Solemnity of the Annunciation

Today we celebrate the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary, and her 'yes' to the request to bring Jesus into the world. The Gospel passage telling this story is found in Luke 1: 26-38. Over the centuries many artists have depicted this event in literature, music, sculpture and painting. Let's take a look at some of the styles and the images typically used to convey the story.

This fresco by Fra Angelico has the principle characters (Mary and the Angel), of course, but look in the background on the left: it's Adam and Eve being ejected from the Garden of Eden. This connects Mary as the 'new Eve' - if the first Eve is the conduit through which sin and death entered creation, then Mary becomes the conduit through which Jesus (the new Adam) conquers sin and death.

The Holy Spirit is represented by the dove in the top left, whose power is radiated through the beams of light. And if you look over the middle pillar, you'll see a representation of God the Father, too!

This icon again portrays a beam of light from the heavens, and seems to have Mary seated on a throne, emphasizing her nobility as the Mother of God (Theotokos), the Queen of Heaven.
It is not very clear, but I think the item in her left hand is a lily, a flower which symbolizes purity.

And here are three more 'modern' representations by Waterhouse (1914), Rossetti (1850), and Tanner (1898) show the lily, or celestial light, but emphasize the youth of the virgin, her humble background, and the emotions that might have caused the angel to say, "Do not be afraid."

There is a scroll on a stand in the Waterhouse painting (and a book on Mary's knee in the fresco), which may seem odd if it is likely that Mary could not read. But we speak of Jesus as the Word of God, and the fulfillment of Scripture, so...

If you look closely in Rossetti's painting, you'll see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovering over the angel's left hand.

The simplicity of this piece by Tanner speaks to me of God's invitation to all of us, in our normal lives, to be bearers of Jesus, to give birth to him by continuing his work day by day. Like Mary, we are invited, like Mary, we can choose to say 'yes, your will be done'.

(And by the way... it's just 9 more months until Christmas!)