Jan van Eyck: The Annunciation

For Christian believers this is the very instant of the Incarnation, when word is made flesh and Jesus is given earthly life and when God’s plan for salvation is set in motion. It is a moment of abiding mystery that Jan van Eyck makes concrete. By recreating the material world with specificity and precision, he gives us a tangible sense that the painted world is continuous with our own. This masterpiece is located in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.