3-035-721 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Annunciation, about 1340-1345. These panels once formed the pinnacles of the wings of a now-dismembered portable altarpiece. A double-tiered central panel originally depicted the Madonna and Child below a Crucifixion. The triple-tiered side panels featured pairs of standing saints. Kneeling, the Archangel Gabriel greets the Virgin at the moment of Christ's Incarnation. In the form of a dove, the Holy Spirit descends, flying close to the Virgin's face.