The Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi

The Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi (1861) is among Burne-Jones's earliest surviving oil paintings, produced just five years after he abandoned Oxford to pursue art under Rossetti's influence. The dual subject—the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary of the Incarnation alongside the Magi's recognition of the newborn Christ—presents two foundational moments of Christian narrative. At this date Burne-Jones was deeply immersed in medieval religious art and the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood's project of recovering the devotional intensity of pre-Raphaelite painting. The National Gallery holds this early work, which shows clear debts to Italian quattrocento altarpiece design in its architectural framing and figure types. The combination of two narrative moments within a single composition reflects medieval altarpiece tradition, suggesting Burne-Jones was already looking to pre-Renaissance compositional models that he would continue studying throughout his life.

Oil on canvas with the technical ambitions outpacing full control characteristic of an artist's early career. The composition draws on medieval altarpiece models in its architectural framing, gold or gilded detail, and frontal figure arrangement, revealing Burne-Jones's immediate sources in early Italian sacred painting.