Between 1888 and 1891, Émile Bernard together with Gauguin was the creator of Synthetism, the tendency that marked a historical turn in European painting after Impressionism. At that time, his religious beliefs blended with his interest as a Symbolist artist in the supernatural. Bernard painted numerous compositions based on the Gospels, from The Adoration of the Magi to Agony in the Garden and other scenes from the Passion of Christ. These compositions would immediately capture the imagination of Maurice Denis, Sérusier, Ranson and other painters from the Nabis group. However, Bernard's (and Gauguin's) religious paintings also provoked less enthusiastic reactions. In the series of letters between Bernard and Van Gogh there is clear evidence of the reservations inspired in the Dutch painter by this part of his friend's work. In December 1889, Van Gogh wrote from the asylum in Saint-Rémy of Bernard's The Annunciation: "An Annunciation of what? I can see very elegant angels, but after the first impression I ask myself if this is a mystification, and these figures mean nothing to me". In the same letter he stated that he found Bernard's religious painting "somewhat false and affected» and concluded: "So, my friend, the religious paintings are not a success".

The Annunciation was one of Bernard's (and Denis') favourite themes in his religious paintings not only due to the renewed emphasis on the