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The Annunciation

Gerard David Netherlandish
1506
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 605

These panels were part of a spectacular multistoried polyptych commissioned by Vincenzo Sauli, a wealthy Italian banker and diplomat with connections to Bruges, for the high altar of the Benedictine abbey church of San Gerolamo della Cervara, near Genoa. Taking the placement of the Annunciation within the altarpiece into account, David altered the perspective and the scale of the figures, since both panels were meant to be viewed from below. In style, the ensemble reveals a synthesis of Northern and Italian artistic modes that perhaps reflect the patron’s ties to both regions.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Annunciation
  • Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges)
  • Date: 1506
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: Angel, overall 31 1/8 x 25 in. (79.1 x 63.5 cm), painted surface 30 1/4 x 24 3/8 in. (76.8 x 61.9 cm); Virgin, overall 31 1/8 x 25 1/4 in. (79.1 x 64.1 cm), painted surface 30 1/2 x 24 3/4 in. (77.5 x61.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950
  • Object Number: 50.145.9ab
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso), Gerard David Netherlandish, Metalpoint on prepared paper; verso: black chalk
Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso)
Gerard David
ca. 1498
Virgin and Child, Gerard David Netherlandish, Oil on oak panel, Netherlandish
Virgin and Child
Gerard David
1490–1523
The Annunciation, Gerard David Netherlandish, Tempera on parchment
The Annunciation
Gerard David
ca. 1510
Holy Face, Gerard David Netherlandish, Tempera and gold leaf on parchment that has been trimmed and laid down on thin walnut
Holy Face
Gerard David
ca. 1485–90
Archangel Gabriel; The Virgin Annunciate, Gerard David Netherlandish, Oil on oak panel
Archangel Gabriel; The Virgin Annunciate
Gerard David
ca. 1510

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