Annunciation
by BELLEGAMBE, Jean, Oil on canvas tansferred from wood, 109 x 80 cm (central), 103 x 33 cm (side)
Bellegambe was a Flemish painter of altarpieces, known as “the master of colour”, working in Amiens and executing altarpieces for churches and abbeys of other French cities. He was influenced by Italian painting in such works as the polyptych.
On this triptych the kneeling donator is Guillaume de Bruxelles, the abbot of the cloisters of St Amandus in Valenciennes and St Trudeaux in Luttich. Accordingly, St Amandus and St Trudeaux are on the left and right wings, respectively. The triptych was commissioned when Guillaume de Bruxelles left the cloister in Valenciennes for the cloister in Luttich.