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| Filippo Lippi, Annunciation Italian, c.1440 New York, Frick Collection |
NOTE: This essay should be read in conjunction with the one that follows.
“O God, who willed that your Word should take on the reality of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man, may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
“O God, who willed that your Word should take on the reality of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man, may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
Collect Prayer used in Masses and the Divine Office on March
25th, the feast of the Annunciation
In the past several years I have written several articles on
the subject of the Annunciation. I have
discussed the simplest
of images, the introduction
of the dove of the Holy Spirit into the iconography, images that set
the scene in a garden, setting the scene
in the Temple, including images that place the Annunciation
in salvation history and the addition
of witnesses. However, the largest
category of images has not yet been addressed. These are the images which are set in a
domestic interior, in other words, in Mary’s home, her personal space. Part of the delay is due to the fact that
there are so many images. Another part
of the delay is related to the number of images and that is how to classify
them, how to sort them to assist with a useful analysis. It has taken awhile but now I am ready to
proceed.
The Gospel of Luke, which tells the story of the
Annunciation, does not specify any particular place in which the encounter
between Gabriel and Mary takes place.
The text simply says: “In the
sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called
Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26-27) So, although it is possible to say that the
encounter took place in a garden, or in the Temple, or anywhere else, the most
likely place in which the encounter was likely to have happened is in the home.
In a Room
The first images setting the scene of the Annunciation in a domestic space would appear to have developed around the beginning of the fourteenth century.
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| Jean Pucelle, Annunciation from the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux French, c. 1325-1328 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters Collection Acquisition number: 54.1.2, fol. 16 |
Mary appears
standing or sitting or kneeling.
Frequently, especially in early works, she is situated in front of or
near a bench. The seat of the bench is
sometimes draped in cloth, sometimes cushioned.
It may even have a drape above it.
But it is recognizably a bench, a piece of furniture with a shallow
depth intended primarily for sitting.
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| Jean le Noir and Collaborators, Annunciation from the Breviary of Charles V French (Paris), c. 1364-1370 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Lain 1052, fol. 352 |
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| Giovanni di Benedetto, Annunciation Italian (Milan), 1385-1390 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 757, fol. 302v |
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| Annunciation from Pelerinage de la vie humaine by Guillaume de Digulleville, French (Rennes), Second quarter of the 15th Century Paris, Bibliothequen nationale de France MS Francais 376, fol. 166v
Mary may be shown to have been working at some kind of textile art, but the largest number of these images show her to have been either reading or praying at an associated piece of furniture specifically designed for praying, which may be called a kneeler or a prie-dieu, or even sometimes, as an altar.
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Images like this extend throughout the entire 700-year period from the fourteenth century until today.
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| Annunciation, Interior of Devotional Triptych German (Middle Rhine), 1440 Cologne, Art Museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne |
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| Dieric Bouts, Annunciation Dutch, c. 1450-1455 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum |
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| Annunciation Embroidery with Silk and Metallic Threads on Linen Netherlandish, Mid-15th Century New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Jean le Tavernier, Annunciation From Miracles de Notre Dame by Jean Mielot Belgian (Oudenarde), 1456 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 9198, fol. 17 |
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| Master of the Dresden Hours, Annunciation from a Book of Hours Belgian (Bruges), 1470-1490 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M 1077, fol. 37v |
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| Master of Guillaume Lambert, Annunciation Single Manuscript Leaf French, 1478 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum |
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| Albert Bouts, Annunciation Dutch, c. 1480 Cleveland, Museum of Art |
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Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation
Italian, c. 1489-1490
Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi
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| Jean Poyer, Annunciation from the Hours of Henry VIII French (Tours), 1495-1505 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS H 8, fol. 30v |
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| Hans Doering, Annunciation German, c. 1518-1520 Mansfeld, Schlosskirche Sankt Georg und Marien |
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| Titian, Annunciation Italian, c.1535 Venice, Scuola Grande di San Rocco |
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| El Greco, Annunciation Greco-Spanish, c.1570-1572 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Paolo Veronese Italian, 1578 Venice, Galleria dell'Accademia |
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| Agostino Carracci, Annunciation Italian, c. 1580-1590 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Michel van Coxie I, Annunciation Dutch, 1580-1590 St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
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| El Greco, Annunciation Greco-Spanish, 1597-1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Francesco Albani, Annunciaation Italian, c. 1620-1625 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Matthias Stomer, Annunciation Dutch, 1620s Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi |
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| Matthias Stomer, Annunciation Dutch, c. 1630-1632 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
These two paintings by Matthias Stomer illustrate how much the style of an artist can change over a few years as he or she adjusts to new thoughts and influences. |
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| Francisco de Zurbaran, Annunciation Spanish, 1638-1639 Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble |
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| Francisco de Zurbaran, Annunciatiaon Spanish, c. 1650 Philadelphia, Museum of Art |
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| Philippe de Champaigne, Annunciation French, c. 1644 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Eustache Le Sueur, Annunciation French, 1652 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Annunciation Spanish, 1660 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Godfried Schalcken, Annunciation Dutch, c. 1660-1665 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Center |
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| Adriaen van der Velde, Annunciation Dutch, 1667 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Adriaen van der Velde, Annunciation Dutch, 1667 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Annunciation Italian, c. 1724-1725 St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum
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| Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Annunciation Italian, 1769 Cambridge UK, University of Cambridge, Clare College |
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| Anton Raphael Mengs, Annunciation German, 1776-1779 St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
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| Francisco Goya, Annunciation Spanish, c. 1785 Boston, Museum of Fine Arts |
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| Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Annunciation German, 1818 Berlin, Nationalgalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Carl Heinrich Bloch, Annunciation Danish, c.1890 Copenhagen, Frederiksborg Palace, Chapel |
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| Maurice Denis, Annunciation at the window in prayer French, 1916 Rodez, Musée Denys-Puech |
© M. Duffy, 2017
Scripture texts in this work
are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010,
1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are
used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the
New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the copyright owner.
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