck. Leipzig, 1924: 135-141, pl. 29.

1924

Winkler, Friedrich. Die alniederländische Malerei. Berlin, 1924: 49.

1925

Burger, Willy. Die Malerei in den Niederlanden 1400-1550. Munich, 1925: 18-20, pl. 10.

1927

Reinach, S. "Three Early Panels from the Ducal Residence at Dijon."The Burlington Magazine 50 (1927): 234-245.

1928

Demonts, Louis. "Le Maître de l'Annonciation d'Aix, des van Eyck à Antonello de Messine." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 53 (1928): 265, 278.

1932

Tolnai, Karl von. "Zur Herkunft des Stiles der van Eyck." Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 9 (1932): 322.

1934

Friedländer, Max J. "A New Painting by van Eyck." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 65, no. 376 (July 1934): 3.

1934

Jong, Johannes de. Architektuur bij de Nederlandsche Schilders vóór de Hervorming. Amsterdam, 1934: 70-71, 134, 155-156, figs. 65, 128, 149.

1935

"Mellon Holdings Are Announced by Knoedler & Co." Art News 33 (23 February, 1935): 4, repro. 9.

1935

"Mellon to Give Gallery and 19,000,000 of Art to Nation." Art Digest 9 (1 March, 1935): 6, repro.

1935

Panofsky, Erwin. "The Friedsam Annunciation and the Problem of the Ghent Altarpiece." Art Bulletin 17, no. 4 (December 1935): 449, 468, 471, 473, fig. 22.

1935

Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 123, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 123, repro.).

1936

Robb, David. "The Iconography of the Annunciation in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries." Art Bulletin 18 (1936): 506-508, fig. 31.

1937

Beenken, Hermann. "The Annunciation of Petrus Christus in the Metropolitan Museum and the Problem of Hubert van Eyck." Art Bulletin 19 (1937): 231.

1937

Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: repro. opposite p. 31.

1937

Dupont, Jacques. "Les peintures de la Chartreuse de Champmol." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (1937): 155-157.

1937

Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.

1938

Burroughs, Alan. Art Criticism from a Laboratory. Boston, 1938: 201-202.

1939

De Tolnay, Charles. Le Maître de Flémalle et les frères van Eyck. Brussels, 1939: 25, 66, no. 5, repro. 71-73.

1941

De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Paintings in the National Gallry of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (1941): 175-176, 178, figs. 1, 3-5.

1941

Held, Julius S. "Masters of Northern Europe, 1430-1660, in the National Gallery." Art News 40, no. 8 (June 1941): 11, repro.

1941

Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 61-62, no. 39.

1942

Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 38.

1942

Friedländer, Max J. On Art and Connoisseurship. London, 1942: 186-187.

1943

Beenken, Hermann. Hubert und Jan van Eyck. 2d ed. Munich, 1943: 78-80, 88, pl. 106.

1944

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 84, color repro.

1945

Meiss, Millard. "Light as Form and Symbol in Some Fifteenth-Century Paintings." Art Bulletin 27 (1945): 178-179, fig. 4.

1946

Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 43-45, color repro.

1948

Beer, E. S. de. "Gothic: Origin and Diffusion of the Term; the Idea of Style in Architecture." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld InstitutesI 11 (1948): 159.

1948

Musper, Theodor. Untersuchungen zu Rogier van der Weyden und Jan van Eyck. Stuttgart, 1948: 104-105, pl. 165.

1949

L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 340.

1949

Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 52, repro.

1950

Kauffmann, Hans. "Jan van Eyck's `Arnolfinihochzeit.'" Geistige Welt 4 (January, 1950): 48-49, repro.

1952

Baldass, Ludwig. Jan van Eyck. London, 1952: 54-55, 277-278, no. 9, pl. 113-115.

1952

Ladoué, Pierre. "La Scène de L'Annunciation vue par les peintres." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 39 (1952): 355.

1952

Meiss, Millard. "`Nicolas Albergati' and the Chronology of Jan van Eyck's Portraits." The Burlington Magazine 94 (1952): 137.

1953

Panofsky Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1953: 1:137-139, 147-148, 193-194, 2: pl. 111, fig. 238.

1954

Fourez, Lucien. "L'Évêque Chevrot de Tournai et sa Cité de Dieu." Revue Belge d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art 23 (1954): 100-101, fig. 16.

1954

Tietze, Hans. Treasures of the Great National Galleries. New York, 1954: 112, 122-123, pl. 195.

1955

Winkler, Friedrich. Review of Early Netherlandish Painting by Erwin Panofsky. In Kunstchronik 8 (1955): 22.

1956

Herzog, Erich. "Zur Kirchenmadonna van Eycks." Berliner Museen 6 (1956): 5, 14.

1956

Pächt, Otto. "Review of Early Netherlandish Painting by Erwin Panofsky." The Burlington Magazine 98 (1956): 274.

1956

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 36, repro.

1957

Quarré, Pierre. "Fragment d'un primitif de la Chartreuse de Champmol au Musée des Arts Decoratifs." La Revue des Arts 7 (1957): 63.

1957

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): 12, fig 6, pl. 7, 121

1960

Broadley Hugh T. Flemish Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 5 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 12-13, color repro.

1960

[Pierre Quarré]. La Chartreuse de Champmol: Foyer d'art au temps des Ducs Valois. Exh. cat. Musée de Dijon, 1960: 15.

1960

The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 7, 19, color repro.

1960

Wilenski, R. H. Flemish Painters 1430-1830. 2 vols. New York, 1960: 1:12.

1961

Denis, Valentin. All the Paintings of Jan van Eyck. New York, 1961: 28, 48, pls. 81-85.

1961

Faggin, Giuseppe. Van Eyck. Verona, 1961: 116, 126, 195, no. 14, figs. 73-76.

1961

Kurz, Otto. "Eyck, Hubert, and Jan van." In Encyclopedia of World Art. 16 vols. New York, Toronto, and London, 1959-1983. Vol 5 (1961): column 327.

1961

Meiss, Millard. "`Highlands' in the Lowlands. Jan van Eyck, the Master of Flémalle and the Franco-Italian Tradition." Gazette des Beaux Arts 57 (1961): 310.

1961

Schilling, Rosy. "Das Llangattock-Stundenbuch. Sein Verhältnis zu Van Eyck und dem Vollender des Turin Mailänder Stundenbuches." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 23 (1961): 225.

1961

Seznec, Jean. "Michelet et l'Annonciation." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 58 (1961): 147, fig. 151.

1963

Bauch, Kurt. "Bildnisse des Jan van Eyck." Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. Jahresheft 1961/1962. Wiesbaden, 1963: 101. Repr. in Kurt Bauch, Studien zur Kunstgechichte. Berlin, 1967: 83.

1963

Bruyn, Josua. "Twee Kardinaalsportretten in het werk van Jan van Eyck." Album Discipulorum J. G. van Gelder. Utrecht, 1963: 30.

1963

McNamee, M. B. "Further Symbolism in the Portinari Altarpiece." Art Bulletin 45, no. 2 (June 1963): 143.

1963

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 96, repro.

1965

Bol, L. J. Jan van Eyck. New York, 1965: 87, repro. 47.

1965

Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 48.

1966

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:74-75, color repro.

1966

Schiller, Gertrud. Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst. 6 vols. Gütersloh, 1966-1990: 1:60-62, 213, 288-289, fig. 116.

1966

Walton, William. "Parnassus on Potomac." Art News 65 (March 1966): 37.

1967

Thalheimer, Siegfried. Der Genter Altar. Munich, 1967: 71.

1968

Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting, from Pucelle to Bruegel: Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries. New York, 1968: 85-86, fig. 101.

1968

European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations (Companion to the Summary Catalogue, 1965). Washington, 1968: 41, no. 39, repro.

1968

Faggin, Giorgio T. L'opera completa dei van Eyck. Milan, 1968: 94-95, repro. no. 18, pls. 35-36.

1968

Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Bouciaut Master. London, 1968: 72-73.

1969

Blum, Shirley Neilsen. Early Netherlandish Triptychs. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969: 10.

1969

Minott, Charles. "The Theme of the Mérode Altarpiece." Art Bulletin 51 (1969): 267.

1969

Pauwels, H. "Review of Der Genter Altar by Siegfried Thalheimer." The Burlington Magazine 111 (1969): 393.

1969

Peman y Pemartin, Cesar. Juan van Eyck y España. Cadiz, 1969: 43-44, fig. 24.

1970

Cooke, Hereward Lester. The National Gallery of Art in Washington. Munich and Ahrbeck/Hanover, 1970: 60-61, color fig. 27.

1971

Philip, Lotte Brand. The Ghent Altarpiece and the Art of Jan van Eyck. Princeton, 1971: 139, fig. 138.

1971

Strauss, Konrad. "Keramikgefässe, insbesondere Fayencegefässe auf Tafelbildern der deutschen und niederländischen Schule des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts." Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz. Mitteilungsblatt no. 84 (197l): 22, pl. 3, fig. 1.

1972

Braunfels, Wolfgang. Monasteries of Western Europe. Princeton, 1972: 120, fig. 145.

1972

Kahr, Madlyn. "Delilah." Art Bulletin 54 (1972): 284.

1973

Koller, Manfred. "Der Albrechtsmeister und Conrad Laib. Technologische Beiträge zur Tafelmalerei des `Realistischen Stiles' in Österreich." Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege 27 (1973): 52.

1973

Stangel, Andrew Laurie. "The Cartographic Symbolism in Jan van Eyck's Annunciation in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C." Comitatus 4 (1973): 41-48, repro. 44, 45.

1974

Birkmeyer, Karl. Review of The Ghent Altarpiece and the Art of Jan van Eyck by Lotte Brand Philip. In The Art Bulletin 56 (1974): 286.

1974

Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries. New York, 1974: 446.

1974

Walker, John. Self-Portrait with Donors: Confessions of an Art Collector. Boston, 1974: 115.

1975

Collier, James Mitchell. "Linear Perspective in Flemish Painting and the Art of Petrus Christus and Dirk Bouts." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1975: 62-63, fig. 16.

1975

European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 124, 125, no. 39, repro.

1975

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 120, repro. 121.

1975

Ward, John. "Hidden Symbolism in Jan van Eyck's Annunciations." Art Bulletin 57, no. 2 (June 1975): 196-208, repro.

1976

Sterling, Charles. "Jan van Eyck avant 1432." Revue de l'Art no. 33 (1976): 9, 11.

1977

Williams, Carolyn. "Jan van Eyck's Annunciation: An Iconographical Study." M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1977.

1978

Bernardini, Cecilia. Jan van Eyck. Rome, 1978: 12, pl. 20.

1978

Panhans-Bühler, Ursula. Eklektizismus und Originalität im Werk des Petrus Christus. Vienna, 1978: 71, fig. 4.

1979

Châtelet, Albert. Van Eyck. Bologna, 1979: 40, 42, pl. 7.

1979

Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 47-48, pl. 30.

1980

Dhanens, Elisabeth. Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Antwerp, 1980: 355, 358, fig. 221.

1981

Lyman, Thomas. "Architectural Portraiture and Jan van Eyck's Washington Annunciation." Gesta 20 no. 1 (1981): 263-271, fig. 1.

1981

O'Meara, Carra Ferguson. "Isabelle of Portugal as the Virgin in Jan van Eyck's Washington Annunciation." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 97 (1981): 99-103, figs. 1-2.

1982

Purtle, Carol J. The Marian Paintings of Jan van Eyck. Princeton, 1982: 40-58, 60, 75, figs. 26, 28-29.

1983

Giltay, J. Review of Hubert and Jan van Eyck by Elisabeth Dhanens. In Simiolus 13 (1983): 56-57.

1984

Lane, Barbara G. The Altar and the Altarpiece: Sacramental Themes in Early Netherlandish Painting. New York, 1984: 45-47, fig. 28.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 120, no. 104, cover, color repro.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 150, repro.

1985

Snyder, James E. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350-1575. New York, 1985: 103-104, fig. 103.

1986

Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington,1986: 76-86, color repro. 77.

1991

Harbison, Craig. Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism. Seattle, 1991: 174-175, fig. 114. (Second edition, London, 2012: 192-193, 233-234, color fig. 108.)

1991

Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 88, 90, 91, color repro.

1992

Hall, Nicholas H. J., ed. Colnaghi in America: A Survey to Commemorate the First Decade of Colnaghi, New York. New York, 1992: 133.

1992

National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 40, color repro.

1993

Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art and Psychoanalysis. New York, 1993: 228-230, fig. 83

1993

"National Gallery of Art, Washington." La Muse: Bulletin of the Tokyo Fuki Art Museum 4, no. 27 (1993): 26, repro.

1994

Hand, John Oliver. Jan van Eyck's 'Annunication'. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994.

1995

Held, Heinz-Georg. Engel: Geschichte eines Bildmotivs. Cologne, 1995: 150-153, color fig. 6.

1995

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York, 1995: 18, fig. 5.

1996

Herzner, Volker. Jan van Eyck und der Genter Altar. Worms, 1996: 116, 122 note 31, 129 note 56, 150, 243, fig. 40.

1996

Huizinga, Johan. The Autumn of the Middle Ages. Translated by Rodney J. Payton and Ulrich Mammitzsch. Chicago, 1996: 335-336, pl. 29.

1996

Hunter, Sam and Melissa de Medeiros. The Rise of the Art World in America: Knoedler at 150. Exh. cat. M. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1996: 13.

1996

Landi, Ann. "150 Years of Helping Shape a Nation's Taste." New York Times (December 1, 1996): 46.

1996

Wallis, Stephen. "Sketchbook: Knoedler Turns 150." Art & Antiques 19, no. 10 (November 1996): 18, color repro.

1997

Butler, Marigene H. “An Investigation of the Philadelphia “Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.” In Jan van Eyck: Two Paintings of Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, edited by Joseph J. Rishel. Exh. cat. Philadelphia, 1997: 40-41, 44 nt. 1, 45, nt. 22, 46, nt. 23, color fig. 57.

1997

Kehoe, Thomas J., Harold E. Damerow, Jose E. Duvall. Exploring Western Civilization, to 1648: A Workbook for the Active Student. Dubuque, 1997: 431, fig. 5.5.

1997

Richler, Martha. National Gallery of Art, Washington: A World of Art. London, 1997: 40-41, color fig. 21.

1997

Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. "Christ's Birth Gave Birth to Astounding Images: Gallery Glitters with holy Masterpieces." Washington Times (December 21, 1997): D1, repro.

1998

Ainsworth, Maryan W. "Religious Painting from about 1420 to 1500: In the Eye of the Beholder." In From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edited by Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998: 79, 81-82, fig. 44.

1998

Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. "Virgin/Virginity." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Chicago, 1998: 2:905.

1998

McLellan, Diana. "Really Big Shows." Washingtonian 33, no. 11 (August 1998): 70.

1999

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2 vols. Revised ed. New York, 1999: 2:18, fig. 5.

1999

Toman, Rolf, ed. Art of Gothic: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting. Translated by Christian von Arnim. Cologne, 1999: 407, color repro.

1999

Vogel, Carol. "Finding Fashion and History on th Edges: Museums Look Again at Their Picture Frames." New York Times (September 2, 1999): C1, C3.

2000

Il'in, Nikolas, and Natalia Semënova. Prodannye sokrovishcha Rossii [Sold Treasures of Russia]. Moscow, 2000: 180-181, repro.

2001

Holm, Kerstin. "Kaum enteignet, schon verscherbelt." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung no. 23 (27 January 2001): 21.

2001

Jong, Martien J.G. de. Kerstfeest in de Middeleeuwen. Leuven, 2001: 80, 89, color fig. 43.

2002

Borchert, Till-Holger. "The Age of Van Eyck: The Mediterranean World and Early Netherlandish Painting 1430-1530. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Bruges. London, 2002: 22, 67, fig. 17.

2002

Kaufman, John Edward. "Show of Netherlandish Art Another Charm of Brugge." Washington Times (June 15, 2002): 52.

2002

Prochno, Renate. Die Kartause von Champmol: Grablege der burgundischen Herzöge 1364-1477. Berlin, 2002: 207-209, fig. 107.

2004

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 38-41, no. 28, color repros.

2005

Snyder, James E. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. Revised by Larry Silver and Henry Luttikhuizen. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 99-100, fig. 5.16.

2005

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. Rev. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 593, color fig. 17-12.

2006

Purtle, Carol J. "The Context of Van Eyck's Approach to the Thyssen Annunciation Diptych." In Hand, John Oliver and Ron Spronk, eds. Essays in Context: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych. Cambridge and New Haven, 2006: 76-77, fig. 4

2008

Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. Cologne, 2008: 49-51, color repro.

2008

Lindquist, Sherry C.M. Agency, Visuality and Society at the Chartreuse de Champmol. Aldershot, 2008: 78-79 nt.203.

2008

Nash, Susie. Northern Renaissance Art. Oxford History of Art. Oxford, 2008: 205.

2009

Hudson, Hugh. Jan van Eyck: The Ince Hall Virgin and Child and the Scientific Examination of Early Netherlandish Painting. Saarbrücken, 2009: 94, 125, 156, 160, 170, 210, 265.

2009

Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, 2009: 91, 104 nt. 50-51,130 fig. 5.8, 131, fig. 5.9, 135 nt. 62.

2010

Nagel, Alexander and Christopher Wood. Anachronic Renaissance. Brooklyn, 2010: 155-156, 158, 337, fig. 14.4.

2011

Fiedler, Susanne, and Torsten Knuth. "Vexierbilder einer Biographie: Dr. Heinz Mansfeld (1899-1959)." Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher 126 (2011):307.

2011

Kemperdick, Stephan. “Saints with Shadows: Konrad Witz and Netherlandish Painting.” In Konrad Witz. Exh. cat. Kunstmuseum Basel, 2011. Ostfildern, 2011: 41, color fig. 19.

2012

Jack, Belinda. The Woman Reader. New Haven, 2012: 110, fig. 27.

2012

Uspenski, Boris. "The Composition of the Ghent Altarpiece (Divine and Human Perspectives)." In Vision and Material: Interaction Between Art and Science in Jan van Eyck's Time. Brussels, 2012: 198-199, color fig. 10.6.

2013

Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 2, 465.

2013

König, Eberhard. “Wie die Welt in die Bilder kam.” Weltkunst 68 (January 2013): 44, 47, 49, color repro.

2014

Lavin, Marilyn Aronberg. An Allegory of Divine Love: the Netherlandish Blockbook Canticum canticorum. Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts 10. Philadelphia, 2014): 55, 56, color fig. 42.

2016

Farago, Jason. "A Closer Look, From Jesus to Judgment." New York Times 165, no. 56,133 (February 5, 2016): C23.

2016

Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 398.

2016

National Gallery of Art. Highlights from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Washington, 2016: repro. 44, 45.

2016

Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 50, color plate 2.

Technical Summary

The painting was transferred from wood to canvas after it entered the Imperial Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, probably after 1864.[1] The picture has been extensively restored, though it is hard to say whether this was necessitated by the transfer or by previously existing conditions. Areas of craquelure have been repainted and the repaint has discolored; this is most evident in the background. Repaint is also present in portions of the angel's face and hair and in the Virgin's blue robe. It appears that large portions of the top glaze of the Virgin's robe have been lost and the surface has been altered by mechanical or chemical actions. The unsightly appearance of the robe is compounded by the fact that in certain areas the varnish has become opaque and milky. There are small losses in the book and the cushion.

Examination with infrared reflectography discloses underdrawing in several different areas. Parallel hatching and clusters of longer strokes can be seen in the Virgin's robe. Underdrawing exists in the face and hair and a portion of the wing of the angel Gabriel. The hem of Gabriel's robe bears an illegible inscription.[2] What appear to be perspective lines go through the capitals of the triforium at the left, and these indicate slight shifts of perspective. A diamond-shaped grid is underdrawn on the floor in the area depicting David slaying Goliath. There are broad indications of shadows at the edge of Gabriel's robe and thinner lines indicating shadows at the left of the stool.

[1] In the 1850 sales catalogue of the collection of William II the painting is recorded as being on wood, and Waagen 1864, 115, gives the support as wood. The earliest Hermitage catalogue available to me, that of 1870, lists the picture as having been transferred to canvas at the Hermitage.

[2] First observed by Carol Purtle. The author and Molly Faries, communication of August 1984, have noted that the first word is close to the cabalistic AGLA, which appears in the Ghent Altarpiece; see Panofsky 1953, 210-211; Elisabeth Dhanens, Van Eyck: The Ghent Altarpiece (New York, 1973), 75.

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