Krisanne Hastings and Dr. Martha Peacock, Art History and Curatorial Studies

Jan Van Eyck’s Annunciation is rich with religious symbolism. The iconographic program of this Northern Renaissance masterpiece delves deeply into intellectual Christian motifs, referencing the royalty of the Virgin and Christ child, offering up a varied repertoire of Old and New Testament allusions, and alluding to Christ’s role on earth. Numerous scholars have addressed Van Eyck’s iconographic presentation, paying most specific attention to elements such as the architectural structure wherein the annunciation is taking place and the representation of biblical scenes. Despite the past intense investigation of Van Eyck’s piece, no scholar has mentioned the possible symbolism associated with the Angel Gabriel’s wings. My task was to gather research that would help me explore the significance of Gabriel’s peacock wings and their relationship to the overall iconographic program of the Annunciation, specifically noting their relationship to the Virgin Mary and their contribution to Old Testament/New Testament typology.

Like his artistic contemporaries, Van Eyck would have been well versed in the more common Christian symbols of his time, thus acquainting him with the important connotations of the peacock. During the medieval era, the peacock was commonly represented as a symbol of royalty and wealth, connotations that accompanied the peacock from its Persian origin to the West.¹ The rich, ornate robe worn by Gabriel, modeled after the Florentine silk and velvet gowns of the time, underscores the peacock’s symbolic reference to privilege and affluence.²

Gabriel appropriately displays his royal peacock wings as he is both a divine messenger and a provider of divine knowledge, informing Mary that she is to be the royal vessel of God’s first begotten. It is only appropriate that the Angel Gabriel’s wings are decorated with the eyes of this royal bird. Furthermore, Gabriel’s cope identifies him as a deacon, one who assists the celebrant of the mass by bringing the Host and Chalice to the altar. Twelfth-century theologian Gulielmus Durantis supports this assumption when he writes in the De Rationale Divinorum Officiorm that the deacon reading the gospel of Luke is Gabriel.³ Van Eyck’s reference to Gabriel as deacon underscores Gabriel’s role as a divine assistant to the Queen of Heaven in bringing forth a royal son to be man’s sacrificial lamb.

Van Eyck incorporates the symbolism of Gabriel’s wings even further into his iconographic program suggesting that the wings are not only a symbol of Mary’s royalty but are references to deeper Old and New Testament theology. Several references to Old Testament/New Testament theology are present in the Annunciation. For example, Mary is an Old Testament/New Testament symbol likely based on the fifteenth-century musings of theologian Thomas Acquinas. Acquinas believed that Mary’s birth and marriage were Old Testament references while her virginity and maternity were symbols of the New Testament.⁴ Another Old Testament/New Testament reference is found in an inscription portraying the discovery of the baby Moses. Moses birth is an Old Testament allusion to the birth of Christ in the New Testament.⁵ This old law/new law typology is directly associated with the symbolism of the peacock. Noticing the bird’s molting feathers and subsequent re-growth, Christians drew an immediate parallel to Christ’s role as a fulfillment of the old law—all things old pass away only to be reborn into a greater glory.⁶ Just as the peacock discards its old feathers, the Law of Moses is discarded. Furthermore, just as the peacock grows more beautiful feathers, so emerges the Law of Christ.

Most of my research was conducted at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., which enabled me to access books on Netherlandish art and theology that I couldn’t find elsewhere. I also looked through the Annunciation’s curatorial files at the National Gallery of Art where I found some of the more obscure articles and dissertations that I had difficulty tracking down at B.Y.U. Obviously I couldn’t include the bulk of my research here, but I have provided a brief sample of information that I acquired. The biggest disappointment of my research was not being able to see the painting in person. Unfortunately, the Annunciation was on loan to another museum during my stay in Washington D.C.

Through this experience I have developed an increased interest in Netherlandish art, specifically the works of Jan Van Eyck. This opportunity has motivated me to continue my study of Netherlandish art in graduate school, possibly completing a thesis in Jan Van Ecyk’s Annunciation.

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¹Ernest Ingersoll, Birds in Legend, Fable, and Folklore (Toronto: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1923) 145.
²Katherine Crawford Luber, Recognizing Van Eyck (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1998) 35.
³Carolyn Williams, “Jan Van Eyck’s Annunciation: An Iconographical Study,” diss., University of Delaware, 1977, 22.
⁴Charles de Tolnay, “Flemish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art,” The American Federation of Arts 34: 176.
⁵Tolnay 176.
⁶Ingersoll, 145.