The Mérode Altarpiece (or Annunciation Triptych) is an oil on oak panel triptych, now in The Cloisters, in New York City. It is unsigned and undated, but attributed to the workshop of the Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin, The three panels represent, from left to right, the donors kneeling in prayer in a garden, the moment of the Annunciation to Mary, which is set in a contemporary, domestic setting, and Saint Joseph, a carpenter with the tools of his trade. The many elements of religious symbolism include the lily and fountain (symbolising the purity of Mary), and the Holy Spirit represented by the rays of light coming falling from the left hand window.
Art historian's interest in the Mérode Altarpiece focuses mainly on the central panel, which was completed after 1422, likely between 1425 and 1428, by a member of Campin's workshop. The outer panels are later additions by a workshop member, probably on request by the donor who sought to elevate the central panel to a triptych and place himself in the pictorial space. The wings contain views of the city of Liège, in today's Belgium. A version of the center panel in Brussels is earlier, and maybe Campin's original panel.
The triptych is a founding and important work in the then emerging late Gothic, Early Netherlandish style, and has been described as a "milestone between two periods; it at once summarizes the medieval tradition and lays the foundation for the development of modern painting".
The New York triptych has been at times attributed to the young Rogier van der Weyden It is today accepted as belonging to a group of paintings associated with the Master of Flémalle, assumed to be Robert Campin, a mentor of Jan van Eyck. There is another version of the Annunciation panel in Brussels, slightly earlier but damaged, which may represent the original version by Campin.
Technical examination of the wood panels suggest that the New York triptych was completed by a number of hands. The wood of the central panel is different and earlier to that of the wings, while the hinging further suggest that the central panel was not intended as part of a triptych. The central panel is likely a copy of an earlier composition by Campin, while the wings were probably a later commissioned by the donor, who presumably wished that they were attached to the main panel to form a devotional altarpiece, probably (given its size) for private devotion. Areas of the panels have been reworked; both the female doner and bearded man on the left wing were painted over landscape, while the window behind the Virgin was originally painted in gold.
Campbell has dismissed the triptych's association with the Flemalle group, and thus Robert Campin. He describes the Mérode as "incoherent in design", in that it lacks spatial continuity between the panels, a trait most noticeable in the Seilern Triptych. In addition the open sky seen through the windows in the central is incongruous in point of view with the street scene in the donor panel. He further notes the poor command of perspective in the donor panel, and notes that it is "unfortunate that a line of one of the mortar courses in the garden wall disappear into the donor's mouth". Campbell disregards the wing panels as pedestrian and by lesser hands, thrown together at the will of the donor. He gives prominence to the Brussels panel, which he cautiously attributes to the Master of Flémalle.
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