Artwork · 16th century · Gerard David

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Archangel Gabriel; The Virgin Annunciate

Gerard Davidca. 1510Oil on oak panel87.7 × 29.5 cm

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At a glance

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On the left panel, the angel Gabriel arrives with a message. On the right, Mary stands and listens.
Gerard David painted the pair in oil on oak around 1510, in Bruges.
The robes and walls are painted in grays and whites so they look like stone statues, yet the faces, hands, and hair glow with living color.

Reading the picture

5 places to look closer

Tap a number on the painting to jump to its note, or a close-up to see that spot in the whole picture.

Zoom in on Gabriel's face and raised hand. Under his golden curls, a soft pink warms his cheeks and lips. His index finger points upward. He is just beginning to speak the message from heaven.
Now look at the wing behind his shoulder. Near the top, small rounded feathers overlap like scales. Lower down, long pointed feathers hang in rows. The wing is almost all one gray, but quick light strokes catch the edge of each feather.
Look up into the dark space above Mary's head. A white dove glides down toward her with wings spread and head bent. In Christian art the dove stands for the Holy Spirit.
Study Mary's face and her raised hand. Her eyes are lowered. She holds one hand up at her chest with the palm turned out. Is she startled, or is she accepting? The gesture could be read either way. Long wavy hair falls over her shoulder.
Look at Mary's other hand. She holds a small book, closed. Mary is very often shown with a book in pictures of this moment.

When it was painted

Around 1510, Gerard David was in his mid-fifties. He was born in Oudewater, a small town in Holland, and had been living in Bruges for more than twenty-five years. He joined the city's painters' guild in 1484. By 1501 he was its dean, the man who led it.

His home life had changed too. In 1496 he married Cornelia Cnoop, the daughter of the dean of the goldsmiths' guild. In 1509 he gave a large altarpiece to a Carmelite convent in Bruges. At its far edges he painted himself and his wife. That picture now hangs in the museum in Rouen, France.

These two panels also came from an altarpiece. According to the Met, this gray Annunciation was first painted on the backs of two other David panels in the museum, Christ Carrying the Cross, with the Crucifixion and The Resurrection, with the Pilgrims of Emmaus. With the wings closed, you saw the stone-colored angel and Mary. Open them, and the story of Christ's death and rising appeared inside, in full color. Today the fronts and backs are separate works with their own museum numbers.

In 1515 David also joined the painters' guild in Antwerp, the busy port nearby. Still, Bruges was where his life ended. He died there in 1523 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady. Centuries later the panels belonged to the American banker Robert Lehman, and in 1975 they came to the Met with the rest of his collection.

Now look again. On most days, these gray doors were what a visitor saw first. Even here, David left a little warmth behind: the pink in the angel's cheeks and the wavy golden hair on Mary's shoulder.

The painter

Gerard David

1455–1523

All paintings by Gerard David →

More by the same painter

Christ Carrying the Cross, with the Crucifixion; The Resurrection, with the Pilgrims of Emmausca. 1510

The Rest on the Flight into Egyptca. 1512–15

Questions to think about

Look for itCan you find the thin staff that Gabriel holds in his lowered hand?
Why?Why do you think David kept the robes and walls stone gray, but gave color to the faces, hands, and hair?
What about you?Mary lifts a hand as if to pause, yet she keeps listening. How do you react when sudden news or an unexpected request lands on you?

Same period