Annunciation (Lochner)

Annunciation (or The Virgin Mary) is a panel painting by the German artist Stefan Lochner, from c. 1446-1449. The panels were probably conceived as an outer wing for a lost altarpiece. It shows the virgin, rather conventionally receiving the voice of the Holy Spirit, who hovers above her in the form of a dove. A vase behind her holds a lily. Her white clothes and the flower represent her virginity. It seems influenced by similar panels found in Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece.