Feast of the Annunciation in art

Hans Memling

For the Feast of the Annunciation (celebrated in 2016 on Monday 4 April), Dorian Llywelyn SJ surveys the history of artistic representations of Gabriel's visit to Mary. How are developments in theology and devotion reflected in these depictions, and how can they help us 'to discover our place in the mystery of the Annunciation?'

Artists who seek to portray the Annunciation face many challenges: how to translate dense, revelatory words into visual terms; what to put into the piece of art, given the sparseness of the gospel text which says almost nothing about place and time; how to compress into one still image a sequence of events that must evoke Gabriel's arrival, the conversation with the Virgin Mary, her fiat, and the angel's departure.

Read Fr Dorian's article in Thinking Faith here: www.thinkingfaith.org/categories