The Virgin of the Annunciation / The Angel of the Annunciation

Bernhard Strigel painted this Annunciation diptych around 1510 for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The division of the Annunciation scene across two separate panels was a standard format in both Northern and Southern European devotional art, allowing the angel and the Virgin to face each other across an altar or devotional space. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The diptych panels present Gabriel and the Virgin in Strigel's characteristic clear Swabian manner with precise drawing and bright coloring, designed to function as companion pieces in a devotional ensemble.