Maria der Verkündigung

The Virgin of the Annunciation panel is the pendant to the Angel panel, the two together forming the paired Annunciation that was one of the most common devotional diptych formats in late medieval Germany. Mary's response to Gabriel — her fright, then acceptance, shown through posture and gesture — was the emotional pivot of the scene, and devotional writers from Bernard of Clairvaux onward had meditated extensively on her inner state. The Master of the Small Passion paints her at the moment of reception, the physical act of turning or bowing her head encoding the theological significance of her fiat — her agreement to bear the Son of God.

Mary is typically shown in blue — the color of heaven and humility — and the Master places her against the gold ground with the same refined linear elegance as the Angel panel. The handling of her book (interrupted reading of Isaiah) and her hands (clasped, raised, or folded in acceptance) carries the devotional meaning.