Annunciation

religious

The archangel Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin Mary and her response is often represented on the exterior of winged altarpieces, as it signals Christ's conception. Indeed, these two panels were originally the exterior wings of an altarpiece featuring, on the interior, a Madonna and Child in the centre (now in Brussels) and Sts. Catherine and Barbara on the two side wings (Art Institute of Chicago).

Loading map…

About the Artist

Jean Bellegambe

1470 – 1535

Flemish painter and designer. His father, George Bellegambe, a cabinetmaker and musician, was a prominent citizen of Douai. Jean is first mentioned in a document of 1504, when he is referred to as a master painter, a burgher and married. His teacher is unknown, but his work bears some imprint of the art of Jan Provost, who inherited Simon Marmion ’s studio. However, Bellegambe might equally have been apprenticed in Bruges or Brussels (possibly in the atelier of the Master of the Legend of St Mary Magdalen, for example), or even in Antwerp. The calm and serenity of Bellegambe’s compositions, his treatment of landscape, his lightness of technique, his pursuit of clear, soft colours and delicate harmonies all indicate links with the work of Gérard David and Quentin Massys. In the 17th century Bellegambe was known as 'the Master of Colours'.

View all works →