How to Read Paintings: The Annunciation

by Botticelli
Enter a small but perfectly formed world

The Annunciation (c. 1485–92) by Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi). Tempera and
gold on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US. Image source The Met (open
access)

This is a small painting, just over 30cm wide. Yet if you let your eyes
move beyond the bare wood of the outer margins and enter the scene,
it gradually takes on a much grander dimension.

In The Annunciation, Mary is visited by an angel in her private

quarters. In the Christian tradition, the Annunciation describes the
moment when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that
she would become the mother of Jesus Christ.

In the painting, a linen curtain has been drawn to one side, allowing us
to see into Mary’s chamber whilst also telling us that this is a private
space. A row of pillars divides the space occupied by the angel from the
intimate chamber of the Virgin. Before her there is a book resting on a
stand; in Annunciation paintings, Mary is often shown studying
scripture.

The first interesting thing to notice is the architecture. Whilst the scene
depicts an event from the Bible, Botticelli has shown it taking place in a
15th century Italian setting. The image shows Mary within a loggia — a
room with open sides. It is a way of including contemporary, and
therefore familiar, architectural detail into the work whilst also
suggesting a modest, enclosed setting. The secluded space, or
sometimes a walled garden or a tower, indicates Mary’s purity.

Within the painted setting, Botticelli has used the rule of single-point
perspective to create a realistic sense of space, so that all the lines of
the columns and walls converge towards a single ‘vanishing point’ in
the very centre of the image — around where Gabriel’s head sits.
Perspective was a new innovation in Italian art after the architect
Filippo Brunelleschi systematised the principles in the early decades of
the 15th century.
The sense of depth in Botticelli’s painting is made all the more
compelling by the use of foreshortening and diminishing size. For
instance, the floor beneath the feet of the angel is broken into bands.
As the room recedes, so the bands narrow and get closer together. If
you imagine the floor without these bands, the effect of receding space
would not be as great.

Detail of ‘The Annunciation’ (c. 1485–92) by Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi).

Tempera and gold on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US. Image
source The Met (open access)

The Annunciation is an important moment in the story of the New

Testament, since it marks the actual incarnation of Jesus Christ — the
moment that Jesus was conceived and the Son of God became Mary’s
child. Botticelli’s painting depicts this very moment.

In the Bible, the Annunciation is narrated in Luke 1:26–38:

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one
to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your
relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was
said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible
with God.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as

you have said.” Then the angel left her.

The Annunciation became a favourite subject of artists across Europe

as the veneration of the Virgin Mary grew within the Church. As the
artistic tradition developed, certain symbolic conventions became
established.
Detail of ‘The Annunciation’ (c. 1485–92) by Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi).
Tempera and gold on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US. Image
source The Met (open access)

From the top-left corner, a ray of light shines down into the room,
indicating the ineffable nature of the Holy Spirit and also a sense of
movement or passage in the moment of Incarnation.

The Incarnation of Christ is considered to have taken place at the

moment of the Annunciation; that is, nine months before the Nativity.
Hence, in the western liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Annunciation
is celebrated on March 25th. For this reason, many artists show the
scene in a springtime setting. Some artists chose to emphasise the
season by laying out a plethora of flowers growing in a garden. An
alternative to a garden is the motif of a flower in a vase, a tradition that
developed into a lily, which became the symbol of the Virgin’s purity.
In this painting, the lily is held in Gabriel’s hand.

The posture of Mary is a detail that many artists took great care to
depict, because it gave them an opportunity to explore Mary’s
psychological reaction to the presence of Gabriel.
Detail of ‘The Annunciation’ (c. 1485–92) by Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi).
Tempera and gold on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US. Image
source The Met (open access)

Mary’s psychological state at the moment of Incarnation was no small

matter. Italian preachers, such as the famous Fra Roberto Caracciolo of
Lecce, made detailed analyses of the Biblical account given by St Luke,
going so far as to lay out a series of five spiritual and mental conditions
that Mary must have gone through when encountering Gabriel’s
message. According to Fra Roberto, these were said to be, in order:
Disquiet, Reflection, Inquiry, Humility and Merit.

Following from these categories, it’s possible to interpret different

depictions of Mary as falling into one of these five mental states. As the
art historian Michael Baxandall explains, “The preachers coached the
public in the painters’ repertory, and the painters responded within the
current emotional categorization of the event.”

So, in Botticelli’s version, Mary’s response may be seen as the fourth

stage in her reaction, Humiliatio or Humility, submitting to Gabriel’s
message by bringing up her hands to her chest and bowing her head.

The Annunciation was widely represented in art from the medieval

period onwards. During the 13th century, the hugely influential Golden
Legend appeared. This was a compendium of traditional stories about
the saints and miracle tales, which was widely drawn upon as a
sourcebook by artists of the following centuries. The story of Mary’s
annunciation was retold and cemented in this book, after which its
representation in European art was established beyond question.

The panel painted by Botticelli was almost certainly commissioned as a

private devotional image. Such images were treated as important aids
to devotion and prayer, designed to awaken private feelings of piety
and provide a visual narrative for those unable to read. Botticelli’s
elegant depiction of the scene maybe small, but as an object of private
contemplation, it would undoubtedly have been very powerful.