Full title | The Virgin Annunciate: Reverse of Right Hand Shutter |
---|---|
Artist | Workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst |
Artist dates | 1502 - 1550 |
Series | The Crucifixion Triptych |
Date made | probably 1527-30 |
Medium and support | Oil on oak |
Dimensions | 76.2 × 21.7 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bequeathed by Mrs Joseph H. Green, 1880 |
Inventory number | NG1088.5 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This painting appeared on the outside of the right wing of an altarpiece possibly made for a member of the Bollis family of Sint-Truiden. It is painted in grisaille (in shades of black, white and grey) and would have been visible when the altarpiece was closed.
The Virgin Mary rises and turns to greet the Archangel Gabriel, who appears on the opposite wing; she has shut the book she had been reading. Together, the two wings showed the Annunciation – the moment Gabriel told Mary she would bear a child.
The whole triptych (painting in three parts) was probably produced in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst. It bears some resemblance to an Annunciation painted in Coecke’s workshop for Willem van Brussel, Abbot of St Trudo, between 1516 and 1532. The wings have been split; this painting remains on its oak panel. An image of the female donor (also in our collection) was originally on the inside.
This painting was on the outside of the right wing of the Crucifixion Triptych, an altarpiece possibly made for a member of the Bollis family of Sint-Truiden. It is painted in grisaille and would have been visible when the altarpiece was closed.
The Virgin Mary rises and turns to greet the Archangel Gabriel, who appears on the left wing; she has shut the book she had been reading. Together, the two wings showed the Annunciation (the moment Gabriel told Mary she would bear a child). Both wings have been split – this painting remains on its oak panel – separating the images that appeared on the inside from the outside ones. An image of the female donor was originally on the inside.
The whole triptych was probably produced in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst. It bears some resemblance to an Annunciation painted in Coecke’s workshop for Willem van Brussel, Abbot of St Trudo, between 1516 and 1532.
Download a low-resolution copy of this image for personal use.
License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library.
License imageThis image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement.
Examples of non-commercial use are:
- Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university)
- Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media
The image file is 800 pixels on the longest side.
As a charity, we depend upon the generosity of individuals to ensure the collection continues to engage and inspire. Help keep us free by making a donation today.
You must agree to the Creative Commons terms and conditions to download this image.
The Virgin Annunciate: Reverse of Right Hand Shutter
The Crucifixion Triptych
Two donors – husband and wife – kneel in the wings of this triptych (a painting in three parts) and gaze at the Crucifixion in the central panel. The Annunciation – the moment the Virgin Mary was told she would bear a child – was originally painted in shades of grey on the outside of the wings, but the fronts and backs are now physically separate.
The style of the painting associates it with the work of Bernaert van Orley and especially his pupil, Pieter Coecke van Aalst. Coecke seems to have run a large workshop and several artists of limited ability seem to have been involved in this painting. This image of the Crucifixion was evidently a popular composition: several versions of it survive.
Two donors – husband and wife – kneel in the wings of this triptych, gazing at the Crucifixion in the central panel. The Annunciation was originally painted in grisaille on the outside of the left and right wings, but the fronts and backs are now physically separate.
The style of the painting links it with the work of Bernaert van Orley, and especially with that of his pupil Pieter Coecke van Aalst. Like the figures in the central Crucifixion, Coecke’s compositions are self-consciously staged, as if his people are being directed by choreographers. This was evidently a popular composition: a triptych with different donors was in a St Petersburg collection in the nineteenth century, and three versions of the centre panel survive in European collections. All parts of the triptych were probably made shortly after Coecke became a master of the Antwerp Guild in 1527–8.
We don't know who the donors are, although coats of arms hang on the sides of their prayer desks (the woman’s is completely erased). The man might a member of the Bollis family, possibly Willem Bollis, who in 1519 was a member of the court of the Prince-Bishop of Liège at Sint-Truiden. Coecke’s workshop certainly produced paintings for patrons in Sint-Truiden. They worked for two abbots of St Trudo, the great Benedictine monastery there, painting an Annunciation (Hasselt, Bisdom) for Willem van Brussel, abbot from 1516 to 1532, and producing a series of painted panels to complete a carved altarpiece of the Life and Passion of Christ for his successor, Joris Sarens, in 1534.
The centre panel and the fronts of the wings were transferred to canvas in the nineteenth century. The Annunciation is still on the original oak boards, thinned where they were sawn from the fronts.





Related paintings




