The Annunciation Essay

Although the surface of the artwork has been fairly damaged by smoke from burning candles and incense, there is still a suggestion of the bright circular halos which had once ‘crowned’ both the Virgin and the child. Cooper relates the symbolism of the circle as “one which expresses archetypal wholeness and totality and therefore divinity” (1982:19). The upper body of Mary appears very large, especially in comparison with the Christ-child, whose body ‘fits’ into her bosom, which is generally associated with comfort. Almost as though she tries to console him concerning his future death (Tansey & Kleiner, 1996: 312).

The Annunciation and Expulsion from Paradise was completed by Giovanni Di Paolo in 1435 A.D. This painting was smaller than I previously envisioned, as its dimensions are 40 centimeters by 46.4 centimeters. Compared to other paintings in the gallery, it was smaller in size, as most of the paintings were over 100 centimeters in width. Other paintings in the gallery consisted of other religious portraits that were much taller. With the frame, it is 54.93 centimeters by 58.74 centimeters and 6.99 centimeters in depth. The frame of the painting is wooden and gold, with little dark blue crosses and red circle details, and engraved floral designs running along the middle. It also displayed obvious signs of wear as

One of the most effective principles Paolo de Matteis uses in this painting is his use of lines and invisible lines to direct the viewer’s attention to the child in his mother’s arms. The shepherds and their animals, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph are all instances of invisible lines in this painting, as their outstretched hands and lines of vision are all pointing to the baby Jesus. For example, the three women and the child kneeling to the bottom right side of the manger are all staring or pointing to the upper left, toward Jesus. Moving to the upper right corner of the painting, the ox and the donkey are directing their gaze to the bottom left, once again at Jesus. The two men to the right of the animals also point in that direction. In the top and center, Mary and Joseph watch their child, creating yet another invisible line pointing toward the point of emphasis, while the angels

In this paper, I will describe, compare, and contrast two paintings of the same name, The Annunciation by Gerard David and Joos van Cleve. Beginning with Joos van Cleve’s work, we see the virgin Mary kneeling down before an opened book. An illuminated dove with its wings spread is suspended above Mary. An angel is standing beside her, making a gesture. Both figures are inside an ornately decorated, well lit bedroom.

For My Museum Essay, I have chosen Rogier van der Weyden’s “St. Luke drawing the Virgin” (c. 1435-40). First of all, this painting is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of art, with both meticulous details and true to life emotional state of the figures portrayed. And it intrigued me even more when I found out that there is a very compositionally similar painting by Jan Van Eyck (“Madonna with Chancellor Rolin”).

The subject matter of this piece is the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, the young Saint John the Baptist and the angels who are up in the clouds. The Virgin Mary is looking at baby Jesus with the love of a mother. We see her dressed in a long white dress and a long blue robe for cover. We see the baby Jesus wrapped in warm blankets seeming to be enjoying the closeness of his mother. We see the young Saint John the Baptist sitting off to the right wearing a sheepskin, with his hands together, most likely praying to the baby Jesus and the Lord himself. The young Saint John the Baptist is also followed by a young lamb. The angels are watching over the group on earth but enjoying each other’s company as well. We see the angel on the far right kissing the angel to the left of them on the head. The two angels to the far

The angels carry a bowl on their hand flying toward Jesus. Jesus hangs in an awkward position and Jesus’ hand lands softly on his chest. The painting presents Jesus’ mother Mary sleeping on the floor. Also, people fall to their knees praising Jesus. The people present sadness and signs of confusion; however, the angels display determination on trying to save Jesus.

The painting is titled “The Archangel Michael Defeating Satan”, and the artist behind this painting is called Guido Reni. It was painted sometime between 1575 and 1642. The exact date is not known because it was a part of his private collection. The painting has background in the Christian religion and is a depiction of an event that occurred during the war in heaven. The painting shows the Archangel Michael standing with one foot holding Satan down easily and a chain in his right hand to show he had dominated his opponent. Satan wings are depicted as crushed and small where Michael’s are spread across the entirety of the painting. The subject this painting is ultimately telling is that good will always triumph evil no matter what shape or

Mary is on the right side in an private chapel. She facing the left and bowing to show respect to God. The angel is on the left side bowing toward the right. The angel is standing in an ambulatory with a column running right between the figures. The painting is done in tempera and gold on wood.

Fig. 1 captures the very moment that the archangel Gabriel comes down from the heavenly realm to earth to announce to Mary that she will conceive the Christ-child and he shall be called Jesus. The gold of his crown is representative of the “celestial realm that he has left to deliver this message” (Kleiner, 2010:387). The announcement is depicted very much in the moment as the words are quite literally illustrated with the text "Ava gratia plena Dominus tecum" (Van Dijk, 1999:420), which leave his mouth from left to right as if they were encapsulated in a speech bubble. The phrase is in fact inscribed in Latin and reads as "Hail, Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou among women” (Van Dijk, 1999:420). The draping cloth around Gabriel’s gold-infused light blue robe whips around the angel as if he had just land and his wings, which are still erect, depict an effortless grace of divine delicacy in the way that Martini executed them. Making use of undulating, long curved linear lines, they are almost liquid-like in their fluidity. The angel is painted holding a branch of olive leaves in his left hand. This is a symbol of the Christ-head and his coming to earth as the “Prince of Peace” (Emmerson, 2006:456), and also makes a reference to the traditional biblical story of Noah, the ark and the dove returning with an olive branch as a promise of the covenant of peace made by God with man (Genesis 8:11, English Standard Version)

This piece of art portrays archangel Michael, guardian of heaven. He stands proud wearing a jeweled crown and tunic while holding a staff in his right hand and an orb in his left. His two wings remain somewhat intact and sadly his nose has broken off.

The characters in this painting include, The Madonna, Christ the infant, Saint Sixtus, Saint Barbara, and two cherubs. Many people interpret this painting as the Virgin and her child looking toward the death of Christ. It is a well known fact that Christ meets his fate at the cross in the book of Luke. The saints Sixtus and Barbara are in the painting to show Mary what her son will be going through. They are also in place to help guide her through her feelings of dread and sorrow. The cherubs are relaxed and waiting for the prophecy to fulfill itself. They are pondering what will come after Christ meets his fate. It is very clear that Mary’s expression is extremely sorrowful. The level of pain that is shown in her eyes paired with the way that

The focal point is Christ himself. His hand gesture is almost as he is pulling away from the damned that is on his right. Few major things you really focus on is Mary long side of Christ casting her gaze on the blessed. As you start to look down you see the Angel and the Saints blow their horn to wake up the dead. Sense of overwhelming power as you can see in their cheeks. At the very bottom of the painting there is boatman Charon who sends the damned into hell an devils are ragging the out of the boat. Then you come across the Damned Man who seem to come to realization that he is going to he for his wrong doing. One of his eye are cover but the other show fear of his terrible fate. Michelangelo also shows the righteous being lifted from their graves into

What is more interesting is that Angel Gabriel looks at Mariana and not Mary in the painting which suggests a hope, she wants her love to be consummated, a Gabriel to come to her and inform her but it intensifies the pathos even further.“Mary” which in Hebrew means uncertainty, as she was uncertain whether she would be able to conceive until Gabriel arrived but “Mary” (uncertainty) + “Ann” (graceful) leads us to “Mariana” who is gracefully expecting even though she is uncertain about her destiny. The heraldry depicts snowdrop which represents consolation, according to floral symbolism. However, it is the flower associated with the ritual of St. Agnes’ Eve, when adolescent girls hope for visionary glimpses of prospective husbands. These meta-representations projects the mental state of the subject sometimes through contrast and irony as well. We see an altar, a private devotional space so we have a sense of her life being taken up between prayer and meditation which in turn accentuates the theme of longing. The metallic objects add to the visual irony as a church like atmosphere of marriage is being created in Mariana’s room which is never possible. Mariana still wears a waistband which can symbolise her hopes of conjugal bliss which is clearly visible against the deep hue of her dress. The presence of the only animal in the painting, that is the mouse, who seems to be her ironic companion and in terms of materiality it is equated with Mariana’s secluded existence. The

Giovani di Paolo’s “The Annunciation and Expulsion from Paradise” is currently in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. According to the panel next to the artwork, the piece was finished in 1435 CE and made of tempera on panel. This Sienese altarpiece from the start of the Italian Renaissance shows the experimentation of form at that time. Giovanni di Paolo uses golden texture to display divinity, line to illustrate architectural perspective, and a strategic use of scale throughout the composition in order to portray the importance of the religious context.