Crucifixion Diptych (van der Weyden) The painting's provenance prior to the mid-19th century is unknown. Its extreme starkness has led art historians to theorize that it was created as a devotional work, possibly for a Carthusian monastery. It is not known if the panels comprised a self-contained diptych, two-thirds of a triptych, or originally were a single panel. Some art historians have mentioned that the work seems unbalanced overall and lacking symmetry (which might indicate a missing panel or panels). Recent scholarship proposes that the panels functioned as the outer shutters of a carved altarpiece. The background to the panels is unknown. Scholars have theorized
Annunciation (van Eyck, Madrid) Annunciation (van Eyck, Madrid) The Annunciation (sometimes Diptych of The Annunciation) is an oil on wood in grisaille painting by the Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck, dated by art historians as between 1434 and 1436. The panels form a diptych, and are currently in the collection of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. The figures and iconography are very similar to those in the outer panels of van Eyck's earlier "Ghent Altarpiece" completed in 1432. However, their relative small scale suggests commission for private worship rather than public celebration. The panels show the Archangel Gabriel on the left and the Virgin