The Annunciation
Johann Koerbecke (German, about 1420–1490)
Completed by 1457
View the original$16
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
The Annunciation was one of eight scenes from the life of the Virgin decorating the inside of the wings of Johann Koerbecke’s masterpiece, the altarpiece formerly on the high altar of the Cistercian abbey of Marienfeld, near Münster in northwest Germany. The wings framed the altarpiece’s center, where relics and a gilded statue of the Virgin and Child were displayed when the altarpiece was opened on feast days. The gilded backgrounds and festive architecture of the wings enhanced the splendor of the open altarpiece. The backs of the moveable wings, decorated with more somber Passion subjects in naturalistic landscape settings, were visible when the altarpiece was closed. The ensemble was dismantled in the late 17th century, and the panels were dispersed in the early 19th century, after the wings had been sawn apart, separating the Passion scenes from those on the interior.
- Medium
- Oil on panel, transferred to canvas
- Original size
- Panel: 93.3 × 65.8 cm (36 3/4 × 25 7/8 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 5 exhibitions
Provenance
- Cistercian abbey of Marienfeld, near Warendorf, Westphalia, from 1457 to 1809/1812.
- Baron Tollin de Rivarolles, Paris.
- Demotte Galleries, Paris and New York; sold to Kleinberger, New York, Nov. 29, 1922; sold to Martin Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, May 1923; on loan to the AIC from 1923; bequeathed to the AIC, 1933.
Exhibitions
- Art Institute of Chicgo, A Century of Progress, 1933.
- Art Institute of Chicgo,, A Century of Prog-ress, 1934.
- Durlacher, New York, German Painting of the Fifteenth Century.
- Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Westfälische Maler der Spät-gotik, 1440–1490, 1952.
- Art Institute of Chicgo, Glad Tidings of Great Joy, 1994–95 (no cat.).
