The Annunciation and The Nativity

Jaume Ferrer the Younger's Annunciation and Nativity from around 1457 is a devotional panel from the Catalan school that preserves the rich traditions of late Gothic painting in northeastern Spain. The combination of two narrative episodes on a single panel follows the medieval tradition of condensed biblical storytelling. The elaborate gold ground and decorative detail reflect the continued influence of International Gothic style in Catalonia well into the mid-15th century.

The mixed technique of oil, tempera, and gold on fir panel demonstrates the transitional moment in Spanish painting between pure tempera and full oil technique. The rich gold ground and elaborate decorative detail are offset by increasingly naturalistic figure modeling.