The dove is a reminder of the Eucharist and Mass. Lotte Brand Philip observes how throughout the 15th century "eucharistic vessels made in the form of doves and suspended over altars … were lowered at the moment of transubstantiation"; here it suggests that in the same way the Holy Spirit gives life to the bread and wine, it gave life to the Virgin's womb. She carries the Body and Blood of Christ, and is attended by three priestly angels. Mary's function is to bear "the Savior of the World"; the angels' role is to "support, present and protect her sacred being". With the birth of Christ her "miraculous womb passed its final test" to become an object of veneration. Memling presents the Virgin as the Bride of Christ about to assume her role as Queen of Heaven, with attendant angels indicating her royal status. These kind of angels are usually shown hovering above the Virgin, holding her crown, and some German painters showed them hovering close in Annunciation scenes, but angels rarely approach or touch the Virgin. Only a single previous version of such attendant angels has been found: in the Boucicaut Master's early 15th-century illuminated manuscript version of the "Visitation", the pregnant Virgin's long mantle is held by attendant angels, about which Blum notes that "her queenly appearance surely commemorates the moment when Mary is first addressed as Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord." Memling often depicted pairs of angels dressed in vestments attending the Virgin, but these two, dressed in simple amices and albs, were never repeated in his art. Their dual function is to "present the eucharistic offering and proclaim the Virgin bride and queen". The "Annunciation" draws heavily on van der Weyden's 1430s Louvre "Annunciation", his c. 1455 "Saint Columba altarpiece", and the "Clugny Annunciation" (c. 1465–75), which is attributed to either van der Weyden or Memling. Memling almost certainly was apprenticed to van der Weyden in Brussels until setting up his own workshop in Bruges sometime after 1465. Memling's "Annunciation" is more innovative, with motifs such as the attendant angels that were absent in the earlier paintings. According to Till-Holger Borchert, not only was Memling familiar with van der Weyden's motifs and compositions, but he might have assisted with the underdrawing in van der Weyden's workshop.