Where is Van Eyck's Annunciation?

This work of Northern Renaissance painting is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Why is Mary's text upside down?

Van Eyck painted Mary's response upside down so God, viewing from heaven, could read it. This clever detail shows his attention to theological symbolism.

What do the floor tiles mean?

The tiles show Old Testament scenes that Christians understood as prophecies of Christ: David slaying Goliath, Samson destroying the temple, and others. Van Eyck filled his works with such learned references.

Where Is The Annunciation? See It at National Gallery of Art

Jan van Eyck painted this Annunciation around 1434-1436, using the oil technique he helped perfect. The angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear the Son of God. Her reply is written upside down so that God, looking down, can read it.

Every detail carries meaning. The white lilies signify Mary's purity. The floor tiles depict scenes from the Hebrew Bible that prefigure Christ's life and death. The dove of the Holy Spirit descends on golden rays. Van Eyck rendered these symbols with breathtaking precision.

The painting's narrow format suggests it may have been wings of a triptych, though no central panel survives. It is one of the treasures of the National Gallery of Art and among the finest Northern Renaissance paintings in America.

The Annunciation

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Jan van Eyck

Eve, from the right wing of the Ghent Altarpiece

St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata

St. Jerome in his Study

The Cumaean Sibyl

Also at National Gallery of Art

Gian Federico Madruzzo Oil Canvas Giovanni Battista[1]

Dancer in pink dress

Holy Family

The Harbor at Lorient

Related Northern Renaissance Works

Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight

Portinari Altarpiece

Adam and Eve

Alliance Coat of Arms

Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Portrait of Albrecht Dürer the Elder

Fencing Reiter

Adam and Eve

About The Annunciation

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