# The Annunciation

**Hans Memling** (Netherlandish, c. 1430–1494)  
1480–89  
Oil on panel, transferred to canvas  
30 1/8 x 21 1/2 in. (76.5 x 54.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.113. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459055).

## About this work

Hans Memling painted this in 1480–89, aged about 50. 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 50
- Real size: about 30 × 21 in (77 × 55 cm). The 20 × 30 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 15th century
- Subjects: Bedrooms, Angels, Virgin Mary, Archangel Gabriel, Annunciation
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1253.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1253/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-annunciation-met-459055).