Annunciation, Fra Angelico
I collect postcards of annunciation scenes. I have quite stack of them, mainly from Italy, where you can count on finding at least one annunciation painting or fresco in every church. Although Mary’s presentation is unique in each one, there are certain standard accessories in each picture. Mary always sits or stands on the right, Angel Gabriel genuflects on the left, and a column separates the two of them. Sometimes God is depicted in the upper left hand corner; the Holy Spirit, often in the form of a dove, hovers over Mary or is in flight toward her.
We can study each annunciation picture through the specific social, cultural, artistic and historical moment in which it was painted. For example, we might observe Mary elegantly dressed, sitting in a rich Renaissance architectural settings, looking up from her reading, with the patrons who commissioned the work kneeling before her.
I love to study these annunciations through such intellectual lenses, but I am also drawn to the spiritual interpretations that they offer. And it is then that I am attracted to a simple Mary. My absolute favorite is the fresco by Fra Angelico at the head of the stairs to the monks’ cells at the Convent of S. Marco in Florence. Mary is in simple, peasant garb and her hands folded in front of her as she stares, in what feels like a combination of disbelief and fear, at the Angel Gabriel announcing the news.
Isn’t that the way we feel at that moment of awareness that God’s calling to us?
Out of disbelief: “I can’t believe, God, that you’re calling me to pray for people.”
Out of fear: “I’m afraid I’ll let you, God, and all those people down.”
As far as I’m concerned, the annunciation is the most humbling of all the stories in the Bible.
“Who me?”
“Yes you.”
We can study each annunciation picture through the specific social, cultural, artistic and historical moment in which it was painted. For example, we might observe Mary elegantly dressed, sitting in a rich Renaissance architectural settings, looking up from her reading, with the patrons who commissioned the work kneeling before her.
I love to study these annunciations through such intellectual lenses, but I am also drawn to the spiritual interpretations that they offer. And it is then that I am attracted to a simple Mary. My absolute favorite is the fresco by Fra Angelico at the head of the stairs to the monks’ cells at the Convent of S. Marco in Florence. Mary is in simple, peasant garb and her hands folded in front of her as she stares, in what feels like a combination of disbelief and fear, at the Angel Gabriel announcing the news.
Isn’t that the way we feel at that moment of awareness that God’s calling to us?
Out of disbelief: “I can’t believe, God, that you’re calling me to pray for people.”
Out of fear: “I’m afraid I’ll let you, God, and all those people down.”
As far as I’m concerned, the annunciation is the most humbling of all the stories in the Bible.
“Who me?”
“Yes you.”
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