Bebudelsen

Unknown artist, 1434-1466

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Size: 90 × 59 mm
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights: Public Domain Mark

This small parchment sheet is painted on both sides. These miniature paintings were originally illustrations in religious texts. In this case possibly a prayer book illustrating a story about the Virgin Mary, who is the subject of both paintings. In one the Archangel Gabriel announces that she is to give birth to the Infant Jesus, and in the other she visits her relative Elisabeth. The work is a good example of how it is not always possible to identify the front (recto) and back (verso) of a work. Here both are equal, and equally valuable. It was not until the work entered the museum that one side was classified as recto, and the other as verso.