The Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of France

The Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of France

Master of Charles of France

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This double-paged Annunciation forms a diptych of remarkable refinement, set on an elaborate stage of simulated architecture and sculpture, and incorporating a procession of angels descending from heaven. It comes from an unfinished book of hours that belonged to Charles, duke of Normandy and brother of King Louis XI. Charles’ favorite residence, the Château de Mehun-sur-Yèvre, near Bourges, appears in the background. At some point before 1905, this image was separated from the rest of the manuscript, which is in the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of FranceThe Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of FranceThe Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of FranceThe Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of FranceThe Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of France

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.