The angel Gabriel, seen on the upper section of the inner left wing of the tabernacle, speaks to the Virgin Mary, on the equivalent part of the right hand wing. A viewer, kneeling in front of the open triptych, would have been drawn into the momentous occasion of the Annunciation when Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will conceive and give birth to the Son of God. Mary's reaction at the angel's arrival and subsequent words, is conveyed through her posture and gesture. She leans away from the angel and raises her hand to her chest, clearly alarmed and bewildered at the news that she was to become pregnant, despite being a virgin.
The angel Gabriel's words that:
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [Luke 1:35]
become a reality in this depiction, since the cloud of the Holy Ghost can be seen in the top left-hand corner of Mary's room from which rays streak towards her body. This is the moment of conception, the Incarnation whereby God becomes man in the person of Christ, one of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
