The ''Aix Annunciation'' is a painting attributed to the

Barthélemy d'Eyck Barthélemy d'Eyck, van Eyck or d' Eyck ( 1420 – after 1470), was an Early Netherlandish artist who worked in France and probably in Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy as a painter and manuscript illuminator. He was active between about 1440 to about ...

or the so-called Master of the Annunciation of Aix-en-Provence. Executed in 1443-1445, it was originally placed in the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence, southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Now it is divided between the

Église de la Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

in the same city (central panel with the ''Annunciation''), the

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located a ...

(part of the left panel with the prophet Isaiah) at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, the Rijksmuseum of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

(upper part of the left panel), while the right panel is in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Side panels are painted on both sides, showing Christ on the right and Mary Magdalene on the left (the upper part, on reverse of the Amsterdam panel, does not survive); together they used to form a '' Noli me tangere'' scene when the triptych was folded shut. Master Of The Aix Annunciation - Prophet Jeremiah and Christ - WGA14508

Master Of The Aix Annunciation - Prophet Jeremiah and Christ - WGA14508

La Madeleine agenouillée - Triptyque de l'Annonciation d'Aix - Boijmans

History

The work was commissioned by Pierre Corpici, a cloth-merchant who knew Barthélemy's stepfather, and combines influences from the Early Netherlandish art of

Robert Campin Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...

and Jan van Eyck with those of

Claus Sluter Claus Sluter (1340s in Haarlem – 1405 or 1406 in Dijon) was a Dutch sculptor, living in the Duchy of Burgundy from about 1380. He was the most important northern European sculptor of his age and is considered a pioneer of the "northern reali ...

who worked at Dijon, and Colantonio from Naples (although some see this last influence as flowing in the other direction). Many of the iconographic details follow those from Annunciations by Jan van Eyck and his circle, such as the Washington ''Annunciation''. Together with a fine portrait dated 1456 (Lichtenstein Collection, Vienna), and a fragment with a small crucified Christ in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, this is the only surviving

panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...

associated with Barthélemy d'Eyck; most of his later works are illuminated manuscripts commissioned by René of Anjou.

Description

The central panel depicts the Annunciation inside a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church, the angel appearing under a vault. Above him, from a holed rose window, God and two angels are coming in, while the Madonna is kneeling at the right, with two painted naves in the background. When used as an altarpiece, side panels of the triptych would be kept closed most of the time, displaying a ''Noli me tangere'' scene with kneeling Mary Magdalene on the left and Christ walking away from her on the right. The two panels do not form a continuous scene, however; Mary Magdalene is placed among lush green hills, while Christ is surrounded by a more desolate, desert-like landscape. Both Brussels and Rotterdam panels are painted on both sides, the reverse of the Amsterdam fragment does not survive. The characters' sizes, like in other contemporary

Flemish painting Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painting ...

s, are not realistic if compared with the background, but are larger. The wide clothes show the inspiration by the Burgundian school. The light is of clearly Flemish derivation (Robert Campin), such as (although with some Provençal elements) the minute details, including the winged devil and the bat in the left arch.

Sources

References

External links

{{Commons category, Annunciation Tryptych by Barthélemy d'Eyck, Aix Annunciation
Still life with books in a niche
(upper left panel) at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Isaiah
an
Mary Magdalene
(lower left panel) at

, Rotterdam.
Jeremiah and Christ
(right panel) at Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. 1443 paintings 1444 paintings 1445 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Paintings in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Triptychs Renaissance paintings Collections of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium Paintings depicting the Annunciation Paintings depicting Jesus Paintings depicting Mary Magdalene Angels in art Books in art

History

Description

See also

Sources

References

External links