Annunciation

Michaelina Wautier painted Annunciation in 1659, a large-scale religious composition demonstrating her command of the full Baroque altarpiece tradition that is extraordinary given the documentary evidence of how little was known about her career until the twenty-first century. Her Annunciation shows the influence of Rubens in its warm coloring and compositional dynamism while displaying a distinctive figure style and spatial arrangement. The rediscovery of Wautier as a major painter in recent decades — through the reattribution of works previously given to male artists — has substantially revised understanding of women's participation in the highest levels of Flemish Baroque painting.

The angel's arrival and the Virgin's response are rendered with Wautier's characteristic blend of Flemish precision and Italianate grandeur, the warm palette and careful modeling creating a dignified devotional image.