The Annunciation

Johann Koerbecke · Completed by 1457

Medium

Oil on panel, transferred to canvas

Original size

Panel: 93.3 × 65.8 cm (36 3/4 × 25 7/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Italian Renaissance

Radiant with gold and stillness, Johann Koerbecke's *The Annunciation* belongs to one of the most significant German altarpieces of the fifteenth century — the Marienfeld Altarpiece, completed by 1457 for a Cistercian monastery in Westphalia. Koerbecke was the leading painter of his region in this period, and this panel reveals why. His figures carry the elegant, elongated grace of Flemish influence — particularly the shadow of Rogier van der Weyden — yet remain distinctly rooted in the Germanic tradition, with a restrained emotional intensity that feels deeply devotional rather than decorative. The handling of drapery is precise and considered, and the flattened gold ground gives the scene a sacred remove from ordinary space. The Marienfeld Altarpiece was eventually dismantled, scattering its panels across major collections in Europe and North America, with the Art Institute of Chicago acquiring several, including this panel. It is a rare case where dispersal has given individual works a wider audience than the whole would have received intact. This hand-painted oil reproduction renders Koerbecke's measured lines and luminous palette with the care the original demands — a painting made by hand, as the first one was, and built to last.