Art Critique: Hans Memling's 15th Century Painting The Annunciation

Hans Memling's The Annunciation is an incredible composition which can be found displayed in The Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum label states that Memling's purpose was to cloak religious imagery in the pictorial language of everyday life while paying close attention to naturalistic detail.

The icons sprinkled throughout the work are plentiful and contain various religious connotations. Memling's work is of the highest technical quality and he uses compositional devices, such as symbolism and use of color, that are common within fifteenth century Flemish art.

One of the first noticeable elements of the composition is the way that the tiles on the floor draw you into the action of the piece. Memling uses a grid pattern with uniformed geometric shapes. Memling creates the floor with the rigid use of compositional lines. The floor conceptualizes space in the piece by providing the viewer with the idea of a three dimensional setting. There is also a definitive balance in the composition. The four figures complement each other.

Another striking element of the piece is Memling's startling use of color. Memling favors deep rich colors, particularly reds, blues and gold. Mary is wearing a royal blue robe while Gabriel, the angel delivering her news, is wearing a cloak with a combination of red and gold. The bed in the background is also a vibrant red; the startling color alerts the viewer's eye to its existence. An also interesting thing that Memling does with color is that he gives each of the angels different color wings, a possible way of emphasizing their various attributes.

It is apparent that images of the Madonna are something that Memling specialized in. Mary is slight and pretty with an upper class wardrobe. The trim along her robe is lined with a variety of jewels, a way in which he showcases her wealth. She is clasping at her chest with eyes downcast, she has been interrupted from her reading. These characteristics give her an air of modesty and holiness. Memling has created her as a contemporary Flemish woman; this could be an attempt to make her a model for Flemish women of that time period. Memling uses Mary as his light source; she is the brightest figure within the piece while everything else seems to be more in shadow. They are softly lit from her luminescence.

Another interesting thing about Mary in this piece is that Memling draws you to look at her belly. He brings you here by uses the angel's gaze on her left as a directional tool. He is watching her drapery seemingly expand as she receives the news that she is carrying the child of God. Another directional tool that he uses is the hands of the figures; these are utilized to guide you through to the most important aspects of the piece.

The style of the composition is more linear than painterly. Memling's figures have a limited sense of roundness, it looks as though he has drawn the outlines and filled them in with color. The figures have a stiffness about them and he plays with lines within the piece. Also, the figures are elongated; this is noticeable when studying the fingers of Mary and the angels. The principals in the piece do have substance to their bodies; Memling uses drapery to display this. The folds in the drapery are very detailed and the folds are symmetrical and fall in a controlled manner.

The work is riddled with symbolism, a trait that can also be found in Campin's "Annunciation." Both pieces contain vases which symbolize the shape of a pregnant woman. They contain candles that have been blown out; this represents the idea that there is no other light besides the light of God needed. Lilies are also found in the compositions, they represent the purity of the Madonna. The way that light passes through the carafe of water in Memling's work is also another representation of her purity.

The dove shown over her head is representing the Holy Spirit. The robe of the angel is similar to a robe of a priest, a possibly allusion to the concept of the mass. Another noticeable feature of the piece is the idea that this scene takes place in somewhere otherworldly. We get this idea from the way that the ground can be considered holy ground.

This can be interpreted because Mary is the only one wearing shoes while the angels are all bare foot. The light that emanates around Mary, also lends on this idea of otherworldliness. This is consistent with the idea that the subject matter of this piece is sacred and of the holiest.

Memling seems to be playing with circular shapes and patterns in the composition. One of the most noticeable things about the piece is the roundness of the bed's drapery on the left side. This is a similar shape used throughout the work, the vase, carafe of water and Mary's abdomen are all consistently the same shape. The way that the figures are standing is also in a circular formation. The patterns on Gabriel's drapery also contain circular symbols. The most noticeable circle in the composition is the halo that surrounds the dove that appears over the Madonna's head.

The painting is easy identifiable as a fifteenth century Flemish piece of art. Many of the pieces of this time were also oil on panel; this one was transferred to canvas. The subject matter is another typical piece of that time. There are numerous pieces representing the annunciation, Mary appears in a variety of compositions during this period. Flemish art tends to uses objects to get across their messages, this is apparent in Memling's contemporaries, van Eyck and Campin.

This is their way of using pictorial devices to get across their feelings of this particular event. The figures are also drawn in the highly idealized way that is also consistent with artists of this time period. There faces look soft and have a generic look to them. The features all look exactly the same, small eyes and long noses. It looks as though they are all close relations.

Everything about the piece is consistent with what we have learned about Flemish art in the fifteenth century. Memling uses devices to elevate the scene from the realm of the ordinary while also allowing the viewer to get caught up in the drama of the event. The compositional methods that he employed are common among his contemporaries and he displays his talents in the highest technical manner.