National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Floor Tiles in van Eyck’s “Annunciation” depict Old Testament scenes that were interpreted by medieval Christians as prefigurations of events recorded in the New Testament. Thus, the foreground scene showing David’s defeat of Goliath prefigures Christ’s triumph over Satan. This scene, showing Samson pulling down the Philistine temple, was understood as prefiguring Christ’s death.