Mérode Altarpiece
Annunciation Triptych
Robert Campin (Master of Flémalle), Mérode Altarpiece (open), ca. 1425-1428.
Oil on wood,center panel 2’ 1.375’’ X 2’ 1.875’’, each wing 2’ 1.375’’ X 10
1.875’’. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cue Card Information
N: Annunciation Triptych (Mérode Altarpiece)
D: ca. 1425-1428
P: Netherlandish
A: Robert Campin
Pa: Peter Inghelbrecht and Margarete
Scrynmaker
L: South Netherlands (Flanders)
Metropolitan, New York
Cue Card Information (Cont.)
M/T: Oil on Wood
F: object of private devotion; depicts the Virgin’s
miraculous pregnancy
C: a hallmark of Early Netherlandish style, using
illusionistic effects and careful details to show a
three-dimensional scene on a flat surface
DT:very detailed, depth, symbolic
The Setting
● In a domestic setting
● Specific to the period
● Before this period, the
Annunciation was
depicted in a church and now is being depicted
in a middle-class household.
Left Wing
Robert Campin depicts his patrons in the left wing of the
artwork.
The male is Peter Inghelbrecht. The last name
Inghelbrecht means “angel bringer”.
The other patron was Inghelbrecht’s wife, Margarete
Scrynmakers. Scrynmakers means “cabinet- or
shrine-makers”.
Patron’s Influence
● The patron’s during this time had a very big influence of
the artist’s. Because of the meaning of the two patron’s
last names, the probably urged the artist, Campin, to
choose this subject to paint.
Left Wing (Cont.)
●
●
The garden represents
the Virgin Mary’s purity.
The flowers specifically
symbolize Mary’s virtues,
especially humility.
Right Wing
The city scape is depicted
through the window secured the
said location, Flanders.
Mary’s husband, Joseph, is depicted in the right
wing
Right Wing
The ax, saw, wood and rod allude to
Isaiah 10:15 of the Bible.
“Does the ax raise itself above the person
who swings it, or the saw boast against
the one who uses it? As if a rod were to
wield the person who lifts it up, or a club
brandish the one who is not wood!”
Right Wing
Joseph is seen
constructing a mousetrap
and is believed to be
completely unaware of
the activities in the center
section. Traps are
symbolic in Christianity as
the trap itself symbolizes
the world, the bait
symbolizes Christ and the
trap is set to catch the
devil. There is also a
mousetrap placed directly
outside the window.
Mousetrap = World
Bait = Christ
Mouse/Rat = The Devil
Middle Section
The Angel
Gabriel has
come to
announce
Mary’s
miraculous
pregnancy
Virgin Mary
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is shown coming
through one of the left hand windows
carrying a cross to impregnate the
Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ.
TOWELS
=
PURITY
COPPER BASIN
=
PURITY
LILIES
=
MARY’S
VIRGINITY
FIRE SCREEN
=
PURITY
BOOKS
=
THE OLD AND
NEW
TESTAMENTS
COMING
TOGETHER
BENCH
=
THRONE OF
SOLOMON
or
SEAT OF
WISDOM
Middle Section
EXTINGUISHED
CANDLE
SYMBOLIZES THE
MOMENT WHEN
JESUS TAKES
HUMAN FORM
Middle Section
The table in the artwork
is not round! It has
sixteen sides which are
said to represent the 16
prophets.