The Annunciation
Artist: Johann Von Soest (German, c. 1448 - 1506)
Original Dimensions: 38 7/8" x 27 3/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (Likely early 1480s-1490) "This panel comes from an altarpiece made for the high altar of the Benedictine abbey at Liesborn in the west of Germany, and was probably originally placed to the left of the main scene showing the Crucifixion. It shows the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will conceive the Son of God through the Holy Ghost. The artist has taken inspiration from Netherlandish painting in the attention that he has paid to describing the textures of the room’s furnishings, like the cushions on the carved wooden bench. The one to the far left is covered with a tapestry showing a running stag while the one in the middle has the sheen of velvet and is decorated with a coat of arms woven in golden thread. Beneath the far window is a handwritten prayer pinned to a board." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

Panel content
Panel content