Annunciation (Jan van Eyck)
The Annunciation, also known as the Thyssen Annunciation, is a diptych by Jan van Eyck . The picture, painted with oil on wood, measures a total of 39 × 48 cm. It is in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid .
Motif
It shows the proclamation of the birth of Jesus by the archangel Gabriel to Mary . Both appear to the viewer as stone sculptures that stand in shallow niches, surrounded by a lettered, also painted frame. Through the use of light and shadow, the figures appear realistic and three-dimensional and seem to protrude from the picture frame, especially through Gabriel's wings that overlap the frame and the protruding plinths. The painting is one of the outstanding masterpieces of Old Dutch painting. Erwin Panofsky called it a symphony in marble .
literature
- John Oliver Hand, Catherine Metzger, Ron Spronk: Prayers and portraits. Unfolding the Netherlandish diptych. Yale University Press, New Haven CT et al. 2006, ISBN 0-300-12155-5 .
- Rudolf Preimesberger : A “touchstone of painting” for Jan van Eyck? In: Matthias Winner (ed.): The artist about himself in his work. International Symposium of the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome 1989. VCH - Acta Humaniora, Weinheim 1992, ISBN 3-527-17763-9 , pp. 85-100.