VAN EYCK'S
Annunciation
The MEETING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
THE ART lNSTlTU l E OF CHICAGO
July 10-September 21, 1997
hen viewed as an individual
pic-
ture on a museum wall, Jan van
Eyck's Annunciation is a
splen-
did example of the painter's art, a landmark in
the progressive exploration of the possibilities
of pictorial illusion. We are entranced by the
archangel Gabriel's glittering vestments, his spun
gold hair, the glowing royal blue of the Virgin
Mary's robe, and the myriad decorative details
of the church setting surrounding these figures.
If we look beyond such sumptuous details, we
see that the picture is, in fact, a precious remainder,
a fragment of an even more complex object once
placed on an altar for use during the celebration
of the mass. It was made to offer praise to God
and the Virgin Mary, to commemorate Christ's
Incarnation in human form, and to bring earthly
prestige and heavenly life to the patron who
commissioned it from van Eyck. We can only
guess at the specifics of the painting's intended
destination and associations, but in the process
we gain a glimpse of van Eyck's world,
simulta~
neously bound by tradition and boldly exploring
new realities.
Jan van Eyck was born on the border of
present~
day Belgium and Holland into a family of
painters. His early training is unknown, but by
1422 he had entered the service of Count John
III of Holland (1374-1425), and after the count's
death, worked for the wealthjer and even more
powerful Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
(1396-1467). Van Eyck's princely patrons valued
his skill and inventiveness in producing manu,
script illuminations, portraits, religious works,
and palace decorations. In a time when artists in
northern Europe rarely signed their work, Jan
van Eyck often proudly inscribed the frames of
his paintings with his name, the date, and some,
times his personal motto, als ich can (as best I
can), a phrase that appears self,consciously modest
when we consider his extraordinary ability to
capture the semblance of things.
The Annunciation, having lost its original frame,
is not signed and dated, but its style clearly
places it in the small body of Jan van Eyck's sur,
viving paintings. Whereas those paintings are
mostly portraits or devotional works focusing
on the enthroned Virgin and Child, The Annun,
ciation tells the story of a key event of Christian
history. From its tall, slender format we deduce
that it was originally part of a larger altarpiece,
probably the left wing of a triptych. The center
and the corresponding right wing probably illus,
trated other scenes from the childhood of
Christ; alternatively, the center may have depicted
the enthroned Virgin and Child.
THE MYSTICAL MADE REAL
n van Eyck's painting, Gabriel' ann ounce ment
to the Virgin that she will conceive and bear
Jesus takes place not in the privacy of a house, but
in a church. The setting may be related to the traditi on,
reco unted in apocryp hal tex ts, that th e Virgin grew up
within the Temple in Jerusalem . Earlier Parisian manuscript
illuminato rs, like the Boucica ut Maste r and the Bed fo rd
Master, had also placed the event in a church, using it
furnishings to give the Virgin a spec ial, even rega l q ual ity:
in the Bedfo rd Ma ter' illumination in th e De Levis
Hou r (fig. 1), another angel attend ant draws a curtain to
reveal Mary, and the altar steps are decorated with the
FIG . I
BeJfo rJ 'laster, The Annunciation, c. 141 7, tempera, go iJ and sil ver pa int,
anJ goiJ leaf o n vellum , from the De Lev is Ho urs, Bein ecke Rare Boo k and
Manuscript Librar y, Yale U niversity, New Have n , Connecticut.
FI G .2
jan va n Eyck , Th e Annunciation (detail).
stylized blue and gold fleur-d e-lis of the French roya l fa mily.
While va n Eyc k placed his figures mo re co nvincingly
within th e church, he made them lightl y too large for
the building, suggesting an additional, metapho rica l reading
comparing the Virgin to the institution of the C hurch , an
assoc iatio n wid ely used in theo logical writing.
Th e building itself is an elabo rately d eco rated piece of
im aginary architecture in which we ca n fin d multiple allusio ns to the spec ial relationship of God and man that was
fulfilled in the Inca rn atio n. Above the Virgin are wall
pa intings d epicting the fin d ing of the infa nt M oses by
Pharao h 's da ughter and the adult Moses rece iving the Ten
Command ments, the covenant that would be transformed
by the Incarnation. The ro und els above th e Virgin 's head
show the O ld Testament patriarchs Isaac and Jacob, while
the scenes on the fl oor are sto ries of the heroes Samson
and David , all o f who m were interpreted in the Middle
Ages as prefigurations of C hri st. Va n Eyck also elabo rated
the geo metry of the church structure in ways that encourage the viewer to expand imaginatively on the mys teries of
fa ith. Thus the Virgin 's head- toward which the Holy
G host descends- is fra med by three lancet windows, suggesting the Trinity of Father Son, and Ho ly G host.
CO NT I NUE ON T H E OT H ER S I DE
VAN EYCK ' S
Annunciation
THE MEET I NG OF HEAVEN AND EART H
THE ART IN STITUTE O F C HI CAGO
TH E DAN I EL F. AND A D A L. RI CE BU IL D I NG
July 10- September 21, 1997
FREE PROGRAMS
LEC TURE
Thursda)', Ju ly I 0, 12: 15
Va n Eyck's Ammnciacion:
The Meeting of Heaven
and Earth
Carol Purt le, Professor of
Arc f-li scory, Th e Universicy
of Mem fJhis ·
FU LLERT O N A UDIT O R I UM
LE C T URE
Tu esday, Ju ly 15, 6:00
Va n Eyck's Visual .
Intelligence: Symbol and
Rea lity in Th e Annwtciacion
John Hand , Curacor of
Northern Renaissa nce Pa inc ings,
Na tional Ga llery of Arc ,
\Vashingcon, D. C.
FU L LERT O N A UDIT O RIUM
PERFORMANCE
Scmdays, July 20 and
Aug c;sc I 0, I :30 and 2:30
A Well of Living
Waters: Songs of the
Burgundian Court
AV E Quartet,
Denver, Colorado
R EG E STEI N H A LL .
R I CE BU ILDIN G
GA LLER Y T A LK
Thursday, July 24, 12: 15
Va n Eyck's Amumciacion:
A Flemish Masterpiece
Mickie Silverstein , Assisw nl
Direccor, Senior Programs,
Musecmc Educa cion
GA L L ERY I SO
LE C TURE
Tuesday, Augusc 5, 6:00
Li ftin g the Ve il from
Va n Eyck: The Co nservation
of Th e Annunciac ion
David Bul l, Chairman,
Paincings Consenmion
DefJarcmecu, Na tional Gallery
of Arc , \Vashingcon, D. C.
F U LL ERT O N AUD IT O R I UM
GAL LERY T A LK
Mocl(la)' and Tu esda)',
Augusc II , and 26, 12: 15
Introduction to the Exhibition
Jeffrey ligro, Lecwrer,
Museum Educa cion
GA LLER Y I SO
LE C T URE
Tuesda)', SefJlember 9, 6:00
The Spell of Van Eyc k
Martha Wolff, Curacor of
European Pa icuing before 1750
FULLERT O N A UDIT O R I UM
GA LLER Y T A LK
Frida)', September 19, 12:·15
Van Eyck's Annuncia cion:
A Flemi sh Masterpi ece
David Stark , Senior Associace
Direccor, Museum Ed uca tion
GA LLERY I SO
FREE FAM IL Y
PR OG RA M
GA LLER Y WALK
Sa wrda)', Setnember 20, I :00- 2:00
Van Eyck's Anmmcia cion:
The Mystica l Made Rea l
Ages 9 & up and ad ults
GA LLERY 100
THI S EXH IBITI ON I S S UPP O RTED BY
THE W ILLI AM G. AND MARILYN M . S I MP SON
FO UNDATI O N I N MEMORY O F
THE LATE J OSEP H CA RD I NAL BERNARDIN .
Above th ese w indows is ano the r row of openings c reated
by an arcad ed passageway, ca ll ed a trifo rium , arranged
with a furth er play of threes. It hardl y see ms an acc id en t
that va n Eyc k placed three columns in th e arcad e just
above th e Virgin 's head, with access prov ided by o ne
cent ra l doo r. At t he ve r y top of t hi s wa ll , in the sta in edglass window, th e figure of th e Lo rd pres iding over th e
ho ly eve nt is actuall y part of the fabri c of the b uilding.
If the mys ter y of th e Inca rn atio n is im p lied in a setting
at o nce rea li stic and im ag ined , it beco mes d ramatic in the
t reatm ent of Gab rie l and M ar y (fig. 2). The b ul k and
FI G .3
Attributed ro Jean le Taverni er. Phil i{J 1hc Cjood A11end ing Mass,
c. l-l60, tempera and gold paint on vellum, in Trail <' .111r l'oraison dominicale.
© Bibliorhequ e royale Albert le r, Brussel s.
richness of their robes contri bute to a sense of phys ica l
p resence. The reacti o ns of th e pair, conveyed by fac ial
exp ress io n , are re markabl y in stantaneo us in the context
of fiftee nth-centur y painting: G abriel a smiling, dimpled
courtier, confident that he will please; the V irgin turning
inwa rd in abso rbed res ponse to his message, her eyes
F I G. 4 A
Netherlandish. Thr AmumrulfiOll (fig. -la) anJ Th e Cruc1fmon
(fig. -l b), from a po rtable altarpiece, c. I 400. oil on panel.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
raised and un focused, her lips pa rted, and her hair fa lling
fo r\\'ard in d isa rray to revea l a pro min ent ea r. The spoken
wOrds of Gabri el's ann o un ce ment and Mary's respo nse
are made phys ical, Boating fro m their li p into the pace of
the church.
THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF
THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY
a
ccording to th e pi cture' fir t modern Owner,
the Belgian dea ler C.J. l1euwenhu ys, Th e
Annunciation was made fo r van Eyck's patron
Duke Phili p the Good and came from a religious monument
in Dijon, the ancient capital of the duchy of Burgundy.
The pa inting has u uall y been linked to the Chan erh ouse
FI G .4 B
of Champmol, a monastery just outside Dijon established
by Ph ili p the Good's grandfather as the fa mil y burial
place. Splendidly deco rated by its fo under, the Charte rhouse also received gifts from Philip the Good, who was
proud of be ing first among all the nobles of France.
Howeve r, the pa in ting could also have been made for the
chapel of the dukes attached to th eir pa lace in Dijon.
Philip made this chapel the pe rmanent seat of the semireligious chivalric order of the Go lden Fl eece, which he
establ ished in 1430 at the time of his marriage
to
Isabel,
da ughter of the king of Portugal. When she gave birth to
a mu ch des ired heir in Dij on, th e baby was alm ost immediately made a knight of the Go lden Fleece in a chapter
meeting held in this d ucal chapel.
In the Charterh ouse of Champmol, strictl y cloistered
monks lived a hermit 's li fe, pray ing fo r th e so ul s of the
ducal fa mil y in a richl y decorated church that also housed
th e famil y tombs, while th e dukes and their wi ves
watched the serv ices fro m two comfortable orator ies, or
private chapels, ove rl oo king the church. The altarpiece
that includ ed The Annunciation may have been placed
in one of these pace . Or perhaps the painting wa part
of the decoration of the pa lace chapel in the center of
Oijon. In any case, The Annunciarion was probabl y not
readily acce ible to the public. Framed by cu rtains or
even half- hidden by the ca rved rood screen that sepa rated
the pr iest and cho ir fro m the ord inary worsh ipper, its
sumptuous detail may on ly have been legible to the priest
as he sa id mass or to the patron watching from hi s or her
orato ry. A manuscript illumi nation show ing Philip the
Good attend ing mass (fig. 3) gives an excell ent idea of how
such an altarpiece would be approached: the duke kneel
in a tempora ry encl o ure made by hanging decorated
with his personal insionia. whil e choristers sing and his
courtiers lo iter in the background ; to aid his devotions.
the duke co ntemplates a small er, portable devotional
pai nting similar in type to th e precious, multipaneled
altarpiece (figs. 4a and 4b) possibly co mmiss ioned by his
gra ndfather, Philip the Bo ld, and now d ivided between
mu eu m in Baltimore and Antwerp. ertainl y the
surrounding altar hangings, gilded utensils for the mass, the
intricate filigree su rrounding sculpted figures, and other
decorations created a highly charged environment of which
the painting on the altar table was the center.
Viewed in th is context. we real ize how fortu nate we are to
be able to stud y this exqu isite monument of early modern
European civil ization. The privilege of eeking to unravel
the in finite changes that van Eyck rang on the mystery of
the Inca rnation may have been originall y granted chiefly to
the patron, hi immed iate circle, the priests who celebrated
mas at the altar, and their heaven ly maker, believed to
be pre ent in the elements of that mass.
MART H A WOLFF
Curator
of European Painting before 1750
COV ER
Jan van Eyc k. Tlte A mumcia1ion, c. 143 0 35 . o il on can vas.
transferred fro m panel. A ndre\\' W Mello n Collection, © Board of Trustees.
National Ga llery of Art, Washington. D. C.