This sculpted Annunciation group forms one of the narrative tableaux on the Renaissance choir screen at Chartres Cathedral, executed by the master sculptor Jehan Soulas in the early 1520s. The scene captures the moment when the archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she is to conceive and bear the Son of God.1

Mary is shown seated at her prayer desk, her body turning gently toward the angel in a gesture of attentive humility. Her expression is calm, and the soft fall of her mantle reflects Soulas’s characteristic concern for naturalistic drapery. Behind her, the hanging canopy creates a sense of domestic interiority unusual in earlier Gothic treatments, underscoring the Renaissance move toward narrative realism.

Gabriel approaches from the right, stepping forward decisively yet gracefully. His right hand is raised in greeting, while his left holds a slender sceptre, signifying his heavenly authority. The angel’s drapery is restless and alive, swirling in rhythmic folds that contrast with Mary’s stillness. His hair, rendered with delicate precision, frames a youthful, serene face typical of Soulas’s style.

At the centre of the composition stands a tall vase of lilies, the traditional symbol of Mary’s purity. Placed between the two figures, it acts as a visual hinge linking them, while also grounding the scene in the iconography of the Annunciation.

Soulas’s work here exemplifies the French Renaissance transition: the architecture and setting retain a Gothic framework, but the figures reveal a new interest in proportion, natural movement, and the emotional clarity of the human encounter. The scene’s refinement, spatial coherence, and sensitive carving make it one of the most admired episodes on the Chartres choir screen.

• 1. Jouanneaux, Françoise and Robert Malnoury Le Tour Du Choeur De La Cathédrale De Chartres Images Du Patrimoine AREP-Centre. Images Du Patrimoine Société archéologique et historique de l'Orléanais 2000. p20.