Jan and Hubert van Eyck (1432). Ghent Altarpiece (closed), Annuciation with Donors [oil on panel]. Cathedral of Saint Bravo, Ghent.

This work is rendered in the same hyper-realistic style as Double Portrait in its adjustment of how the cluttering of symbolic icons are largely (not all) replaced by figurative gestures. While overlapping purposes are served, including allegory and emotional impact, integrating the portraits of this work’s patrons into a visual representation of major Christian figures is primary. 

The formal development favored by van Eyck is to perfectly center the subject beneath and at an obvious angle to an aberration-free, energetic and single light source. This provides the masterful surface and textural development he achieves which is standard-setting in western visual achievement. Therefore, of all elemental and formal strategies used, textural development is primary.

Shape and the dimensions of color are unified. A red-green complementary color scheme is present, but not rigidly enforced. Value develops mass, and lighter values are favored, giving the overall work an impression of buoyancy even with the statues in the lower register. Depth is beautifully created through perspective and simply stunning modelling. A value contrast order is evident, separating the subjects from the spaces that span them, and further separating those spaces from the far background, in the case of the middle register.

Vertical subjects are framed in vertical cells stacked in a vertical arrangement. This places added emphasis on the subtle cross-directional line of text generated by the angel moving to the Virgin. There may be obvious formal differences along the vertical center axis, but for all intents this is a work of symmetry.

I find chroma interesting in this masterpiece. My initial guess is to place this as a work of complementary color, but I don’t think this is the case. The reds and, to a lesser degree, greens generate gravity in their purity, but so does the generous use of marble and ivory white throughout the canvas. They have the effect of presenting subjects that feel free from chromatic impurities, even if their values contrast. The net effect is to add a note of airiness to the overall composition while not "fitting" into a modern color scheme.

The central location of empty space and repeating figures of the text connecting the angel and Virgin draw attention to her and their interaction. The rich development and orderly arrangement of each figure draw investment from the observer without labor. They are given their own developed space within their cells.

The unfocused, distant gazes of the figures removes focus from the present, references their pious characters and their understanding that that which comes after mortality is what’s truly important. Humanism, the growth of the Flemish middle class and a transition to observable understanding in favor of religious mysticism are all referenced. The van Eyck brothers have blended together equivalencies, unbalanced ratios, harmonious and discordant choices to create a masterpiece that has undeniable organic unification.