Old Masters · Luke 1:28 · 4 October 2026 · 4 works

The Annunciation

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

The angel comes in, and Mary answers. Four painters, four rooms.

Van Eyck sets the scene in a church. The angel's greeting is written in gold in the air, and Mary's answer is written upside down, to be read from above.

Jan van Eyck, The Annunciation, c. 1434–36 — **Jan van Eyck**, The Annunciation, c. 1434–36

The friars of San Marco passed this fresco every time they climbed the stairs to their cells. An open loggia, a garden behind a fence, two figures bowing to each other, and nothing else.

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, c. 1440–45 — **Fra Angelico**, The Annunciation, c. 1440–45

An early work, painted when Leonardo was about twenty. The angel kneels in a garden; Mary sits at a marble reading desk in front of a house. Behind them the landscape dissolves into haze.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, c. 1472–76 — **Leonardo da Vinci**, The Annunciation, c. 1472–76

With El Greco the room has disappeared. Mary kneels, the angel stands on a cloud, the dove comes down in a burst of light, and above them a choir of angels makes music.

El Greco, The Annunciation, 1597–1600 — **El Greco**, The Annunciation, 1597–1600