The Annunciationca. 1465–70
Hans Memling painted this in about 1465–70, aged about 35. It is now at The Met in New York. More about this work
About this work
Hans Memling painted this in about 1465–70, aged about 35. It is now at The Met in New York.
How it was made
- Oil on panel
- Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Hans Memling
Netherlandish, c. 1430–1494 · Died in Bruges.
Memling, born in Germany, probably trained in Brussels with Rogier van der Weyden before settling in Bruges in 1465, where he became the city’s leading painter. His calm, balanced altarpieces and devotional panels found eager patrons among the Italian merchants and bankers based there, such as Tommaso Portinari, agent of the Medici bank, whom he painted with his wife Maria. His portraits, often set against landscapes, influenced painters in Italy.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 17.190.7
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
