The Annunciation

These two panel paintings depict the Annunciation, the moment at which the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the son of God. The story appears in the Gospel of St Luke, part of the New Testament of the Bible.

The paintings are the outer wings of a devotional triptych (a painting comprised of three panels) but the central panel is now lost. The triptych was commissioned either by or for George Fascet, Abbot of Westminster from 1498-1500, and was probably intended as an altarpiece. As Fascet died in 1500, it may well have been commissioned as a memorial to him.

In the left-hand wing, Gabriel is kneeling on an octagonal stone plinth bearing the Westminster Abbey coat of arms. He is wearing ecclesiastical dress consisting of a red cope, with gold-embroidered edging, over a linen alb and he’s holding a gold sceptre in his left hand. Above and in front of the angel's face is a ribbon scroll bearing the Latin phrase, 'Ave gracia plena Dominus tecum'. In St Luke’s Gospel, Gabriel greets Mary with these words, which translate as 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee'.

In the right-hand wing, Mary is standing on a stone plinth bearing, in this case, Abbott Fascet’s coat of arms. She is wearing a red cloak edged with gold. Beneath this she has on a high-neckline, dark blue-green gown of a style commonly worn by young women in Northern France and England around 1500. The gown’s cuffs are turned back to reveal the white fur lining, which also appears at the hem of the skirt and along the scalloped neckline. Her kirtle and chemise are visible above the gown’s neckline. On her feet are black leather shoes and wooden pattens. Next to her is a vase containing a lily, the symbol of purity and an emblem of both the Virgin Mary and the Annunciation.

The style of the paintings indicates that the artist was from Lower Saxony, in what is now Germany. It is possible, therefore, that panels were made abroad and imported to England. However, the Franco-English fashions worn by the Virgin tend to suggest that the artist was resident in London when the commission was carried out.