The Aix Annunciation: a majestic meeting between Barthélemy d'Eyck, Pierre du Billant and Pierre Corpecy

This research presents a comprehensive study of the life and work of Barthélemy d’Eyck (doc. 1444-1472), court artist to René d’Anjou, Duke of Bar (1430-1480), duke consort of Lorraine (1431-1453), duke of Anjou (1434-1480), count of Provence and Forcalquier (1434-1480) and king of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem (1434-1442). Through meticulous archival research, this study reconstructs his biography and explores his career within the broader framework of fifteenth-century European court culture. A central focus of this research is the Aix Annunciation, one of Barthélemy’s most significant and debated works. Likely created between 1442 and 1445 for the wealthy textile merchant Pierre Corpecy and intended for his Annunciation altar in the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence, this altarpiece is now divided into four distinct fragments, housed in the collections of Aix-en-Provence (Église de la Madeleine), Brussels (Musée des Beaux-Arts (Old Masters Museum)), Rotterdam (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen) and Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum). By examining its patron, original location and iconography, this study offers new insights into the painting’s genesis and reassesses the accuracy of its reconstruction as a triptych. In addition to archival research, it integrates findings from a technical examination project initiated by the author of all the individual fragments, which also sheds further light on Barthélemy’s painting techniques and workshop practices.