One of the largest surviving Netherlands depictions of the Annunciation, this imposing painting may have been the left wing of an altarpiece commissioned by the Cluny family, whose coat of arms decorates the carpet and window. The composition is based on a design by Rogier van der Weyden. Possibly commissioned before his death in 1464, it may be a youthful work by Hans Memling who, technical evidence suggests, was an assistant in Rogier' s workshop before establishing himself in Bruges.