Robert Campin and Assistant about 1425-1430
Oil on panel, 64.5 x 117.8 cm (overall); 64.1 x 63.2 cm (central panel); 64.5 x 27.3 cm (each wing)
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Merode Altarpiece)
The triptych is known also by the name of its last private owner. It is a typical example of the private votive painting used as a domestic altarpiece.
…It was originally commissioned by one Peter Engelbrecht and his wife Margarethe Schrinmechers, whose names are worked into the altarpiece in the symbolic and metaphorical manner of a rebus…
The Merode Triptych would appear to be the first Netherlandish triptych featuring the Annunciation scene as its central panel. Moreover, a number of compositional elements have been used to create an unusually close link between the couple on the left panel and the main biblical scene. For this reason, some scholars have surmised that the choice of the Annunciation as a central theme may even be a reference to the man’s family name. Ymbrechts or Inghelbrecht is derived from: “der Engel brachte”, meaning “the angel brought”. (Felix Thurleman, Robert Campin, A monographic study with a critical catalogue, Prestel)
The left wing panel was probably created by Campin's apprentice, Rogier van der Weyden.
 "Annunciation Triptych")
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