-Oil paint gives the surface a luminosity and shine -Oil allows for layers of glazes that render soft shadows -Oil can also be erased with turpentine, allowing for changes and corrections
-Left panel: donors, and middle-class people kneeling before the holy scene –Messenger appears at the gate to an enclosed garden. Center panel: Annunciation taking place in an everyday Flemish interior –Symbolism —--Towels and water represent Mary’s purity —--Flowers have three buds, symbolizing the Trinity; the unopened bud represents the unborn Jesus —---Mary is seated on a kneeler near the floor, symbolizing her humility —--Mary blocks the fireplace, the entrance to hell —--The candlestick symbolizes Mary holding Christ in the womb —--The Holy Spirit with a cross comes in through the window, symbolizing the divine birth –Humanization of traditional themes: no halos, domestic interiors, view into a Flemish cityscape –Right panel: Joseph is working in his carpentry workshop, the mousetraps on the windowsill and the workbench symbolize the capture of the devil
-Meant to be in a private home for personal devotion
Context
--Unusually, the main panel was not commissioned -Wings were commissioned when the main panel was purchased; the donor portrait was added at this time. -After the donor's marriage in the 1430s, the wide and messenger were added, which accounts for the rather squeezed-in look of the donor's wife