The ''Annunciation Triptych'' is an
oil-on-panel
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not pain ...
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
by the
Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...
, dating from around 1434. It was originally formed by three panels, the central one being now at
The Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the '' Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A centra ...
museum in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, France; the side panels are at the
Galleria Sabauda
The Galleria Sabauda is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86.
The museum, whose first directors were Rober ...
of
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, northern Italy.
Description
It is an early work by the Netherlandish artist, with a visible re-elaborations of elements from
Robert Campin
Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...
and
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. A ...
. The central panel depicts a composition within a domestic interior, with a richly dressed Angel surprising the Virgin who reads a book (a symbol of the Holy Books).
Van der Weyden paid attentions to technical details, such as the shining metallic objects, like the lamp, the jar, the medallion hanging over the bed. The horizon line is elevated like in other contemporary Netherlandish paintings.
The side panels have similar characteristics, but are set in more luminous landscapes, with the elements in the background becoming increasingly invisible in the haze, according to
aerial perspective
Aerial perspective, or atmospheric perspective, refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its b ...
.
See also
*
List of works by Rogier van der Weyden
Notes
Sources
*
External links
Page at Florence's Museums website
{{ACArt
Paintings by Rogier van der Weyden
1430s paintings
Paintings in the Louvre by Dutch, Flemish and German artists
Paintings in the Galleria Sabauda
Paintings depicting the Annunciation
Triptychs
Books in art