The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 26, 2024

The Annunciation

The Annunciation

c. 1480
(Netherlandish, 1451–55–1549)
Framed: 75.2 x 69 x 8.5 cm (29 5/8 x 27 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.); Unframed: 50.2 x 41.5 cm (19 3/4 x 16 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Netherlandish artists are known for their attention to lifelike detail: notice the sliver of landscape through the window at the left of this composition.

Description

Mary, depicted here as a seemingly ordinary, albeit affluent, woman, is interrupted by the archangel Gabriel while reading from a small book of hours in her home. The decor and furnishings, as well as the book, would have been familiar to any contemporary viewer. A model for women of the day, the Virgin Mary’s popularity was entwined with the popularity of books of hours, and the books contained numerous prayers to her. Mary was seen as the intercessor between humanity and God, hearing prayers and taking mercy on penitent individuals.
  • Graf Sierstorpff, Driburg, Germany
    April 19, 1887
    [Sale: Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, April 19, 1887, Berlin Germany, no. 106]
    before 1912
    Eugen Schweitzer (1888–1981), Berlin, Germany
    -1915
    (M. Knoedler & Company, New York, NY)
    1915-1942
    John L. Severance (1863-1936), Cleveland, OH
    1942-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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    Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965).
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    Le Siècle des Primitifs Flamands (Flanders in the Fifteenth Century): Exposition Organisée par l'Administration Communale de Bruges; Musée Communal des Beaux-Arts, Musée Groeninge, (26 June-11 September 1960); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan (October-December 1960).
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  • {{cite web|title=The Annunciation|url=false|author=Albert Bouts|year=c. 1480|access-date=26 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.635