The Annunciation (Mersch)

Annunciation (Flemish School)

The Annunciation is an oil painting depicting the Annunciation . It probably comes from a Flemish school of the Golden Age , i.e. the 17th century. Since December 2014 it has been in the dean's church of St. Michael in Mersch . The picture shows Mary and the Archangel Gabriel , who announces to her that she should bring the Messiah into the world.

The large-format picture should have belonged to the inventory of the nearby Marienthal Monastery . The monastery church was consecrated to St. Mary, the patron saint Annunciation of the Lord on March 25th was celebrated with great solemnity. The main altar of the monastery church with the representation of Mary is now in Junglinster . The convent founded in 1231 was dissolved in 1783. The inheritance was then sold for many years without this having been documented.

Image description

In the left half of the picture, Maria, dressed in a blue cloak and light undergarment, kneels at a prayer bench covered with a red cloth . There is an open book on the bench. On the right, the angel Gabriel storms into the room in flight. He is holding a long-stemmed Madonna lily in his hand . With his right hand he points upwards, where the sky opens and the dove of the Holy Spirit appears in a golden light . The angel seems to be kneeling on a bank of clouds, his wings are still unfolded in flight, and the light, delicate lilac-colored veil that flutters around him still shows the dynamism of his flight. Behind him, in the clouds, you can see the heads of a pair of putti and shadowy figures.

Mary's demeanor is reverent and humble. She has turned her gaze downwards, and seems deeply absorbed in herself. Your right arm is slightly outstretched and seeks support on the bench. Your left hand is angled and pointing to your heart.

The things placed in a prominent position in the picture in the manner of a still life at the foot of the bench - a basket, a white cloth, a pomegranate? - which mark the boundary between the earthly world of the Virgin and the heavenly world of the angel, cannot be identified with certainty because of the poor state of preservation.

The picture in a wide landscape format was originally provided with a simple oak frame and was replaced during the restoration by a black lacquered, somewhat smaller frame with corner decorations in the style of the 17th century.

Provenance

Condition before the restoration

The picture must have been in the attic of the old school in Mersch for decades, in any case there was no one in the community who could remember the picture. Research by the “Geschichtsfrënn vun der Gemeng Miersch” revealed that it was an heirloom from Jeanne Servais, which she bequeathed to the community. The Servais family is very well known in Mersch, for example the former Minister of State Emmanuel Servais , son of a mayor of Mersch, came from them.

The urgently needed restoration was carried out by a parishioner in his workshop in Liège . By resolution of the Mersch church council, the painting was hung in a prominent place in the deanery church.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Alex Langini: Tableau Annonciation an der Mierscher Kierch , from: De Mierscher Gemengebuet , No. 111. Mersch, March 2015, p. 34
2. ↑ Charles Reiser: Successful restoration of the image of the Annunciation - dedication ceremony in the parish church of Mersch . Local politics on mywort.lu , December 14, 2014 ( Memento of April 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive )