The Annunciation

Well here I am, I am sick but I am functional, I am going to go controversial on you tonight. I am going to talk about some paintings that have to do with the birth of Christ. That's because of Christmas is upon us and I think its appropriate. Above is a glorious Titian. The scene is traditionally called the Annunciation and is found in the book of Luke. I think he makes the scene look important and earthshaking, but below we have a Caravaggio who portrays it as a quieter event.

Below is the scripture from Luke upon which these are based. I expect many of you think scripture, particularly in the more artful King James version is a little hard to read. Humor me and read it. I will see you on the other side.

1. ²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth ²⁷To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. ³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Here is El Greco's version. Mary was probably about fifteen tears old and was betrothed to Joseph. In those times custom decreed a year long wait before marriage, to be certain the bride was not pregnant.There was no way Mary was going to make the cut. Joseph was informed of Gods intentions in a dream. Mary was chosen because of her deep faith and goodness. There were lots of other virgins around.

Here is a Dante Gabrielle Rossetti of the annunciation. This one is less overblown and I think reads better from our 21st century viewpoint. Mary looks shocked, as well she should be. Stunned. She would have had to be thinking, why me?

Here is Raphael on the same subject. Mary is in a palace of some kind, maybe Greek. Wonderful painting but I personally feel it is so formal the narrative gets lost.

This is my favorite, Mary looks shocked and Gabriel is gliding towards her in a slightly supernatural way I love the color in this painting. It is by Waterhouse, the Victorian English master. It is not overdone and it tells the story.
Well as I am still sick. That's about what I can do tonight. I did get through it, I hope it makes sense. Tomorrow I think we will have to find some Shepherds watching their flocks by night.