The Annunciation from the Hours of Charles of France

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.