The Annunciation

The Annunciation scene is drawn from the Gospel according to St Luke. The artist, however, has made changes in the biblical narrative, and introduced additional symbols, some of which are quite straightforward, others somewhat obscure. This symbolism, and in particular the emblematic use of flowers, has fascinated art historians, who have offered many divergent interpretations of the pictures. The lily with four flowers, which stands between Mary and the angel Gabriel in the foreground of the Annunciation, is not problematic, being a well-established symbol of virginity. Behind the angel is a small garden, where roses are trained up an espalier. These too have been seen as a symbol of virginity; but they have also been interpreted as a reference to both the joys of the Virgin, embodied in the blooms, and her pains, represented by the spines. In the garden, moreover, there is a columbine, which has been variously interpreted as an emblem of suffering and death, as well as the symbol of Christ, saviour of the world (the columbine was well-known for its medicinal properties). Even the humble nettle which has somehow strayed into the panel has been put to work by the painter, as a reminder of the omnipresence of vice.

Other commentators have drawn attention to the angel bowing before Mary, with his curly hair and elegant figure, as if he were a heavenly troubadour pledging allegiance to his lady. The kneeling angel outside the porch is Sienese in inspiration. Mary's ultramarine cloak and her brocade dress of blue and gold, with its details picked out in red, are of the style which was favoured at that time by ladies of the Burgundian court. It would seem that even in the cut of his figures' clothes, Broederlam may have been following instructions from his patron, Philip the Bold.

At the moment of the Annunciation, Mary is sitting in a small pavilion attached to a much larger and much grander building behind. The slender rib vaults, the two windows surmounted by clover-leaf tracery, and the rectangular paving mark the style as Gothic. But the relationship between the pavilion and the surrounding space is unusual, as is the way the room is opened out on two sides in order to afford an unimpeded view of the Virgin.