The Annunciation and Adoration of the shepherds

These two panels once formed a panel of a Maryan altarpiece. They were separated by sawing down the full length of the thick panel. However, this was only carried out after another piece of the panel had been sawn off. The missing piece is now in Schloß Harburg and luckily it has not split, like the Maastricht fragments. On the front of the smaller fragment is the Adoration of the Christ Child. This scene links up with the Annunciation to the shepherds and Adoration of the shepherds in Maastricht, where part of the Virgin’s cloak and halo can still be seen, on the right-hand side. The right-hand panel of this Maryan altarpiece is also still in existence, still complete and now in the Staatsgalerie Burghausen, in Bavaria. On the front of that panel the Adoration of the Magi is depicted, as well as the painter’s monogram and the year 1531. When the altarpiece in its original, complete state, was closed, the Deathbed of Mary formed a comprehensible whole with the Ascension on the right-hand panel.

The four shepherds walking towards Mary and the Child are strongly lit by a light source outside the picture. The shadow of Mary, of whom we can see only the cloak and part of the halo, is cast on the wall behind her. The shepherd in the middle is pointing to the scene taking place above their heads. An angel surrounded by dark clouds illuminates the shepherds watching their sheep and announces the birth of Christ to them.