The Annunciation

This is one of the few religious pictures by the artist. It reveals his Roman Catholic background, and shows him working in the Utrecht tradition of monumental religious painting established by Abraham Bloemaert, whose preference for robing his figures in lavish and colourful betassled and gold embroidered liturgical dress is reflected here in the thoroughly episcopal Angel of the Annunciation. This figure, and the equally almost monumental Virgin, kneeling in a dark blue dress, dominate the picture frame, allowing the artist to purge the composition of almost all extraneous detail.