Annunciation The elegant
Annunciation scene shows the
archangel Gabriel announcing to
Mary that she will
conceive and bear
Jesus. Mary is dressed in blue robes and kneels in her chamber before a bed draped with red sheets. Compared to the central panel, the figures are positioned within a shallow and narrow space that lacks depth. A number of theories have been proposed to explain this, including that the panel was heavily revised based on the existence of underdrawings possibly executed by workshop members, or that the artist based it on a drawing or prototype from earlier in his career. The panel is filled with religious iconography. There is a faux carving of the
fall of man on the side of the
prie-dieu at which Mary kneels in her devotions. The gold pot on the lower foreground is filled with
lilies. The stable's central piller in the rear has a crucifix with Jesus hanging on the cross. The
donor is on the left of the panel, kneeling and cramped behind Joseph. He holds
prayer beads and leans against the shed wall. He is depicted as a devout witness to the nativity, and is placed in front of the nearest part of a detailed and expansive cityscape that extends across the top portion of most of the panel. The city view on the panel's left contain a number of small figures walking along a steep pathway that winds downwards towards the stable. A small
crucifix hangs on the pillar behind Mary's head, even though the scene takes place 33–36 years before the death of Jesus Christ.
Presentation The presentation takes place in the octagonal building's
entrance, in an area surrounded by monumental arches, another bold and innovative use of space and perspective. The buildings above the central part of the panel appear to be far more distant than those on the left, giving the impression that the city, which is presumably Bethlehem, is sharply receding into an increasingly remote horizon. ==Commission==