Jan Van Eyck’s Annunciation from the Ghent Altarpiece, in four chromolithographs by the Arundel Society, presented in a very attractive early frame and gold mount. 680 x 770mm. Four chromolithographs, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left, the view of Ghent in the centre left, the Lavabo in the centre right and the Virgin annunciated on the far right. With a gilt mount, inner gilt frame under the glaze, housed ornamental neo-gothic wooden frame. In very good condition.
 
The Arundel Society (1848-1897) was founded with the goal of preserving European art from decay and neglect by producing reproductions of it. They began by working with frescoes, reproducing them in wood or steel engravings in black and white.
 
As the society grew, they decided to create reproductions in colour through chromolithography. A copyist would make a watercolour copy of the original paitning, and then oil paints were applied to the stones for the final printing, giving the finished product a feeling of the originals, and making them far superior to both contemporary and modern attempts at reproduction.
 
Writing of the society in 1910, R.M. Burch described it as, “the most important non-commercial application of chromolithography”. Members of the Society paid an annual subscription, and in turn received each print they produced - four a year on average. They quickly rose in value after the dissolution of the Society, with prices ranging from 30s for the smaller simpler pieces, up to 300s for more monumental items.