Nine Months Before Christmas…

The New York Times recently called it one of the “world’s most beautiful paintings”—at the New York Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.¹ The painting is known as the Merode Altarpiece, a 15th-century triptych from Holland that features the Annunciation.

Painted by Robert Campin, the altarpiece fleshes out the scene described in Luke 1:26–38: The angel Gabriel visits Mary and informs her that she will give birth to a son, whom she is to call Jesus. Mary accepts his news, saying, “I am the Lord’s servant … May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38).

The central panel of the Merode Altarpiece depicts the moment right before Gabriel speaks to Mary. In the panel, Mary is absorbed in a scriptural tome. She has not yet noticed Gabriel—or the Holy Spirit (just above Gabriel’s wing) represented as a small child with a cross over his shoulder flying toward her from the window.

The right panel shows Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, in his carpentry workshop, while the left panel features the donors who purchased the altarpiece. They kneel in reverence before the door leading to Mary’s room.