The Annunciation (1380s): Art, History and Details

The Annunciation (1380s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This small but opulent panel painting was once joined to another panel with hinges to form a diptych. Given its small size, its original function was for private devotional use. It could be folded like a book when not in use and was highly portable. The missing panel has not been positively identified but probably represented another biblical scene like the Crucifixion. The painting’s refined and ornate style reflects the courtly aesthetic that appealed to royal and aristocratic patrons in the decades around 1400. On the panel’s richly tooled reverse (not visible) are the arms of the house of Hainault quartered with those of Bavaria. While this coat of arms is certainly that of the work’s patron, probably a member of the united dynasties of Hainault and Bavaria, their identity remains elusive.

Object facts

• Title: The Annunciation
• Date: 1380s
• Culture: Netherlands, or possibly France, 14th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera and oil with gold on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 40.3 x 31.4 x 4.8 cm (15 7/8 x 12 3/8 x 1 7/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1954.393

A detail from the museum

In this depiction of Gabriel, the angel's wings resemble the feathers of a peacock.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Drummond, Sarah. Divine Conception: The Art of the Annunciation. London: Unicorn, an imprint of Unicorn Publishing Group, LLP, 2018.
• Parthey, G. Deutscher Bildersaal: Verzeichniss der in Deutschland vorhandenen Oelbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen, in alphabetischer Folge zusammengestellt. Berlin: Nicolaische, 1863.
• Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz. Die Sammlung Silten. Berlin: Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1923.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.