The Virgin of the Annunciation
Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1430/50-1491)
1470/75
- Medium
- Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
- Classification
- Dimensions
- Sheet, trimmed to platemark: 17 × 11.7 cm (6 3/4 × 4 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- Germany
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Martin Schongauer conceived the Angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation as two separate engravings, forming a type of diptych. The angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary often appeared against a dark ground on the outer wings of altarpieces, painted in a monochromic style called grisaille, which emphasizes the figures’ sculptural relief. Schongauer’s pared-down background replaces the view of Mary’s bedroom usually found in Annunciation scenes. Instead, Mary receives the news of her divine motherhood from the angel with only a book in her hand; the potted lily represents her absolute purity. Schongauer’s treatment of the flowing drapery further underscores the figures’ monumentality.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
